New Queens Borough President Melinda Katz put the kibosh on a decade-long Ash Wednesday tradition — kicking out the jail chaplain who had dispensed ashes at Borough Hall to Catholic municipal employees.
The tradition violated the separation of church and state, Katz explained in a statement.
A miffed custodian said, “I figured that all would stop, since Katz isn’t Catholic, you know what I mean?”
Workers seeking to commemorate the start of the Lenten season with ashes had to cross the street to the criminal courthouse, wait on a security line and go to the basement, where a Correction Department chaplain, the Rev. Michael Ross, dispensed them to staffers and detainees.
Asked of Katz’s ash ban, Ross turned the other cheek. “I don’t know her — I’m sure she is a lovely person and whatever her wishes are they are fine with me,” Ross said.
But former Borough President Helen Marshall was more disappointed on behalf of Catholic employees. “For them, it’s something that’s very special,” Marshall said. “And it’s not hurting anyone.”