Justices LaSalle and Knipel bring back annual 2nd Department Reception

January 6, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

Hon. Hector LaSalle (center), presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department hosted the annual Second Judicial Department Reception at Giando on the Water on Wednesday, December 7. Justice LaSalle is pictured with Hon. Lawrence Knipel, administrative judge of the Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term, and Hon. Sylvia Hinds- Radix, the NYC Corporation Counsel. Eagle photos by Mario Belluomo

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A local judicial tradition returned this year for the first time since the COVID pandemic as judges from Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island gathered at Giando on the Water in Williamsburg on Dec. 7 for the annual Second Judicial Department Reception.

Organized by Justices Hector LaSalle, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, and Hon. Lawrence Knipel, administrative judge of the Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term, and the Arrangements Committee organized the first reception since 2019.

The meeting allows judges to meet and share common concerns, but this year’s event was all about reconnecting, showing support of each other in the post-pandemic world, and paying tribute to the retired or retiring judges, and those who died during the pandemic. As a result, there was no formal program during the event. Instead, the judges merely took some time to recognize their honorees.

From left: Hon. Karen Gopee, Hon. Anne Swern, Hon. Hector LaSalle, and Hon. Matthew D’Emic.

Judges from all of the various counties that make up the Second Department were well represented at the event, but it was the Appellate Division, who showed up in major numbers as 19 of the 22 on that bench were in attendance plus another two retired former presiding justices.

This year’s Arrangements Committee included Justice LaSalle and Knipel, as well as Hon. Andrew Crecca, Hon. Matt D’Emic, Hon. Vito DeStefano, Hon. Marguerite Grays, Hon. Desmond Green, Hon. Donna Marie Golia, Hon. Norman St. George, Hon. Deborah Kaplan, and Hon. Anne Minihan.