Governor Hochul: “This is no ordinary court. There is no other court like this in the nation and you think about – we are the center of commerce and trade and entertainment and finance and intellectual leadership and so when people have conflicts that bring people to this court, they're next level conflicts.”
Earlier today, Governor Hochul delivered remarks at the Investiture of Presiding Justice Dianne T. Renwick of the Appellate Division, First Department.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Chief Judge Wilson, I didn't know if you were proposing a swap here. Given that I had a little bit to do with both your positions, I mean I can do whatever you like here, but I thought you wanted your job and I think you're fabulous here so we'll just leave things the way they are, but – and I will not go through the repetition of all the distinguished names again, can I – can you grant me that, but I do want to recognize – thank you again for your extraordinary leadership here and guiding us today.
And to Judge Rowan, Justice Rowan, I want to thank you for really bringing this court to the prestige that I want it to be. The Court of Appeals of the State of New York has a certain cachet to it and people look to it with this sense of awe and wonder what are they going to do next because we are so nation leading in what we do.
The rest of the Nation watches what we do. And I want to thank you for stepping in and already in your limited time in this role – I’m grateful to you. I'm grateful to you accepting the position and for making us so proud in the State of New York and of course, Judge Lippman, Jonathan Lippman is here as well.
I want to thank him for raising the bar so high on the rest of the bar and really cutting the standards that others work so hard to achieve and I thank you for that as well. Honorable Joseph Zayas is here, our Chief Administrative Judge, I want to thank you for the weight of responsibility you have because since I became Governor two and a half years ago, it's been deeply personal to me – you have an imprint on the judicial system, not in an interference way, but to say, what do you need to be better? How can we help you? And that's adding more judges, more resources, and understanding that when the courts are clogged up, people are denied that basic right they have of justice, timely justice.
So, thank you for your work in that as well. Liz Fine, who is an extraordinary advisor to me and has recommended many of our judges after her thorough scrutiny. And I want to thank her for all she does and, and to many of you. We do have our District Attorneys here, Darcel Clark, proud representative of the Bronx here, and our Alvin Bragg, our District Attorney from Manhattan. I want to thank both of them for the work they do, and of course, the family. What a proud day, what a proud day this is, and to Robert Johnson, power couple of New York here, I thank you for your service, longest serving Bronx DA. I don't know if Darcel, you're trying to go for his record or anything, but the longest serving, and of course, your son, Justin, who's here today and all your family. It's great that even your cousins come. This is a big deal. This is a big family event. Everybody looks real serious now, but I, I hope you take her out and have a really good time later today to celebrate this.
But you have brought such a depth of experience and passion and staying in public service your entire career, helping those who desperately needed a voice to represent them. New York City's innocent and helping people in housing court.
We know how important it is when people are facing the specter of losing their home, and the stress they're under, and bringing that experience to all your positions that were so beautifully laid out by your colleague who has been with you for such a long time. And that really does bond you closely together.
But this is no ordinary court. There is no other court like this in the nation and you think about – we are the center of commerce and trade and entertainment and finance and intellectual leadership and so when people have conflicts that bring people to this court, they're next level conflicts. They require the disposition and the knowledge and the intellect to be able to manage complex commercial transactions and of course the need to keep people safe in their homes.
So, when the businesses in this community come before you, it's very sophisticated. And I want to thank you for your leadership in this place because people look to the courts, they look for their day in court, they look for justice, they look for truth. And all of you are the arbiters of this.
And you have the perfect disposition for this based on your life's experiences that have brought you here today. So, I could not be prouder to have named you. I spent a lot of time naming judges. In the two and a half years I've been Governor, I've had 23 Court of Claims judges, 13 Interim Supreme Court and County Court Justices, 32 Justice of the Appellate Divisions of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Departments, two Associate Judges, the Court of Appeals, and one Chief Judge. I feel like it's like a partridge in a pear tree.
But every one of them took a lot of serious consideration. And there's always outstanding people who step up and say, “I want to do this.” And we have to make decisions based on what I believe they'll bring to the bench. And my standards are very, very high. And I have this sense of exceptionalism that's associated with New York. And I want all my jurists and judges and anyone I have anything to say over to symbolize that to others, that this is the place for excellence. And we will lead the rest of the nation in what we do here.
So, I thank all of you, and again, there are a lot of firsts. I know a little bit about that, but I know just like me, you didn't take this position to make history in this position; although, you do. You're here to make a difference, just as all the people I've selected, and I have the most diverse pool of individuals who are now judges in the history of this country, I believe. I can name off all the firsts, but I'm not going to because I want them to know that they are all selected, not because of their firsts, and someday we'll never even reference the firsts, because it will be so obvious. Of course, they're here. They represent New York. Of course, they're here.
But I wanted everyone to know that they were selected because they're the best. That is my test. They are the best. And I'm so proud to be able to select, once again, the best with this critically important position based on your life experiences, your passion, your heart, your temperament, everything that I think is so critically important. So, this is a day that brings me great joy and pride to be able to present to you, official after I do this, the Presiding Justice of the court here.