Q&A with Judge Anthony Cannataro
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020 9
BY DEAN MOSES
Schneps Media is sitting down
with judges across the city’s court
systems to discuss their roles and
how they’ve changed in the age of
COVID-19. This week’s interview
is with the Hon. Anthony Cannataro,
Citywide Administrative
Judge of the Civil Court of
the City of New York and Justice
of the New York State Supreme
Court.
Schneps Media: Could you
describe your duties as an
Administrative Judge?
Hon. Anthony Cannataro:
I am the Citywide Administrative
Judge for the Civil Court
of the City of New York (one of
the three citywide courts along
with Family Court and Criminal
Court). The Civil Court operates
in all five borough and
is best known for our housing
part (the court that landlords go
to when they seek to evict their
tenants and to litigate other
housing matters). That is an extremely
high-volume court, approximately
225,000 new cases
are filed every year. The other
well-known operation of the
Civil Court is the Small Claims
Court.
My job is to oversee the dayto
day operations. I deal with
budgets, with problems like disciplinary
issues, and attendance
issues as they come up. I also
deal with what we call access to
justice, which is the court’s effort
to make these high-volume
cases fairer for people. Many of
the litigants who come here do
not have attorneys representing
them. So, we must go out of our
way to make sure that the process
is as fair as it can be even
for people who don’t have attorneys.
SM: Have housing cases
increased because of the pandemic?
AC: Not necessarily. I would
almost say that the issue of representation
has gotten a little
better because of the pandemic,
which is not to say that everything
is great. Since the pandemic
began there has been a
more concerted movement, both
within the court and outside the
court to try to get counsel assigned
for people who are facing
eviction and who don’t have
lawyers.
SM: How has the position
changed during the pandemic?
AC: I find myself communicating
a lot more with interest
groups that represent various
litigants. For example, in the
housing sphere, there are many
groups out there who are concerned
about evictions happening
during a pandemic and all
the problems that come along
with litigating those kinds of
cases and possibly evicting
people as a result of those cases.
I’m now speaking a lot publicly
and in smaller groups with the
various interest groups about
how the court can do its business
and still be mindful of the public
health and safety needs of the
litigants who come before us.
There are many interests to
balance. It’s extremely difficult.
Using housing as the prime example:
On the one hand you have
tenants who probably lost their
jobs, they legitimately cannot
afford to pay their rent. But you
have landlords, many of whom
are small landlords who just own
two or three apartments, maybe
in just one building and they
have to pay taxes and they have
to pay mortgages. There are a lot
of different perspectives.
SM: Has there been a silver
lining during the pandemic?
AC: The pandemic has really
driven us into using technology
to help us do what we do.
Whereas before the pandemic
you would hardly ever see virtual
appearance or conferencing
with the court or among the
parties. We have moved forward
aggressively into using teleconferencing
platforms to do our
work. There is a lot being done
with remote appearance.
SM: Are there any misconceptions
people have
about judges you would like
to clear up?
AC: The biggest misconception
about judges is that we are
not sensitive to the needs of the
litigants that appear in front of
us, and I say this as someone
who oversees a court where
there are so many unrepresented
people from such diverse
backgrounds. I think there is a
feeling that judges don’t understand
what regular people are
going through. People tend to
forget sometimes that judges
are regular people. We come in
all different types, sizes, and
backgrounds.
SM: Are there some hobbies
you enjoy partaking in
during your free time?
AC: I grew up as a child of
Italian immigrants. I spent
many of my summers in Italy
and as I became older, I started
seeing the world. I just love to
travel. That’s the bug I have.
I love visiting off the beaten
path locations and cultures that
I’ve never seen before. Last summer,
I went to the Azores, which
are small islands in the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean that are a
part of Portugal.
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