8 C R Y D E R P O I N T JULY/AUGUST SPOTLIGHT ON JUSTICE Margaret Parisi-McGowan Judge for the Queens County Family Court Q&A WITH Judge Margaret Parisi-McGowan 8 cryder point courier | JULY/AUGUST 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM Cryder Point resident BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO After working for Pan Am for 16 years, Judge Margaret Parisi-McGowan knew that the law field was where she would truly soar. “It was always in the back of my mind wanting to do it,” said Parisi-McGowan. She was surrounded by the law from a young age, with both her grandfather and father being attorneys for many years. Although she made the decision to work at Pan Am, Parisi-McGowan wanted to do more. During her 16 years at the company as a union representative handling arbitrations, she was always surrounded by law, yet never took the final step. She then decided to pursue her dream. She was part of the second graduating class of City University of New York (CUNY) Law School when she graduated in 1987. In 1990, she began practicing as an court attorney and later decided she wanted to become a judge. In 1998, she was appointed as a housing court judge in the Queens County Civil Court where she dealt with a lot of family issues, which led her to want to become a family court judge. “The issues that arose in housing court were very similar to family court,” she said. “It was all very connected to family.” During her time in law school, Parisi- McGowan had taken a lot of family law courses and also interned at Advocates for Children Rights, where she received some experience. In 2006, Parisi-McGowan was appointed judge for the Queens County Family Court by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “You save a lot of kids’ lives and turn families around,” she said. “Sometimes it’s sad and emotionally draining, but it’s rewarding because you turn around a lot of families.” Her term as a family court judge ends in 2015 but Parisi-McGowan hopes to continue serving as a judge and help as many families as she can. Q: How long have you lived at Cryder Point? A: I’ve been living in Cryder Point since 2005. Q: Why did you decide to move here? A: My brother, Paul Parisi, lives in the complex and I was already living in the neighborhood so I decided to move to Cryder Point. I’m very happy because it’s a warm and caring group of people from all walks of life and you get to know all your neighbors. Q: What’s your favorite thing about living here? A: The pool is my favorite thing. The pool in the summer is just beautiful and very relaxing. When I come home stressed from work, I can go relax in the pool. The pool is the big community area where everyone gets together.
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