22 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 15, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Warm farewell to retiring Judge Weinstein
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Judge Jeremy Weinstein will not only
be missed as a central fi gure in the
Queens Supreme Court, but also as one
of the funniest people in the circuit,
according to many of speakers who bid
a fond farewell at his retirement party
on Aug. 1.
Currently the longest serving administrative
judge in the city, having maintained
the role since 2007, Weinstein
was home-grown in Queens and served
in the State Senate from 1979 to 1992
before his 25 year tenure on the bench.
“I promised to be the best that I could
be, work hard in whatever position I
had. To take advice and listen to those
who came before me, but never forget
that if people shared their life experiences
with me, that I must do the same,”
Weinstein said. “I think all of us who
understand that work together as a family...
Th at really is the gross of success.”
Th e courtroom on the seventh fl oor of
the Queens Supreme Court building on
Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica where the
party was held was laced with familiar
political faces.
Assemblyman David Weprin as well
as Councilmen Barry Grodenchik and
Eric Ulrich attended while many of the
hundreds there were attorneys, judges
and family members.
When asked by QNS what the highlight
of his career as a judge has been
been, Weinstein simply said laughingly
“retirement.”
Th e Weinsteins have a long history in
government and criminal justice with
Moses Weinstein, the judge’s father,
serving in the Assembly with stints as
majority leader and speaker – fourth in
line for the governorship – in the 1960s.
Moses Weinstein rose to prominence
blazing a trail that would be followed by
his son Jeremy Weinstein; he served fi rst
as a legislator then as a state Supreme
Court Justice in Queens starting in
1969.
But Weinstein was not quite following
in his father’s footsteps. At some points
in the careers, they were counterparts to
one another.
“He was the product of immigrant
parents who was the fi rst in his family to
go to college,” Weinstein said. “Aft er he
came back from WWII he started a law
practice... He was in the Assembly while
I was in the Senate, and then I became
an administrative judge just as he was
back in the 70s.”
His father, Moses, went into the appellate
division.
“I don’t want it to be the kind of retirement
where I’m working full time. I
want it to be a mixture of spending time
with fi ve grandchildren, playing a little
golf and doing some legal work,”
Weinstein said.
Attorney Tara Weinstein Halpren,
the judge’s daughter, commended her
father’s ability to manage a work-life
balance, especially as a legislator in
Albany.
Judge Donna Golia and Assemblyman David Judge Michael Golia, retired Judge Joe Golia and Judge Bernice Siegal
Weprin
Judge Joseph Risi and Councilman Eric Ulrich County Clerk Audrey Pheff er Anthony Lemma and Judge Margaret McGowan
“As an attorney, I’m impressed by
what he has accomplished. But what’s
truly amazing, what I as a daughter
and a mother and an attorney believe
is the greatest accomplishment of
them all, is that he devoted so much
of his life to his career while also being
present in my life,” Halpren said. “All
those years in the Senate, my father
always came home for my birthday
which was always right in the middle of
the senate session, even if it meant driving
back to Albany late at night.”
All agreed Weinstein would be missed
and made his mark on the judiciary.
Judge Jeremy Weinstein and family
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