Assembly adds 10 New York City civil court judges and 5 Court of Claims judges; Staten Island lawmakers object to allocations

The Assembly approved language authorizing additional judgeships tied to court caseloads: 10 new Civil Court judges for New York City and five additional Court of Claims judges to be appointed by the governor and deployed statewide. The allocation of the 10 Civil Court seats among boroughs drew floor debate, with Staten Island (Richmond County) lawmakers pressing for a larger share of city civil judges.

Assembly members questioned how the Office of Court Administration (OCA) determined the specific municipal districts and borough allocations for the newly authorized positions. The floor sponsor said the increase in judges was requested by OCA and that administrative assignment decisions are made by court system leadership. Several members cited county‑level civil filing statistics and argued the distribution should better reflect filing volumes and population growth in particular upstate and borough communities.

The sponsor noted the five additional Court of Claims judgeships are statewide appointments that can be assigned to districts as needed to help address backlogs. Floor exchanges indicated the new judges will help address both criminal and civil backlog pressures by increasing the pool of judicial officers who can sit in multiple forums when needed.

Ending note: Members who raised allocation concerns said they would pursue follow‑up with OCA and urged local judgeship requests be reconsidered in the context of local filing volumes and long‑running disparities.