dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Just found this very enlightening article re the three Supreme Court Justices in NY and how they interfere with the NY real estate market. Also has more info on just how they are "elected". What a fucking joke, it's ALL POLITICAL! Has nothing whatsoever to do with their abilities as justices. Only that they will work for their masters that got them there. He was appointed by the Demonrats in NY that put him there and he'll be there for the tenure - 14 fucking years!!!!

https://therealdeal.com/2021/04/13/when-big-time-projects-are-stopped-by-small-time-judges/

When big-time projects are stopped by small-time judges

New York State Supreme Court judges Arthur Engoron, Verna Saunders and Katherine Levine (Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)

“These are huge towers. I’ve lived in the city my whole life. You can’t just do this because the zoning allows it. I just can’t believe this is the case.”

— State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron

Early in my career, I wrote about the backroom dealmaking that produces state Supreme Court judges. Now, at The Real Deal, I see the havoc these jurists wreak on the city and its real estate industry. It compels me to revisit the tawdry topic of how they get to the bench.

New Yorkers might assume their judges are top-notch legal minds who have reached the pinnacle of the profession. Um, no.

Many were middling, undistinguished lawyers. You’d almost have to be to subject yourself to the shady, debasing process one must endure for a shot at holding the gavel.

State Supreme Court judges, who preside over cases big enough to matter to the industry, serve 14-year terms and make $210,900. That adds up to $3 million, not including pension benefits, potential future raises and any additional terms. Beats hustling for clients in the backwaters of Brooklyn or toiling away as a law secretary.

These robed men and women rule on high-stakes real estate disputes and rezonings for projects and entire neighborhoods. Lately, some of their key decisions have been reversed on appeal, which suggests they are not doing a bang-up job.

Take the quote above by Engoron, who ruled that four towers proposed by JDS Development, L+M Development, CIM Group and Starrett Corporation in the Manhattan neighborhood Two Bridges required a rezoning, even though they complied with the zoning in place. If that sounds like sound legal reasoning, I’ve got two bridges to sell you.

The developers appealed and won. The Appellate Division also overturned recent anti-real estate rulings at SJP Properties’ 200 Amsterdam Avenue and in Inwood, where a sweeping rezoning had been temporarily invalidated because Judge Verna Saunders decided the land-use review process should — for the first time in its 30-year history — have included a racial impact study.

“Part of [the Appellate Division’s] job is to clean up the crap from the trial courts,” said one judicial system veteran. “Frankly, there’s a lot of it.”

All three reversals were unanimous. Do the judges care about being overturned? One would hope. But the court system does not keep track of their reversal rates and their jobs are as safe as houses. They nearly always serve until they hit the mandatory retirement age of 70 (at which point they can request up to three two-year extensions).

But wait. These judges are elected. Can’t New Yorkers just vote for better judges?

Again, no. These judicial elections bear no resemblance to democracy. The Democratic county organizations nominate as many candidates as there are Supreme Court openings. If your ballot in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx says “vote for any six candidates,” there will be exactly six Democrats. In New York’s Republican counties, the GOP does the same thing.

Much more at the link provided!