Queens’ top criminal court judge to retire
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George Grasso, the administrative judge of Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term, announced his impending resignation on Tuesday, July 12, 2022. File photo via Grasso
By Jacob Kaye
A day after New York’s top judge announced her retirement, one of Queens’ own top judges announced that they too would be stepping down.
In a communication to court staff and judges Tuesday, George Grasso, the administrative judge for Queens County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, announced that he would be resigning effective Friday, July 15.
“I am leaving our court system with deep gratitude to all who I have had the honor of serving with – thank you,” Grasso wrote in the letter. “Serving as a judge in both the Criminal Court and Supreme Courts in New York City has been a major highlight of my multi-faceted career within the criminal justice system. Few have been as fortunate.”
Queens County Supreme Court Justice Michelle Johnson was named acting administrative judge by the Office of Court Administration on Tuesday. Johnson, who is at a judicial conference this week, could not be reached for comment.
Grasso, who served as administrative judge of the court for just under a year, said in his letter that he was becoming increasingly concerned with the rate of crime in New York City, something that could inform his next career move.
“Our city is facing increasing levels of crime, violence and disorder which have the potential to rise to crisis proportions,” Grasso said. “Therefore, I have concluded that it is time for me to move on from the court system so that I can apply the skills and experience of a lifetime of service to assist our fellow New Yorkers and the City we love in ways that I cannot as a sitting judge.”
Grasso declined to go into specifics about what may come next when contacted by the Eagle on Tuesday.
“I've got to give myself the space now to be retired and to take a hard look and think about things I may or may not do,” he said. “But I do believe I can be impactful given the experience that I have.”
Grasso, who was born in Queens, began his career in criminal justice in 1979 as an NYPD officer, working out of the 113th Precinct in Southeast Queens.
The following year, he began to attend classes at St. John’s School of Law at night, while continuing to patrol Queens during the day.
He retired from the NYPD in 2010 as a first deputy police commissioner. However, his retirement didn't last long – he walked out of Police Plaza and to City Hall, where he signed his judicial oath and became a judge.
For his first assignment, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg assigned Grasso to serve as a Criminal Court judge in Brooklyn.
In 2021, he was named supervising judge for citywide arraignments in New York City Criminal Court.
He then went on to serve as the supervising judge of New York City Criminal Court, Bronx County, before his appointment to New York Supreme Court and his assignment to administrative judge in Queens in August 2021.
“Large institutions include many types of people [and] few have been as dedicated, tenacious, tireless and effective as Judge Grasso in taking on every assignment that was asked of him,” Lucian Chalfen, the spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration, told the Eagle.
“After a long and successful career in the police department, where nuance is not a requirement, Judge Grasso has been able to bring together prosecutors, defenders, advocates and providers, more than once, to create successful diversion and drug programs benefiting many of those who came before him in court,” Chalfen added. “His insight and energy will be missed.”
During his time in the Bronx, Grasso created the Overdose Avoidance and Recovery Court, which sought to give defendants charged with low-level, non-violent drug offenses the chance to avoid prison time if they agree to go into rehab. If the defendant completed the program, the criminal case against them is dismissed. The program was expanded citywide before being shut down at the start of the pandemic.
In his letter, Grasso called the creation of the OAR court his “proudest accomplishment” in Bronx Criminal Court.
“Working very closely with the Bronx District Attorney, the Defense Bar and most crucially Bronx Community Solutions we created a novel court that met a wide variety of individuals who entered our court as defendants but were treated as patients and we saved many lives,” Grasso said.
While in Queens, Grasso spearheaded the creation of the top count gun cases program, which works to expedite cases in which the top count against a defendant is a gun charge. Like the OAR court, the top count gun case program was expanded citywide, with Grasso as one of its co-leaders.
The program began in August 2021 and in that time the gun case backlog has been cut down by over 1,500 cases, according to Grasso.
“As with every other NYC Court that I have worked in, my Queens team has been nothing short of phenomenal,” he said.
Grasso also oversaw the Queens court at a time when operations were slowly ramping up to pre-pandemic scheduling. He led the court in increasing its technological capabilities and held frequent meetings with local attorneys, the Queens district attorney’s office and other stakeholders about the operations of the court during the changing landscape of the pandemic.
The Queens DA’s office, when reached for comment, said that they were grateful for Grasso’s service.
Grasso’s retirement announcement comes a day after Chief Judge Janet DiFiore announced that she’d be resigning from her position as the top judge in the state’s court system.
