Back where it all began: Queens judge appointed to court he argued in as a young lawyer
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The Hon. Joseph Zayas will soon begin his work in the Appellate Division, Second Department after being appointed by Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
By Jacob Kaye
Though he works less than 20 miles from where he grew up in West Harlem, it’s been a long road to the bench for Administrative Judge of the Queens Criminal Courts Joseph Zayas.
“I grew up in public housing projects in a large Puerto Rican family, in Upper Manhattan and I grew up in an environment where you didn't have dreams like that,” Zayas said. ”Little by little, I realized, ‘Wait a minute, maybe I could do something with my life.’”
On Tuesday, Zayas was appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department by Governor Andrew Cuomo. For the long-time Queens judge, it’s a dream job.
“I received the goal of my dreams, which is the dream job,” Zayas said. “I'm ecstatic – I am humbled by it and I’m sometimes in disbelief that this happened.”
The new position brings Zayas back to where his career somewhat improbably began. As a young lawyer in the early 90’s, soon after graduating from Columbia University School of Law, Zayas cut his teeth arguing in front of the Court of Appeals, something he never imagined he’d be doing so early in his career.
“I got to argue a case in the Court of Appeals as a brand new lawyer. It’s just an amazing experience for a lawyer,” he said. “They say most lawyers never get to set foot in a courthouse and here I was, virtually a brand new lawyer, arguing a case in the state’s top court.”
Zayas would go on to argue 60 cases in the appellate division before becoming a trial attorney. After working as a court attorney for some time, he was appointed to the bench by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2003.
As his career grew, his aspirations grew with it. He first realized he could get back to the Court of Appeals around 2013 when he began working as an administrative judge. Three years later, Zayas was elected to the Supreme Court, laying the ground for his eventual appointment to the Appellate Division.
But his higher aspirations didn’t mean he was unhappy with his position in criminal court, where he served for 18 years.
Zayas said he was particularly proud of the work he did while presiding over the Youth Court, a court created by former Administrative Judge of the Queens Court and current Acting Justice of the Suffolk County Supreme Court Fernando Camacho.
“I diverted a lot of young people away from jail and had a chance to see their lives being turned around,” Zayas said. “I’ve had the chance to see the joy on the faces of the families of the defendants and implement restorative justice techniques and really see the lives of young people turned around.”
More recently, Zayas has been working with Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and her newly created Conviction of Integrity Unit, which works to review cases where a defendant was potentially wrongly convicted.
In March, Zayas vacated the convictions of Rohan Bolt, George Bell and Gary Johnson, all three of whom spent 24 years in prison, after misconduct was found to be committed by trial prosecutors from the DA’s office in the late ‘90s.
“That's been extremely rewarding and eye opening,” Zayas said.
Nonetheless, the judge, who will remain in Queens when begins his work in the Appellate Division, said he’s looking forward to the next chapter.
“Even though I’ve been a judge for 18 years, I still have a lot to learn about the appellate process,” he said. “To work with all these giants in the Appellate Court – that I’m going to be a part of – that’s really what I’m looking forward to.”
