Judge tests positive for COVID-19
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Queens Supreme Court Justice Anna Culley has tested positive for COVID-19. Eagle file photo by David Brand
By Jacob Kaye
A Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term judge tested positive for COVID-19 last week, internal court emails obtained by the Eagle show.
Queens Supreme Court judges and staff were notified of Justice Anna Culley’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis on Sunday, July 25.
Culley, who was last in her chambers at the Jamaica Queens Supreme court building located at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd., on Friday, July 23, received the diagnosis despite being fully vaccinated, according to the email sent by Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term Chief Clerk Tamara Kersh.
The internal notification notes that Culley “urges everyone to continue to take precautions.”
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the agency responsible for cleaning the city’s court buildings, was contacted and asked to clean and disinfect Culley’s courtroom, robing room and chambers, the email said.
Culley did not respond to request for comment.
Despite the positive test, the Office of Court Administration has made no plans to change its COVID-19 safety policies.
“There are no changes based on her report of a positive test, as she is vaccinated but did travel out of state which is why she got tested,” a spokesperson from the agency said.
Two weeks ago, the state court system implemented a no mask policy for judges, staff, attorneys and all other courthouse personnel who have been vaccinated. Inoculated courthouse regulars have the ability to apply for a special ID card that allows them to move about the building without wearing a mask.
Culley is by no means the only person in Queens’ courts to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent months.
Over 30 people in Queens have received a positive COVID-19 test since jury trials resumed throughout the state on March 22, according to the OCA. Culley is the second person in the borough to receive a positive test since the court system welcomed court staff and judges back in-person on May 24.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Esposito, whose chambers are directly next to Culley’s chambers, said that despite her positive test, he’s not very concerned that he’ll catch COVID-19 in the courthouse.
“I feel pretty safe having been vaccinated,” Esposito said.
The judge, who recently returned to the bench after initially having his recertification efforts denied last year, said that the courts’ reopening has been relatively measured. The courts today aren’t even close to resembling the bustling courthouses that preceded the pandemic.
“I really don't see anybody,” Esposito said. “People pretty much stay in their chambers and there's no meeting place.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis said he too feels safe inside the court.
“I feel relatively comfortable sitting in a courtroom,” Margulis said. “I think what the courts have done with respect to having court personnel and attorneys essentially proving that they’ve been vaccinated and giving them cards to wear makes me feel safer in the courts.”
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that all unvaccinated city employees would either have to wear a mask in their workplace or risk being sent home and suspended without pay.
“If you are unvaccinated and you are a city employee, beginning on Monday [Aug. 2], you must either wear a mask indoors at your worksite at all times or if you prefer not to, you must immediately go get vaccinated,” de Blasio said.
The pressure to get city employees comes as the COVID-19 Delta variant, a more infectious version of the virus, begins to increase the number of positive cases throughout the city.
The Delta variant has accounted for around 57 percent of all cases in New York City in the past month, according to the city’s health department.
Despite the rise in cases, the number of hospitalizations and deaths have remained low
