‘Out of bad, some good’ Court reopening celebrated by judges and staff

Judges and court staff will return to their posts on Monday, May 24.  Eagle file photo by David Brand

By Rachel Vick and Jacob Kaye

On Monday the lifeblood of Queens’ courts will return with gusto, settling back into chambers and offices that have sat mostly vacant for a year.

Like many other New Yorkers beginning the slow return to pre-pandemic routine, court staff, like Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheffer, are excited to be in the same place as their coworkers. 

“The reopening for us is really not going to be much change,” Pheffer said. “What's going to be great is that everybody's going to see everybody and work together.”

Pheffer’s office has remained in action throughout the pandemic, despite not being face-to-face. Much of the work has moved online, for the first time in the office's history, and that will continue on Monday. Those represented by a lawyer will still do their business with the clerk’s office online while those without will visit in-person. 

“We did a lot of innovative things during this pandemic,” Pheffer said. “As they say, out of bad comes some good.”

For the judiciary who have had to shift back and forth between the “office” and working from home, the return to fully open – though socially distanced – arms of their court staff is a welcome change. 

Justice Darrell Gavrin, who just completed a bench trial that first began in Dec. 2019 in a COVID-safe courtroom, said she is looking forward to true return. 

“I'm so happy to be back in and doing the work that I was elected to do,” Gavrin said. “It was so good to be on trial and to see people and interact, and to be there with the court reporter.”

“It's what I'm used to, it’s how I've worked for 27, 28 years,” she added. “I can’t not be in the courthouse.”

Gavrin’s lingering concerns about safety, like unvaccinated people and protocols being followed, are overshadowed by the excitement of making it through the unprecedented year and her faith in Administrative Judge Marguerite Grays.

“There’s a lot to straighten out but [Grays] is going through it cautiously so we don’t get sick and what we were afraid of earlier doesn’t happen,“ Gavrin said. “It's been so stressful in so many ways so it's good to go back to what you’re used to because you miss it. We’ve come so far.” 

While Monday will see the courthouses the most crowded they have been in over a year, some limits on who can enter, including spectators, will remain. But Gavrin is hopeful everything will be back to normal — or as close to normal as possible — by the fall, when she expects the return of events and programming that were staples of pre-pandemic court life. 

Regardless of whether the work is being done online or in-person, Pheffer says the legal system’s dedication to serving the people of Queens has always been, and will continue to be, their first priority. 

“That was a motto we all tried to live by during this time. We were open and we’re going to try to serve, with the emergencies first, and then everything that’s important to the public,” Pheffer said. “I think we’ve been successful.”