Release # 143-2012
ww w.queensda.org
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
QUEENS COUNTY
125-01 QUEENS BOULEVARD
KEW GARDENS, NEW YORK 11415-1568
718-286-6000
RICHARD A. BROWN
D ISTRICT A TTORNEY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012
CONTACT: QDA PRESS OFFICE
(718) 286-6315
DISTRICT ATTORNEY RICHARD A. BROWN HONORS JUDGE JOSEPH ZAYAS
WITH SEVENTH ANNUAL HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARD
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that New York State Court of
Claims Judge Joseph A. Zayas has been named the recipient of the District Attorney’s 2012 Hispanic
Heritage Award for his long and distinguished career as a jurist and for his many accomplishments
and contributions to the Hispanic community of New York City.
District Attorney Brown said, “As the proud son of immigrants and the product of city
housing and the New York City public school system, Judge Zayas serves as an outstanding role
model and inspiration not only for the many diverse members of the Hispanic community but for
every New Yorker striving to realize the American Dream. Here is an individual who took
advantage of all the city has to offer and repaid his debt by dedicating his career to public service.”
In presenting the Hispanic Heritage award at a reception earlier today in his Kew Gardens
offices, District Attorney Brown said, “Queens County’s greatest strength is in the diversity of its
residents who represent scores of countries, making it the most diverse county in the nation. In our
office we are particularly proud of the diversity of our staff.”
Judge Zayas’s family immigrated from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, in the 1950s and settled
in upper Manhattan, where Judge Zayas was raised in the Frederick Douglas Houses and in the West
Harlem area. He attended both public elementary and secondary schools before enrolling in
Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Center, where he graduated, magna cum laude, in 1985.
He received his juris doctor degree in 1988 from Columbia University School of Law, where he was
a Charles Evan Hughes Fellow.
Following graduation from law school, Judge Zayas worked as a senior staff attorney with
the Legal Aid Society’s Capital Defense Division, Criminal Appeals Bureau, and Criminal Trial
Division. Thereafter, in 1998, he served as the principal law clerk for Supreme Court Justice
Rolando T. Acosta (who now serves in the Appellate Division, First Department), at the Harlem
Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional, problem-solving court serving the communities
of East and Central Harlem.
Five years later, in June 2003, he was appointed as a judge of the Criminal Court of the City
of New York by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and reappointed in January 2010. During those
years, he was also appointed by the Honorable Judith S. Kaye, then Chief Judge of the New York
State Court of Appeals, as a commission member of The Commission on the Future of Indigent
Defense Services and served as a panelist at a City Hall Forum entitled How To Become A Criminal
(MORE)
-2Or Family Court Judge In New York City, which was sponsored by the Franklin H. Williams Judicial
Commission on Minorities. Additionally, he has lectured as a panelist at the Criminal Court Judges
Association’s annual seminar regarding Drug Treatment Courts and the recent revision of the drug
sentencing laws.
In May 2010 he was designated an Acting Supreme Court Justice by the Honorable Ann Pau,
then Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts, and has served as the presiding judge of the Queens
Misdemeanor Treatment Court and the Mental Health Recovery Court. In June 2012, he was
appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as a judge of the Court of Claims, which is the forum
for civil litigation seeking damages against the State of New York, and was assigned to his current
post, presiding over jury trials and the county’s indicted domestic violence cases, as well as the
county forensic cases. He previously served as the presiding judge of the Queens Misdemeanor
Treatment Court and the Mental Health Recovery Court.
In addition to his judicial work, Judge Zayas presently serves on the Judicial Institute’s
Criminal Law Advisory Committee as the Secretary of the Association of Judges of Hispanic
Heritage, and is on the advisory board of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County, which
honored him in 2008 for his dedication and commitment to the Latino community in Queens County.
Judge Zayas resides in Queens with his wife, Catherine, and their three children.
National Hispanic Heritage Month began as a week-long celebration in 1968. The observance
was expanded in 1988 to a month-long celebration (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15). During this month, America
celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the
Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. September 15 was
chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five
Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In
addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18,
respectively.
Last year’s Hispanic Heritage Award was given to Richard M. Gutierrez, President of the
Queens County Bar Association, for his hard work and dedication to the residents of Queens County.
Prior award recipients included: Assistant District Attorney Mariela Palomino Herring, Chief of
District Attorney Brown’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau, in 2010; Dr. Eduardo J. Martí,
President of Queensborough Community College, in 2009; the Honorable Fernando Camacho,
Administrative Judge of the State Supreme Court, Queens County, Criminal Term, in 2008; New
York State Assemblyman Jose R. Peralta, of the 39th Assembly District, in 2007; and the Latino
Lawyers Association of Queens County received the inaugural Hispanic Heritage award in 2006.
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Note to Editors: E-version of this press release posted at www .queensda.org.