Members of the Brooklyn Bar Association packed Downtown’s New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday night for the group’s annual Foundation Dinner, which salutes local judges and their civic contributions to Kings County, according to the association’s president.
“Honorees were chosen because they reflect different parts of the Brooklyn legal community and these people have done incredible work for the residents of the borough,” said David Chidekel.
Jurists including Justice Sylvia Ash, Justice Matthew D’Emic, Justice Genine Edwards, Justice Bernard Graham, Justice Joanne Quinones, and Justices Jeffrey and Nancy Sunshine celebrated their colleagues along with such local luminaries as Msgr. David Cassato, the pastor of Bensonhurst’s Saint Athanasius Church, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, civil-rights attorney Sanford Rubenstein, Democratic Party Boss Frank Seddio, Schneps Community News Group President and Publisher Victoria Schneps-Yunis, and other movers and shakers over drinks and dinner at the festivities.
Justice Quinones received one of seven Trailblazer Awards handed out by the more than century-old organization at the event, according to Chidekel, who said the judge’s commitment to giving back to members of her community should be an example for all.
“Judge Quinones is particularly active in the community and I respect the work she’s done with reading programs for young students, with the Women’s Bar Association — and she has a very good reputation as a judge as well,” he said.
Other recipients of the Trailblazer Award included Gonzalez, Justice Larry Martin, Justice William Miller, Justice Marsha Steinhardt, former Brooklyn Bar Association president Aimee Richter, and Brooklyn Supreme Court Chief Clerk Charles Small.
The legal eagles’ ceremony also honored three local attorneys: Seddio, a former Canarsie Assemblyman who now runs a private law practice, Gov. Cuomo’s counsel Alphonso David, and Justice Margarita Lopez Torres, the current Surrogate of Kings County.
