Gov. Andrew Cuomo will nominate Manhattan appellate judge Paul Feinman to fill a vacancy on the state Court of Appeals, he said Thursday.
Feinman’s nomination, which must be confirmed by the state Senate, comes with just days left in the legislative session. His nomination is one of a number for various top state posts awaiting Senate action.
Feinman would fill the spot vacated following the death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam in April.
Feinman is “an extraordinary human being and would be a great addition to that court,” Cuomo said on NY1 Thursday.
He was elected to serve on New York City civil court in Manhattan in 1996 and was elected to serve on the Supreme Court in the 1st Judicial District in Manhattan in 2007. He was appointed by Cuomo in 2012 to serve as an associate justice of the appellate division of the Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Feinman would be the first openly gay judge on the high court, if he is confirmed.
Sen. John Bonacic, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Times Union last week that he was in “no rush” to confirm whoever Cuomo’s nominee to the Court of Appeals would be.
A Bonacic spokesman told New York Law Journal that as of Thursday afternoon there are no plans to hold a Judiciary Committee meeting before the end of the legislative session. The session is scheduled to end next Wednesday.
“Senator Bonacic will reserve comment until he has had the chance to do his due diligence on the background and past cases of Judge Feinman,” Conor Gillis, the spokesman, later told CapCon by email.
The Capitol Confidential team: