East Side Democratic Club Social, & Meet the Judges

Post primary kumbaya. The East Side’s Lexington Democratic Club’s Summer Social brought together the Democratic Party faithful at Dorrian’s Red Hand on Second Avenue and 84th Street and that included those who lost and those who won in the June primary. Those looking to run for political office. Those seeking Civil Court judgeships. And some seeking one of the open Supreme Court mentioned below. Kumbaya time!

The Lex Club was, of course, well-represented, including District Leader Meryl Brodsky. Club leaders Mark McKew, Sue Moss, Brice Peyre. Community activist and leader David Menegon was there, as was the 73rd A.D. Assemblymember Alex Bores and Vanessa Aronson, who will succeed Bores when she’s elected in November.

One West Sider stood out as he made his way through the very crowded UES party room: the soon-to-be, come November, Congressman, Micah Lasher. From my view from a window seat, the crowd was welcoming and happy to see Lasher mixing and mingling with his East Side constituents. I didn’t get to see if there was a kumbaya between former rivals Bores and Lasher. Still, it was good to see Alex back from vacation with his family. And happy to see that Micah Lasher was reaching out to his East Side constituency.

Who gets the seats? The race for the three open judicial seats in NY County Supreme Court is nearing judgment day, August 10. That’s the date when Manhattan Democrats will hold their Judicial Convention and elected delegates nominate the judges who will appear on the ballot in the November election to fill the three open seats. As explained in a prior column, I’ve been writing about those candidates who’ve invited me to the meet and greets they have for Judicial Delegates, Alternate Delegates and Manhattan Dem club members.

As a Four Freedoms Dem Club member, I got an invite for Justice Shah (Shahabuddeen) Ally’s meet and greet. Turned out to be a hot, hot evening in July at the popular Bloom’s Tavern on East 58th St., and Judge Ally’s decision to hold the event at the street level bar rather than in one of the upstairs party rooms showed good judgment. Stairs are not my strong suit!

For the upcoming Judicial Convention, I’ve written about the meet and greets for contenders Acting Supreme Court Justices Chris Chin and Kathleen Waterman-Marshall. Today, it’s Judge Ally’s turn.

At last year’s convention, Judge Ally withdrew his nomination in favor of now Supreme Court Justice Jim Clynes. I’m guessing this year is the charm for Ally, whose judicial career began in 2018 when he was elected to a 10-year term. He currently serves as the Citywide Administrative Judge of the New York City Civil Court, where he has oversight of Civil and Housing Courts across city’s five boroughs and supervises more than one hundred judges across multiple courthouses.

Sneaking Ally Through the Alley. ”This experience,” he says, “has not only broadened my perspective, but has also reinforced my commitment to fairness, efficiency, and principled leadership,” qualities he believes are indispensable to the administration of justice. In addition to his administrative duties, Judge Ally serves as an Acting Supreme Court Justice and presides over matrimonial matters and Article 78 proceedings.

From September 2020 to December 2024, he was Supervising Judge/Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, New York County Civil Court, where his duties included overseeing all aspects of court operations and administration in New York County Civil Court: judicial and non-judicial assignments, case management, court facilities, technology development, public and access to justice, in addition to handling special proceedings as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court.

Ally also presided over calendars in Civil Court: No Fault, Commercial Landlord/Tenant, General Civil, Consumer Debt, Name Change parts, as well as deciding motions and conducting pre-trial conferences, hearings and trials. He served in Bronx Criminal Court from 2019 to September 2020 where he presided over all misdemeanor matters, including arraignments, motions, and calendar parts. He was assigned to the Domestic Violence part handling family violence matters and presided over pre-indictment felony matters as well as jury trials, bench trials and pre-trial hearings and decided pre-trial motions.

Prior to being elected to the judiciary, he founded his own law firm where he practiced from September 2007 to October 2018. From 2004 to 2007 he was Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department. Judge Ally was born in Guyana. He lives in Upper Manhattan.