Nassau Family Court opening delayed after missing January opening

The long-awaited opening of the Nassau Family and Matrimonial Court Complex, a project more than 20 years in the making that has been plagued by cost overruns and bureaucratic missteps, has been delayed again after missing its Jan. 1 target.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who vowed last year the Garden City building would open the first of the year, blamed the state court officials for the delay.

"On Oct. 2 we handed over the keys and delivered the building to the Office of Court Administration," he said in a statement to Newsday. "Since then, they have had many things to do including the placement of technology and equipment which I understand is about to be complete."

Tenth Judicial District Executive Paul Lamanna told Newsday last week that all the computer equipment had been set up, but that they were awaiting approval from the county.

"Until the fire marshal approves the plans, we are not going to make an announcement [on the opening date of the building]," he said.

County officials and Lamanna said the building had not failed a fire inspection, but a Newsday public records request for the fire inspection report was denied by county officials, who argued that no portion of the document could be released without jeopardizing public safety.

In October, Blakeman, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, Supreme Court Justice Vito DeStefano, the administrative judge for the 10th Judicial District in Nassau County, and other high-ranking members of the county government and the New York State Court system gathered for the "soft opening" of the courthouse, a project that began more than 20 years ago to replace the aging and, by all accounts, inadequate Family Court building in Westbury.

"The bricks and mortar here today, they cannot heal, but they can set the tone," Blakeman said during the ceremony. "The existing Family Court is a building that has outlived its usefulness. It is dark, it is cramped, it is outdated. I commend the judges, the clerks, the court officers, the operations personnel for always making the best of a less-than-optimal environment."

Blakeman’s wife, Segal Blakeman, who was cross-endorsed by the Democratic and Republican parties, is one of those judges.

Clerks and court officers at the Matrimonial Courthouse in Mineola and the Family Courthouse in Westbury were told they would move in January, however, there’s been no explanation from management for the delay.

Family court attorney Steve Herman showed up to the new courthouse at the first of the year, thinking that his case would be heard there.

"I had a case on Jan. 2 and not knowing where it would be, showed up there and the doors were not open," he told Newsday. "We’ve been waiting years and years [for the new courthouse.]"

Janet Millman, who also practices family law at the Westbury facility, said the need for the new building is apparent.

"We need more space," she said. "We’re very, very crowded. It’s an old building."

Millman said the tight quarters make it difficult to conference in private with clients who are facing deeply personal issues like abuse, child custody and financial struggles.

"We all manage here," she said. "Everyone is dedicated here."

DeStefano said during the Oct. 2 ceremony the project has seen "the participation of at least two supervising judges, five administrative judges, four chief administrative judges, two first deputy chief administrative judges, four chief judges of the Court of Appeals and one acting chief judge of the Court of Appeals and five county executives."

Newsday has previously reported the project had ballooned from the original $168 million estimate to $214.6 million, a $47 million difference.

The site has faced opposition from the community, legal squabbles between architects and contractors and design flaws.

A change order for the building’s facade, which had to be redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate a larger HVAC system, cost $2 million — the most expensive on the project.

Lamanna and DeStefano both denied the opening of the building had been pegged to the first of the year and would not say when the first cases would be heard there, though Lamanna estimated it would happen around mid-March.

"We anticipate knowing a move-in date in a manner of weeks," Lamanna said. "The notion that there’s some sort of mystery here is false."

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had the wrong title for Supreme Court Justice Vito DeStefano, who is the administrative judge for the 10th Judicial District in Nassau County.