Anger-management counseling hasn’t dulled the ire of New York’s nastiest judge.
Brian Levine, the Staten Island traffic-court jurist with the city’s highest conviction rate and a reputation for lashing out at defendants, flashed his trademark bile during a recent court session after it was revealed he was disciplined by the DMV for berating a litigant.
“You’re shoving things down my throat!” he barked at a driver who had the gall to present photos to the judge while arguing he was not guilty of a stop-sign violation. “You’re being rude!”
The DMV ordered the judge to undergo anger-management classes in 2011 after he yelled at a defendant in a case in 2009, a year when his 87 percent conviction rate led the city, The Staten Island Advance reported on Jan. 27.
But there was no sign of a kinder, gentler Levine in traffic court on Jan. 30.
A cabby summoned for driving in a bus lane contended that construction at the Staten Island ferry terminal forced him into that lane to get to a taxi stand.
Levine asked if there was a sign indicating the lane was for buses only, and the hack replied that there was a sign on the road — but it was faded.
“That’s not what I asked you!” the judge snapped. “You’re giving me a Bill Clinton answer, and I don’t appreciate it.”
Levine found the driver guilty, announcing that the matter was as “clear as a bell.”