Gov. Cuomo is set to fill up to three vacancies in the Appellate Division court in Manhattan, where the caseload is already light and the 17 current justices don’t have enough to do, courthouse observers told The Post.
“I don’t think there’s enough work to take care of the people who are here,” a source said of the court. “I think they could manage with fewer judges and the work would be accomplished just as well.”
The appeals-court job is considered a plum assignment and viewed largely as a patronage appointment. The job comes with a raise in annual salary to $144,000 from $136 ,700.
Appellate cases are heard by five-judge panels, and each judge sits on the bench just once a week.
The Governor’s Office would only say that the selection process was ongoing.