Judge Jenny Tubridy Seeks Signatures to Represent Rockaway in Court

By Katie McFadden

Jennifer Tubridy just finished up her second year serving as a judge for the Criminal Court of the City of New York, and now nominated by both the Democrat and Republican parties, she has an opportunity to represent the Rockaway peninsula as a Civil Court Judge for NYC, but she needs some local support to officially get on the ballot.

After attending Brooklyn Law School and gaining some experience working as a courtroom deputy clerk in the Southern District, Tubridy went on to apply for the Queens District Attorney’s office and worked as an Assistant District Attorney for 10 years. She then went on to work as a court attorney law secretary for Judge Barry Schwartz in Queens until he retired, and then she started working for Civil Court Judge Nestor Diaz at the New York County Criminal Court as principal attorney. Judge Diaz went on to Queens Supreme Court, and Tubridy followed until she took on an amazing opportunity of her own. On February 15, 2023, Jennifer Tubridy was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams to service on the Criminal Court for NYC, originally assigned to Kings County Criminal Court.

“It’s been hectic, but I love it. Every day is different. I’ve done a lot of different things with different cases from domestic violence to DWIs, felony parts, arraignments. I’ve basically been able to do it all, so I’ve learned a lot. I really have enjoyed being a judge and I’m looking forward to what’s next,” Tubridy said of her time as a Criminal Court Judge. And recently, Tubridy got to transfer a little closer to home, now serving as a judge in Queens Criminal Court. “It’s like coming home. I spent most of my career there. I spent the first few years of my career in Queens and I’m happy to be back. It’s nice to be working for the people you live with.”

Now, she has an opportunity to represent folks even closer to home in civil court. “There’s this relic from the old days where we had community court all over the city and there’s countywide seats for judge and district seats. Rockaway has a district seat, I believe Municipal District 5, which is for the whole peninsula and Broad Channel, so we get to have a judge run from the area and this year the seat is open,” Tubridy explained. New York City elects 120 judges to the Civil Court of the City of New York. Each judge hears civil cases between people and/or businesses, regarding money and/or injury. As an elected position, Tubridy has received the nomination from both the Democrat and Republican parties, but she’s now going through the process of officially getting on the ballot by collecting signatures from those in the district.

“It’s petition season, so I’ve been running around trying to collect signatures from both sides,” Tubridy said. She has until the third week of March to collect 1,500 signatures from both registered Democrats and registered Republicans. Already hitting the ground running, Tubridy and a team of folks supporting her, have been collecting signatures everywhere from local stores to the Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade last Saturday, and they’re just getting started. “My people and I will be knocking on doors and heading to places with a lot of foot traffic, so if anyone sees us and wants to sign, please do,” Tubridy said.

Having the support of both parties has made the experience overall a pleasant one. “This is finally something that we can all agree on and it’s nice that it’s a friendly atmosphere,” she said. Tubridy believes she’ll be able to gather the 3,000 signatures needed and more. “I’ll get there. I’m not alone in this. We will be hustling,” she said.

After she successfully collects signatures from both parties, Tubridy says, “hopefully after that, it’ll be smooth sailing.” While there’s a chance there could be a primary, Tubridy says it looks like she’ll just be on the general election ballot, where all registered voters in the district can vote for her. She explained that while the position would be for Civil Court, she’ll likely still serve in Criminal Court as well. “They always need judges to sit in criminal court, so I could be working in criminal and civil,” she said.

On a personal level, Tubridy says the opportunity would be a good boost for her career trajectory, but it would be an honor to represent her neighbors. “With this, I wouldn’t preside over the neighborhood, I’ll be amongst all the judges, but the neighborhood would have their own representation in the courts. It would mean a lot to represent the people that I’ve grown up with. Even while passing petitions near P.S. 183, I was telling some mothers picking up children that this is my school, I went there. It means a lot to live among the people you’re working for as a public servant. It would be nice to know that not only was I the mayor’s choice, but my community’s choice,” Tubridy said.

So, if you see Tubridy and her team around town with petitions, and you’re a registered Democrat or Republican, consider signing to help get one of Rockaway’s own on the ballot for Civil Court Judge.