Garrison Resident to Retire from NYS Judgeship
Reaching the mandatory retirement age, Garrison resident and longtime Judge Thomas Scuccimarra announced last week he plans to retire from the courts at the end of the year.
Scuccimarra, who is currently a New York State Court of Claims judge, told The Putnam Examiner he plans to step down at the end of the month, ending his run in his current role after 17 years. When a judge reaches the age of 70, he or she is required to retire from the bench. For Scuccimarra, it’ll be the end of a lengthy career wearing the black robe.
Scuccimarra has been a member of the judiciary for 33 years and presided over five different courts in New York. He served as the town justice for Philipstown from 1984-2000 and was the acting justice for Cold Spring from 1985-2000 and acting justice for Nelsonville from 1986-2000. If he weren’t busy enough, Scuccimarra then served on the Putnam County Court as a multi-hat judge presiding over family, criminal, and surrogate court matters for about ten months in 2000.
On April 24, 2001, Scuccimarra was nominated by former New York governor George Pataki, a Republican, to serve as a judge on the Court of Claims and was confirmed by the NYS Senate on May 8, 2001. On June 20, 2006, Scuccimarra was reappointed to a 9-year term by Pataki and then on June 17, 2015, Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, appointed him to another 9-year term, which he will leave due to age restrictions after serving about three years into the term.
While he was headquartered in White Plains District Court of Claims, Scuccimarra presided over trials in Hauppauge, Long Island and has been part of the New York City District assignment wheel for many years.
He served as the president of the Peekskill City Bar Association in 1984 and as president of the Putnam County Magistrates’ Association from 1989-1992. He was one of the first members of Philipstown’s Conservation Advisory Counsel and a trustee of the Butterfield Memorial Hospital board in Cold Spring. In 1999, he was appointed by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division as a mediator in the settlement of attorney/client disputes.
He currently serves on the 9th Judicial District Committee to Promote Gender Fairness in the courts and is a member of the New York Magistrates Association and New York State Bar Association.
His wife, Barbara, is a legislator on the county Legislature representing District 1 until the end of the year.
