On May 22, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Justices Anil C. Singh and Jeffrey K. Oing had been appointed to fill vacancies on the bench of the Appellate Division, First Department. June 12, 2017 was the last day on the Commercial Division bench for both Justices. Since their departure for the First Department, Justices Singh and Oing have been missed on the Commercial Division bench, as the Court has worked to reassign their substantial caseloads. Acting Administrative Judge George J. Silver, who has temporarily stepped into the role left by prior Administrative Judge Peter H. Moulton (who was also elevated to the Appellate Division with Justices Singh and Oing) and the Office of Court Administration have been responsible for filling these vacancies on the Commercial Division bench.
On July 3, 2017, the Court announced that Justice Andrea Masley would be taking over the Commercial Division inventory of Justice Oing (Part 48). Justice Masley has since taken over Part 48, which remains in Courtroom 242 at 60 Centre Street. The phone number of the Part remains unchanged (646-386-3265). Justice Masley has moved to new Chambers, Room 647 at 60 Centre Street. The phone number of Justice Masley's Chambers is 646-386-4333. Justice Masley was elected to the Civil Court of the City of New York in 2007, was designated to the Supreme Court in 2013, and was elected to the Supreme Court in 2017. Justice Masley was previously the Principal Court Attorney to Justice Charles E. Ramos from 2001 through 2007. She now joins Justice Ramos on the New York County Commercial Division bench.
On July 19, 2017, the Court announced that the inventory of Justice Singh (Part 45) would be redistributed amongst three existing Commercial Division Justices: Barry R. Ostrager (Part 61), Charles E. Ramos (Part 53), and O. Peter Sherwood (Part 49).
On September 1, 2017, the Court announced that all cases currently assigned to Justice Lawrence K. Marks (Part 41) have been reassigned to Justice Ostrager. Justice Marks is also the Chief Administrative Judge and apparently will be focusing solely on his administrative duties going forward.
It is estimated that each Commercial Division Justice maintains a docket in the range of 350-370 active cases, and decides approximately 400-500 motions per year. With the loss of Justices Singh, Oing and Marks, the eight Commercial Division Justices for New York County will surely continue to maintain extremely active dockets.
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