Valley Stream village deputy attorney nominated for judgeship

Gary Carlton has assisted local municipalities with legal issues since he was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1980 — he represented both residents and government officials — and even served as the deputy attorney for the Village of Valley Stream for the last seven years. Now he is running for the Nassau County 2nd District Court Judge, which represents the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach.

“I always hoped that I would end my legal career being a judge,” Carlton said, “and my partner’s six years older than me, so this seemed to be the time to get that done and try to secure a nomination from the Democrats.”

In order to run, Carlton, 63, had to get the Nassau County Bar Association’s approval to run and meet with a Democratic Party screening committee. Carlton said he was told before the Democrats’ nominating convention on May 31 that he secured one of the three nominations for a judge position.

“Gary Carlton is the best possible candidate to rule on difficult cases in a fair and independent way,” Jay Jacobs, the Nassau County Democratic chairman, said in a statement.

Carlton said he first became an attorney to serve Nassau County. “I think from a young age I was very involved in community matters, and to me, [getting a law degree] was a good stepping stone to be able to use the law degree to…help people,” Carlton said.

To benefit his community, Carlton has worked as both a defense attorney and as a prosecutor. In Valley Stream, he serves as a defense attorney for the village, mainly in personal injury cases. In one case, a pedestrian who was crossing Central Avenue onto Merrick Avenue was struck and killed. The case was ultimately settled.

“Since I live in the village, it’s my way of making sure I keep the taxes down by making sure that people who don’t have meritorious cases don’t collect,” he said.

Carlton’s work has saved the village thousands of dollars, according to Mayor Ed Fare, who said he is a “friend” to the village. Trustee Vincent Grasso went further, however. “[Carlton] has helped the village in the honest administration of justice and represented us to the betterment and fiscal advantage of our community,” Grasso said in a statement. “The English language proves inadequate in expressing how strong an endorsement I would offer for Gary Carlton for 2nd District Court judge."

In North Woodmere, Carlton brought litigation against Long Island Water in the mid-1990s. The utility wanted to remove trees along the rear edge of a stream that runs behind Hungry Harbor Road. “I was able to get them to hold off on doing that,” Carlton said.

He also represented members of the community. In a 2013 case that he worked pro bono, Carlton represented minority communities that were suing the Town of Hempstead for re-drawing the districts in a way that would split them up. The arguments Carlton made in the case, he said, became a precedent for other redistricting cases throughout the country. “You can’t dilute the minority in order to deprive them of a seat,” he said.

Carlton said he believes his knowledge of the community would also be beneficial as a judge. He grew up in the Five Towns and eventually moved to Valley Stream. Carlton also attends Central Synagogue in Rockville Centre, where he serves on the pro-bono counsel. He helped the synagogue create a contract to sell a house that it owned and assisted with legal matters related to the merger with Temple Beth Emeth in 2016. “His legal expertise has been very helpful to us over the years,” said Rabbi Elliott Skiddell.

The election for district judge is Nov. 7. There are three open judge seats in the Town of Hempstead, and the three candidates with the most votes will each be assigned to one of these seats.