Eric N. Vitaliano

Eric Nicholas Vitaliano
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Incumbent
Assumed office February 28, 2017
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
In office January 19, 2006 – February 28, 2017
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Arthur Donald Spatt
Succeeded by	Eric R. Komitee
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 59th district
In office January 1, 1983 – December 31, 1992
Preceded by	Victor L. Robles
Succeeded by	Elizabeth Connelly
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 60th district
In office January 1, 1993 – December 31, 2001
Preceded by	Robert A. Straniere
Succeeded by	Matthew Mirones
Personal details
Born	Eric Nicholas Vitaliano (1948-02-27) February 27, 1948 Staten Island, New York
Education	Fordham University (B.A.) New York University School of Law (J.D.)

Eric Nicholas Vitaliano (born February 27, 1948 in Staten Island, New York) is a Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Vitaliano was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 6, 2005, to a seat vacated by Arthur D. Spatt. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005, and received commission on January 19, 2006.

Vitaliano suffers from glaucoma and is legally blind.

Education and career

Vitaliano received a Bachelor's degree from Fordham College in 1968 and a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law in 1971. After law school, Vitaliano clerked for United States District Judge Mark A. Constantino of the Eastern District of New York, and worked for seven years for the Manhattan law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. From 1979 to 1981 he served as Chief of Staff to Congressman John M. Murphy.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 2001, sitting in the 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd and 194th New York State Legislatures. In 1997, he ran for Congress in 13th District, but was defeated by Republican Vito Fossella. In November 2001, Vitaliano was elected to the New York City Civil Court.

Federal judicial service

In 2005, he was recommended to the Eastern District bench by Senator Charles Schumer. Vitaliano was officially nominated to the court by President George W. Bush on October 6, 2005, to the seat vacated by Arthur Donald Spatt, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005, and received his commission on January 19, 2006. He assumed senior status on February 28, 2017.

Notable case

In July 2011, wide attention came to his injunction that essentially nullified a set of decisions by the federal, state and city governments over the last years, which had removed two historic buildings from classification as federally designated parkland. One, the Tobacco Warehouse, a Civil War-era structure in Dumbo, was on the verge of conversion to the new home of Brooklyn's leading theater company. Judge Vitaliano held it was “crystal clear” that the National Park Service and others had exceeded their authority.

External links

• Eric N. Vitaliano at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.