Bronx and Brooklyn Housing Courts Get New Leadership Amid High Caseloads

The two New York City Housing Courts that handle a large share of landlord and tenant disputes in the Bronx and Brooklyn have new supervising judges. Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas announced the appointments on Thursday.

Judge Christel Garland will lead the Bronx court, replacing Judge Miriam Breier, who is retiring. Judge Kimon Thermos will take over in Brooklyn, succeeding Judge Kevin McClanahan, who is moving to another judicial role.

The Housing Court system adjudicates disputes between landlords and tenants, as well as housing violations. The Bronx and Brooklyn parts are among the busiest in the five-borough system.

Zayas said Garland and Thermos have served the court with distinction. He stated that their knowledge of housing matters and their commitment to equitable access will benefit both tenants and property owners.

Garland has served as a Bronx Housing Court Judge since 2018. Before joining the bench, she worked as a court arbitrator in Kings County Civil Court’s Small Claims Court in Brooklyn and as a court attorney in the Housing Parts in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Her legal career began as a judicial law clerk in New Jersey Superior Court’s Family Division, and she has also served as a volunteer attorney with New York’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She is a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the City University of New York’s School of Law.

“Serving this community has been one of the greatest privileges of my career,” Garland said, adding that she is committed to ensuring that every person who comes before the court is treated with dignity, empathy, and fairness.

Thermos has worked in the court system for 15 years and has been involved with Housing Court as a litigator and judge for more than 30 years. He began as a court attorney in Queens County Civil Court before entering private practice focused on landlord-tenant and real estate law. Appointed to the Housing Court bench in 2014, he has worked in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, and has been assigned to resolution, trial, and NYCHA Parts. He earned his undergraduate degree from New York University and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law.

“I am grateful for the opportunity bestowed on me to serve as Supervising Judge of the Housing Court in Kings County,” Thermos said. He stated he is honored to work toward a more inclusive, equitable, and impartial court.