QUEENS, NY – Borough President Melinda Katz is pleased to announce her appointment of retired New York State Supreme Court Justice Augustus C. Agate to the Queens Library Board of Trustees.

Justice Agate was elected to the New York State Supreme Court in November 2004 and served on the Court’s Civil Term bench in Queens County until his retirement in December 2014. As a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Agate presided over jury and non-jury trials, ruled on pre-trial motions and conducted hearings regarding the issuance of court orders governing the treatment of mentally ill persons.  He had previously been a New York City Civil Court Judge from January 2001 to the end of 2004.

Before becoming a judge, Justice Agate worked in private legal practice from 1976 to 2000, and served as a part time community aide to State Senator Jeremy S. Weinstein from 1979 to 1988. He began his legal career by serving as an Assistant Queens County District Attorney from 1970 to 1973 and was Law Secretary to New York Civil Court Judge Martha K. Zelman from 1974 to 1976.

“I am very pleased to appoint Justice Augustus C. Agate to the Board of Trustees of Queens Library,” Borough President Katz said. “Justice Agate has extensive experience in making tough decisions from the bench, so his strong judicial temperament will serve him well as a member of the Queens Library Board of Trustees, which is entrusted with providing sound stewardship to one of our borough’s most treasured educational and cultural institutions. His intelligence and commitment to public service are also most impressive and will help guarantee he does an excellent job as a member of the Board.”

“I am thankful that Borough President Katz has appointed me to Queens Library’s Board of Trustees,” Justice Agate said. “I am dedicated to using the experience I have gained during my 14 years as a judge as well as my many years of law practice to make sure the Queens Library is governed with transparency and with fiscal soundness to ensure that the institution will continue to provide quality services to the people of Queens for decades to come.”

A Howard Beach resident, Justice Agate earned a B.A. in Political Science from City College of the City University of New York in 1966 and graduated from the Michigan State University College of Law in 1969. He was Democratic Party district leader from 1995 to 2000, and was executive member of the South Queens Democratic Club from 1994 to 2000.

Justice Agate is a member of the 106th Precinct Community Council, the Ozone-Howard Chamber of Commerce, the Rockwood Park Concerned Residents Association and the Kiwanis Club of Howard Beach, of which he is a past president. He also is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Queens County Bar Association, the Columbian Lawyers’ Association of Queens County, the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Queens County and the Assistant District Attorneys’ Association of Queens County.