Eric Nicholas Vitaliano (born February 27, 1948) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

. Vitaliano was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

on October 6, 2005, to a seat vacated by Arthur Spatt. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on December 21, 2005, and received commission on January 19, 2006. Vitaliano suffers from

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

and is legally blind.

Early life

Vitaliano was born in

West New Brighton, Staten Island West New Brighton (also called West Brighton) is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City, situated in the central area of North Shore. The neighborhood is bordered by New Brighton to the east, Port Richmond to the west, the waters of ...

on February 27, 1948, and attended St. Peter's Boys High School. While at college he became a member of the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Young Democrats of America The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the youth wing of the Democratic Party of the United States. YDA operates as a separate organization from the Democratic National Committee; following the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, i ...

Education and career

Vitaliano received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

Fordham College Fordham University is a private Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located. Fordham is the oldest Catholic a ...

in 1968 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

in 1971. After law school, Vitaliano clerked for

United States District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

Mark A. Constantino of the

Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...

, and worked for seven years for the

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

law firm of

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with approximately 1,500 attorneys in 1 ...

. 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 The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1983 to 2001, sitting in the 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd and

194th New York State Legislature The 194th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 2001, to December 31, 2002, during the seventh and eighth years of George Pataki's governorship, in Albany. St ...

s. In a 1997 special election, he ran for Congress in 13th District, but was defeated by Republican

Vito Fossella Vito John Fossella Jr. (born March 9, 1965) is an American politician serving as the Staten Island Borough President since 2022. A member of the Republican Party, Fossella previously represented the state's 13th congressional district in the U. ...

. In November 2001, Vitaliano was elected to the

New York City Civil Court The Civil Court of the City of New York is a civil court of the New York State Unified Court System in New York City that decides lawsuits involving claims for damages up to $25,000 and includes a small claims part (small claims court) for case ...

New York State assembly

As a member of the New York State Assembly, Vitaliano supported many political causes throughout his career. He supported the closure of the

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the borough of Staten Island in New York City, United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. The landfill op ...

and lobbied for the order of consent from the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protecti ...

that was required to begin the closure process. In 1996, he shaped the bill whose successful passage of legislation eventually enabled the landfill to close in 2001. In addition to this, Vitaliano also served as the senior New York City member of the Legislative Commission on Solid Waste Management and served as vice-chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission on Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes. Vitaliano was also supported an increase of public transportation on Staten Island. He frequently lobbied to ensure satisfactory express bus service from the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

from the Island to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He also supported the one-way toll for the

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ; also referred to as the Narrows Bridge, the Verrazzano Bridge, and simply the Verrazzano) is a suspension bridge connecting the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It spans ...

, which eventually was enacted on a federal level.

Run for Congress

In 1997, after fourteen years in the State Assembly, Vitaliano decided to run for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. A climax of his campaign was the day President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

came to Staten Island in support of his candidacy. His attempt was unsuccessful and he lost to his Republican opponent,

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

man

Federal judicial service

In 2005, he was recommended to the Eastern District bench by Senator

Charles Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus si ...

. Vitaliano was officially nominated to the court by President

on October 6, 2005, to the seat vacated by Arthur Donald Spatt, confirmed by the

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 An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitaliano, Eric N. 1948 births Living people American people of Italian descent Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York People from Staten Island United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush Simpson Thacher & Bartlett people 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature