A century ago, this state’s growing need for a more efficient
and modern justice system resulted in the creation of the
Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. The
First Judicial Department of the Appellate Division has for one
hundred years served the communities of Manhattan and the Bronx.
Now we commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of the Court’s
founding in 1896. From its beginning the Court has been closely
intertwined with the life of New York City, a city unique in
America for its leadership in the fields of art and industry, in
financial and intellectual life. Although individual styles and
ideas have changed dramatically over the past hundred years, the
rule of law remains a constant. As it has helped us to find our
way through the complexities of the 20th century, so it will
guide New Yorkers through Over the last one hundred years,
millions of people have seen New York as their first glimpse of
America. Here millions of others have come from across the
nation to test themselves an