Michael Faleck, a former clerk to Court of Appeals Judge Anthony Cannataro, has been tapped to join the Brooklyn Housing Court bench, his first judge position.
“Thank you to the judicial leadership for this amazing opportunity, to all those who supported me along the way, and to my colleagues for their ongoing support,” Faleck said. “I am humbled and honored to have been selected for this role, and to be joining in the extraordinarily important and impactful work of the New York City Housing Court.”
As a housing court judge, Faleck will hear and rule on tens of thousands of cases each year regarding landlord-tenant disputes like tenants not paying rent, evictions, harassment matters and building habitability and maintenance issues, like heating, pests, mold and water damages.
His appointment into a vacancy created by Judge Juliet Howard’s election to the New York City Civil Court was announced by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George on Monday morning. Both said they believed Faleck’s past experience as a court attorney in the city’s housing court and private practice in the landlord-tenant space made him a good fit for the seat.
“New York City Housing Court plays a vital role in protecting the rights of tenants and landlords alike, directly affecting the daily lives of New Yorkers,” Zayas said. “Michael Faleck possesses a wealth of legal experience, astute judgment, an even temperament, and a passion for the law and equal justice. His appointment enhances our ability to meet the demands of this high-volume court.”
From 2015 to 2018, Faleck worked as a court attorney in New York City Housing Court, where he conferenced cases, drafted decisions, and conducted legal research, among his other duties. Before that, when he was an associate with the law firm Newman Ferrara LLP, he edited a handbook on landlord-tenant law in addition to his other responsibilities.
Currently, Faleck is a principal court attorney with the Appellate Term, Second Department, where he’s been researching and analyzing complex legal issues and drafting confidential case reports and slip opinions since 2023. Prior to that work, he served as the principal law clerk to Judge Cannataro, during his current tenure on the Court of Appeals bench and past tenure on the New York County Supreme Court bench.
Cannataro, a Democrat and the state’s first openly LGBTQ+ acting chief judge, frequently rules with the Court of Appeals’ conservative bloc of judges.
Faleck is a member of the Small Claims Arbitrators Association and a graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, to which he earned a full academic scholarship. His first job out of school was as a law secretary in Queens County Supreme Court’s Civil Term.
He will take his seat on the Brooklyn Housing Court’s bench on Jan. 1, 2026.
