McCord, longest-sitting judge in city and county, retires

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After 34 years of service to the city, Judge Richard J. McCord will retire at the end of this year. 

To honor his decades of service, the Glen Cove City Council unanimously passed a resolution to rename the city’s courthouse the Richard J. McCord City Courthouse. The current city court building opened in 1995, and no other elected judge has ever served there.

Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck reflected on the judge’s reputation and spoke about how McCord saved the lives of many of the city’s youth through court-ordered counseling programs and constant involvement with the families of defendants who came before him. She added that McCord has stood for justice to the people of Glen Cove and has protected those in danger and taken violent criminals off the street when necessary. 

“Our city has been so lucky to have had a judge who has perfected the art of knowing when he needed to be tough, but also knowing when to be compassionate and understanding,” Panzenbeck said.  

Born and raised in Glen Cove, McCord graduated from Jericho High School in 1970. He attended Columbia University as part of the class of

977, before pursuing his law degree at Bridgeport Law School where he graduated in 1980. McCord was inspired to study law by his maternal great uncle Thomas DeBellis, who served as a judge in the Bronx. “I was always impressed by how articulate he was and how he would simplify the law for us to understand growing up,” McCord said. 

Upon graduation, he was immediately appointed by the mayor and the City Council to serve as the deputy mayor from 1980 to 1983. He then chaired the Glen Cove housing authority from 1983 to 1988. Later, he was appointed as associate judge of the Glen Cove City Court by the City Council where he served from 1988 through 1994 alongside Judge Joseph Vetrone. 

After winning his first election in 1995, he took his seat as a supervising judge of the Glen Cove City Court. He is the longest sitting judges in the history of Nassau County and the city. In addition to overseeing criminal matters, McCord acted as a mediator over the courts and has presided over countless weddings. 

Councilman Jack Mancusi said McCord was seen as tough but fair by his colleagues, but he said he prefers to remember McCord’s term as just. Mancusi added he was honored to vote on the resolution naming the courthouse after McCord during his first term as a city councilman.

Councilman Kevin Maccarone knew McCord since he was 12 years old and frequently chatted with him at the YMCA. They would frequently discuss Maccarone’s academics and interest in baseball. 

As he got older, Maccarone recognized that McCord’s interest in other’s lives was not common. Maccarone, an attorney, said that appearing in front of the judge over the years was an honor but he was initially uneasy appearing before him. 

“The most nervous I’ve ever been in my career was the first time I appeared before you,” Maccarone said. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to throw me out of the courtroom and say what are you doing in here kid?” 

McCord quickly established himself as a justice for the people, serving the community with fairness and integrity. During his time on the bench, he started court approved programs such as the Adolescent Diversion Program, including the very successful Teen Court, which McCord started after seeing minors intimidated by the court system. 

McCord’s long-time motto is, “Education is the best form of crime prevention.” His goals for Teen Court have been to give participants familiarity with the court system, while learning first-hand the repercussions of violating the law. Additionally, he hoped to make the proceedings less frightening and more educational for youthful offenders with penalties that are appropriate to the violation.

These programs were some of the first of their kind in the Nassau County Court system, and their impact inspired other courts throughout the county to implement similar programs.

Outside of his judicial duties, McCord was the former chairman of the now shuttered All-Saints Regional Catholic School, a member of the Sons of Italy, Elks Club and the Knights of Columbus and a board member to the Glen Cove YMCA.  

When asked about his experience serving the city, McCord said that Glen Cove is a wonderful place to be part of. 

“I’m honored that the people elected me five times to this position,” he said, “and that I could make Glen Cove a safer place to live and raise our families in.”

Councilman Joseph Capobianco will serve as city judge in Jan. 2023.