There are certain areas of the city that you might not ever get to. And Center Street and Worth Street where the New York County Court House is located is just such a place. It's on the tip of tony Tribeca, boring Civic Center, and colorful Chinatown. Google maps had me take the B/D train to Grand Street, walk across Grand towards Bowery to Center Street. Turn left down to the Civic Center. It was about a 10 minute walk through the "not touristy" part of Chinatown. Lots of warehouses and small shopping stalls full of fresh fish and produce. Let's clarify, I just finished my jury duty, so it's July. Walking by fish stands at 9:00 a.m. is bad, but back home at 5:00 was rather foul smelling in the summer heat. Not a great way to begin or end a day. We were told to arrive at 9:00, but they didn't start taking attendance until almost 10:00 a.m. The woman who was directing the jury pool was actually quite humorous in her well rehearsed speech warning us that attendance could be taken at any time during the day and we did not want to be written down as AWAL at any point during our stay on jury duty or we would end up on the wrong side of the jury. We were instructed to keep one ear free of head phones so as not to miss our name being called and ending up on that dreaded AWAL list. We were also told that we would be there for two full days. Not one day, not a day and a half, but at least two full days. If we were picked for a jury we could be there any time from two days to two months depending on the trial. We were specifically told that the vending machines were not the property of the courts and that if we lost our money were not allowed to complain to the attendant. In fact she encouraged anyone strong enough to shake the machine to do so as to loosen that package of Fritos from the last inch of the coil that held your snack hostage.
I was called the first morning along with about 35 other potential jurors for a jury to determine damages in a case that had already determined fault. The two attorneys said the case would last about two weeks if not longer depending on the availability of the experts that each side would call to prove damages or the lack there of. The one attorney said he would be seeking "extremely large dollar amounts for his client". I said I would not be able to make an reasonable decision for his client based on two opposing professional witnesses giving testimony. So back to the jury pool I went.A very long afternoon ensued. We were finally dismissed at 4:30.
Back the next morning. Again diligently I arrived on time, but attendance was not taken for another hour.
At 11:30 I was called with about 25 other potential jurors. As informal as yesterdays questioning had been in front of the two attorneys in a private room, today I was being called into a live court with a judge, a court reporter, both parties at their respective tables, and court officers. We were all sworn in and told the specifics of the case. It was a rape case and the judge gave gruesome details in regards to the allegations by two woman who claimed to be the defendant's victims. The defendant would be acting as his own counsel. After being sworn in we were all sent back to the hallway. The court officer came back out and asked through a show of hands if anyone felt strongly that they could not be able to be impartial in this case. I think at least 20 of the 25 of us raised our hands. Back to the pool.
The jury pool itself was very New York. A perfect blend of the melting pot that is this city's population. No ethnic group was immune to being called to jury duty. What surprised me more than anything about my fellow potential jurors was the way they were dressed. I wondered if I had missed the note on my jury summons specifying that I should be dressed appropriately for cleaning out a garage. I get not wanting to look too clean shaven, but people were literally wearing cut off jeans, tank tops, and flip flops. This fellow wanted to make sure that the judge and lawyers were well aware that he was tattooed from head to toe.
As I mentioned in the beginning the neighborhood the courthouse is in is sort of a no-man's land. Unless you work or live in the area there is no reason you would ever go there. The thing about not expecting tourist to stroll down the street is that you can find some restaurant that are vying for local traffic and not hiking their prices for the tourist dollar. I was looking under Yelp for a place to eat during jury duty and sure enough Yelp came to the rescue and sent me to a charm. Dumplings, Inc. was a tiny store front with a sign on the window adverting five dumplings for a $1.00 and inside two older Chinese woman made handmade dumplings and soup. The place was clean and shiny. I got a plate of dumplings and a bowl of sweet and sour soup. It was the best $2 meal I have ever had. At 4:15 on Tuesday afternoon the jury pool coordinator said that unless we had been accepted onto a jury we were free to go. She handed out release forms and asked those that needed to be paid the allotted $40 per day for attendance make sure their names were on the list. The weary band of potential jurors packed up their lap tops and cell phone cords and headed back out into the city streets. When I got home Jeff asked said, "You don't have to do jury duty for another six years. Aren't you glad?" I told him that I was glad to be done with it, but in fact I was glad I had done it. Not because I felt proud to do my civic duty, but jury duty was actually interesting. It was interesting to hear about the cases that are being handled, interesting to go to a new area of Manhattan, and interesting to see the extremes people will go to not to get on a jury.
Another New York City first out of the way.
