Manhattan Judge Alvin Hellerstein Dies at 92

Alvin K. Hellerstein, a federal judge in Manhattan who handled high-profile cases for nearly three decades, has died. Edward Friedland, the executive director of the federal courts in the Southern District of New York, confirmed the death on Wednesday. Hellerstein was 92 years old. The cause of death was not immediately released.

Just two weeks ago, Hellerstein presided over a hearing in Manhattan regarding the narcoterrorism conspiracy trial against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was captured earlier this year in a surprise operation. A court spokesperson said the Maduro case has now been reassigned to Judge Analisa Torres.

Hellerstein served on the federal bench from 1998 until 2011, when he took senior status. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Before his judicial career, he worked as a litigator in Manhattan and served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

His career was defined by the 9/11 litigation. After the 2001 attacks, he presided over dozens of lawsuits for negligent death, injuries, and property damage. This process lasted for two decades. Attorneys noted that Hellerstein showed deep empathy for victims and their families. He often met with them for hours in his chambers and rejected compensation offers he deemed insufficient.

In 2008, some observers expressed concern when Hellerstein ended an initiative to search for human remains in debris from the World Trade Center site that had been moved to a Staten Island landfill.

In August, Hellerstein issued one of his final major rulings involving Donald Trump. The judge rejected a new attempt by Trump to overturn his conviction in the hush money case. He dismissed the request to move the state court case to federal jurisdiction and rejected the argument that presidential immunity required dismissal. This was the third time Hellerstein denied such requests. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ordered him to reconsider after finding he made an error in not considering relevant questions. The appeals court noted it expressed no opinion on how he should rule.

In 2020, Hellerstein ordered the release of Michael Cohen, a former lawyer and close associate of Trump, after the Justice Department revoked his house arrest. The judge ruled the government’s move was retaliatory and violated the First Amendment. In 2015, he ordered a New York City cable company to pay $229,500 to a Texas woman after she was flooded with 153 robocalls.