Jeffrey W. Gasbarro, Esq.
Jeffrey W. Gasbarro is a general practitioner with a focus on general litigation and appeals. Jeff was privileged to serve as an elected Town Justice for the Town of Ossining for a four-year term, where he presided over thousands of cases involving criminal, traffic, landlord-tenant, and small claims matters. Having sat on the bench gives Jeff insight to develop targeted and efficient strategies in the representation of clients involved in these kinds of cases. As a Judge, Jeff authored published opinions in the areas of criminal law and landlord-tenant matters.
Jeff regularly handles matters arising under the New York State Election Law, where mistakes can lead to a candidate losing their place on the ballot. Jeff's personal experience as a candidate—having run a successful campaign to unseat an incumbent—gives him an understanding of the emotional and reputational sacrifices that candidates make when running for public office.
As an appellate lawyer, Jeff has successfully argued appeals in New York's First, Second, and Third Departments. In crafting strategies to protect his clients' interests, Jeff regularly draws upon his experience working as a court attorney and law clerk for over a decade at the Appellate Division, Second Department, where he handled all types of civil, criminal, and matrimonial matters.
Jeff is honored to have served as a Reporter to the committee of New York Judges that authors the New York Pattern Jury Instructions (known by practicing attorneys and judges simply as the “PJI”). The PJI, a four-volume treatise of jury instructions and legal commentaries, is used in every civil jury trial in New York.
Representative Matters
In 2024, Jeff successfully brought an Election Law proceeding to challenge a county political committee's process of filling vacancies.
In 2024, Jeff commenced litigation successfully challenging a Village Clerk's improper rejection of a petition for a referendum to move the date of a village election (Matter of Winter v Luft, 83 Misc3d 1285[A] [Westchester Supreme Court], aff’d 230 AD3d 1084 [2d Dept]).
In 2024, Jeff secured an award of summary judgment in favor of his client by establishing that the plaintiff incorrectly sued the wrong entity. The court accepted Jeff's argument that the mistake was not a simple misnomer and, therefore, the defect could not be cured.
In 2023, Jeff argued an appeal in a personal injury action, obtaining a ruling that the trial court improperly entered summary judgment against his client under a theory of negligence per se (Bucci v City of New York, 223 AD3d 453 [1st Dept]).
In 2023, Jeff successfully argued on appeal that a litigant's claim that his attorneys neglected his case did not constitute grounds to vacate a judgment (Sutton v Syla, 223 AD3d 764 [2d Dept]).
In 2023, Jeff successfully represented several candidates for New York State Supreme Court in two cases where their nominations for office were challenged. In the first case, the court agreed with Jeff's statutory analysis that the proceeding was barred by the statute of limitations (Matter of Minichino v Fox, 81 Misc3d 405 [Albany County Supreme Court], aff’d 219 AD3d 1637 [3d Dept], lv denied 40 NY3d 905). In the second case, Jeff successfully argued that the petitioner lacked standing to sue Jeff's clients because he was not eligible under the New York State Constitution to hold the office of Supreme Court Justice (Matter of Eisemann v Kosinski, 219 AD3d 1607 [3d Dept], lv denied 40 NY3d 975). Both cases were affirmed by the Third Department, and in each case, the Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal.
In 2023, Jeff successfully defended a lawsuit challenging his clients' right to have their names on the ballot, based upon his argument that a court order could not extend the statutory deadline for service of the commencement papers (McCrory v Westchester County Board of Elections, 216 AD3d 857 [2d Dept]).
In 2023, Jeff successfully brought an Election Law proceeding alleging that a multi-candidate designating petition was permeated by fraud, resulting in a court order invalidating the entire petition.
In 2023, Jeff successfully litigated an Election Law proceeding where a candidate claimed that voters were misled into signing his opponent's petition. The Court accepted Jeff's argument that a voter's signature could not be invalidated on the basis of fraud simply because the voter inadvertently signed a petition sheet that included a candidate he or she did not support.
Published Opinions as a Judge
People v 179 Highland Realty LLC (83 Misc 3d 1267[A] [2024])
Ghailan v Carver (81 Misc 3d 1232[A] [2024])
Felsenfeld v Rogers (78 Misc 3d 970 [2023])
Magnano v Stewart (71 Misc 3d 1223[A] [2021])
People v Morocho (71 Misc 3d 1221[A] [2021])
Court Admissions
New York
New Jersey
Community Involvement
Former Town Justice for the Town of Ossining (January 2021 – December 2024)
Served as member of the Village of Ossining Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee
Former Member, Board of Directors, IFCA Housing Network
Former Member, Village of Ossining Planning Board
Served as Co-Chair of the Village of Ossining Downtown Redevelopment Working Committee, which was awarded the 2018 Planning Achievement Award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation
Coached multiple youth baseball teams (Ossining JCYS)
Clerking Experience
Principal Law Clerk to Hon. Barry E. Warhit, Westchester Supreme and County Court (Supervising Judge of the Criminal Courts) (2021 to 2022)
Principal Law Clerk to Hon. Francesca E. Connolly (2013 to 2021)
Appellate Division, Second Department (2016 to 2021)
Supreme Court, Westchester County (Civil Part and Environmental Claims Part) (2013 to 2016)
Court Attorney, NYS Appellate Division, Second Department (2008 to 2013)
Education
Pace Law School, J.D., cum laude (2008)
Pace Environmental Law Review, Editor-in-Chief (2007 to 2008)
Certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law
Received the Bohn Vergari Public Service Award for the Best Environmental Law Student and the Henry M. Feldschuh Environmental Law Award
Hunter College, B.A. (2005)
Recognition in the Legal Community
Recipient of the Westchester County Bar Association New Lawyers Leadership Award (2015)