Coronavirus Ravages Busy Brooklyn Court: Report

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A cluster of coronavirus cases struck down judges who worked in an often-packed courthouse in Brooklyn, according to a report.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Civil Judge Johnny Lee Baynes even admonished a lawyer who expressed concerns over social distancing inside Baynes' busy courtroom, the New York Daily News reported.

"If you don’t like it, you can leave," Baynes told the lawyer, according to the Daily News.

That was March 12 — the cusp of the coronavirus outbreak in New York City. Baynes died two weeks later from coronavirus complications and several of his colleagues fell ill, the Daily News reported.

No other other state court had as many jurists fall ill, according to the report.

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The Kings County court on Adams Street is the busiest civil docket in the state, according to a message from Judge Lawrence Knipel on its website.

Knipel is currently hospitalized for coronavirus complications, the Daily News reported.

Most courts have went fully virtual as the coronavirus pandemic continues. But the Daily News reported many Supreme Civil Court employees wondered that happened too late at their court.

And at least one federal immigration court in Manhattan remains opens despite at least three coronavirus cases.

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