Midtown Community Court

Address: 314 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019

Phone: (646) 264-1300

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The Midtown Community Court handles desk appearance tickets, summonses (pink tickets), and other criminal matters. Most cases are arraigned there and subsequently transferred to the main criminal court in Manhattan at 100 Centre Street. The current presiding judge is Felicia Mennin.

The Midtown Community Court is part of a new initiative. Started in 1993, it was established to take a holistic approach to criminal law by focusing not just on the criminal infraction, but also the underlying problem. It was started in the 1990s as part of an effort to fight the increasing crime rate. It's goal is to reduce crime and incarceration by adding an element of rehabilitation to any more traditional penalty such as jail. Located next to the Midtown North police precinct, the Midtown Community Court focuses on quality of life offenses such as shoplifting, prostitution, drug possession, and misdemeanor offenses committed in the Midtown area.

Other courts around the world have followed the Midtown Community Court's lead by shifting from a few centralized courts to smaller, community oriented courts.