Celebrate 2026 AAPI Heritage Month with AABANY!

In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month this year, AABANY is presenting or co-sponsoring several events this month. We hope to see you all there! Follow the links for more details, and please note the registration deadlines. This blog post will be updated throughout the month, as new events get added on, so check back for any updates.

May 2, 2026 

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Korean Hat Day at Yankee Stadium

1:35pm – Yankees Stadium, 1 E. 161 E. 161st Street

This event has already occured.

May 3, 2026

AABANY Sunday Run Day

11:00 am – Start at Bedford Ave (L); End at Canal St. & Chrystie St.
This event is preparation for the May 23 AAPI 5k run.

This event has already occurred.

May 5-7, 2026

Asian Comedy Fest 2026: AABANY Discount Available

7pm and 9pm – Sugar Mouse NYC, 47 3rd Avenue, Lower Level, New York, NY 10003

This event has already occurred.

May 6, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Power in Unity: Strengthening Communities Together

1:00 pm – Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, Courtroom 2.95, 320 Jay Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201

This event has already occured.

May 6, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Beginner’s Mahjong

6:00pm – Sparrow’s Nest Studio, 35 W. 35th Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018

This event has already occured.

May 6, 2026

AABANY Presents: Dumplings & Discussion Series Featuring Judge Pamela K. Chen

6:00pm -Midtown location – to be emailed to registrants.

This event has already occured.

May 9, 2026

AABANY Bi-Monthly Brooklyn Pro Bono Legal Clinic

12:30 pm – 2:30 pm – CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11232

For more details, click here. Registration for this event has closed.

May 10, 2026

AABANY Sunday Run Day

11:00 am – Start at Bedford Ave (L); End at Canal St. & Chrystie St.
This event is preparation for the May 23 AAPI 5k run.

For more details, click here.

May 12, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Reflections of Unity and Strength in our AANHPI Communities

12:30pm – Queens Supreme Court – Civil Term, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Ceremonial Courtroom 25, Jamaica, New York  11435

For more details, click here.

May 16, 2026

AABANY Presents: 3rd Annual Wellness Retreat

10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Blue Cliff Monastery, 3 Mindfulness Rd, Pine Bush, New York 12566

For more details and to register by May 14, click here.

May 16, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Asian Americans and the Law, Featuring Hon. Denny Chin

2pm – White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Avenue, White Plains, New York  10601

For more details, click here.

May 16, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: 2026 Southern Brooklyn AAPI Heritage Month Celebration

11am – New Utretcht High School, 1601 80th St., Brooklyn, NY 11214

For more details, click here.

May 17, 2026

AABANY Sunday Run Day

11:00 am – Start at Bedford Ave (L); End at Canal St. & Chrystie St.
This event is preparation for the May 23 AAPI 5k run.

For more details, click here.

May 18, 2026

Appellate Division, First Dept., Presents “Fred Korematsu and His Fight for Justice: A Historical Reenactment”

5:45pm – Appellate Division, First Department, 27 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010

For more details, click here.

May 19, 2026

AABANY Corporate Law Committee – General Body Meeting

1:00pm – Zoom

For more details and to register by May 18, click here.

May 19, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: New York County Civil Court’s Screening of “Voices Against Anti-Asian Hate”

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – 111 Centre Street, Room 107, New York, New York 10013

For more details, click here.

May 19, 2026

AABANY Judiciary Committee Presents: 2026 Annual Judges’ Reception

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Nexus Club, 100 Church Street, New York, New York 10007

For more details and to register by May 17, click here.

May 19, 2026

AABANY Book Club Presents: We Do Not Part by Han Kang

6:00 pm – Anderson & Associates, 347 W 36th St, Suite 1003, New York, New York 10018

For more details and to register by May 17, click here.

May 20, 2026

AABANY Monthly Manhattan Pro Bono Legal Clinic

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), 111 Norfolk St., New York, New York 10002

For more details and to register by May 18, click here.

May 21, 2026

AABANY Issues Committee Monthly Meeting

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Zoom

For more details and to register by May 19, click here.

May 21, 2026

AABANY’S Solo & Small Firm Practice Committee Presents: Networking Night at Blue Panda Office Spaces

6:00pm – Blue Panda Office Spaces, 134 Broadway, 3rd and 4th Floors, New York, NY 11249

For more details and to register by May 17, click here.

May 21, 2026

AABANY’s Membership Committee Presents: AAPI Heritage Night at the NY Liberty

8:00 pm – Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, New York  11217

For more information, click here.

May 22, 2026

AABANY’s Intellectual Property Committee Presents: May Dinner

6:30pm – Blue Blossom NYC, 108 W. 39th Street, New York, NY 10018

For more details and to register by May 20, click here.

May 23, 2026

Join Team AABANY for 2026 NYC AAPI 5K to Support AALFNY

8:00 am – Pier 45, Hudson River Greenway, New York, NY 10014

For more details, click here.

May 26, 2026

Kings County Family Court’s AAPI Heritage Committee Presents: A Celebration of Asian Resilience

1:10pm – Brooklyn Family Court, Judges Boardroom, 330 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

For more details, click here.

May 27, 2026

AABANY Co-Sponsors: Fourth Annual Hon. Randall T. Eng Award Program

12:45 pm – 2:15 pm – New York Supreme Court Appellate Division – Second Department, 45 Monroe Place, Brooklyn, New York, New York 11201

For more details and to register by May 15, click here.

May 27, 2026

AABANY Trial Reenactment: Born American: United States v. Wong Kim Ark

5:00 pm – Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, 200 Liberty Street, New York, New York  10281

For more details, click here. RSVP by Thursday, May 21.

May 27-29, 2026

Lucky FM 2 by Slant – La MaMa Theatre

7:30pm – The Club, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, 74A East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003. Livestream on May 29th.

For more details, click here.

May 28, 2026

AABANY Annual Dinner 2026

5:30pm – 12:00am – Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005

For more details, click here.

May 31, 2026

AABANY Presents: Match Day at Gotham FC (vs Houston Dash)

3:00 pm – Sports Illustrated Stadium, 600 Cape May St, Harrison, New Jersey 07029

For more details and to register by May 25, click here.

AABANY Hosts its Annual Judges’ Reception on May 25 in Celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Judiciary Committee hosted its annual Judges’ Reception on Zoom. The reception honored newly inducted, elevated and retiring judges in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. 

Will Wang, Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, served as Master of Ceremonies and welcomed the judges and the attendees to the virtual reception. Last year’s event did not happen, due to COVID-19, and we were pleased to be able to host judges and attendees virtually via Zoom this year.

The following elevated judges were honored:

Hon. Shahabuddeen Ally, Supervising Judge, New York City Civil Court, New York County

Hon. Katheryn S. Paek, New York City Criminal Court, New York County

The following newly elected judges were honored:

Hon. Wyatt Gibbons, New York Supreme Court, Queens County

Hon. Philip T. Hom, New York Supreme Court, Queens County

Hon. Leigh K. Cheng, New York City Civil Court, Queens County

Hon. Hyun Chin Kim, County Court, Orange County

Hon. E. Grace Park, New York City Civil Court, New York County

Hon. Meredith Vacca, County Court, Monroe County 

Hon. John Z. Wang, New York City Civil Court, New York County

The following newly appointed judges were honored:

Hon. James R. Cho, United States Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York

Hon. Diane Gujarati, United States District Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York

The reception also recognized and honored two judges who had retired from the bench:

Hon. Peter Tom, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department

Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department

The honorees recognized at the event are trailblazers for Asian Americans in the judiciary. Of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, Asians remain the least represented group in positions within the judiciary. Although Asians make up around 6% of the United States population, in 2020, they comprised less than 3% of federal judges. In the state of New York, although Asians make up 9% of the population, Asians represent a mere 2% of state judges. That number raises even more concern when we consider that Asians account for some 14% of the population in New York City, and Manhattan’s Chinatown is literally right around the corner from State and Federal courthouses. In light of current events and the rise in anti-Asian violence, AAPI representation on the bench is more important than ever. AABANY thanks the honorees for their pioneering example.

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, the Judiciary Committee also held a short trivia game where participants would answer questions about the history of Asian American Pacific Islanders in the United States. Questions included: What was the purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act? Which President signed the joint resolution commemorating APA Heritage Month? What was the reason for boycotting Miss Saigon on Broadway? The winners, who each answered nine out of the ten questions correctly, were Joseb Gim, AABANY Prosecutors’ Committee Co-Chair; L. Austin D’Souza, AABANY Judiciary Committee member and SABANY President-Elect; and the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, an AABANY Founding Board Member and the AABANY Trailblazer Award honoree from the 2020 Fall Conference. The winners received buttons which had been created to raise funds for AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinic, inscribed with the words “One Humanity against the Virus.”

Congratulations to all the judges who were recognized and honored at this year’s Judges’ Reception, and thanks to everyone who joined us for this event. 

To learn more about AABANY’s Judiciary Committee and its work, click here.

AABANY Hosts its Third Annual Judges’ Reception in Celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

On Thursday, May 30, 2019, AABANY’s Judiciary Committee hosted its third annual Judges’ Reception at the Surrogate’s Courthouse, 31 Chambers Street. The reception honored newly inducted, elevated and retiring judges in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

The honorees recognized at the event were individuals who represent the significant strides that Asian Pacific Americans have achieved, as well as the ongoing fight for diversity within our leading institutions.

New York State Senator John C. Liu was slated to be the keynote speaker for the reception, but due to pressing matters in Albany he was not able to attend. The Honorable Phillip Hom, Civil Court of the City of New York, delivered remarks on his behalf. Judge Hom is a friend of Senator John C. Liu from their days at Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University. Judge Hom also served as the Chief of Staff of then-Councilman John C. Liu from 2002-2005.

At the reception, the following judges were honored:

Hon. Shahabuddeen Ally
Hon. Karen Cortes
Hon. Shorab Ibrahim
Hon. Donald Leo
Hon. Ushir Pandit-Durant
Hon. John Zhuo Wang
Hon. Wendy Changyong Li
Hon. Archana Rao
Hon. Lillian Wan
Hon. Karen Bacdayan
Hon. Michael H. Park

All the honorees are Asian Pacific Americans Judges who were recently inducted to the bench or elevated in New York. To learn more about them and to read our press release for the event, click here. To learn more about the Judiciary Committee and to reach its co-chairs, go here: http://www.aabany.org/?page=115.

Following the awards ceremony, all attendees enjoyed catching up with each other or making new connections, over delicious food and dessert catered by Nom Wah and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

We thank everyone that braved the rain to make this year’s reception another successful one.

Thanks to AABANY Legal Intern Katy Kim for providing the photos for this blog post.