STATEN ISLALND, N.Y. -- Bruce Eckhouse has a book named after him.
Not just any book.
For criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors, it’s the bible. Or known by its official title, the CPL. The Criminal Procedure Law.
It’s the book in which New York’s criminal laws, penalties and related applications are defined and spelled out in intricate detail.
Around the clerk’s office in the Criminal Term of state Supreme Court, St. George, that venerable tome was known as something else - the BPL. The Bruce Procedure Law.
Eckhouse, a senior court clerk and rules stickler, could state chapter and verse – and then some – from the book. Even the minutia.
Now, after nearly 28 years in the court system – the last 22 as a clerk – Eckhouse, 64, has recited his last statute and logged his final motion.
Tuesday night, in a touching show of their affection and admiration, his colleagues in the clerk’s office, along with Justice Mario F. Mattei, gave Eckhouse a memorable send-off for his recent retirement, although it wasn’t the dinner they had planned.
As Eckhouse stood outside his home, a caravan of cars slowly drove past, horns tooting, signs waving, congratulations called out of windows and through sunroofs.
Honking horns and waving signs, Bruce Eckhouse's colleagues drove a caravan of cars past his home to wish him well on May 5, 2020.
Afterward, garbed in masks and gloves, and maintaining social distancing in these troubling times of the coronavirus (COVID-19), they presented Eckhouse a copy of the front page of the BPL engraved in crystal.
“I was totally surprised. I never expected that,” Eckhouse said in a phone conversation on Wednesday. “I’m very humbled by what they did. I thought it was so nice, especially in a time like this.”
Eckhouse, who says family and good health are the most important things to him, gave some love back to his old friends.
“I believe the staff we had was the finest staff of court clerks I ever had the chance to work with,” he said.
His boss, Anthony DiStefano, called Eckhouse “a team player that hits cleanup and manages the team at the same time.”
DiStefano now needs a new number four hitter in the lineup.
Last year, Eckouse was nominated for the Milton Mollen Award. It recognizes court employees who go the extra mile to help the courts run smoothly and efficiently.
He didn’t win, but that didn’t dim him in his colleagues’ eyes.
Eckhouse, said DiStefano, was both a troubleshooter and mentor more than willing to pass along his knowledge to his co-workers.
“Mistakes made in Criminal Term can be detrimental, and Bruce was a problem-solver of the highest caliber," said DiStefano. "Bruce taught it all and was always available to answer a question or solve a problem.”
Mattei, then chief of investigations for the district attorney’s office, said he developed a rapport with Eckhouse almost 15 years ago in the courtroom.
“Bruce was always able to defuse a situation to get rid of the tension and keep everyone on an even keel,” said the judge. “I never had a bad day with him.”
Back in the clerk’s office, Eckhouse was “the go-to guy and a master of the logistics of how to get things done,” said Mattei.
Standing up at the customer counter or even seated at his desk near the back of the office, Eckhouse could, at a moment’s notice, reel off the rules governing the sequencing and filing of motions, indictments and appeals in criminal proceedings. Typically to the winks and nods of his fellow clerks and the occasional sighs and groans of lawyers, litigants and, yes, sometimes, newspaper reporters.
But who could doubt the man who had the book named after him?
The BPL, or Bruce Procedure Law, named in honor of Bruce Eckhouse.
And who endured more than his share of good-natured ribbing from his colleagues.
“You can always count on Bruce,” said Sal Aronica, who helped organize Tuesday’s tribute. “Whether it’s a question about court procedure, a question about law or eating that last bagel, Bruce will be very accommodating.”
Eckhouse also snagged the first bagel when she brought them into work for birthday celebrations, joked Theresa Hahn, another colleague.
All kidding aside, he’ll be sorely missed, Hahn said.
“He was always helpful,” she said. “You could ask him questions all day long and he always had an answer for you. And I asked him questions all day long. He really knew his stuff.”
Now, Eckhouse has his sights set on relaxing, recalibrating and figuring out where he wants to go from here.
An avid baseball fan, Eckhouse has attended a number of induction ceremonies over the years at the Hall of Fame in upstate Cooperstown.
And while he may never be enshrined in those hallowed halls, Eckhouse leaves some pretty big shoes to fill back in St. George.
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