By Joseph Ax 

NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) - New York's courts on Thursday continued to slowly resume operations, as the city confronted widespread damage left behind by the monster storm.

After being closed for three days, Rockland County courts and Mt. Vernon City Court reopened for business.

Most state courts in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island were also open, but the Manhattan state courthouse which was still without power, remained shuttered except for arraignments and emergency applications.

"We are really trying to stay open and serve the public where possible, but where it's not possible, we simply can't," David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the court system, said on Thursday.

The First Department, Appellate Division, in Manhattan also was shut down, and officials said it would remain closed until power is restored. Until then, a satellite office will be open at Bronx Supreme Court for emergency applications and motions for reargument and leave to appeal.

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday issued a wide-ranging executive order waiving deadlines for civil and criminal cases in the wake of the storm. Cuomo's order supersedes time limits for filing appeals in civil, criminal and family cases, as well as speedy trial protections for criminal defendants. It applies to any deadlines after Oct. 26, when he declared a state of emergency. It affects any provision regarding legal deadlines that judges cannot extend through their own discretion.

The federal district courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, which also houses the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will remain closed for the rest of the week due to the blackout in downtown Manhattan. Oral arguments scheduled for this week in the 2nd Circuit have been postponed. On Wednesday, Loretta Preska, the chief judge for the Southern District, issued her own order extending deadlines for pending federal criminal cases and for federal grand jury action.

ARRAIGNMENTS RETURN

Arraignments were stopped for more than 24 hours during the height of the storm from Monday to Tuesday, but the backlog was small thanks to a very low level of arrests, according to Barry Kamins, the administrative judge for New York City Criminal Court.

Under New York law, defendants normally must be arraigned within 24 hours of their arrest.

Bookstaver said on Thursday that 100 Centre Street was using generators to operate the arraignment parts.

The delay in reopening other courtrooms in Manhattan means that some defendants who were awaiting grand jury action will continue to be held until those cases can proceed.

State law requires a grand jury indictment or a preliminary hearing within six days of any felony arrest. Cuomo's executive order did not address that statute, which permits a judge to extend the deadline for good cause.

Seymour James, the president of the New York State Bar Association and the head of Legal Aid's criminal defense practice, and Richard Willstatter, the president of the state's criminal defense lawyers association, both said Wednesday the delays were unfortunate but unavoidable.

"If there's a hurricane and the courts are closed, what are you going to do?" Willstatter said.

Kamins said the ability of the court system to resume full operations, including all state Supreme Court parts, depends mostly on how many staff members can make it to work, particularly court reporters, since every courtroom needs one in order to hold a session.

STILL SOME CLOSURES

Outside the city, state courthouses in Putnam County remained closed Thursday.

State courts in Suffolk County were open, with the exception of the district courts in Ronkonkoma, Lindenhurst and Patchogue.

Courts in Nassau County had reopened on Wednesday, but closed Thursday, with the exception of family court, which is open for emergency applications only, and district court, which is open for arraignments.

Bookstaver said court officials had expected computers and phones to be working in Nassau, but they were still down.

"It became apparent that for our employees who answered the call and came to work (on Wednesday), it just simply was not productive to have them there under trying circumstances," he said.

The Southern District federal courthouses in White Plains, Middletown and Poughkeepsie were open Thursday, as were the Eastern District courthouses in Brooklyn and Central Islip. The Second Department of the Appellate Division in Brooklyn was also open for business.

A full list of court closures, along with phone numbers for emergency applications for both Family Court and other matters in various counties, is available online at www.nycourts.gov. Updates for the Southern District can be found at www.nysd.uscourts.gov.

(Additional reporting by Basil Katz, Noeleen Walder, Daniel Wiessner and Karen Freifeld)

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