2019 Elections: Yonkers Insider Candidate Profile: Karen Best Write In Candidate for Yonkers City Court Judge.

Administrative Law Judge Karen Best is a former Public Defender and a current public servant. She is an example of how a young girl can grow up to achieve her dream.

Karen was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. As a young child, she moved to Queens, New York with her mother and older sister. She was raised by her single mother, who she attributes to her values of hard work, determination and integrity.

Following the example of her mother, through hard work and perseverance, Karen became the first person in her family to obtain a college degree when she earned a Bachelor’s in Community Health Education from CUNY Hunter College.

Karen could not let her story end there. She needed to follow her dream. She needed to become a criminal defense attorney. Her motivation to become an attorney stemmed from the low-income community she was apart of. She always knew poverty was a problem in her community, but she never had the power to change it. Armed with a college degree, she knew she had to take the next and necessary step to help the people around her. This passion led her to obtain a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.

Once she was admitted to practice law in New York State, Karen embarked on her journey to fulfill her dream of bcoming a criminal defense attorney. She started her legal career at the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County. For four years, she worked fearlessly for the rights of Yonkers residents in Yonkers City Court. Day in and day out, Karen represented criminal defendants and she challenged the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office to  be just and fair. Her dedication and hard work led her to accomplish what many other attorneys could not do, which was successfully securing dismissals of cases at felony hearings.

Now, Karen is an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. In keeping with the spirit of fearlessness and doing what is difficult, she is now running as a write-in candidate, and she wants to serve as your next Yonkers City Court Judge.