The saga of life in New York City throughout the twentieth century is reflected in the many thousands of appeals which have passed through this Court since its birth a hundred years ago.

The delegates of the Constitutional Convention of 1894 were more far-sighted than they knew. The Court they created partly as a means to help restore public respect for the judicial system and partly as a means of relieving the caseload of the Court of Appeals, became something much more; during its first century, the First Department has become a vital and creative partner of a vital and creative City.