New judge tapped for Schenectady City Court

A lifelong city resident with a record for being tough on crime has been tapped to be the next City Court judge.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Sypniewski will be appointed on Jan. 1, Mayor Brian U. Stratton announced.

Sypniewski will replace Judge Christine Clark, who won election to Family Court this month.

“I know that the citizens of Schenectady will benefit greatly from his outstanding record as a vigorous prosecutor and crime-fighter,” Stratton said, adding that Sypniewski has a “no-nonsense record as a tough prosecutor.”

Sypniewski is bureau chief of the Major Crimes Unit at the district attorney’s office and has successfully prosecuted many violent criminals, including six murderers.

He grew up in Schenectady and graduated from Schenectady High School in 1993, in the first class to graduate after the city’s two high schools were combined.

He was the first person in his family to go to college.

He graduated 11th in his class at Albany Law School but went to work on Wall Street as a corporate lawyer for two years.

“He made tons of money and paid off some of his loans,” District Attorney Robert Carney said. “Then he came back here. He wanted to make a difference. I knew he would be excellent, and he never let me down.”

He has been a prosecutor for seven years and has never lost a case.

Sypniewski thanked the city for his success.

“My lifelong connection to the city has made me who I am,” he said. “I didn’t work in New York City long before I started thinking about coming back here, to the city I love.”

He told the crowd that the City Court is “absolutely critical.”

“The cases heard in City Court, make no mistake, directly affect quality of life,” he said.

His parents still work in the city — his father at General Electric and his mother in the city schools, where she is a special education teacher. His siblings also live here.