Beatrice Shainswit Obituary
Published by Legacy Remembers from May 2 to May 3, 2023.
Hon. Beatrice Shainswit, age 98, of New York, New York passed away on Saturday, April 29, 2023
Born Beatrice Kastenbaum on November 1, 1924, this trail-blazing member of the New York judiciary was born in Williamsburg, New York and raised in New York City during the Great Depression. Growing up in a family burdened with extraordinary poverty, but whose matriarch Hannah was absolutely determined to see the children become well educated, Beatrice would earn her bachelor of arts degree in Economics at Brooklyn College, graduating magna cum laude. She would then graduate from Columbia University Law School in 1947. Her upbringing served as the foundation of her philosophies that make her a champion of women's rights and education. She would become one of the female legal pioneers in the New York region and throughout the United States, partnering with bold women as Constance Baker Motley, Bella Abzug, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor in breaking gender barriers. An avid worldly traveler who absorbed the lessons of many cultures around the globe, she would bring those teachings to her judicial roles to broaden the perspectives and viewpoints in many discussions and help enhance the court opinions and decisions she would render.
After law school, she would become the Assistant Attorney General in New York in 1950 where she would specialize in appellate law, defense of rent control and administration for the New York City Housing and Development Association. She would then be General Counsel for New York State and the NYC Rent and Rehabilitation Administration from 1950 to 1965. It was there that she would author many of the first rent control laws that governed the market in New York. Thereafter, she would become first Assistant and General Counsel to NYC Council President Frank O'Connor from 1966 to 1970, contributing many opinions on 1960s reform of New York politics.
From 1971 to 1973, Beatrice was a civil court judge on the upper East Side of Manhattan and would then become one of the first women to ever serve as a New York State Supreme Court Justice from 1973 to 1999 where she would rule on many famous court cases and sentencing issues in the newly-created, elite Commercial Division. After retirement in 2000, she continued her involvement with conflict resolution through her membership in the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services [JAMS], as well as being quite involved with the Columbia University Law School Alumni Association. Her thirst for knowledge also led her back to Columbia University in her mid-seventies when she would obtain a master's degree in American History around 2006.
She was married to the well-known New York litigator Seymour Shainswit for 52 years, starting in 1950, and they always lived in Manhattan. Seymour would precede Beatrice in death in 2002, as well as her mother Hannah, who lived until 1964 and her father Phillip, who lived until 1989. Beatrice had one younger sister, Helen Kastenbaum Bogen, who lived in Holmdel NJ until 1993 and was preceded in death by her husband Stefan Bogen in 1981. Beatrice is survived by four nephews and one niece; Joel Bogen in Denver CO with his wife Susan Borgos and son Joshua; Stewart Bogen in Manhattan Beach CA with his wife Robin Kaminsky, son Sam and daughter Hannah; Keith Bogen in East Windsor NJ with his sons Justin and Jeremy; Carol Shainswit Bender with her husband Stuart in New York City; Joe Shain of New York City with his son Gregory in Miami, daughter Ashley Shain Mendelson in Rye NY with son-in-law Andrew Mendelson and granddaughters Liza and Farrah. One nephew also preceded her in death, David Bogen of Denver CO. Beatrice is also survived by her loving and amazingly devoted caretaker and companion of 26 years, Michael Linton, so much a part of the family as well and caregiver for Seymour as well.
Services will be held at Riverside Memorial Chapel at 180 West 76th Street in New York City on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 9:30AM. A graveside observance at Mount Hebron Cemetery, 130-04 Horace Harding Expressway in Flushing NY will immediately follow the chapel service.