NEW YORK.- Dominican born Diccia Pineda-Kirwan Thursday night became the first Hispanic to obtain a bench in the New York Supreme Court in Queens County, in a ceremony held in the Supreme Court of Queens County, where the new Justice hailed her colleagues, elected officials and the people instrumental in her historic ascension to the post.

Born Diccia Trinidad Pineda Ramirez in the Santiago province town Baitoa (north) in 1955, the new Justice said she's a result of the American Dream, as an immigrant who arrived in the United States when she was nine, having to learn English to forge throught the Queens County Public School System and ultimately earning a degree in City University of New York (CUNY) University's Law School's inaugural class.

Speaking in the courtroom packed with more than 200 people including judges from the various courts, friends and a delegation of 20 people from her native country, the official who won the bench in last Novemeber's election expressed her emotion in conveying her appreciation to the many colleagues who attended the ceremony fraught with tradition as evidenced by a New York State Supreme Court Color Guard bearing the flag to initiate the induction at 4 p.m.

Justice Jeremy Weinstein, Administrative Judge for Civil Matters in the Eleventh Judicial District presided over Pineda-Kirwan's induction, Judge Faviola Soto administered the oath of office, Master of Ceremonies Justice Jaime Rios, whereas New York State Assemblyman Jose Peralta represented the authorities of the Hispanic community and with Father Arthur Rojas asking for prayers for the people of Haiti.

“It may take years to realize a dream, but dreaming itself is an elevating experience,” the Justice said quoting the poet Maya Angelou and to describe the long road to her successful judicial career.

To stress the importance of dreams in the search for success, she also quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  That is to have succeeded.”

Pineda-Kirwan's rise in the New York Judiciary began in the elections of November, 2002, when she also became the first Hispanic to win a Queens County Civil Court bench, an accomplishment which prompted the Dominican Republic Presidency to bestow her with the Civil Merit Medal.

"I will strive to make my service as Justice of the Supreme Court an overwhelming success," she said, and asked the unwavering support of her colleagues, friends and relatives to accomplish it.