Nassau judge to moonlight as boat captain

A Nassau County judge known for holding the course through tricky criminal trials may soon be navigating waters of a different kind: as captain of a commercial excursion boat.

Judge Alan Honorof was notified Tuesday that the New York State Ethics Commission has granted him permission to seek work as an excursion boat captain. He is the first judge in Nassau, and the 14th in the state, to win approval to moonlight since court administrators relaxed their rules on such matters last fall.

"In my day job they call me judge, and at night they call me captain," Honorof said.

Court administrators decided last fall to allow more judges to seek outside employment as an acknowledgment that they have not been given raises since 1999. Since then, 14 judges statewide have been given permission to accept second jobs after the counsel to the state Office of Court Administration and the state Ethics Commission ruled that there was no conflict of interest between their two gigs.

So far, an Otsego County judge has been approved to coach high school junior varsity basketball; an Onondaga judge has been permitted to do motocross racing; and a Suffolk acting Supreme Court justice, G. Ann Spelman, has been allowed to sell jewelry and collectibles, according to an Office of Court Administration document.

Honorof, a lifelong sailor who makes $136,700 in his day job, says living without a raise has "not been easy." He says he has been offered a job on evenings and weekends chartering a boat through Manhasset Bay and will decide whether to take it based on salary, hours and other considerations.

He said if this job doesn't work out, he's certain something else will, and he said he can see himself captaining charter boats after he retires.

"It's doing something I love, and it's a means to supplement my income legitimately," he said.