The Text

The superior court of the city of New York, the court of common pleas for the city and county of New York, the superior court of Buffalo, and the city court of Brooklyn, are abolished from and after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, and thereupon the seals, records, papers, and documents of or belonging to such courts, shall be deposited in the offices of the clerks of the several counties in which said courts now exist; and all actions and proceedings then pending in such courts shall be transferred to the supreme court for hearing and determination. The judges of said courts in office on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, shall, for the remainder of the term for which they were elected or appointed, be justices of the supreme court; but they shall sit only in the counties in which they were elected or appointed. Their salaries shall be paid by the said counties respectively, and shall be the same as the salaries of the other justices of the supreme court, residing in the same counties. Their successors shall be elected as justices of the supreme court by the electors of the judicial districts in which they respectively reside.
The jurisdiction now exercised by the several courts hereby abolished shall be vested in the supreme court. Appeals from inferior and local courts now heard in the court of common pleas for the city and county of New York and the superior court of Buffalo shall be heard in the supreme court in such manner and by such justice or justices as the appellate divisions in the respective departments which include New York and Buffalo shall direct, unless otherwise provided by the Legislature.