Here come the judges - and their cars.

What was billed as a temporary compromise over judicial parking in park around Borough Hall angered Brooklynites when dozens of judges moved their cars from the south side to the north side Thursday.

"We are outraged. This is a public plaza. Why can't the judges use the curb spaces they already have?" said Judy Stanton, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association. "We used to walk through this plaza; now we have to walk around it."

The judges were parked Thursday on a landscaped plaza complete with benches next to the popular farmer's market.

The move was prompted after city Parks Department officials and judges worked out what they called a compromise that required what they say will be two months of construction.

Downtown residents have complained for years about judges stowing their cars in Columbus Park next to Borough Hall. The issue came to a head last spring when judges threatened to sue and park advocates protested.

The compromise allows the judges to keep the parking lot inside Columbus Park but requires them to move off the walkway. Two months of construction forced the judges to be moved to the other side of the plaza surrounding Borough Hall and the old Supreme Court building.

"It's really another example of the judges given an inch and taking a mile," said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, which has been battling the judges. "We're not happy with the compromise. It's highly suspect."

[more at: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/10/02/2008-10-02_brooklyn_judges_park_in_columbus_park.html]