New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Photo: Rick Kopstein

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced the appointment of an interim judge to the Civil Court of New York City—who will serve in the city's Criminal Court—as well as the reappointment of three New York City Family Court judges.

The mayor appointed Deepa Ambekar to the Civil Court, though she will serve in the Criminal Court, according to a news release from de Blasio's office. Ambekar previously worked for three years with the New York City Council, where she was a senior legislative attorney and counsel to the Committee on Public Safety, the news release also said.

Before serving with the City Council, Ambekar had been a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society's criminal defense division. She'd also worked as a private law firm litigation associate, after earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her law degree from Rutgers Law School, the news release said.

In the Family Court, Judge Jeanette Ruiz was reappointed to a new term. First put on the Family Court in April 2008, she has been the administrative judge of the city's Family Court since 2015, the news release said.

The mayor noted that Ruiz spent more than half of her career before becoming a judge in public service, serving for 11 years with four city agencies. They included the city Law Department and the city Administration for Children's Services, where she was a deputy commissioner of the Family Permanency Services Division.

Ruiz went to Hunter College, earned a master's degree from Columbia University's School of Social Work, and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Judge Javier Vargas, who has been a Family Court judge since December 2015, was also reappointed. Before joining the court, he had served with the state Unified Court System for 22 years in various roles including senior court attorney in the New York State Court of Appeals and Nassau County Family Court; principal law clerk in the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division; and as a Housing Court judge in the Bronx, according to the news release.

He received his undergraduate and law degrees from SUNY at Buffalo, as well as a master of law degree from New York University School of Law.

The third reappointed Family Court justice was Judge Judith Waksberg, who was first placed on the court in January 2017. Prior to that, she was made an interim Civil Court judge in July 2015, the news release noted.

Waksberg also worked at the Legal Aid Society for 32 years, primarily in the Juvenile Rights Appeals Unit where she last served as the director for 17 years.

She graduated from Brandeis University and got her law degree from New York University School of Law, the mayor's office said.