Janessa C. Nisley

Janessa Carole Nisley, 69, of Greenport passed away peacefully in her home on Mt. Merino Road on February 27, 2014. Her husband Prof. Jay C. Carlisle was by her side. Born March 3, 1944 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Janessa was the daughter of the late Jean and Esther Nisley of Greencastle, Pennsylvania. She is survived by her husband, her sister Rebecca Nisley of Avon, Connecticut, her brothers Robert Martin of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Jack Nisley of Atlanta, Georgia, her step daughter Marie Carlisle of New York City, and several nieces and nephews. Janessa was a n honors graduate of the Lancaster County Day School (1962), Vassar College (1967) and Fordham Law School (1974) where she was a founding editor of the Schools Urban Law Journal. Janessa was admitted to practice law in New York State and federal courts in 1974 and devoted her entire legal career to public interest law. She was a trial attorney for the NYC Corporation Counsel and later appointed during Mayor Edward I. Koch’s tenure as Chief of Special Litigation and appeals for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. During her twenty years as HPD Chief Janessa argued hundreds of appeals in state and federal courts, including the famous “Dracula” and “Devil” landlord tenant cases which established new law in New York State. Upon her retirement from HPD in 1994 Janessa was publically praised as a lawyer and humanitarian by then Chief Judge of New York Judith S. Kaye, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan and then Fordham Law School Dean John D. Feerick. Chief Judge Kaye stated, “Your twenty years’ work on behalf of the people of New York City is a record of public service equaled by few. The more than one hundred cases you have argued as HPD’s head of appeals constitutes a substantial contribution to all areas of state law related to housing, and it is difficult to think of as a body of law with greater impact on the day to day lives of millions of New Yorkers” Dean Feerick stated, “Through your work you have saved many people from homelessness and have set a very special standard of excellence as a lawyer. In everything, you have tremendously influenced your colleagues and made the world a better place.” Janessa was an active participant in the Vassar and Lancaster County Day alumni associations. She was a statewide founding director of the New York Woman’s Bar Association and for many years a member of the Association’s Judicial Screening Committee. Janessa was a long time officer of the N.Y.C. Network of Bar Leaders, a past president of the Brooklyn Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, a director of twenty five years for the South Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation and a director for Special Needs Inc. of Ghent, New York. Her principal hobby was traveling in foreign countries. Janessa lived and studied in Germany and China. She traveled throughout the world including her 2012 trek to Southeast Asia with her husband Jay Carlisle. A memorial Service will be held at a later date. Donations may be made in Janessa’s name to the Lancaster County Pennsylvania Day School and to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Janessa C. Nisley

March 3, 1944 - February 27, 2014

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Janessa C. Nisley

March 3, 1944 - February 27, 2014

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