Cannataro was the principal law clerk to Judge
Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick of the
New York Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2003 and principal law clerk to Judge Lottie E. Wilkins of the
New York Supreme Court from 2003 to 2011. From 2012 to 2017 he was elected to serve as a judge of the
New York City Civil Court. From 2012 to 2014 he was designated a judge of the
New York Family Court for
Kings County, New York. From 2014 to 2015 he was a judge of the
New York City Civil Court for
The Bronx. From 2015 to 2016 he was designated an acting Supreme Court Justice for the
New York Supreme Court. From 2016 to 2018, he was appointed a supervising judge for the New York City Civil Court. In 2017 he was elected to the
New York Supreme Court to serve in the
civil term. From 2018 to 2021, he served as an administrative judge of the
New York City Civil Court after being appointed by chief administrative judge Lawrence K. Marks. On May 25, 2021, Governor
Andrew Cuomo announced Cannataro as a nominee to be an Associate Judge of the
New York Court of Appeals, filling the seat vacated by the retirement of Judge
Paul Feinman on March 23, 2021. His formal
investiture ceremony took place on April 5, 2022. Cannataro is the second openly gay judge to have served on the New York Court of Appeals. On March 24, 2023, Cannataro was selected as a finalist under consideration for appointment to the New York Court of Appeals, this time for the position of chief judge following the retirement of Chief Judge
Janet DiFiore and the subsequent rejection of Justice
Hector LaSalle's nomination to that seat by the New York State Senate. == Personal life ==