Would Court Order Tenant to Permit Access by Landlord? Residential apartment leases usually authorize landlords access to the units to inspect and repair. And, as a recent case illustrates, the Court may be required to intervene where such access is denied. 400 West 59th Street Partners LLC is the owner and landlord of 1 Columbus Place in Manhattan. Tobi Oyolesi was a tenant of apartment S30C in the building, and Travis Lilley was a guest. West 59th sought a preliminary injunction directing Oyolesi to grant access to his apartment for inspection and to repair a water leak emanating from an air… Read more

Was Operation of Printing Press on Second Floor an Actionable Breach by Landlord? Andrianna Shamaris, Inc, operated a luxury home specialty store located at 121 Varick Street, pursuant to a commercial lease signed in January of 2019 with 121 Varick St. Corp. The lease covered a portion of the ground floor retail space to be used as an “upscale furniture showroom.” 121 Varick Street sits atop the subway under Varick Street and is at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel. It also is located in what has historically been known as New York’s “printing district.” The building had a history… Read more

Were Allegations of Complaint Sufficient to State Claim for Nuisance? In an action seeking permanent injunctive relief upon claims for breach of contract, nuisance, and trespass, Sabrina Santoro and Antonio Micalizzi, owners of a Manhattan condominium unit, alleged that the tenants of a neighboring unit owned by Luigi Rosabianca, had caused excessive noise and odors to emanate from his unit. The board of managers of Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall Condominium and First Service Realty, Inc., the building manager, had not sufficiently addressed their complaints. The board and building manager answered the complaint. Santoro/Micalizzi moved for leave to enter a… Read more

Court Adjudicates Village’s Negligence Liability for Fractured Elbow On November 2, 2016, Kathleen Noonan was playing doubles tennis on court number 4 at the Garden City Recreational Tennis Complex. The tennis complex is a public facility that is owned, operated and maintained by the Village of Garden City. Noonan testified at her oral deposition that as she was playing tennis, she had to back pedal in an attempt to get in a position to return the ball. She indicated that she back pedaled past the baseline and raised her racket back to hit the ball. At that point, her left… Read more

Did Adverse Impact On Service Constitute a Breach of Warranty? Gene Rosen sued MF Associates of New York LLC and Ogen Cap Properties, LLC for breach of the warranty of habitability at four (4) high rise residential buildings located at 205/215/225 and 235 East 95th Street in Manhattan in a complex known as Normandie Court. In his amended complaint, Rosen alleged, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, that MF Associates and Ogden, as owner and manager, respectively, of the Normandie Court buildings, breached the warranty of habitability on rentals/leases in those buildings by depriving tenants of the use… Read more

Trial Court Decides Liability for Damages Terrence M. Kalka filed suit in the City Court of Little Falls, Herkimer County, on August 18, 2021, seeking $4,975 in damages against Ronald Schorer and John Lerch. Schorer filed a counterclaim against Kalka on October 5, 2021 seeking $2,172 pursuant to a contract. The matter proceeded to trial on March 17, 2022 and was concluded on April 8, 2022. Kalka and his spouse appeared and testified that he retained the services of Schorer/Lerch to replace the hot water heater and install a water softener. They negligently installed the heater causing damage to the… Read more

Court Decides If Email From Management Company & Attorneys Was Privileged Michele and John Kijek sought an order compelling the Board of Managers of Lakeside of Bedford Condominium (“BMLBC”) and Katonah Management Group, Inc. (“KMG”) to disclose: (1) complete and unredacted copies of any and all emails between the Condominium and Shapiro, Gettinger Waldinger & Montelone, LLP (including all attorneys and/or employees of such law firm, including but not limited to Steven Waldinger and Jennifer Catalanotto) and the Management Group (including but not limited to Andrea Morse, Stephen Brussels, Bryan Hao, Dean Sterino, Jeanne Casarini and Sylvia Padrevita for the… Read more

Court Decides if Tribal Nation Entitled to Preliminary Injunction Under NYS Indian Law The Unkechaug Indian Nation sued the operators of the Indian Creek Smoke Shop for contravention of the Indian Nation Tribal Council’s resolution to permanently ban the Smoke Shop from doing business on the Poospatuck reservation. The reservation is the land of the Indian Nation and the members of the Nation reside there. It was undisputed that the Council brought the proceeding pursuant to its duly adopted resolution and its customs, rules, and regulations. The complaint alleged that the operators initially were granted a license to construct the Smoke… Read more

Court Determines if Seller Has Legally Cognizable Claims Our Courts usually do not permit a breach of contract claim to be escalated to the business tort of breach of fiduciary duty. But, as a recent case illustrates, unique circumstances, collateral factors, and allegations of fraud and concealment may justify the claim. Tiny 1, Ltd. and others alleged that Georges Berberi and Matt Auerbach, both of whom were affiliated with Samfet Marble Inc., sought to purchase Tiny 1, formerly known as Port Morris Tile & Marble Corp., and schemed to control Port Morris’s financial operations while its sole owner, Vincent DeLazzero, was… Read more

Was Tenant Entitled to Abatement of Rent? Karen Congdon sought $1,149.95 in damages from Jessica Filippi for breach of a month-to month lease. The matter proceeded to trial before the City Court of Little Falls in Herkimer County. Congdon testified that Filippi left without providing one-month notice as required in the month-to-month lease agreement and sought the unpaid rent for September 2021 as well as damages for mold remediation, locks, smoke alarms, a broken refrigerator drawer, and other damages. Congdon also testified that she expended money on various cleaning products following Filippi’s leaving the apartment. Congdon called City Codes Officer… Read more