Appeal by plaintiff, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Civil Court, Kings County (J. Sullivan, J.), entered September 30, 2002, as granted defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment.

Order insofar as appealed from unanimously affirmed without costs.

Defendant timely served and filed its papers in opposition to plaintiffs motion for summary judgment but defaulted in appearing at oral argument. A review of the record indicates that defendant established both a reasonable excuse for its default and a meritorious defense to the action (see e.g. Schiavetta v McKeon, 190 AD2d 724 [1993]). In view of the absence of prejudice to plaintiff, as well as the public policy in favor of resolving cases on the merits (see Flower v Maryliz Food and Drink Corp., 129 AD2d 676, 677 [1987]; Stolpiec v Wiener, 100 AD2d 931 [1984]; see also Podbielski v KMO-361 Realty Assoc., 294 AD2d 552, 553 [2002]), we find that the court below did not abuse its discretion in vacating the default judgment (see Parker v City of New York, 272 AD2d 310 [2000]).
Decision Date: December 09, 2003