Lance Realty Co. v Fefferma (2004 NY Slip Op 51479(U))

[*1]

Lance Realty Co. v Fefferma

2004 NY Slip Op 51479(U)

Decided on December 3, 2004

Appellate Term, First Department

Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.

This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on December 3, 2004

APPELLATE TERM OF THE SUPREME COURT, FIRST DEPARTMENT

PRESENT:
HON. WILLIAM J. DAVIS, J.P.
HON. PHYLLIS GANGEL-JACOB
HON. MARTIN SCHOENFELD, Justices.
570098/04

LANCE REALTY CO., Petitioner-Landlord-Appellant,

against

N MARVIN FEFFERMA 235 East 83rd Street, Apt. 5-A New York, N.Y. 10028, Respondent-Tenant-Respondent.

Landlord appeals from a final judgment of the Civil Court, New York County, entered May 29, 2002 after a nonjury trial (Ernest J. Cavallo, J.) in favor of tenant dismissing the petition in a nonprimary residence proceeding.

PER CURIAM:

Final judgment entered May 29, 2002 (Ernest J. Cavallo, J.) affirmed, with $25 costs.

The evidence, fairly interpreted, supports Civil Court's determination that the subject rent stabilized apartment is tenant's primary residence. Tenant maintained bank, brokerage and utility accounts at the New York City address, which he also used for tax returns and voting. Tenant's furnishings and personal possessions are in the New York City apartment. While tenant acknowledged spending considerable time in Florida, helping to care for his elderly mother (aged 98 at the time of trial), that circumstance does not in itself mandate a finding of nonprimary residence, particularly since tenant had no ownership interest in his mother's Florida [*2]apartment and slept on a sofa bed in the living room during his stays there (see Kalimian v Holmberg, 2001 NY Slip Op 40297[U] [App Term, 1st Dept]).

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.
Decision Date: December 03, 2004