Tenants appeal from an order of the Civil Court, New York County, dated January 13, 2004 (Cyril K. Bedford, J.) which, inter alia, denied their motion to stay execution of a warrant of eviction in a summary holdover proceeding based upon chronic nonpayment of rent.

PER CURIAM:

Order dated January 13, 2004 (Cyril K. Bedford, J.) affirmed, without costs.

Civil Court did not abuse its discretion in denying tenants relief from their repeated defaults in tendering rent due pursuant to the unambiguous payment terms of the parties' settlement stipulation. "Strict enforcement of the parties' stipulation . . . is warranted based upon the principle that the parties to a civil dispute are free to chart their own litigation course" (Mill Rock Plaza Assocs. v Lively, 224 AD2d 301 [1996]), particularly where, as here, the rent delinquencies underlying the landlord's holdover petition continued unabated into the probationary period agreed to by the parties. We note that based upon the tenants' continued failure to make deposits for use and occupancy pending disposition of the appeal, the landlord's motion to vacate the conditional stay was granted on default by this court's order of September 15, 2004. [*2]

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.
Decision Date: December 20, 2004