Appeal by respondent Raytsin from an order of the Civil Court, Kings County (L. Baily-Schiffman, J.), entered March 10, 2004, which granted his motion to reargue and, upon reargument, adhered to its order of January 14, 2004, denying his motion to vacate an order confirming an arbitration award rendered against him, which order was granted upon his default in appearing, deemed (see CPLR 5520 [c]) to be from a judgment entered March 10, 2004, in favor of petitioner in the principal sum of $3,813.99.

Judgment unanimously affirmed without costs.

The right of direct appeal from the order terminated with the entry of judgment (Matter of Aho, 39 NY2d 241 [1976]). However, in accordance with CPLR 5520 (c), we deem the appeal to be from the judgment entered pursuant to said order. Although the judgment was entered upon default, appellate review of the order dated March 10, 2004 is not precluded since parties may, on appeal, obtain review of the "matters which were the subject of contest below" and which necessarily affect the judgment (Credit-Based Asset Servicing & Securitization v Chaudry, 304 AD2d 708 [2003], quoting James v Powell, 19 NY2d 249, 256 n 3 [1967]).

MBNA America Bank, N.A., commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 75 to confirm an arbitration award rendered in its favor in the amount of $3,813.99. An order confirming the arbitration award was granted on default, and a judgment was ultimately entered pursuant to that order.

Contrary to respondent Raytsin's contentions on appeal, a party seeking to vacate a default must show both a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense. Without [*2]establishing both requirements, relief under CPLR 5015 (a) (1) is unavailable (see Weinstein-Korn-Miller, NY Civ Prac ¶ 5015.04) and we find, as did the court below, that a meritorious defense was not demonstrated.
Decision Date: March 02, 2005