Respondent appeals from a final judgment of the Civil Court, New York County (Jean T. Schneider, J.), entered November 10, 2003, after a nonjury trial, which awarded possession to petitioner in a holdover summary proceeding.

Per Curiam:

Final judgment (Jean T. Schneider, J.), entered November 10, 2003, reversed, without costs, and a new trial ordered.

Respondent Hayes' request for succession rights to the subject Mitchell-Lama apartment was administratively denied by the New York City Department of Preservation and Development (HPD) and a timely Article 78 proceeding was dismissed by Supreme Court on the ground that "Civil Court is the proper forum for the landlord and tenant dispute." In this procedural posture, respondent should have been permitted to litigate his succession claim as a defense in this holdover proceeding, since he has not been afforded any meaningful judicial review of HPD's determination, despite his having filed a timely request for such relief, and Supreme Court expressly deferred the succession issue to Civil Court (see Henderson v Popolizio, 76 NY2d 972 [1990]; City of New York v Scott, 239 AD2d 113 [1997]).

This constitutes the decision and order of the Court.
Decision Date: May 18, 2006