—[*1] Votto, Cassata & Gullo, LLP, Staten Island (Christopher J. Albee of counsel), for appellant. No brief or appearance on behalf of Hilario Martinez, respondent. Cohen, Kuhn & Associates, New York (Robert D. Wilkins of counsel), for Sokoloff respondents.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (George D. Salerno, J.), entered March 29, 2006, which denied defendant-appellant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Appellant's motion for summary judgment was properly denied, without prejudice to renewal, so as to afford plaintiff a reasonable opportunity to obtain discovery from the Sokoloff defendants respecting the circumstances of the automobile accident pertinent to determining if liability may be assigned to appellant (see Catena v Amsterdam Mem. Hosp., 6 AD3d 1037, 1038-1039 [2004]). Concur—Saxe, J.P., Nardelli, Buckley, Gonzalez and Sweeny, JJ.