Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Dolores L. Waltrous, J.), entered January 29, 2007. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $2,550.

Judgment reversed without costs and matter remanded for a new trial.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover monies paid to defendant in connection with an application to rent premises from defendant. After a nonjury trial, the court awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $2,550, and the instant appeal by defendant ensued.

The transcript of the trial set forth critical portions of the testimony as "inaudible," and, thus, meaningful appellate review is impaired. However, we need not remand the matter to the court below for reconstruction (see Davis Bros. Eng'g Corp. v Ferraro, 297 AD2d 275 [2002]; Cassella v Manikas, 8 AD2d 587 [1959]; Topolanski v O'Brien, 21 Misc 3d 134[A], 2008 NY Slip Op 52189[U] [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists 2008]; Rogers v Avgush, 17 Misc 3d 135[A], 2007 NY Slip Op 52266[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2007]) since even from the sparse record before us, it is clear that a reversal and a new trial are warranted. The trial court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying defendant's attempt to call an alleged associate as a witness upon the ground that her testimony was unnecessary, given what appears to have been a sharp conflict in the testimony between the parties.

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the matter remanded for a new trial.
Pesce, P.J., Golia and Rios, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: December 31, 2008