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Dexter 345 Inc. v Belem
2012 NY Slip Op 52106(U) [37 Misc 3d 134(A)]
Decided on November 14, 2012
Appellate Term, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.


Decided on November 14, 2012
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT

PRESENT: Lowe, III, P.J., Schoenfeld, Torres, JJ
570501/12.

Dexter 345 Inc., Petitioner-Landlord-Respondent,

against

Roberto Belem, Respondent-Tenant-Appellant.


Tenant appeals from (1) an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Jean T. Schneider, J.), entered March 21, 2012, which, in granting tenant's postjudgment motion to reopen the trial of a holdover summary proceeding, denied his applications for a continuance and for leave to file a late jury demand; and 2) an order (same court and Judge), entered March 21, 2012, which closed the trial record and adhered to the prior final judgment, entered on March 6, 2012.


Per Curiam.

Orders (Jean T. Schneider, J.), each entered March 21, 2012, affirmed, without costs.

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying tenant's request for a continuance of the reopened trial, in view of the prior delays caused by tenant, and since his putative need for an adjournment resulted from his own lack of due diligence (see CPLR 4402; 174 Second Equities, Corp., Hee Nam Bee, 57 AD3d 319, 321 [2008]). Tenant's claim that he was unable to appear on the scheduled trial date due to "medical [or] health reasons" was not credibly substantiated (see Guerre v Trustees of Columbia Univ., 300 AD2d 29 [2002]). Tenant's mid-trial application for leave to file a late jury demand was properly denied.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: November 14, 2012