Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Allen Fallek of counsel), for appellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (David P. Stromes of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William Leibovitz, J.), rendered October 26, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 25 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's mistrial motions based on an improper question asked by the prosecutor of a rebuttal witness (see People v Ortiz, 54 NY2d 288 [1981]). A mistrial was unwarranted because the question went unanswered and the court minimized any prejudice by way of a thorough curative instruction that the jury is presumed to have followed (see e.g. People v Otero, 56 AD3d 350 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 14 NY3d 804 [2010]). Concur—Sweeny, J.P., Renwick, Moskowitz, Feinman and Kapnick, JJ.