| 130 St. Marks Place LLC v Hines |
| 2017 NY Slip Op 50214(U) [54 Misc 3d 143(A)] |
| Decided on February 17, 2017 |
| 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| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
Petitioner appeals from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Jean T. Schneider, J.), dated February 19, 2016, which granted respondent's motion for attorney's fees as a prevailing party in a holdover summary proceeding.
Per Curiam.
Order (Jean T. Schneider, J.), dated February 19, 2016, affirmed, with $10 costs.
We sustain the grant of respondent's motion for attorneys' fees, albeit for reasons slightly different from those stated by Civil Court. In the particular circumstances at issue, where nearly one year has passed since the discontinuance of the holdover proceeding and no new proceeding was commenced by petitioner to determine the merits of its possessory claim, the only reasonable conclusion is that petitioner abandoned the matter and no longer contemplates suit on the underlying merits of that claim (see Park South Associates v Essebag, 126 Misc 2d 994 [1984]; N.V. Madison v Saurwein, 103 Misc 2d 996 [1980]). In this context, respondent is entitled to his reasonable attorneys' fees, since petitioner should not be permitted to postpone indefinitely the "ultimate outcome" of the lawsuit, effectively denying respondent attorneys' fees (see Centennial Restorations Co. v Wyatt, 248 AD2d 193, 197 [1998]).
We have considered and rejected petitioner's remaining arguments.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.