Gheorghe Petre, appellant pro se.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alison Y. Tuitt, J.), entered on or about October 15, 2019, which denied plaintiff's motion for a default judgment, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

It is undisputed that plaintiff did not make a "reasonable attempt" to personally serve defendants, in accordance with CPLR 308; thus, service was improper (see Matter of Wilner v Beddoe, 102 AD3d 582, 584 [1st Dept 2013]). As jurisdiction was not obtained over defendants, they were not required, in response to plaintiff's motion for a default judgment, to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for their default in answering the complaint or a meritorious defense (European Am. Bank v Legum, 248 AD2d 206, 208 [1st Dept 1998]). Similarly, the absence of jurisdiction over defendants renders plaintiff's remaining arguments inapplicable. Concur—Webber, J.P., González, Scarpulla, Shulman, JJ.