Crimes - Unlawful Search and Seizure - Vehicle Stop - License Plate Frame Covering Bottom Portion of License Plate

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Thomas Farber, J., at suppression hearing; Miriam Best, J., at plea and sentencing), rendered December 1, 2022, convicting defendant of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of five years, unanimously affirmed.

There is no basis to disturb the suppression court's credibility determinations, which are entitled to "great deference" (People v Wheeler, 2 NY3d 370, 374 [2004]). The testimony of the People's witnesses and corroborating photographic evidence established that the automobile in which defendant was an occupant had a license plate frame covering the bottom portion of the license plate, in violation of former Vehicle and Traffic Law § 402 (1) (b), which justified police stopping the vehicle (see People v Nektalov, 42 NY3d 363, 367 [2024]; People v Jones, 190 AD3d 1013, 1014-1015 [3d Dept 2021], lv denied 36 NY3d 1098 [2021]; see also People v Dula, 198 AD3d 463, 464 [1st Dept 2021], lv denied 37 NY3d 1162 [2022]).

Defendant failed to preserve his contention that the indictment charging him with weapon possession is unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v Bruen (597 US 1 [2022]) (see People v Cabrera, 41 NY3d 35 [2023]), and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, defendant has made a "substantial showing of futility" (Antonyuk v James, 120 F4th 941, 978-979 [2d Cir 2024], cert denied 604 US &mdash, 145 S Ct 1900 [2025]), sufficient to excuse the "threshold requirement for standing" (Jackson-Bey v Hanslmaier, 115 F3d 1091, 1096 [2d Cir 1997]), since he had previously been convicted of a felony, which bars him from obtaining a firearm license (see Penal Law § 400.00 [1] [c]). However, he has failed to establish that his conviction is unconstitutional under Bruen (see People v Anderson, 234 AD3d 603, 604 [1st Dept 2025], lv denied 43 NY3d 943 [2025]; People v Liriano, 226 AD3d 520, 521 [1st Dept 2024], lv denied 41 NY3d 1019 [2024]). Concur—Webber, J.P., Mendez, Pitt-Burke, Higgitt, O'Neill Levy, JJ.