Arol Development Corp. v. Goodie Brand Packing Corp.

83 Misc. 2d 477, 372 N.Y.S.2d 324, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2926
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedJuly 3, 1975
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 83 Misc. 2d 477 (Arol Development Corp. v. Goodie Brand Packing Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arol Development Corp. v. Goodie Brand Packing Corp., 83 Misc. 2d 477, 372 N.Y.S.2d 324, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2926 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1975).

Opinion

Benjamin F. Nolan, J.

This is a summary holdover proceeding, brought by Arol Development Corp., petitioner, to obtain possession of Stores Nos. 12, 13 and 14 in the Bronx Terminal Market, from Goodie Brand Packing Corp., respondent. The trial was conducted before this court, without a jury, from June 16 through June 24, 1975. This opinion will include the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Arol sues as lessee of the city-owned Bronx Terminal Market, under a long-term lease with the City of New York, dated, May 1, 1972, and, under a long-term amended lease with the City of New York, dated, November 26, 1973, under which Arol became lessee of substantially all of the Bronx Terminal Market, subject to existing tenancies, and under which Arol was assigned "all leases, permits or other agreements for occupancy.”

Goodie is a month-to-month tenant, holding over after the expiration of an occupancy permit agreement it had with the City of New York from September 1, 1970, to August 31, 1971, which was extended to August 31, 1972, but never formally renewed, and which this court concludes, infra, is, in essence, a lease.

Although Goodie has argued that it is not a month-to-month tenant, the facts clearly demonstrate that it is. Goodie held over after the expiration of its lease and thereafter paid monthly rent to Arol. (Real Property Law, § 232-c.) Furthermore, in a writing, dated June 12, 1973, Goodie admitted to being a "month-to-month tenant” of Arol, and further admitted that such tenancy was "terminable at any time.”

[479]*479Goodie has contended that its occupancy agreement with the City of New York was a permit, not a lease, because it was entitled “Occupancy Permit” and referred to the City of New York as permittor and Goodie as permittee.

Whether a document is a lease must be determined by its terms. (Rochester Poster Adv. Co. v State of New York, 27 Misc 2d 99, affd 15 AD2d 632, affd 11 NY2d 1036; Kumro v Slattery, 150 Misc 269; Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of U. S. v Winter Leasing Corp., 265 NY 398.)

In Miller v City of New York (15 NY2d 34), the City of New York purported to enter into a "permit” or "license” with an occupant of real property owned by the City of New York. The city argued that the document was not a lease, but the Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that the document was a "lease” regardless of what it was entitled. To the same effect was the holding in Skolnik v Utica Shell Serv. Center (81 Misc 2d 417), where a document, in which the parties were referred to as "franchisor” and "franchisee”, was found to really reflect a contractual relationship of "lessor” and "lessee”.

Here — the "occupancy permit” contains 39 paragraphs, all of which are customarily found in a lease. Accordingly, this court concludes that by its terms the agreement entitled "Occupancy Permit” is in reality a "lease”.

Prior to the opening of trial, this court disposed of the following motions:

1. Arol moved to strike Goodie’s jury demand, because paragraph 31 of Goodie’s expired lease with the City of New York contained a jury waiver; also, because paragraph 33 of the said lease provided that the waiver of the jury trial survives the expiration date of the lease.

Where a tenant holds over without any other or new agreement with his landlord, the law will imply continuance of the tenancy on the same terms and subject to the same covenants as those contained in the original lease. (Rasch, N.Y. Landlord & Tenant Law [2d ed], § 274; Baylies v Ingram, 84 App Div 360, affd 181 NY 518; Scully v Roche, 76 Misc 458; Jamaica Investors v Blacharsh, 193 Misc 949, mot for lv to app den 277 App Div 951.)

Nevertheless — Goodie argues — recent decisions in Avenue Assoc. v Buxbaum, (83 Misc 2d 719) and Shapiro v Marstone Distrs. (40 AD2d 878) have stricken such jury lease waivers. However, neither decision is controlling in these circum[480]*480stances. The court, itself, in the Avenue Assoc, case, expressly distinguishes its determination from commercial cases. Additionally, that decision is based upon findings in a residential lease of unconscionability and compulsion not present here. Shapiro is also distinguishable from the case here, primarily, because it does not involve the carry-over of a jury lease into a month-to-month tenancy. Furthermore, in Shapiro, the Appellate Division allowed a guarantor’s jury demand to stand despite a jury waiver in a lease because the guarantor (p 878) "was neither the lessor nor lessee”. Here, Goodie was the lessee in the agreement which contained the jury lease waiver.

This court concludes that, except for a proceeding under section 259-c of the Real Property Law — which is not the case here — the jury lease waiver provision will be upheld if the proceeding is grounded in contract — which is the case here. (Birchwood Assoc. v Steigauf, 75 Misc 2d 728; Swinger Realty Corp. v Kizner Imports, 70 Misc 2d 742 [App. Term, 1st Dept, concurring opn. of Justice Lupiano]; Eisenberg v 230 Kent Corp., 229 NYS2d 109; Waterside Holding Corp. v Lask, 233 App Div 456.) See Lera Realty Co. v Rich (273 App Div 913), which was a holdover proceeding to recover commercial space in which the same jury lease waiver as we have here was enforced.

Counsels for Goodie have argued that trial by jury is a constitutional right which cannot be waived. This is not so. The Court of Appeals has ruled that the right to waive even constitutional rights will not be interfered with by the courts. (Matter of Malloy, 278 NY 429, 433.)

In further opposing this motion, Goodie asserts a contention (not raised in its answer) that the City of New York, in assigning to Arol all "permit agreements for occupancy” had, in effect, unconstitutionally delegated to a private entity the power to issue, revoke, transfer or suspend licenses or permits. Since this cannot be done, argues Goodie, Arol could not have become a "permittor” by assignment and therefore could not be a successor to the rights of the City of New York, as permittor, in the agreement containing the jury lease waiver, so as to be able now to demand enforcement of that jury lease waiver against Goodie in this proceeding.

The foregoing contention is patently unsound, because article I, section 1, (g) of the amended lease expressly provides: "Lessee hereby succeeds to all non-governmental (i.e. proprie[481]*481tary) rights of Lessor with respect to all such liens, permits and agreements for occupancy”.

In this summary proceeding, Arol does not assert a governmental right and could not, for it was assigned no governmental right under the lease or the amended lease. By assignment, however, it did succeed to all proprietary rights of the City of New York to enforce the jury lease waiver against Goodie.

Accordingly, Aral's motion to strike Goodie’s jury demand was stricken. (Continental Mdse. Co. v Harris, 76 NYS2d 613.)

2. Next, Goodie moved to dismiss the petition as jurisdiction-ally defective because the 30-day notice (pursuant to Real Property Law, § 232-a), upon which this summary proceeding relies, had been utilized in an identical proceeding which had earlier been discontinued, without prejudice.

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Bluebook (online)
83 Misc. 2d 477, 372 N.Y.S.2d 324, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arol-development-corp-v-goodie-brand-packing-corp-nycivct-1975.