Fiondella v. 345 W. 70th Tenants Corp.

2024 NY Slip Op 33609(U)
New York Supreme Court, New York County·Decided October 10, 2024·No. Index No. 152957/2021·Unpublished

Opinion

Fiondella v 345 W. 70th Tenants Corp.

2024 NY Slip Op 33609(U)

October 10, 2024

Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 152957/2021 Judge: David B. Cohen

Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication.

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 197 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY

PRESENT: HON. DAVID B. COHEN PART 58 Justice

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 152957/2021 PAUL FIONDELLA

MOTION DATE 02/16/2024 Plaintiff,

MOTION SEQ. NO. 004 005 -v-

345 WEST 70TH TENANTS CORP., DECISION + ORDER ON MOTION

Defendant.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 187, 190 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS DEFENSE .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195 were read on this motion to/for MISCELLANEOUS .

In this declaratory judgment action, plaintiff moves pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) for an order dismissing defendant’s counterclaim and its first, third, fourth, fifth, part of the sixth, and the seventh through 13th affirmative defenses (seq. 004). Defendant opposes.

By notice of motion, plaintiff also moves to strike portions of defense counsel’s December 2023 and April 2021 affirmations and to consolidate the motion with plaintiff’s pending motion to dismiss (seq. 005). Defendant opposes.

I. PERTINENT BACKGROUND A. Complaint (NYSCEF 2)

Plaintiff commenced this action as the proprietary lessee and sole owner of shares of stock in apartment 3A in the building located at 345 West 70th Street in Manhattan. Defendant is a cooperative housing corporation which owns the building. One of the board members, Mark

O’Toole, owns the apartment below plaintiff’s apartment. 152957/2021 FIONDELLA, PAUL vs. 345 WEST 70TH TENANTS CORP. Page 1 of 14 Motion No. 004 005

1 of 14

[* 1]

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 197 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2024

Plaintiff and his family have lived in the building for almost 40 years, and the apartment’s shares were transferred to him in 2001. Until December 2015, a tenant lived in the apartment; plaintiff took possession of it in January 2017.

In March 2017, plaintiff cleared out the apartment, thereby exposing the original wood floors, and observed a downward slope of approximately three or more inches in several of the floors.

In August 2017, plaintiff notified defendant about the slope. In March 2018 and April 2019, the New York City Housing and Preservation Department (HPD) issued violations regarding the slope. In March 2019, plaintiff requested that defendant repair the floors, but defendant refused to do so.

In April 2019, plaintiff commenced a proceeding in New York City Housing Court, seeking an order directing defendant to fix the floors and cure the HPD and any other existing violations.

In November 2019, plaintiff commenced an action in this court against defendant based on many of the same facts alleged herein, under index number 656665/19 (prior action), but with alternative theories of recovery, namely, (1) declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the termination of his proprietary lease; (2) breach of the warranty of habitability; (3) breach of the proprietary lease; (4) negligence; (5) breach of fiduciary duty; and (6) harassment and retaliation (NYSCEF 2).

In January 2020, the Department of Buildings (DOB) inspected plaintiff’s and O’Toole’s apartments, and discovered that O’Toole had removed two walls in his apartment during a 2014- 2015 renovation. DOB issued two violations, one directing defendant to file plans with the DOB, identify what structural alterations O’Toole made to his apartment, and obtain DOB

152957/2021 FIONDELLA, PAUL vs. 345 WEST 70TH TENANTS CORP. Page 2 of 14 Motion No. 004 005

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[* 2]

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 197 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2024

permits for the alterations; and another directing defendant to file plans and repair the vertical supports for certain rooms in plaintiff’s apartment.

Shortly thereafter, the parties entered into a stipulation whereby defendant agreed to level the floors and repair the damage in plaintiff’s apartment at defendant’s expense, following plans developed by both parties’ certified structural engineers. It was agreed that the engineers would meet and jointly inspect the two apartments, would each provide a report, and would arrive at a mutually acceptable plan to fix the violations in plaintiff’s apartment.

On February 2, 2021, defendant’s engineer submitted a letter and plans to DOB; the plans were acceptable to plaintiff’s engineer. On February 23, 2021, plaintiff provided access to his apartment to defendant’s engineer and contractors to obtain bids for the structural repairs outlined in the plans. Nevertheless, and in violation of the parties’ stipulation, defendant failed to file the plans with the DOB, cure the violations, or repair the floors in plaintiff’s apartment.

One of the consequences of defendant’s failure to fix the floors is that one of the unsupported walls in plaintiff’s apartment contains the electrical service riser and fuse box, which may cause a fire if the wall collapses. Plaintiff is responsible for the fuse box, while defendant is responsible for the riser. Plaintiff had HPD and DOB inspect the fuse box for this issue and both agencies advised that the fuse box was safe, but that it could not be replaced without also replacing the riser.

In March 2021, defendant served plaintiff with a 30-day Notice to Cure, which provides that there is a hazardous electrical condition in plaintiff’s apartment, namely, the location of the fuse box in an unsupported wall. The location of the fuse box has been unchanged since 1982.

Plaintiff thus asserts the following claims against defendant:

152957/2021 FIONDELLA, PAUL vs. 345 WEST 70TH TENANTS CORP. Page 3 of 14 Motion No. 004 005

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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 197 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 10/10/2024

(1) a judgment declaring that defendant’s Notice to Cure is a nullity and/or that the issue raised therein is defendant’s responsibility to cure;

(2) a permanent injunction preventing defendant from terminating or attempting to terminate plaintiff’s proprietary lease or otherwise interfering with plaintiff’s tenancy and ownership of shares in the apartment;

(3) a permanent injunction directing defendant to submit the plans to DOB and to perform the agreed-upon repair work upon DOB’s approval of the plans;

(4) retaliatory eviction;

(5) breach of the warranty of habitability; and (6) attorneys’ fees, costs, and disbursements.

B. Defendant’s answer (NYSCEF 162)

On August 31, 2023, defendant served its answer, in which it asserted the following affirmative defenses:

(1) plaintiff breached the parties’ stipulation of settlement;

(2) plaintiff did not reside in the premises between January 2020 and April 2022;

(3) plaintiff sold the premises in April 2022;

(4) unclean hands;

(5) equitable estoppel;

(6) that any claim for breach of the warranty of habitability is subject to the stipulation of settlement and reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which rendered defendant’s performance impossible during the pandemic; and also further reduced due to delays caused by plaintiff’s engineer in approving the plans and plaintiff’s refusal to provide access;

(7) release;

(8) release pursuant to the stipulation and defendant’s full performance thereunder;

(9) defendant’s full performance of the stipulation;

(10) waiver;

(11) ratification;

(12) plaintiff has no damages; and (13) the scope of the stipulation was intended to encompass plaintiff’s remaining claims.

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Fiondella v. 345 W. 70th Tenants Corp., 2024 NY Slip Op 33609(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

2024 NY Slip Op 33609(U) (Fiondella v. 345 W. 70th Tenants Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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