Orange Orch. Props., LLC v. Gentry Unlimited, Inc.

2025 NY Slip Op 31214(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedApril 10, 2025
DocketIndex No. 100198/2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2025 NY Slip Op 31214(U) (Orange Orch. Props., LLC v. Gentry Unlimited, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court, New York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orange Orch. Props., LLC v. Gentry Unlimited, Inc., 2025 NY Slip Op 31214(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2025).

Opinion

Orange Orch. Props., LLC v Gentry Unlimited, Inc. 2025 NY Slip Op 31214(U) April 10, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 100198/2019 Judge: John J. Kelley 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. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/11/2025 04:49 PM INDEX NO. 100198/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 192 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/11/2025

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. JOHN J. KELLEY PART 56M Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 100198/2019 ORANGE ORCHESTRA PROPERTIES, LLC, TIMOTHY MOORE, individually, and in his capacity as a member of MOTION DATE 01/27/2025 ORANGE ORCHESTRA PROPERTIES, LLC, shareholder of GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC., and MARY MOORE, MOTION SEQ. NO. 006 individually, and in her capacity as a member of ORANGE ORCHESTRA PROPERTIES, LLC, shareholder of GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC.,

Plaintiffs, DECISION + ORDER ON -v- MOTION GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC., and THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC.,

Defendants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 006) 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

I. INTRODUCTION

This is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief against a residential cooperative

corporation and the board of directors of that corporation, and to recover damages against

those defendants for, inter alia, trespass to property and unlawful eviction, arising from the

defendants’ denial of the plaintiffs’ proposed plans to alter and rehabilitate a cooperative

apartment unit, and its concomitant termination of the underlying proprietary lease. The plaintiff

Orange Orchestra, LLC (Orange), moves pursuant to CPLR 3212 for partial summary judgment,

(a) on the tenth cause of action, awarding plaintiffs a judgment against the defendant The Board of Directors of Gentry Unlimited, Inc. (the board). for disgorgement of all maintenance payments that plaintiffs made to the cooperative, together with all compensatory and consequential damages, and scheduling a hearing to determine the amount of such payments and damages owed by the board;

100198/2019 ORANGE ORCHESTRA PROPERTIES vs. GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC. Page 1 of 12 Motion No. 006

1 of 12 [* 1] FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/11/2025 04:49 PM INDEX NO. 100198/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 192 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/11/2025

(b) on the first cause of action, declaring that the Notice of Termination dated May 14, 2018, and issued by defendants, is null, void, and of no effect;

(c) on the second cause of action, declaring that plaintiffs’ plans for its alteration work are approved and should proceed forthwith;

(d) on the third cause of action, awarding the plaintiffs a permanent mandatory injunction against the defendants requiring the unconditional and irrevocable approval of the plaintiffs’ plans for their proposed alteration work; and

(e) on the ninth cause of action, awarding plaintiffs their attorneys’ fees and disbursements incurred in connection with this action, and scheduling a hearing to determine the amount of such attorneys’ fees and disbursements owed by the board

The defendants oppose the motion. The motion is denied.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Orange is the owner of shares allocated to an apartment in a Manhattan apartment

building that is owned by the defendant Gentry Unlimited, Inc. (Gentry), a residential

cooperative corporation. The plaintiffs Timothy Moore and Mary Moore are the sole members of

Orange, and both of them are tenant-shareholders of Gentry. The board denied Orange’s

application for permission to alter, renovate, and rehabilitate that apartment, thus rejecting a

plan that required the relocation of gas pipes, and the installation of plumbing and other water-

using fixtures and appliances in a room immediately above a room in another apartment in

which no such fixtures were installed, a so-called “wet-over-dry” configuration. The plaintiffs’

first alteration proposal, which included architectural plans, indicated that they wished to perform

the following work:

“Removal of existing loft bed and existing furniture, removal of materials to expose brick walls, replace worn out and rotten floorboards, replace all kitchen units and counters, replace bathroom fixtures and bathtub, upgrade electrical panel to code, install overhead LED lighting, replace window jam[b]s and trims, install new air conditioning, refinish floors and possibly alter door. Total Cost of Project: 30-40K.”

According to the defendants, however, after the board approved that work, the defendants

discovered that, without the knowledge even of the plaintiffs’ retained architect, the plaintiffs’

contractors had re-routed a gas riser without obtaining permits, installed ceiling segments and 100198/2019 ORANGE ORCHESTRA PROPERTIES vs. GENTRY UNLIMITED, INC. Page 2 of 12 Motion No. 006

2 of 12 [* 2] FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/11/2025 04:49 PM INDEX NO. 100198/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 192 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/11/2025

walls that were not fire-rated, improperly installed frames around certain windows, and planned

to install a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) drain in a manner that had not been

approved by the board. The defendants further contended that the plaintiff Timothy Moore

prevented board representatives from entering the subject apartment to review or inspect any of

the work.

The plaintiffs thereafter submitted a second alteration proposal that included re-routing

of the gas riser and waste lines, and relocation of the kitchen so that it would be located above a

room in another apartment that was neither a kitchen, bathroom, nor laundry room. On May 11,

2017, the board rejected the second proposal on the grounds that the kitchen relocation would

create a wet-over-dry configuration, and because the kitchen sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, and

waste line would be located dangerously close to the building’s electrical system. By letter

dated July 21, 2017, the board, after reconsidering the issue of the gas-line relocation, rejected

that proposal as well.

The board concluded that the plaintiffs had undertaken unauthorized work for at least

three years, determined that they were in default of their obligations under the proprietary lease,

and issued a notice of default on March 23, 2018, directing them to restore the re-routed gas

line to its original location by April 27, 2018. On May 14, 2018, the board served the plaintiffs

with a notice of termination, informing them that the proprietary lease would expire on May 24,

2018 if they did not cure their default by that date. The defendants contended that, in

accordance with paragraph 31 of the proprietary lease, all of the plaintiffs’ “right, title, and

interest” in the proprietary lease expired on May 24, 2018.

Initially, the plaintiffs, who were originally petitioners/plaintiffs, commenced a hybrid

CPLR article 78 proceeding and plenary action against the defendants and several individual

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2025 NY Slip Op 31214(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orange-orch-props-llc-v-gentry-unlimited-inc-nysupctnewyork-2025.