Roche v. City of New York

88 A.D.3d 978, 931 N.Y.2d 533

Opinion

In order to vacate his default in opposing the municipal defendants’ motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff was required to demonstrate both a reasonable excuse for his default and a potentially meritorious opposition to the motion (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; Casali v Cyran, 84 AD3d 711 [2011]; Simpson v Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc., 48 AD3d 389, 392 [2008]). Although the plaintiffs claim of law office failure can be deemed a reasonable excuse (see Kohn v Kohn, 86 AD3d 630 [2011]; Winthrop Univ. Hosp. v Metropolitan Suburban Bus Auth., 78 AD3d 685, 686 [2010]), he did not demonstrate the existence of a potentially meritorious opposition to the municipal defendants’ motion, since the record demonstrates that there is no triable issue of fact as to whether a special relationship existed between the plaintiff and the municipal defendants under the circumstances presented (see Greene v New York City Hous. Auth., 283 AD2d 458, 459 [2001]; see also Cuffy v City of New York, 69 NY2d 255, 260 [1987]; Brown v City of New York, 73 AD3d 1113 [2010]; Feinsilver v City of New York, 277 AD2d 199 [2000]; Montague v City of New York, 194 AD2d 524 [1993]). Dillon, J.E, Balkin, Eng and Cohen, JJ., concur.