West 60th St. Assoc., LLC v. Maier

2024 NY Slip Op 30504(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedFebruary 15, 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 30504(U) (West 60th St. Assoc., LLC v. Maier) 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
West 60th St. Assoc., LLC v. Maier, 2024 NY Slip Op 30504(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

West 60th St. Assoc., LLC v Maier 2024 NY Slip Op 30504(U) February 15, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 160364/2023 Judge: Arlene P. Bluth 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. INDEX NO. 160364/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 150 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/15/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. ARLENE P. BLUTH PART 14 Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 160364/2023 WEST 60TH STREET ASSOCIATES, LLC, MOTION DATE 02/07/2024 Petitioner, MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 004 -v- BIANCA MAIER, MOR OHANA, BEAUTY BY B NY 2023 LLC,CIGAR LOUNGE 2023 26TH STREET LLC,HAPOEL FE LLC A/K/A HAPPEN FE LLC,NAOMI18, LLC A/K/A DECISION + ORDER ON NAOMI18 LLC,JONATHAN DRORY, SHACHAR MOTION ZEPLOVITCH, SARID DRORY

Respondent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 36, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 63, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 129, 131, 132, 133, 137, 138 were read on this motion to/for ORDER OF ATTACHMENT .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 134, 135, 136, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS .

Motion Sequence 001 and 004 are consolidated for disposition. The motion by

respondents Sarid Drory, Mor Ohana and Hapoel Fe LLC is decided as described below. The

petition (MS001) is adjourned to February 29, 2024 to permit the remaining respondent to

answer.

Background

This is not a plenary action. Rather, this is, apparently, a turnover proceeding brought

pursuant to CPLR 5225(b). In such proceedings, a judgment creditor typically claims that the

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respondent is in possession of assets of the judgment debtor and seeks a court order directing that

third party (named as a respondent) to turn over those assets to the petitioner/judgment creditor.

In its petition, petitioner contends that it secured a judgment against respondents Sarid

Drory, Jonathan Drory and Shachar Zeplovitch on October 6, 2022 in New York County Civil

Court for $139,035.00 (NYSCEF Doc. No. 2) arising out of unpaid rent. In reply, petitioner

admits that it never obtained a judgment against Sarid and claims he was named here due to an

oversight. The Civil Court judgment is against Jonathan and Shachar.

Sarid is Jonathan’s father and the uncle of respondent Shachar. Portraying Sarid as a

mastermind in cheating people, petitioner claims that right after the judgment was entered, Sarid

and Jonathan transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars through newly created companies to

hide their money from petitioner. The Court observes that Shachar’s affidavit (NYSCEF Doc.

95), in which he recounts money transfers, suggests he was naïve and blames a nefarious scheme

on everyone but himself. This affidavit, curiously, was uploaded by petitioner’s counsel; that

raises questions about the author (or author[s]) of this document.

In any event, after petitioner brought a proceeding in landlord-tenant court and secured a

judgment, it details the allegedly fraudulent transfers it claims have occurred. But this is not a

plenary action designed to explore allegedly fraudulent transfers. Instead, this is a limited

special proceeding brought pursuant to statute and that special proceeding is limited to seeking a

court order to direct a third party, who is holding the judgment debtor’s funds or assets, to turn

those funds or assets over to the petitioner.

Unfortunately, the petition, in a somewhat scattershot fashion, attempts to paint a picture

of judgment debtors, their family members, and associates moving money to try to hide it from

creditors. Petitioner argues that Shachar directed that his personal paychecks be deposited into

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the bank account of his business, respondent Cigar Lounge 2023 26th Street LLC (“Cigar

Lounge”) and attaches documentation purportedly showing the creation of this account after the

date of the judgment. Petitioner contends that respondent Jonathan liquidated his personal bank

account at Citibank (which totaled $177,000) and deposited that money into an account held by

respondent Naomi18, LLC (“Naomi18”), an entity that petitioner claims is an alter ego of

Jonathan and respondent Ohana.

Petitioner also contends that on that same date, October 19, 2022, Jonathan liquidated his

personal bank account at Bank of America and deposited that amount (about $34,000) into an

account held by Naomi18. However, petitioner does not directly claim that any money remains

with Naomi 18 - it contends that Jonathan and Ohana then transferred the entire amount of funds

(over $200,000) to an account held by respondent Hapoel FE LLC (“Hapoel”).

Petitioner also details how Shachar transferred thousands of dollars to his girlfriend

Bianca in February 2023. It further alleges that in April 2023, Shachar transferred over $200,000

from a Hapoel account to a Cigar Lounge bank account and then to an account held by BBB NY

LLC (an entity petitioner alleges was created by respondent Bianca Maier). Petitioner contends

the money was then sent back to the Cigar Lounge and then back to the Hapoel account. And so

“following the money” leads to Hapoel.

Respondents Sarid Drory, Mor Ohana and Hapoel (“Moving Respondents”) move under

MS004 to dismiss this proceeding and to strike the scandalous allegations alleged against them,

as well as for sanctions. With respect to Sarid, he submits an affidavit in which he emphasizes

that the petitioner did not obtain a judgment against him and that petitioner never served him.

Respondent Ohana questions his involvement in this case and speculates that he was

named simply because he was an authorized user on a bank account held in the name of Hapoel.

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He observes he grew up in Tel Aviv right next door to Jonathan Drory, whom he considers a

close friend. Ohana argues that he has been living in California since 2023 and also argues that

he was never served.

In support of the motion to dismiss as to Hapoel, Sarid’s ex-wife Orit Tempelhof submits

an affidavit in which she claims she is the sole equity member of Hapoel. Ms. Tempelhof

explains that this entity operates a clothing business and she granted Jonathan and later Ohana

permission to access Hapoel’s U.S. bank accounts to facilitate U.S.-based transactions. She

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2024 NY Slip Op 30504(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-60th-st-assoc-llc-v-maier-nysupctnewyork-2024.