| Guerrero v West 23rd St. Realty, LLC |
| 2007 NY Slip Op 08881 [45 AD3d 403] |
| November 15, 2007 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| William Guerrero et al., Appellants, v West 23rd StreetRealty, LLC, et al., Respondents. |
—[*1] The Dweck Law Firm, LLP, New York City (Jack S. Dweck of counsel), forrespondents.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Jane S. Solomon, J.), entered January 25,2007, dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The causes of action for breach of contract were properly dismissed on defendants' CPLR3211 motion. Even assuming that the agreement for building management services was modifiedeither orally or by the parties' conduct, the modification, which would have permitted automaticrenewal for consecutive one-year periods unless terminated by either party upon 60 days' noticeprior to the expiration of the term of the agreement, is rendered unenforceable by GeneralObligations Law § 5-903 (see Harris v Adams & Co. Real Estate, 62 Misc 2d 749,753 [1970]).
The claim for equitable estoppel was also properly dismissed. To the extent that this claim isbased on the alleged renewal of the agreements, it is duplicative of the breach of contract causesof action (see William Kaufman Org. v Graham & James, 269 AD2d 171, 173 [2000]).To the extent that it is based on the expenditures plaintiffs made in preparation for signing alease, the claim fails because the lease agreement apparently was never reduced to writing(see Youz Films v Just Born, Inc., 69 AD2d 778 [1979] ["the alleged reliance on the oralagreement is no more than the usual situation of parties who orally agree on a deal, intending thatthere shall be a written contract, and then at the point of signing, one of the parties backs out"]).
We have considered plaintiffs' additional arguments and find them unavailing.Concur—Andrias, J.P., Marlow, Williams, Buckley and Malone, JJ.