| Assael v 15 Broad St., LLC |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 02077 [71 AD3d 802] |
| March 16, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Ivan Assael, Appellant, v 15 Broad Street, LLC,Respondent. |
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In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals (1) from an orderof the Supreme Court, Kings County (Miller, J.), dated December 4, 2008, which granted thedefendant's motion pursuant to CPLR 5015 (a) (1) to vacate a judgment dated May 19, 2008,entered upon an order dated February 4, 2008, granting the plaintiff's unopposed motion forleave to enter judgment on the issue of liability upon the defendant's default in appearing oranswering, and after an inquest on the issue of damages, in favor of the plaintiff and against thedefendant in the principal sum of $175,000, and (2), as limited by his brief, from so much of anorder of the same court dated December 22, 2008, as, upon reargument, adhered to the originaldetermination.
Ordered that the appeal from the order dated December 4, 2008, is dismissed, as that orderwas superseded by the order dated December 22, 2008, made upon reargument; and it is further,
Ordered that the order dated December 22, 2008, is reversed insofar as appealed from, on thelaw, on the facts, and in the exercise of discretion, upon reargument, the order dated December 4,2008, is vacated, and the defendant's motion to vacate the judgment is denied; and it is further,
Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the plaintiff.
A defendant seeking to vacate a default judgment pursuant to CPLR 5015 (a) (1) mustdemonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense to the action(see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; Eugene Di Lorenzo, Inc. v A.C. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67NY2d 138, 141 [1986]; Segovia vDelcon Constr. Corp., 43 AD3d 1143, 1144 [2007]; Canty v Gregory, 37 AD3d 508 [2007]). The defendant failed toproffer any excuse for its default in appearing or answering the complaint. Furthermore, thedefendant's explanations for failing to oppose the plaintiff's motion for leave to enter a defaultjudgment were not reasonable (seeLeifer v Pilgreen Corp., 62 AD3d 759, 760 [2009]; Toland v Young, 60 AD3d 754, 755 [2009]; Segovia v DelconConstr. Corp., 43 AD3d at 1144; Canty v Gregory, 37 AD3d at 509). Accordingly,the defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment should have been denied. In view of theabsence of a reasonable excuse, it is unnecessary to consider whether the defendant [*2]sufficiently demonstrated the existence of a meritorious defense(see Segovia v Delcon Constr. Corp., 43 AD3d at 1144; Mjahdi v Maguire, 21 AD3d1067, 1068 [2005]; AmericanShoring, Inc. v D.C.A. Constr., Ltd., 15 AD3d 431 [2005]). Rivera, J.P., Florio,Dickerson, Belen and Roman, JJ., concur.