| Starker v Trump Vil. Section 4, Inc. |
| 2013 NY Slip Op 02068 [104 AD3d 937] |
| March 27, 2013 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Oscar Starker, Appellant, v Trump Village Section4, Inc., et al., Defendants, and New York State Division of Housing and CommunityRenewal et al., Respondents. |
—[*1] Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York, N.Y. (Michael S. Belohlavekand Laura R. Johnson of counsel), for respondents.
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for breach of contract, the plaintiffappeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Saitta, J.), dated December2, 2010, which granted the motion of the defendants New York State Division ofHousing and Community Renewal and Commissioner of New York State Division ofHousing and Community Renewal to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted againstthem, without prejudice to the plaintiff commencing a claim in the Court of Claims.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
Claims for damages against state agencies, officers, and departments in their officialcapacity, where the matter is, in reality, one against the State, i.e., where the State is thereal party in interest, can be prosecuted only in the Court of Claims (see Morell vBalasubramanian, 70 NY2d 297, 300 [1987]; Power Cooling v State Univ. ofN.Y., 284 AD2d 317 [2001]; Automated Ticket Sys. v Quinn, 90 AD2d 738,739 [1982]). Here, the Supreme Court properly directed dismissal of the complaintinsofar as asserted against the defendants New York State Division of Housing andCommunity Renewal and Commissioner of New York State Division of Housing andCommunity Renewal without prejudice to the plaintiff commencing a claim in the Courtof Claims.
Moreover, under the circumstances presented, the Supreme Court did notimprovidently exercise its discretion in denying the plaintiff's request that the matter betransferred to the Court of Claims pursuant to CPLR 325 (a) instead of being dismissedwithout prejudice. Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Roman and Hinds-Radix, JJ., concur.