(Download) "Claridge Gardens v. Gian Carlo Menotti" by Supreme Court of New York * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Claridge Gardens v. Gian Carlo Menotti
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 19, 1990
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
The tenant is a well-known musician who spends relatively little time in the subject apartment. While that, alone, is not
a sufficient basis for a finding of non-primary residence (Coronet Properties Co. v Brychova, 122 Misc. 2d 212, affd 126 Misc.
2d 946), the trial court's determination was not based merely on the amount of time the tenant spent in the apartment. Competent
evidence in the record supports the trial court's conclusion that the tenant actually resided in a house in Scotland from
1973 to 1986. The tenant's attempts to explain away this fact merely raised questions of fact and credibility for the trial
court. On a bench trial, the decision of the fact-finding court should not be disturbed upon appeal unless it is obvious that
the court's conclusions could not be reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence, especially when the findings of
fact rest in large measure on considerations relating to the credibility of witnesses (Nightingale Restaurant Corp. v Shak
Food Corp., A.D.2d , 547 N.Y.S.2d 61, 62). Here, the evidence supports the trial court's findings. The prime tenant's son is not entitled to the apartment. Such succession is permissible only where the prime tenant vacates
the apartment voluntarily and where the subject apartment is the primary residence of the prime tenant (Herzog v Joy, 74 A.D.2d
372, affd 63 N.Y.2d 821). Neither circumstance obtains in the instant matter. Rather, the evidence suggests that the tenant's
son wants to succeed to the apartment as a subterfuge to protect the primary tenant's continued possession (cf., Herzog v
Joy, supra, 376).