440 East 62nd Street Owners Associates, L.P. v. 440 East 62nd St. Owners Corp.
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; July 6, 1995; New York; State Appellate Court
The Supreme Court of New York County, under Justice Diane Lebedeff, issued an order on July 7, 1994, granting a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, which prohibits the defendants from interfering with plaintiff Carr's occupancy of the apartment or from terminating the sublease between plaintiff Associates and Carr, as well as the proprietary lease between Associates and defendant Owners Corp. The court denied the defendants' cross motion to dismiss the complaint. The court found the relevant documents ambiguous regarding whether plaintiff Associates was intended to purchase unsold shares, indicating that the issues cannot be resolved through the extrinsic evidence presented. The preliminary injunction serves to maintain the status quo while the rights of the parties are further adjudicated, without addressing the merits of the case prematurely. Although the injunction in favor of Carr is not classified as Yellowstone relief, it is supported by uncontradicted evidence indicating that he faced potentially invalid actions from the cooperative. The court dismissed the remaining arguments from the appellants as lacking merit. The decision was affirmed unanimously without costs.