IN RE: BI–COSTAL PROPERTIES (2025)

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Kenneth L. Thompson, J.), entered March 10, 2023, granting the petition to the extent of annulling respondents’ March 5, 2021 determination which denied petitioner's clerical error review application, finding that petitioner was entitled to receive J–51 tax exemption benefits under Administrative Code of City of NY § 11–243 for its property beginning July 1, 2020, and denying respondents’ cross-motion to dismiss the petition, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the judgment vacated, the petition denied, respondents’ cross-motion granted, and the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 dismissed.

The court should have granted respondents’ cross-motion to dismiss the petition.  Petitioner's application challenging the alleged overassessment of its property, resulting from the failure to apply an increase in the physical value of the property and an exemption following certain window replacement work, was reviewable exclusively under RPTL article 7 (see Matter of 174th TIC Owner LLC v. Niblack, 231 A.D.3d 401, 401, 217 N.Y.S.3d 536 [1st Dept. 2024];  Matter of Bajraktari Realty Corp. v. Soliman, 223 A.D.3d 556, 556, 203 N.Y.S.3d 295 [1st Dept. 2024]).  We reject petitioner's arguments that Department of Finance merely committed a clerical error which can be reviewed pursuant to CPLR article 78.