IN RE: COASTAL COMMUNICATION SERVICE (2007)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Michael D. Stallman, J.), entered on or about July 11, 2006, which dismissed this article 78 proceeding to invalidate section 6–06(c) of Title 67 of the Rules of the City of New York, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

It is undisputed that § 6–06(c), prohibiting the display of advertising in certain public telephone enclosures in Manhattan, became final and binding on December 4, 2004.  Petitioners filed a motion for leave to amend their federal complaint on March 28, 2005 to include claims pertaining to that section.  The federal court decided the motion on August 2 of that year, and the instant petition was filed on September 1. Even if the statute of limitations was tolled between March 28 and August 2, 2005 (see Perez v. Paramount Communications, 92 N.Y.2d 749, 686 N.Y.S.2d 342, 709 N.E.2d 83 [1999] ), more than 4 months elapsed between December 4, 2004 and September 1, 2005, to wit:  3 months and 24 days elapsed between December 4, 2004 and March 28, 2005, and 1 month between August 2 and September 1, 2005.  Therefore, petitioners' attack on § 6–06(c) is time-barred (see CPLR 217[1] ).  We will not permit petitioners to do an end-run around the statute of limitations by attacking the June 2005 notices to proceed instead of the regulation itself (see Matter of Best Payphones, Inc. v. Department of Info. Tech. & Telecom. of City of N.Y., 5 N.Y.3d 30, 34 n., 799 N.Y.S.2d 182, 832 N.E.2d 38 [2005] ).

In light of our disposition, we find it unnecessary to reach the substantive arguments raised by petitioner.