MAURAY REALTY CO v. ADVANTAGE PLASTICS INC (2019)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Saliann Scarpulla, J.), entered April 19, 2018, bringing up for review an order, same court and Justice, entered April 19, 2017, amended by order, same court and justice, entered April 20, 2018, to clarify that it applied to both plaintiffs, which, to the extent appealed from, limited in part the amount awarded at trial to the rent due before defendant was locked out of the premises, unanimously affirmed, without costs.  Appeal from the aforementioned order, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the judgment and as abandoned.

Although plaintiffs landlords argue that changing the locks did not amount to an eviction, the Court of Appeals states plainly in Barash v. Pennsylvania Term. Real Estate Corp., 26 N.Y.2d 77, 308 N.Y.S.2d 649, 256 N.E.2d 707 [1970], “where the landlord changes the lock, or padlocks the door, there is an actual eviction” (id. at 83, 308 N.Y.S.2d 649, 256 N.E.2d 707; see also 3855 Broadway Laundromat, Inc. v. 600 W. 161st St. Corp., 156 A.D.2d 202, 203, 548 N.Y.S.2d 461 [1st Dept. 1989] [changing the locks amounts to actual eviction]).  The evidence at trial showed that the landlords changed the locks, demanded that the tenant's counsel and not tenant maintain control over the key, and further demanded that the tenant seek approval before being permitted to obtain the key from its own counsel, thus constituting an eviction (West Broadway Glass Co. v. Namaskaar of Soho, Inc., 11 Misc.3d 144[A], 819 N.Y.S.2d 852 [App. Term, 1st Dept. 2006]).

We have considered the remaining contentions and find them unavailing.