FERGUSON v. NEW SAVOY PARK II (2026)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Paul A. Goetz, J.), entered on or about April 16, 2026, which, to the extent appealed from, granted defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment entered against it, and denied plaintiff's motion for a money judgment, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Supreme Court providently vacated the default pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(1).  Defendant's explanation of law office failure constituted a reasonable excuse for its default in answering, which was “sufficiently particularized and [without] evidence of willful or contumacious conduct on [its] part” (Matter of Rivera v New York City Dept. of Sanitation, 142 AD3d 463, 464 [1st Dept 2016] ).  Defendant also set forth potentially meritorious defenses to the complaint by submitting a non-conclusory affidavit of an individual with knowledge of the facts (see D & R Global Selections, S.L. v Bodega Olegario Falcón Piñeiro, 90 AD3d 403, 406 [1st Dept 2011] ).

In light of the vacated default judgment, the court properly denied plaintiff's motion for entry of a money judgment in his favor.

We have considered plaintiff's remaining contentions and find them unavailing.