IN RE: the Claim of Terry L. PALMER (1998)

Appeal from a decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, filed July 2, 1997, which ruled that claimant was ineligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits because he was not totally unemployed.

Claimant owns and operates a seasonal ice cream business that is open every year from April to October and closed during the offseason.   Substantial evidence supports the finding of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant was ineligible to receive benefits during the offseason because he was not totally unemployed.   During the relevant time period, claimant wrote eight checks in payment for business-related expenses, arranged for all business calls and mail to be forwarded to his residence, and claimed a business-related deduction on his Federal income tax return.   That the business earned no revenue during the offseason is without consequence given that claimant stood to gain financially from the efforts he expended in continuing the business until it could be reopened the following April (see, Matter of Valvano [Sweeney], 236 A.D.2d 729, 653 N.Y.S.2d 727;  Matter of Monro [Sweeney], 235 A.D.2d 885, 653 N.Y.S.2d 46;  Matter of Gonyo [Roberts], 124 A.D.2d 884, 508 N.Y.S.2d 650).

ORDERED that the decision is affirmed, without costs.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.