IN RE: ANTHONY M.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

IN RE: ANTHONY M., A Dependent Child Under the Age of Eighteen Years, etc., Carmelo M., Respondent-Appellant, Abbott House, Petitioner-Respondent.

Decided: May 18, 2006

BUCKLEY, P.J., MAZZARELLI, FRIEDMAN, SWEENY, McGUIRE, JJ. Dora M. Lassinger, East Rockaway, for appellant. Jeremiah Quinlan, Hastings-on-Hudson, for respondent. Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York, and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, New York (Alyssa A. Rower of counsel), Law Guardian.

Order of disposition, Family Court, Bronx County (Douglas Hoffman, J.), entered on or about November 5, 2004, which, to the extent appealed from, upon findings of abandonment, terminated respondent father's parental rights and committed custody and guardianship of the subject child to the Commissioner of Social Services of the City of New York and petitioner agency for the purpose of adoption, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Clear and convincing evidence that respondent had no contact with the child or the agency during the six months preceding the filing of the petition raised a presumption of abandonment, which he failed to rebut (Social Services Law § 384-b[4][b],[5][a];  see Matter of Anthony M., 195 A.D.2d 315, 600 N.Y.S.2d 37 [1993] ).   The court did not err in declining to conduct a dispositional hearing with respect to respondent (see Matter of Israel R., 200 A.D.2d 498, 499, 606 N.Y.S.2d 639 [1994] ).