Kraebel v. New York City Dept. of Finance

• Decision Date: 06 July 1995
• Citation: 629 N.Y.S.2d 42,217 A.D.2d 416
• Parties: In re the Application of Barbara KRAEBEL, etc., Petitioner-Appellant, For a Judgment, etc., v. The NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, Respondent-Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 42

629 N.Y.S.2d 42

217 A.D.2d 416

In re the Application of Barbara KRAEBEL, etc., Petitioner-Appellant For a Judgment, etc., v. The NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, Respondent-Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division First Department.

July 6, 1995.

Certiorari Denied Feb. 6, 1996. See 116 S.Ct. 1018.

Barbara Kraebel, pro se.

P.H. Azarian, for respondent-respondent.

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and ROSENBERGER, ROSS, ASCH and TOM, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Stuart Cohen, J.), entered February 7, 1994, which granted respondent's motion to dismiss this CPLR article 78 petition seeking, inter alia, a reduction of the real estate tax assessment on petitioner's property, and order, same court and Justice, entered April 11, 1994, which, insofar as appealable, denied petitioner's motion to vacate the above judgment pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(2) and (3), unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The proceeding was properly dismissed on the ground that petitioner's exclusive remedy for the reduced tax assessment she seeks is a certiorari proceeding under RPTL article 7 (Kahal Bnei Emunim v. Town of Fallsburg, 78 N.Y.2d 194, 204, 573 N.Y.S.2d 43, 577 N.E.2d 34). Petitioner's claim that respondent's assessment methods understate the exemptions she is entitled to under the J-51 program is not a challenge to the method employed in the assessment of several properties, but rather to an overassessment of a specific property that necessarily involved the mental observations and judgment of individual assessors in placing a value on petitioner's improvement costs (see, Matter of Board of Mgrs. of Greens of North Hills Condominium v. Board of Assessors, 202 A.D.2d 417, 419-420, 608 N.Y.S.2d 694, lv. denied83 N.Y.2d 757, 615 N.Y.S.2d 874, 639 N.E.2d 415). "[I]n the absence of any legally mandated criteria, it is within the expertise and discretion of the Commissioner of Finance to ascertain fair market value" (78 S. First St. Hous. Dev. Fund Corp. v. Crotty, 150 A.D.2d 218, 222, 541 N.Y.S.2d 388 (Milonas, J., dissenting), revd. on dissenting memo, 75 N.Y.2d 982, 556 N.Y.S.2d 509, 555 N.E.2d 906). Also properly dismissed, on the ground of res judicata, was petitioner's claim alleging violation of her due process and equal protection rights and seeking to compel respondent to implement uniform, reasonable and predictable assessment standards, the parties and issues concerning such assessment standards being identical to...