Metropolitan Package Store Ass'n, Inc. v. Koch

Decision Date05 March 1981
Citation437 N.Y.S.2d 760,80 A.D.2d 940
PartiesMETROPOLITAN PACKAGE STORE ASSOCIATION, INC. et al., Respondents, v. Edward I. KOCH, as Mayor of the City of New York et al., Appellants.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Allen G. Schwartz, Corporation Counsel, New York City (Isaac C. Donner, New York City, of counsel), for appellants City of New York & Edward Koch, as Mayor of the City of N. Y.

Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen. (Francis V. Dow, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for appellant N. Y. S. Tax Commission.

Warren Pesetsky, New York City (Leslie W. Trebby, Albany, of counsel), for appellant State Liquor Authority.

Gerard A. Navagh, New York City, for respondents.

Mehler & Buscemi, New York City (Francis R. Buscemi, New York City, of counsel), for intervenor-respondent, Retailers Alliance, Inc.

Seymour Howard, Jericho, for Nathan D. Fein Liquors, Inc., et al., intervenors-respondents.

Before SWEENEY, J. P., and KANE, MAIN, MIKOLL and CASEY, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court at Special Term, entered September 24, 1980 in Albany County, which granted plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction and denied the City of New York's cross motion to dismiss the complaint.

Plaintiffs, a trade association of retail liquor dealers in New York City, one of its members and a liquor distributor in New York City, commenced this action seeking a declaratory judgment declaring Local Law No. 30 of 1980 of the City of New York unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction enjoining the administration and enforcement of the local law. Local Law No. 30 of 1980 of the City of New York, enacted pursuant to section 445 of the Tax Law, imposes an excise tax on distributors and noncommercial importers of beer and alcohol sold or used in the city and a floor tax on persons who own or possess certain amounts of beer or alcohol on the effective date of the local law. The taxes are administered by the State Tax Commission (Tax Law, § 445, subd. 4), which pays the taxes collected to the city (Tax Law, § 445, subd. 7). After the State Liquor Authority issued a bulletin detailing the procedure to be followed in incorporating the tax in wholesale and retail prices, this action was commenced. Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction and defendants cross-moved to dismiss the complaint. Special Term granted plaintiffs' motion and denied defendants' cross motion.

In our view, Special Term erred in granting plaintiffs' motion. One of the conditions which plaintiffs must meet in order to establish their entitlement to a preliminary injunction is the showing of irreparable harm without the injunction (Picotte Realty v. Gallery of Homes, 66 A.D.2d 978, 412 N.Y.S.2d 47). Plaintiffs must show that the irreparable injury to be sustained by them is more burdensome to them than the...

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8 cases
  • Metropolitan Package Store Ass'n, Inc. v. Koch
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 4 Noviembre 1982
    ...injunction, but affirmed the denial of defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint (Metropolitan Package Store Assn. v. Koch, 80 A.D.2d 940, 941, 437 N.Y.S.2d 760). On October 31, 1981, the Court of Appeals held Bulletin 529 invalid and enjoined its enforcement by the S......
  • L & J Roost, Ltd. v. Department of Consumer Affairs of City of New York
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 16 Marzo 1987
    ...930, 474 N.Y.S.2d 721, 463 N.E.2d 37; Henry v. Suffolk Home Distrib., 118 A.D.2d 685, 500 N.Y.S.2d 265; Metropolitan Package Store Assn. v. Koch, 80 A.D.2d 940, 941, 437 N.Y.S.2d 760). Moreover, the Department clearly had a legitimate interest in the enforcement of Regulation 6 as a means o......
  • Ogdensburg Prof'l Firefighters' Ass'n v. City of N.Y.
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • 11 Enero 2021
    ...them is more burdensome to them than the harm caused by defendants through imposition of the injunction." Metropolitan Package Store Ass'n v. Koch, 80 A.D.2d 940, 941 (3d Dep't 1981) (citation omitted). According to the City, its action in reducing staffing is driven by "severe financial di......
  • Gumberg Assocs. v. Keybank N.A., 2:20-CV-01661-CCW
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania
    • 30 Noviembre 2020
    ...allegations were insufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's burden of demonstrating irreparable injury."); Metropolitan Package Store Ass'n v. Koch, 80 A.D.2d 940 (N.Y. App. Div. 1981) (denying a preliminary injunction where the plaintiff proffered no evidence to support its conclusory allegat......
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