Neuman v. City of N.Y.

• Decision Date: 23 September 2020
• Docket Number: Index No. 716291/17,2019–03929
• Citation: 130 N.Y.S.3d 504,186 A.D.3d 1523
• Parties: Lisa NEUMAN, appellant, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

186 A.D.3d 1523

130 N.Y.S.3d 504

Lisa NEUMAN, appellant,

v.CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., respondents.

2019–03929

Index No. 716291/17

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

Argued—March 31, 2020

September 23, 2020

Jonathan E. Neuman, Fresh Meadows, NY, for appellant.

James E. Johnson, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Aaron M. Bloom and Julie Steiner of counsel), for respondents.

ALAN D. SCHEINKMAN, P.J., REINALDO E. RIVERA, RUTH C. BALKIN, ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In an action, inter alia, for a judgment declaring that certain provisions of the Administrative Code of the City of New York and the Rules of the City of New York are unconstitutional, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Ernest F. Hart, J.), entered February 5, 2019. The order granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) to dismiss the amended complaint.

ORDERED that the order is modified, on the law, by deleting the provision thereof granting that branch of the defendants' motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) to dismiss the first cause of action in the amended complaint, and adding a provision thereto deeming that branch of the motion to be for a declaratory judgment in the defendants' favor, and thereupon granting that branch of the motion; as so modified, the order is affirmed, with costs to the defendants, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for the entry of a judgment in accordance herewith.

The plaintiff is the owner of a one-family home in Queens County, which has a private elevator. The elevator has been present in the plaintiff's home since the 1990s. Beginning in or around 2011, the plaintiff received notices from the New York City Department of Buildings stating that, since 2009, the plaintiff had failed to perform a mandated periodic "elevator inspection/test" for her elevator in violation of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 28–304.6.1. Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1, which took effect in 2008, requires, in sum, that private elevators located in owner-occupied dwellings be tested annually. Pursuant to Rules of City of New York Department of Buildings (1 RCNY) § 103–02(h)(1), adopted in late 2010, an owner who fails to file the "periodic inspection and test report" for their elevator is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per year per elevator. Seven violations, amounting to $7,000, were filed against the plaintiff's property for her alleged failure to comply with the testing requirements of Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1 for the years 2009 through 2015.

In 2017, the plaintiff commenced this action against the defendants, City of New York and New York City Department of Buildings, seeking a judgment declaring, inter alia, that Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1 and Rules of City of New York Department of Buildings (1 RCNY) § 103–02 are unconstitutional (the first cause of action), and alleging causes of action to recover damages for breach of contract (the second cause of action) and promissory estoppel (the third cause of action). The defendants thereafter moved, inter alia, pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) to dismiss the amended complaint. By order entered February 5, 2019, the Supreme Court granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) to dismiss the amended complaint. The plaintiff appeals.

" ‘A motion to dismiss a declaratory judgment action prior to the service of an answer presents for consideration only the issue of whether a cause of action for declaratory relief is set forth, not the question of whether the plaintiff is entitled to a favorable declaration’ " ( Matter of Tilcon N.Y., Inc. v. Town of Poughkeepsie , 87 A.D.3d 1148, 1150, 930 N.Y.S.2d 34, quoting Staver Co. v. Skrobisch , 144 A.D.2d 449, 450, 533 N.Y.S.2d 967 ; see Rockland Light & Power Co. v. City of New York , 289 N.Y. 45, 51, 43 N.E.2d 803 ; Laundry Palace U, Inc. v. Nassau County , 183 A.D.3d 879, 880, 122 N.Y.S.3d 911 ). "[W]here a cause of action is sufficient to invoke the court's power to ‘render a declaratory judgment ... as to the rights and other legal relations of the parties to a justiciable controversy’ ( CPLR 3001 ; see CPLR 3017[b] ), a motion to dismiss that cause of action should be denied" ( Matter of Tilcon, N.Y., Inc. v. Town of Poughkeepsie , 87 A.D.3d at 1150, 930 N.Y.S.2d 34 ; see Laundry Palace U, Inc. v. Nassau County , 183 A.D.3d at 880, 122 N.Y.S.3d 911 ; Guthart v. Nassau County , 178 A.D.3d 777, 778, 111 N.Y.S.3d 886 ). However, upon a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, a court may reach the merits of a properly pleaded cause of action for a declaratory judgment where " ‘no questions of fact are presented [by the controversy]’ " ( Matter of Tilcon N.Y., Inc. v. Town of Poughkeepsie , 87 A.D.3d at 1150, 930 N.Y.S.2d 34, quoting Hoffman v. City of Syracuse , 2 N.Y.2d 484, 487, 161 N.Y.S.2d 111, 141 N.E.2d 605 ; see Minovici v. Belkin BV , 109 A.D.3d 520, 524, 971 N.Y.S.2d 103 ; DiGiorgio v. 1109–1113 Manhattan Ave. Partners, LLC , 102 A.D.3d 725, 728, 958 N.Y.S.2d 417 ). Under such circumstances, the motion to dismiss the cause of action for failure to state a cause of action "should be treated as one seeking a declaration in [the] defendant's favor and treated accordingly" (Siegel & Connors, N.Y. Prac § 440 [6th ed 2018 Update]; see Lanza v. Wagner , 11 N.Y.2d 317, 334, 229 N.Y.S.2d 380, 183 N.E.2d 670 ; North Oyster Bay Baymen's Assn. v. Town of Oyster Bay , 130 A.D.3d 885, 890, 16 N.Y.S.3d 555 ; Minovici v. Belkin BV , 109 A.D.3d at 524, 971 N.Y.S.2d 103 ; DiGiorgio v. 1109–1113 Manhattan Ave. Partners, LLC , 102 A.D.3d at 728, 958 N.Y.S.2d 417 ; Matter of Tilcon N.Y., Inc. v. Town of Poughkeepsie , 87 A.D.3d at 1150, 930 N.Y.S.2d 34 ).

Applying these principles here, as a matter of law, the defendants were entitled to a declaration in their favor with regard to the first cause of action.

Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1 and 1 RCNY 103–02 do not violate the plaintiff's right to substantive due process. Legislative enactments enjoy a strong presumption of constitutionality (see LaValle v. Hayden , 98 N.Y.2d 155, 161, 746 N.Y.S.2d 125, 773 N.E.2d 490 ; Matter of Van Berkel v. Power , 16 N.Y.2d 37, 40, 261 N.Y.S.2d 876, 209 N.E.2d 539 ; Korotun v. Incorporated Vil. of Bayville , 26 A.D.3d 311, 312–313, 809 N.Y.S.2d 533 ). Where the challenged legislation does not interfere with the exercise of a fundamental right, judicial review is limited to whether the legislation is rationally related to a legitimate state interest (see People v. Knox , 12 N.Y.3d 60, 67, 875 N.Y.S.2d 828, 903 N.E.2d 1149 ; see also Washington v. Glucksberg , 521 U.S. 702, 722, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 ; Myers v. Schneiderman, 30 N.Y.3d 1, 16, 62 N.Y.S.3d 838, 85 N.E.3d 57 ). "A legitimate governmental purpose is, of course, one which furthers the public health, safety, morals or general welfare" ( Fred F. French Inv. Co. v. City of New York , 39 N.Y.2d 587, 596, 385 N.Y.S.2d 5, 350 N.E.2d 381 ).

Here, neither Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1 nor 1 RCNY 103–02 interfere with the exercise of a fundamental right (see People v. Knox , 12 N.Y.3d at 67, 875 N.Y.S.2d 828, 903 N.E.2d 1149 ). Therefore, judicial review is limited to whether the testing requirement for private elevators located in owner-occupied dwellings is rationally related to a legitimate state interest (see id. ).

The stated purpose of title 28 of the Administrative Code is to ensure that "owners" maintain elevators on their property in a "safe" and "code-compliant manner" so as to ensure that the structure is "maintained in a safe condition" (Administrative Code § 28–301.1). The testing and inspection requirement, in particular, is to ensure that elevators are in safe operating condition and "have not worn to such an extent as to affect the safe and reliable operation of the installation" (Administrative Code § 28–304.6.2). Such requirements are reasonably related to the Administrative Code's goal of ensuring that elevators are maintained in a safe condition, which in turn is rationally related to the legitimate state interest of furthering public safety (see Fred F. French Inv. Co. v. City of New York, 39 N.Y.2d at 596, 385 N.Y.S.2d 5, 350 N.E.2d 381 ).

Similarly, Administrative Code § 28–304.6.1 and 1 RCNY 103–02 do not violate the plaintiff's right to equal protection as a homeowner. "[A] violation of equal protection arises where first, a person (compared with others similarly situated) is selectively treated and second, such treatment is based on impermissible considerations such as race, religion, intent to inhibit or punish the exercise of constitutional rights, or malicious or bad faith intent to injure a person" ( Bower Assoc. v. Town of Pleasant Val., 2 N.Y.3d 617, 631, 781 N.Y.S.2d 240, 814 N.E.2d 410 [emphasis omitted] ). Where "the challenged legislation does not involve a suspect class or interfere with the exercise of a fundamental right, the scope of judicial review" on an equal protection claim "is limited to whether the classification is rationally related to a legitimate governmental objective" ( Terminello v. Village of Piermont , 92 A.D.3d 673, 674, 938 N.Y.S.2d 162 ; see Country Bank v. Broderick , 120 A.D.3d 463, 464–465, 991 N.Y.S.2d 100 ). Here, the plaintiff was not being selectively treated based on any impermissible consideration (see Matter of Walton v. New York State Dept. of Correctional Servs. , 13 N.Y.3d 475, 492–493, ...