Opinion
Submitted April 11, 2001.
August 6, 2001.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Harkavy, J.), dated December 6, 2000, which granted the defendant's motion to vacate an order of the same court, dated May 24, 1999, granting their motion to enter a judgment of default against the defendant upon his failure to answer the complaint.
Rosenzweig Berson, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Jeffrey A. Berson of counsel), for appellants.
Anthony D. Perri, New York, N.Y. (Debora L. Jacquest of counsel), for respondent.
Before: LAWRENCE J. BRACKEN, P.J., WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, ANITA R. FLORIO, HOWARD MILLER, SANDRA L. TOWNES, JJ.
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is denied, and the order dated May 24, 2000, is reinstated.
A defendant moving to vacate an order entered upon his or her default must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense to the action (see, CPLR 5015[a][1]; Di Lorenzo v. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 N.Y.2d 138; Domenikos v. Miranda, 255 A.D.2d 481; Roussodimou v. Zafiriadis, 238 A.D.2d 568). In this case, the defendant's motion should have been denied since he did not demonstrate a meritorious defense to the action (see, Johnson v. Phillips, 261 A.D.2d 269; Pumarejo-Garcia v. McDonough, 242 A.D.2d 374; DiPaola v. Brenner, 239 A.D.2d 459).
BRACKEN, P.J., FRIEDMANN, FLORIO, H. MILLER and TOWNES, JJ., concur.