Opinion
August 19, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Meyerson, J.).
Judgment affirmed. This case is remitted to the Supreme Court, Kings County, for further proceedings pursuant to CPL 460.50 (5).
Citing this court's opinion in People v. Pace ( 101 A.D.2d 336, affd 65 N.Y.2d 684), defendant claims that the warrantless inspection of his automobile junkyard by the police violated his constitutional rights. The instant case is, however, clearly distinguishable from People v. Pace ( supra). In Pace, the police used the pretext of an administrative inspection to conduct an unconstitutional warrantless search for evidence of a crime. In the instant case, the police were seeking to administer the regulatory schemes set forth in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 415-a and New York City Charter § 436. The constitutionality of these statutory provisions has recently been upheld by this court ( People v. Cusumano, 108 A.D.2d 752).
Upon review of the record, we find no merit to defendant's claim that, as in Pace ( supra), the police were using the administrative inspection as a pretext to gather evidence of a crime. Thus, the conduct of the police was proper and the judgment should be affirmed. Mangano, J.P., Thompson, Brown and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.