Opinion
August 8, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Putnam County (Hickman, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that the defendant amply demonstrated a reasonable excuse for its default in answering the complaint (see, Price v. Polisner, 172 A.D.2d 422; Fox v. Bicanic, 163 A.D.2d 272; Murphy v. D.V. Waste Control Corp., 124 A.D.2d 573). Furthermore, the existence of a meritorious defense was established through the affidavit of the defendant's president who had personal knowledge concerning the condition of the parking lot where the plaintiff's injuries allegedly took place (see, David Sanders, P.C. v. Sanders, Architects, 140 A.D.2d 787; cf., Cooper v. Badruddin, 192 A.D.2d 997; Whitbeck v. Erin's Isle, 109 A.D.2d 1032). We therefore conclude that the trial court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in granting the defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment (see, Perellie v. Crimson's Rest., 108 A.D.2d 903), and note that the court conditioned the vacatur on payment to the plaintiff of a $2,000 penalty (see, Murphy v. D.V. Waste Control Corp., supra). Mangano, P.J., Balletta, O'Brien, Hart and Florio, JJ., concur.