Opinion
Submitted September 13, 2000.
October 16, 2000.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the defendant Eun Sook Chung appeals, as limited by her brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Price, J.), dated November 12, 1999, as granted that branch of the plaintiffs' motion which was to vacate their default in opposing her motion for summary judgment and, upon reconsideration, denied her motion for summary judgment.
Jaffe Nohavicka, New York, N.Y. (Stacy R. Seldin of counsel), for appellant.
Michael A. Cervini, Jackson Heights, N.Y., for respondents.
Before: LAWRENCE J. BRACKEN, J.P., FRED T. SANTUCCI, MYRIAM J. ALTMAN, ANITA R. FLORIO, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, and that branch of the plaintiffs' motion which was to vacate their default in answering the appellant's motion for summary judgment is denied.
To establish entitlement to vacatur of a default, a plaintiff must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious cause of action (see, Cooper v. P T Gen. Contr. Corp., 260 A.D.2d 423; Szilaski v. Aphrodite Constr. Co., 247 A.D.2d 532; Betnacourth v. Pacheco, 232 A.D.2d 442). The Supreme Court erred in granting that branch of the plaintiffs' motion which was to vacate their default, as they failed to demonstrate the existence of a meritorious cause of action (see, Lopez v. Senatore, 65 N.Y.2d 1017, 1019; Smith v. Askew, 264 A.D.2d 834; Gutierrez v. Metropolitan Suburban Bus Auth., 240 A.D.2d 469; Antoniou v. Duff, 204 A.D.2d 670).