Opinion
8954 Index 600573/08
04-11-2019
MAGEN DAVID OF UNION SQUARE, et al., Plaintiffs, The Sixteenth Street Synagogue, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. 3 WEST 16TH STREET, LLC, Defendant–Respondent.
Lambert & Shackman, PLLC, New York (Thomas C. Lambert of counsel), for appellant. McLaughlin & Stern LLP, New York (Paul H. Levinson of counsel), for respondent.
Lambert & Shackman, PLLC, New York (Thomas C. Lambert of counsel), for appellant.
McLaughlin & Stern LLP, New York (Paul H. Levinson of counsel), for respondent.
Sweeny, J.P., Webber, Gesmer, Singh, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Barry R. Ostrager, J.), entered on or about February 22, 2018, which granted defendant's motion to vacate the note of issue and for summary judgment on the third counterclaim for declaratory judgment that defendant is the fee simple owner of the property with the exclusive right of possession, unanimously affirmed, without costs.On one of at least two prior appeals in this action, this Court expressly held that "[a]lthough the prior appeal did not specifically address [the third] counterclaim, the underlying issues were necessarily resolved in that appeal, and that resolution constitutes the law of the case" ( 132 A.D.3d 503, 504, 18 N.Y.S.3d 24 [1st Dept. 2015], lv dismissed 28 N.Y.3d 977, 39 N.Y.S.3d 851, 62 N.E.3d 563 [2016] [internal quotation marks omitted] ). This Court further held that "[t]he doctrine of res judicata also bars the Synagogue's claim of an equitable ownership interest in the Building," since the Synagogue's predecessor in interest, in discontinuing a prior action, gave up that claim ( id. at 504, 18 N.Y.S.3d 24 ).