Opinion
February 19, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Rockland County (Weiner, J.).
Order affirmed, with costs.
Given the almost 5 1/2-year delay between the injury and the bringing of the instant application for leave to serve a late notice of claim, the fact that the identity of the counselor allegedly involved in the incident is unknown, the fact that the child's injuries did not appear serious at the time, and the lack of any records concerning the incident, Special Term's conclusion that permitting the late service of a notice of claim would "substantially prejudice the respondent in maintaining its defense on the merits" rests upon a solid evidentiary predicate. Accordingly, it was an appropriate exercise of discretion to deny the application ( see, Montana v City of New York, 96 A.D.2d 1031; Goudie v County of Putnam, 95 A.D.2d 823; Matter of Vezza v City of Yonkers, 92 A.D.2d 570; cf. Matter of Welsh v Berne-Knox-Westerlo Cent. School Dist., 103 A.D.2d 950; Matter of Tetro v Plain-view-Old Bethpage Cent. School Dist., 99 A.D.2d 814; Matter of Bensen v Town of Islip, 99 A.D.2d 755). Titone, J.P., Thompson, O'Connor and Eiber, JJ., concur.