Opinion
June 13, 1988
Appeal from the Surrogate's Court, Nassau County (Radigan, S.).
Ordered that the appeal from that part of the order which denied her motion to remove the child's guardian ad litem is dismissed, without costs or disbursements, as that part of the appeal was withdrawn at oral argument; and it is further,
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.
By order dated September 19, 1985, the Surrogate's Court, Nassau County (Radigan, S.), after a hearing, terminated the parental rights of Patricia B. (hereinafter the mother) with respect to her son, Adam James B., on the ground of abandonment, and committed the guardianship and custody of the infant to the petitioner Little Flower Children's Services pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b. The mother took no appeal from this order.
Thereafter, on July 17, 1986, the mother made a "motion to renew" argument on the order, alleging that she had successfully undergone rehabilitation from her drug abuse, that two of her other children had been returned to her custody, and that she had received inadequate legal representation at the previous hearing. The Surrogate denied the motion. We now affirm insofar as appealed from.
Initially, we note that since the order dated September 19, 1985 was made after a hearing, the motion to renew was improperly brought pursuant to CPLR 2221, and was in actuality an application to vacate the prior order pursuant to CPLR 5015. In any case, the alleged new evidence presented on the motion was either before the court at the time of the prior hearing or is irrelevant and immaterial to the abandonment issue. Moreover, the mother's conclusory claim of inadequate legal representation is refuted by the record of the hearing and is patently without merit. Accordingly, the denial of her motion was appropriate. Weinstein, J.P., Rubin, Spatt and Sullivan, JJ., concur.