Opinion
January 12, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (O'Connell, J.).
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the cross motion is granted, the proceeding is dismissed, and the parties are directed to proceed to arbitration.
Pursuant to CPLR 7503 (c), an application to stay arbitration must be made within 20 days after service of the demand for arbitration (see, Matter of Worldwide Ins. Group v. Wing, 202 A.D.2d 682; Matter of Board of Educ. v. Olena Constr. Corp., 195 A.D.2d 458; Matter of Metropolitan Prop. Liab. Ins. Co. v. Hancock, 183 A.D.2d 831). A petition to stay arbitration may be granted, even if filed after the 20-day time limit, if it is against public policy to permit arbitration of the issue sought to be arbitrated (see, Matter of Aimcee Wholesale Corp. [Tomar Prods.], 21 N.Y.2d 621).
In the case at bar the contract between the parties is neither facially violative of public policy nor illegal. Accordingly, the petitioners' application to stay arbitration, which was made beyond the 20-day time limit enunciated in CPLR 7503, was untimely and the arbitration should proceed.
Bracken, J.P., O'Brien, Sullivan and Santucci, JJ., concur.