Opinion
January 9, 1990
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Alvin Schlesinger, J.).
It is apparent on reargument that defendant was entitled to the benefit of the amendment to the Penal Law raising the monetary threshold for the commission of a class E felony from $250 to $1,000. Although the defendant's offenses were committed before the subject amendment was enacted, the amendment's ameliorative provisions were effective at the time of defendant's trial and should have been applied (People v. Behlog, 74 N.Y.2d 237). "To preserve the criminal penalties previously in force and to inflict them after the law-making body has so determined and declared [that they are no longer appropriate] would serve no justifiable purpose" (People v. Oliver, 1 N.Y.2d 152, 161).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Kupferman, Sullivan, Ross and Smith, JJ.