Opinion
March 19, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Harold Baer, Jr., J.).
Upon examination of the record, we agree with the Special Referee and the IAS court that plaintiffs' attorneys' fee request of $107,919.48 for services rendered between December 1983 and May 1990 is reasonable and supported by accurate time records and billing statements. We also agree that the tenants' attorneys were entitled to an additional $9,700 for time expended in proving the value of their services, for a total award of $117,619.48 (Kumble v Windsor Plaza Co., 161 A.D.2d 259, 260, lv denied 76 N.Y.2d 709, appeal dismissed 76 N.Y.2d 843). Appellants' contention that plaintiffs are not entitled to recover for legal services related to proving the invalidity of the eviction plan that were "offensive", rather than "defensive", in nature, and thus not within the purview of Real Property Law § 234, was previously rejected by this court on the prior appeal herein (Troy v Oberlander, 146 A.D.2d 460, 461), wherein we specifically permitted "an award of attorneys' fees to cover the reasonable costs of defending the eviction proceeding."
We have considered the appellants' remaining claims, and find them to be without merit.
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Wallach, Asch, Kassal and Rubin, JJ.