On December 3, 2025, the Second Department issued a decision in 170 Tillary Corp. v. Gold Tillary Realty, LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op. 06681, holding that a statutory rent demand cannot be the basis for a Yellowstone injunction, explaining:
Contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination, the 2023 rent demand was a statutory rent demand serving as a prerequisite to a summary nonpayment proceeding, not a notice to cure. Nevertheless, the court properly granted that branch of the tenant’s motion which was for a Yellowstone injunction insofar as it applied to the real estate taxes and water and sewer charges sought in the 2023 rent demand.
As we determined in related appeals decided herewith, although the 2023 rent demand was the statutory prerequisite for a nonpayment proceeding, which generally cannot form the basis of a Yellowstone injunction, it is uncertain whether payment of real estate taxes and water and sewer charges could be collected in a nonpayment proceeding. More importantly, it is uncertain whether the tenant could take advantage of the protections afforded to a tenant under RPAPL 751(1) because, pursuant to the lease, the tenant must pay those sums by delivering a certified check to Landlord payable to appropriate city agency. Accordingly, because the Yellowstone rule is equitable in nature, in the interest of ensuring that the tenant has the opportunity to defend its substantial property interest in a lease agreement between the tenant and the landlord, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the tenant’s motion which was for a Yellowstone injunction insofar as it applied to the real estate taxes and water and sewer charges sought in the 2023 rent demand.
However, the Supreme Court erred in granting that branch of the tenant’s motion which was for a Yellowstone injunction insofar as it applied to the base rent sought in the 2023 rent demand. Because the 2023 rent demand was served as a prerequisite to a summary nonpayment proceeding to collect allegedly owed base rent, there was no need for Yellowstone relief with respect to late fees sought in the 2023 rent demand, as the 2023 rent demand was the statutory prerequisite for a nonpayment proceeding in which the tenant will be afforded the protections of RPAPL 751(1).
Although judicial economy may support hearing the entirety of this action as one, such does not override the fact that statutory rent demands generally cannot form the basis of a Yellowstone injunction or the strong preference that landlord-tenant disputes be litigated in the Housing Court.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).