Court Grants Yellowstone Injunction Based on Dispute Over Amount of Rent Owed

On April 18, 2022, Justice Ruchelsman of the Kings County Commercial Division issued a decision in Jack G. Ct. St. LLC v 16 Ct. St. Brooklyn Owner LLC, 2022 NY Slip Op 31269(U), granting a Yellowstone injunction based on a dispute over the amount of rent a tenant owed, explaining:

A Yellowstone injunction is a remedy whereby a tenant may obtain a stay tolling the cure period ‘so that upon an adverse
determination on the merits the tenant may cure the default and avoid a forfeiture. For a Yellowstone injunction to be granted the Plaintiff, among other things, must demonstrate that it is prepared and maintains the ability to cure the alleged default by any means short of vacating the premises. Thus, a tenant seeking a Yellowstone must demonstrate that (1) it holds a commercial lease, (2) it has received from the landlord a notice of default, (3) its application for a temporary restraining order was made prior to expiration of the cure period and termination of the lease, and {4) it has the desire and ability to cure the alleged default by any means short of vacating the premises. The existence of the defaults are disputed by the plaintiff as constituting defaults. Thus, the plaintiff does not assert that it unequivocally is unwilling to cure any defaults, but rather no such defaults exist. Therefore, if such defaults are found to exist, the plaintiff states that they can and will cure any sums actually due thereby curing the defaults.

The dispute whether the plaintiff tenant owes any rent stems from a decision issued by Judge Garson on July 10, 2019 and to
what extent, if any such decision altered an earlier decision of Judge Thompson dated March 1, 2016. While it is curious the
landlord or any party never sought to reargue or seek clarification of that decision the parties have not properly briefed what is essentially summary judgement regarding this issue. Therefore, the plaintiff has satisfied all the elements necessary to obtain a Yellowstone injunction and the motion seeking such injunction is granted at this time.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

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