Court Opinion

ID: 9958753
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-09 20:10:54.38534+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:34.115665
License: Public Domain

Matter of Jankowitz v New York State Off. of
           Temporary Disability Assistance
               2024 NY Slip Op 31077(U)
                     March 29, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 451904/2023
                  Judge: John J. Kelley
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip
 Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York
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                       publication.
                                                                                                                     INDEX NO. 451904/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                                           RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. JOHN J. KELLEY                                             PART                              56M
                                                                                      Justice
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X   INDEX NO.          451904/2023
             In the Matter of
                                                                                                 MOTION DATE         11/08/2023
             MICHAEL JANKOWITZ
                                                                                                 MOTION SEQ. NO.         001
                                                         Petitioner,

                                                 -v-
                                                                                                   DECISION + ORDER ON
             NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY DISABILITY
             ASSISTANCE,                                                                                 MOTION

                                                         Respondent.
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
            9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36,
            37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58
                                                                 ARTICLE 78 (BODY OR OFFICER)/X-MOTION TO
            were read on this motion to/for                              DISMISS OR TRANSFER VENUE                      .

                      This is a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, pursuant to which the petitioner seeks

            judicial review of a September 13, 2022 determination and two March 14, 2023 New York State

            Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) determinations, referable to Emergency

            Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) application numbers 1Y1E5 and EVK15. Those

            determinations denied his administrative appeals from two respective June 10, 2022 and

            January 30, 2023 initial determinations, which denied his applications for payment of rent under

            the COVID-19 ERAP on the grounds that (a) it overpaid the petitioner in connection with ERAP,

            inasmuch as the ERAP payment that it had previously issued to the petitioner’s landlord

            “included months for which required arrears documentation was not provided” and (b) because

            the ERAP program “does not allow an applicant to appeal the same issue more than once.”

            The OTDA cross-moves pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) and 7804(f) to dismiss the petition as time-

            barred (CPLR 3211[a][5]) or, in the alternative, pursuant to CPLR 506(b), 510(1), and 511(b) to

            transfer venue of this proceeding from New York County to Albany County. The petitioner

             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY                                   Page 1 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                                           1 of 6
[* 1]
                                                                                                   INDEX NO. 451904/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                       RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

            opposes the cross motion. The cross motion is granted to the extent that the proceeding is

            transferred to the Supreme Court, Albany County, and the cross motion is otherwise denied.

            The court expresses no opinion on the issue of whether the proceeding is time-barred.

                   CPLR 510(1) provides that one ground for a change of venue is that “the county

            designated for that purpose is not a proper county.” Pursuant to CPLR 511(b), where a

            defendant or respondent contends that the venue designated by the plaintiff or petitioner is

            improper,

                           “The defendant shall serve a written demand that the action be tried in a county
                           he specifies as proper. Thereafter the defendant may move to change the place
                           of trial within fifteen days after service of the demand, unless within five days
                           after such service plaintiff serves a written consent to change the place of trial to
                           that specified by the defendant. Defendant may notice such motion to be heard
                           as if the action were pending in the county he specified, unless plaintiff within five
                           days after service of the demand serves an affidavit showing either that the
                           county specified by the defendant is not proper or that the county designated by
                           him is proper.”

            The written demand to change the place of trial on the ground of improper venue, as described

            in CPLR 511(b), “shall be served with the answer or before the answer is served” (CPLR

            511[a]). Here, the OTDA served its written demand to change the place of trial on the ground of

            improper venue before it served an answer. The service of the demand was thus timely. The

            OTDA made the instant cross motion to change venue only one day after it served its demand

            to change venue, and thus within the 15 day-period required by CPLR 511(b). Hence, the cross

            motion also is timely.

                   The petitioner submitted his on-line application for ERAP benefits to the OTDA from his

            home in Queens County, located at 66-20 Wetherole Street, Apartment 6E, Rego Park, New

            York, but he contends that all transactions relevant to his ERAP applications were carried out by

            the OTDA’s New York County-based contractor, Guidehouse, Inc. Nonetheless, as OTDA’s

            Department of Audit & Quality Improvement Systems Auditor Kyla Marsh explained, the OTDA

            Commissioner maintains an office in Albany, all of the OTDA officials and staff responsible for

            implementing, administering, and overseeing the ERAP are located in Albany, and eligibility
             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY                 Page 2 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                          2 of 6
[* 2]
                                                                                                    INDEX NO. 451904/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                        RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

            determinations and appeal determinations, such as the ones at issue here, are made pursuant

            to the eligibility rules established by OTDA and are attributable to and finalized by OTDA’s

            ERAP staff in Albany. Specifically, she averred that,

                           “Eligibility determinations and appeal determinations are made pursuant to the
                           eligibility rules established by OTDA and are attributable to OTDA's ERAP staff in
                           Albany, New York, and the OTDA Commissioner.

                           “The 6/10/2022 Initial Determination of Application No. EVK15 and 9/13/2022
                           Appeal Determination of Application No. EVK15 were made in Albany County.

                           “The 1/30/2023 Initial Determination of Application No. 1Y1E5 and 3/14/2023
                           Appeal Determination of Application No. EVK15 were made in Albany County.”

                   A CPLR article 78 proceeding “shall be brought in the supreme court in the county

            specified in subdivision (b) of [CPLR] section 506 except as that subdivision otherwise provides”

            (CPLR 7804[b]). CPLR 506(b) provides that:

                           “A proceeding against a body or officer shall be commenced in any county within
                           the judicial district where the respondent made the determination complained of
                           or refused to perform the duty specifically enjoined upon him by law, or where the
                           proceedings were brought or taken in the course of which the matter sought to be
                           restrained originated, or where the material events otherwise took place, or
                           where the principal office of the respondent is located.”

            The “‘material events’ leading to the subject . . . determination . . . consisted of the decision-

            making process leading to the determination under review” (Matter of Rozenberg v Shea, 200

            AD3d 438, 438 [1st Dept 2021], quoting Matter of Phillips v Dennison, 41 AD3d 17, 23 [1st Dept

            2007] [emphasis added]). In Phillips, the petitioner sought judicial review of a Parole Board

            determination. As the Appellate Division, First Department, explained in that proceeding,

            “venue for a proceeding such as this is properly placed in the county where the parole hearing

            was held and the challenged determination made, or where the [Parole] Board's principal office

            is located,” since the material events “were not the crime and sentence” (Matter of Phillips v

            Dennison, 41 AD3d at 23, quoting Matter of Vigilante v Dennison, 36 AD3d 620, 622 [2d Dept

            2007]; see Matter of Grochulski v Dennison, 40 AD3d 413, 413 [1st Dept 2007]; Matter of

            Ramirez v Dennison, 39 AD3d 310 [1st Dept 2007]; cf. Matter of Howard v New York State Bd.

             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY                  Page 3 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                           3 of 6
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  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                      RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

            of Parole, 5 AD3d 271 [1st Dept 2004] [articulating general rule, but denying motion to transfer

            venue because respondent failed timely to serve demand pursuant to CPLR 511]).

                   The term “material events” does not encompass the location of the petitioner’s

            apartment building that is the subject of the agency determination that the petitioner challenges

            here. Nor does it encompass actions taken by OTDA’s clerical and filing agent, Guidehouse,

            Inc. (see Matter of Markey v Tietz, Index No. 151074/2023 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County, Sep. 9, 2023]

            [rejecting the same argument made by petitioner here, and transferring proceeding to Albany

            County]). Rather, the material events in the context of such a determination are limited to the

            OTDA office to which the administrative application was made, and the place where

            discretionary deliberations and determinations concerning that application were conducted and

            concluded (see Matter of Bernstein v Tietz, 2023 NY Slip Op 31361[U], 2023 NY Misc LEXIS

            2016 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County, Apr. 25, 2023] [Kelley, J.] [applying rule to OTDA’s ERAP

            determinations]; Matter of Levitt v Tietz, Index No. 810366/2022 [Sup Ct, Bronx County, Jan. 6,

            2023] [same]; Matter of Donofrio v City of New York, 2019 Misc LEXIS 8731, *4 [Sup Ct, N.Y.

            County, Nov. 27, 2019 [Kelley, J.] [applying rule to a judicial challenge to an agency

            determination under the Freedom of Information Law]; Matter New York Racing Assoc. v State

            of N.Y. Div. of Budget, 2009 NY Slip Op 31605[U], 2009 NY Misc LEXIS 4000 [Sup Ct, N.Y.

            County, Jul. 13, 2009] [same]; see also Matter of Rozenberg v Shea, 200 AD3d at 438 [pistol

            licensing determination]; Matter of New York Republican State Comm. v New York State Comm.

            on Government Integrity, 138 AD2d 884, 885 [3d Dept 1988] [proceeding to quash nonjudicial

            subpoena issued by a State agency]).

                   It is undisputed that the OTDA maintains its principal office in Albany County, and that it

            undertook its deliberations and made its determinations in Albany County. The only connection

            that this dispute has with New York County is that Guidehouse, Inc., which simply acted as a

            ministerial filing and processing agent for the OTDA, was located in New York County. Its

            clerical activities did not constitute “material events,” as that term is employed in CPLR 506(b)
             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY               Page 4 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                          4 of 6
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  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                       RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

            (see Matter of Markey v Tietz, Index No. 151074/2023 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County, Sep. 9, 2023]).

            Hence, Albany County is the proper county in which venue must be laid.

                   In light of the foregoing, it is,

                   ORDERED that the motion of the respondent New York State Office of Temporary and

            Disability Assistance is granted to the extent that venue of this proceeding is transferred from

            New York County to Albany County, the cross motion is otherwise denied, and the matter is

            transferred to the Supreme Court, Albany County, for consideration and disposition of the

            remainder of the cross motion and, if warranted, the petition; and it is further,

                   ORDERED that within 30 days after the entry of this order, the respondent New York

            State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance shall file an EF-22 form containing the

            statement required by CPLR 8019(c), and shall also serve it upon the New York County Clerk,

            as Clerk of the Supreme Court, New York County, along with a copy of this order and notice of

            entry of this order, which shall be effectuated in accordance with the procedures set forth in the

            Protocol on Courthouse and County Clerk Procedures for Electronically Filed Cases, accessible

            at the “E-Filing” page on the court’s website at https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/ courts/

            1jd/supctmanh/Efil-protocol.pdf (nycourts.gov), and, to comply with those procedures, the

            respondent shall (1) upload the decision and order to the NYSCEF system under document title

            “SERVICE ON SUPREME COURT CLERK (GENL CLERK) W/COPY OF ORDER” AND (2)

            separately file and upload the notice required by CPLR 8019(c) in a completed Form EF-22,

            along with a copy of the decision and order, with notice of entry, under document title “NOTICE

            TO COUNTY CLERK CPLR 8019(C),” and the County Clerk and all appropriate court support

            offices shall thereupon make proper entries the court records accordingly; and it is further,

                   ORDERED that within 30 days after the entry of this order, the respondent New York

            State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance shall also serve a copy of this order and

            notice of entry of this order upon the Albany County Clerk, as Clerk of the Supreme Court,

            Albany County; and it is further,
             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY               Page 5 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                           5 of 6
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                                                                                                    INDEX NO. 451904/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 59                                                                          RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/30/2024

                    ORDERED that upon service upon him of the EF-22 form containing the statement

            required by CPLR 8019(c), and a copy of this order with notice of entry, the New York County

            Clerk, as Clerk of the Supreme Court, New York County, is directed to deliver to the Albany

            County Clerk, as Clerk of the Supreme Court, Albany County, all papers filed in the proceeding

            entitled Matter of Michael Jankowitz v New York State Office of Temporary and Disability

            Assistance under New York County Index No. 451904/2023, and certified copies of all minutes

            and entries.

                    This constitutes the Decision and Order of the court.

                    3/29/2024                                                             $SIG$
                      DATE                                                        JOHN J. KELLEY, J.S.C.

             CHECK ONE:              X   CASE DISPOSED                    NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

                                                                                                   □
                                         GRANTED             DENIED   X   GRANTED IN PART              OTHER

             APPLICATION:                SETTLE ORDER                     SUBMIT ORDER

                                                                                                   □
             CHECK IF APPROPRIATE:       INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN       FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT        REFERENCE

             451904/2023 JANKOWITZ, MICHAEL vs. NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF TEMPORARY                  Page 6 of 6
             DISABILITY ASSISTANCE
             Motion No. 001

                                                           6 of 6
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