arrow left
arrow right
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
  • University Healthy Choice Corp. v. Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation, Bronx Community College Of The City University Of New York, The City Of New YorkCommercial - Other (Declaratory Judgment) document preview
						
                                

Preview

FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF BRONX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- x UNIVERSITY HEALTHY CHOICE CORP., Plaintiff, Index No. 800821/2022E -against- Mot. Seq. No. 4 BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE AUXILIARY ENTERPRISES CORPORATION, BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- x CITY AND COLLEGE DEFENDANTS’ MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO VACATE DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND FOR RETURN OF PROPERTY HON. SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX Corporation Counsel of the City of New York Attorney for Defendants City of New York and Bronx Community College of the City University of New York 100 Church Street, New York, New York 10007 Of Counsel: Ashley F. Williams Tel. (212) 356-2555 ashwilli@law.nyc.gov Robert Funkhouser Vijeta Jasuja 1 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PRELIMINARY STATEMENT .................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF FACTS ............................................................................................................. 2 ARGUMENT POINT I PLAINTIFF FAILS TO ESTABLISH A JUSTIFIABLE EXCUSE FOR ITS DEFAULT......................................... 4 POINT II PLAINTIFF FAILS TO STATE A MERITORIOUS CAUSE OF ACTION ................................................................................. 7 A. The Court Has Ruled That the Contract Provisions Are Clear and Unambiguous and that the Contract Terminated Pursuant to Its Terms, Foreclosing Plaintiff’s Claims. ........................................... 7 B. Plaintiff Has Failed to Comply with the Statutory Notice of Claim Prerequisite ........................................... 9 POINT III PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR “RETURN OF PROPERTY” IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE COMPLAINT AND IS FORECLOSED BY THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT ................................................................ 10 A. Plaintiff’s Proposed New Claims Lack Merit ............................... 10 B. Allowing Plaintiff to Further Delay Resolution Will Cause Prejudice to the College .......................................................................................... 12 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 14 2 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF BRONX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- x UNIVERSITY HEALTHY CHOICE CORP., Plaintiff, Index No. 800821/2022E -against- Mot. Seq. No. 4 BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE AUXILIARY ENTERPRISES CORPORATION, BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- x CITY AND COLLEGE DEFENDANTS’ MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO VACATE DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND FOR RETURN OF PROPERTY PRELIMINARY STATEMENT Defendants, the City of New York (the “City”) and Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (the “College”) (collectively “City Defendants”) submit this memorandum of law in opposition to Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Court’s August 8, 2022 Order dismissing the Complaint and the additional relief for “return of property.” As set forth below, Plaintiff’s excuse of law office failure for not attending the scheduled oral argument is inadequate and refuted by documentary evidence showing Plaintiff’s counsel had notice that the August 8 oral argument was to be in person. Moreover, because Plaintiff’s claims demonstrably lack merit as established by the Court’s prior decision denying injunctive relief, there is no reason to vacate the dismissal Order. In addition, prolonging this action will prejudice the College by disrupting its 3 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 new food service vendor’s operation of the cafeteria, a factor that also weighs heavily against vacating the order. To the extent that the Court entertains Plaintiff’s motion regarding “return of property”—a request not made in its Complaint—the plain terms of the Contract demonstrate that the property belongs to the College. STATEMENT OF FACTS The relevant facts are set forth in the accompanying Affirmations of Ashley Williams and of Susan Fiore, and are summarized here for the convenience of the Court. By written agreement dated March 11, 2011, Plaintiff University Healthy Choice Corp. (“Plaintiff” or “UHCC”) and the Defendant, Bronx Community College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation (the “Corporation”), entered into a Food Service Operations Contract (the “Contract”). The Contract granted Plaintiff a limited license to provide food and beverages to the College at designated Food Service Locations, as well as to provide catering. (Contract § 2 and Appendix A). The term of the Contract was specified to be from March 1, 2011 to June 30, 2021. Id. § 3.1. The Contract expressly provides that UHCC only has a revocable license to use the Cafeteria and other Food Service Locations which automatically terminated upon expiration or termination of the Contract. Pursuant to its terms, the Contract expired on June 30, 2021. On January 18, 2022, Plaintiff filed an order to show cause seeking "emergency" relief in the form of a mandatory injunction. The Summons and Complaint were included as an exhibit to the order to show cause, and seeks declaratory relief, monetary damages, a permanent injunction, and costs and legal fees. There is no reference in the Complaint to any property claims by Plaintiff and no request for any “return of property.” On January 25, 2022, Plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause was entered ex parte. On February 18, 2022, the City moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a)(1), (2), (5) and (7) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, for failure to 2 4 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 state a cause of action against the City and College and because Plaintiff’s claims are barred and refuted by documentary evidence in the form of the Contract.1 Defendants opposed the Order to Show Cause and by decision, on March 30, 2022, this Court vacated the TRO and denied Plaintiff’s request for preliminary injunction and agreed with the City Defendants’ arguments that based on the plain and unambiguous terms of the Contract, it expired on June 30, 2021 and Plaintiff only had a license terminable at will prior its expiration. On April 1, 2021, Plaintiff filed its Opposition to City Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and a Cross-Motion to file a late notice of claim. On April 11, 2022, City Defendants filed its Reply and Opposition to Plaintiff’s Cross-Motion. The motions were returnable before Justice Guzman on June 27, 2022 and were subsequently adjourned by the Court to August 8, 2022. The correspondence adjourning the conference was emailed to Plaintiff’s counsel and specified that the adjourned date would be “in- person appearance.” City Defendants’ counsel made an in-person appearance on the return date as did counsel for the Corporation. Plaintiff’s counsel did not appear in Court on the return date. In a Decision and Order dated August 8, 2022, Justice Guzman granted the Defendants’ motions to dismiss the complaint on default. The City served the Order with Notice of Entry on Plaintiff on or about August 16, 2022. Plaintiff now moves to vacate the Court’s order dismissing Plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff’s counsel argues her default should be excused as law office failure, because the return date was erroneously calendared, and she claims she had received no notice of the motion being scheduled for oral argument on August 8, 2022. Ms. Broumand also argues that Plaintiff has a 1 The Corporation, represented by separate counsel, also moved to dismiss the complaint. 3 5 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 meritorious claim to the motion to dismiss. Plaintiff’s Motion also asserts new claims for the “return of property.” Plaintiff’s motion should be denied because the default was not excusable, and because Plaintiff’s patently meritless claims were already considered by this Court and the Court found them unavailing. Plaintiff’s proposed new claims are out of the scope of the Complaint and are also without merit. Furthermore, allowing Plaintiff to further delay resolution will cause prejudice to the College. ARGUMENT POINT I PLAINTIFF FAILS TO ESTABLISH A JUSTIFIABLE EXCUSE FOR ITS DEFAULT CPLR Rule 5015(a) (1) provides, in pertinent part: The court which rendered a judgment or order may relieve a party from it upon such terms as may be just, on motion of any interested person with such notice as the court may direct, upon the ground of: 1. excusable default, if such motion is made within one year after service of a copy of the judgment or order with written notice of its entry upon the moving party, or, if the moving party has entered the judgment or order, within one year after such entry; See also 38 Holding Corp. v. the City of New York, 179 A.D.2d 486, 487 (1st Dep’t 1992) (holding that a motion to vacate a default order may be granted if the movant establishes that his default was excusable). Although the Court may exercise its discretion to excuse a default resulting from law office failure (see CPLR § 2005), unsubstantiated allegations and conclusory or vague reasons for a default do not constitute a reasonable excuse for default and as such, are insufficient bases for vacatur. See Pawnee Leasing Corp. v. Esquivel, 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 7719 *6 (Sup. Ct. Bronx Cnty. Aug. 19, 2020) [attached as Exhibit to the Williams Aff.]; Galaxy Gen. Contr. Corp. v. 2201 7th Ave. Realty LLC, 95 A.D.3d 789, 790 (1st Dep’t 2012); Pichardo-Garcia v. 4 6 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 Josephine’s Spa Corp., 91 A.D.3d 413, 414 (1st Dep’t 2012); Sloan v. Abdelqader, 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 17937 *2 (Sup. Ct. Bronx. Cnty. May 12, 2020); Tandy Computer Leasing v. Video X Home Library, 124 A.D.2d 530, 531 (1st Dep’t 1986) (holding that “[a]n allegation without any supporting facts to explain and justify the law office failure would be insufficient to establish excusable default.”). Counsel must present “supporting facts in evidentiary form sufficient to justify the default via an affirmation containing a detailed explanation of the oversights.” Escobar v. Koeppel Volkswagen, Inc. Used Cars, 10 Misc.3d 127(A), 127A (N.Y. App. Term, 2nd Dep’t 2005) (internal citations omitted). Here, Ms. Broumand does not deny receiving the City’s motion to dismiss. Rather, Ms. Broumand states that she failed to appear on the August 8, 2022 return date of the motion “[d]ue to law office failure, the date was erroneously calendared as “On Submission” based on E- Track” and “[she] cannot find any indication that [she] received notice of the motion being scheduled for oral argument on August 8, 2022.” See Affirmation of Heidi Broumand in support of the motion (“Broumand Aff.”), ¶¶ 16, 20. The instant facts are essentially on point with Pawnee Leasing Corp. v. Esquivel, where plaintiff argued that counsel’s failure to appear for an oral argument was due to failure of the New York State Unified Court System, USC, E-Courts System and United Lawyer Service to notify him of the rescheduled date. In Pawnee, this Court denied plaintiff’s motion to vacate a default judgment because plaintiff failed to provide any documentary evidence supporting his claim that he never received notice of the adjourned return date and documentary evidence refuted plaintiff’s claims that he had no notice of the adjourned return date. This Court held that plaintiff failed to provide a reasonable excuse for his failure to “call the Court or Justice Guzman’s part or chambers to clarify any misgivings about the progress of their own motions or to make themselves aware of all necessary court appearances.” Ms. Broumand’s 5 7 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 affirmation indicating that she was not aware of the appearance for oral argument, much like the affirmation of Plaintiff’s counsel in Pawnee Leasing Corp v. Equivel, does not suffice as a sufficient excuse to warrant vacating the default Order. In any event, the premise of Plaintiff’s argument—that Plaintiff’s counsel did not receive notice that the adjourned date was in-person—is wrong. On June 24, 2022, Ms. Broumand received direct notice of the August 8, 2022 return date and that it would be an in-person argument. Ms. Broumand was copied on email correspondence between the City Defendants’ counsel and the Part Clerk, Donald Tong regarding the original return date, June 27, 2022. Ms. Broumand was also forwarded Mr. Tong’s June 24, 2022, email, in which Mr. Tong, stated “[y]our case has been adjourned to 08/08/2022 for in person appearance” (emphasis added). See Williams Aff., Exhibit B. Additionally, on June 27, 2022, E-Track sent out an email to the parties which annotated the changes from the last update for this case in red ink and listed August 8, 2022 at 9:32 AM as the “Future Appearance Date.” See Williams Aff., Exhibit C. Accordingly, there is no excuse for Plaintiff’s default. See Amir M.C.W. v. 2342, Inc., 126 A.D.3d 453 (1st Dep’t 2015) (denying defendant’s motion to vacate the default judgment where “defendant’s conclusory assertion that its failure to appear was due to non-receipt of the October 2011 order fails to rebut the presumption that plaintiff’s attorney properly served the order, and that it was received.”). Ms. Broumand’s allegation that she mis-calendared the return date of the City’s motion to dismiss does not establish a reasonable excuse for failing to appear on the return date as she was afforded direct notice of the adjourned return date and that it was an in-person argument in two separate ways from different parties. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Court’s Order of August 8, 2022 should be denied. 6 8 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 POINT II PLAINTIFF FAILS TO STATE A MERITORIOUS CAUSE OF ACTION A. The Court Has Ruled That the Contract Provisions Are Clear and Unambiguous and that the Contract Terminated Pursuant to Its Terms, Foreclosing Plaintiff’s Claims. Even where a party demonstrates a reasonable excuse for a default, the failure to demonstrate a meritorious cause of action warrants denial of the motion to vacate. As a condition precedent to granting a motion to vacate a party’s default, an affidavit of merit must show facts establishing a meritorious cause of action or defense. Abrams v. Abrams, 56 A.D.2d 775, 775 (1st Dep’t 1977). Conclusory allegations or facts in conclusory form in an affidavit of merit are insufficient to demonstrate the existence of a meritorious action or defense. Here, too, Plaintiff’s showing is inadequate. This Court’s March 30, 2022 Decision, denying Plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause seeking preliminary injunction demonstrates that Plaintiff’s causes of action for declaratory judgment, damages and permanent injunction are patently meritless. First, this Court determined that the language of the Contract is clear and unambiguous, especially with regards to the Contract term. Section 3 of the Contract, specifically Section 3.1, clearly states, "The term of this Contract is 10 years and three months, beginning on March 1, 2011 and ending on June 30, 2021." (NYSCEF Doc. No. 2, P. 3).…The scope and term of the Contract are quite clear: Plaintiff was granted a license to operate on BCC’s campus for a period of 10 years, three months beginning March 1, 2011…. The Contract language clearly states that any such renewal is at BCC's best interest and is not guaranteed. (See, Contract Section 3.2). (emphasis added) (NYSCEF Doc. No. 45 pgs. 5-6). 7 9 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 Moreover, this Court recognized that, despite Plaintiff’s claims that he was “illegally evict[ed],” the Contract did not confer any property rights or tenancy in the Food Service Locations on to Plaintiff. (NYSCEF Doc. NO. 42 ¶ 12). Plaintiff has not established a likelihood of success on the merits; had the premises been subject to a lease and not a license, Plaintiff would have had a proprietary interest in the Food Service Location and thus would have been afforded greater rights, but this is not so. As the Contract only provides for a license to operate food service operations, there are no statutory or other means to apply a tolling or extension of the Contract. (NYSCEF Doc. No. 45 pgs. 7-8). Furthermore, this Court considered and upheld the validity of the Contract’s merger clause: Plaintiff alleges that they were granted a 2-year written extension, but no extension has been proffered as proof. Section 19.6 of the Contract therefore controls the parameters of the Contract, in that the Contract as written and provided to the Court supersedes all other agreements and constitutes the entirety of the agreement between the parties. Id. at pg. 6. Therefore, Plaintiff’s unsupported claim that there “[s]everal agreements were made throughout the years with the Defendants to modify the Agreement, most if not all were not in writing signed by both parties” is easily refuted by the unambiguous provisions of the Contract and are therefore patently meritless. (NYSCEF Doc. NO. 42 ¶ 9). Plaintiff has not and cannot provide any documentary evidence supporting its claims. Furthermore, this Court has already examined Plaintiff’s arguments for damages and determined that “[t]here is nothing in the licensing Contract that afforded the Plaintiff the ability to recover the funds invested. As such, Plaintiff's argument that [UHCC] is entitled to a license extension to recover investments that they were contractually obligated to make pursuant to the licensing agreement is without merit.” Id. at pg. 7. Finally, this Court considered the Contract’s suspension and termination clauses and determined that: 8 10 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 [T]he Food Services Locations at Defendants' campus were thus rendered unusable from the period of March 18, 2020, through the end of the Contract on June 30, 2021, as there was no in-person dining for that period, and had the Contract not naturally expired on June 30, 2021, the Defendants would have been within their rights to terminate the Contract pursuant to their termination clause. Id. at Pg. 6. The Court agreed with the City Defendants’ arguments that the College acted within its rights under the Contract and as the lawful owner of the Food Service Locations in suspending and upholding the natural termination of the Contract. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Court’s Order of August 8, 2022 should be denied as Plaintiff’s claims are meritless. B. Plaintiff Has Failed to Comply with the Statutory Notice of Claim Prerequisite By statute, a plaintiff may not maintain any cause of action against the College or the City unless it serves a notice of claim on CUNY or the City Comptroller, respectively, for adjustment within 90 days of the events giving rise to the claim. Education Law § 6224 (2); General Municipal Law § 50-e. Any complaint that does not specifically allege the service of such a notice is subject to dismissal. Education Law § 6224 (2); New York City Administrative Code § 7-201(a). Here, Plaintiff’s Complaint does not allege any service of a notice of claim on either the College or the City. By failing to comply with statutory notice of claim requirements, which are a mandatory condition precedent to suit, Plaintiff has deprived this Court of subject matter jurisdiction. Furthermore, Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to assert a single viable cause of action against the City as a matter of law. Therefore, leave to serve a late notice of claim against the City should be denied as Plaintiff’s claims are patently meritless. 9 11 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 POINT III PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR “RETURN OF PROPERTY” IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE COMPLAINT AND IS FORECLOSED BY THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT A. Plaintiff’s Proposed New Claims Lack Merit In the instant Motion to Vacate, Plaintiff attempts to assert new claims for “return of property” without seeking leave to amend its Complaint. Plaintiff asserts that “any item purchased AFTER the date of the agreement could not be part of the “fixed” list … if the item was not affixed to the property … UHCC had the right to remove same.” Sohail Aff. ¶ 11. Apart from not being part of this case, Plaintiff’s proposed new claims are largely controverted by the terms of the Contract and therefore meritless. First, Section 14.3, entitled “Removal of Equipment,” states: [u]pon expiration or termination of this Contract, Contractor must remove Contractor Property (except that provided pursuant to the Capital Improvements and Furnishing Plan) from the College premises within ten Days of the date of expiration or notice of termination …. Such Contractor Property not removed from College campus will be deemed abandoned. Shortly after the Contract expired by its terms on June 30, 2021, Plaintiff was advised by email dated August 2, 2021 of the expiration and that UHCC should remove any of its personal property. UHCC never took any action to retrieve its property. Instead, once the campus reopened, UHCC commenced this action and filed its Order to Show Cause by which it obtained the ex parte TRO. Since the Court’s March 30, 2022 Decision denying Plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause, the College provided Plaintiff with two separate notices on April 12, 2022 and June 7, 2022 to cease food service operations, vacate the premises and remove its property from the premises. 10 12 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 See Fiore Aff. Exhibit. Each notice advised Plaintiff that “[a]ny Contractor Property not removed will be deemed abandoned.”2 See Fiore Aff. Exhibits A, B. As of June 17, 2022, Plaintiff has failed to remove his property from the premises, therefore any remaining property on the premises is deemed abandoned. Id. Notwithstanding the fact that Plaintiff has abandoned its remaining property by failing to remove it from the premises by June 17, 2022, the College is not opposed to permitting Plaintiff to remove certain property from the premises. See Ellis Aff. ¶ . The College does not contest that the bread slicer, merrychef, slushie machine, cappuccino maker, soup tureen, coffee dispensers and smallware are Plaintiff’s property and does not object to Plaintiff removing these items from the premises. However, the College does object to Plaintiff removing the Mexican station, Hot Food station, coffee and soup tables, cash registers and table, affixed coffee machines, Refcons and Proofer. Section 5.15.4, entitled “Capital Improvements and Furnishing Plan,” states “[u]pon expiration or termination of this Contract, title to all improvements made to the Food Service Locations pursuant to the Capital Improvement and Furnishing Plan, including furnishings and fixtures, will transfer to Corporation or College, free of liens.” Therefore, any fixed equipment included in the original plans became property of the College at the termination of the Contract. In the original plans, Appendix C, entitled “Contractor Property,” states “[e]quipment marked as “Fixed” on this list will transfer to the Corporation/College at the end of this Contract.” 2 The April 12, 2022 letter to Plaintiff stated in error “Any Corporation property not removed will be deemed abandoned,” however, consistent with the terms of the Contract, it should have read “Any Contractor property not removed will be deemed abandoned.” 11 13 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 Contrary to Plaintiff’s assertions, new items purchased after the date of the agreement which Plaintiff used to replace the older items are considered improvements. Accordingly, these improvements transferred to the College at the expiration of the Contract. B. Allowing Plaintiff to Further Delay Resolution Will Cause Prejudice to the College There is no valid basis to continue to delay resolution. Plaintiff’s contract expired on June 30, 2021. The College has requested Plaintiff to comply with its obligations upon termination of the Contract, including removing its property, for more than a full year. See Fiore Aff. ¶¶ 3, 5. After the Court vacated the TRO, the College requested bids for a new food service vendor for its Fall Semester commencing on August 25, 2022. Id. ¶ 17. The College based its selection for a new vendor on the bidder’s rank and the bid amount. Plaintiff placed a bid for the contract; however, Plaintiff’s bid was not the lowest bid presented to the College. The College accepted a bid from food service vendor, A La Carte, a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (“MWBE”), to conduct food service operations on the College’s campus. Id. ¶ 17. Since the beginning of the Fall semester, A La Carte has been operating on the College campus and servicing the College’s students, faculty, staff and guest and using the College’s equipment in the cafeteria. Id. ¶ 18. Allowing Plaintiff another opportunity to contest the expiration or to seek to remove College property from the College will disrupt the College’s new food service vendor’s operations to the detriment of the students, faculty, staff and guests that rely on the cafeteria. Moreover, Plaintiff’s conduct in this matter has already led to significant and prejudicial delays in the resolution of this matter. For an initial matter, Section 5.8.3, entitled, “Corporation Property,” states “Contractor must not remove Corporation Property from the Food Service Locations. Upon termination or expiration of this Contract, the Contractor must return Corporation Property in the same condition as received, reasonable wear and tear excepted.” Notwithstanding these clear terms, Plaintiff attempted to remove the College’s equipment from 12 14 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 the Premises and subsequently damaged the College’s equipment. Specifically, a counter/food station was cracked and damaged in UHCC’s attempt’s to remove it. The counter/food station is affixed to millwork and the floor of the food services area. Likewise the removal of the Mexican Food Station and Hot Food Station would also result in damage as both are affixed to millwork and the floor of the food service area. Furthermore, Plaintiff was required under the Contract to provide monthly cleaning for the grease traps at its expense. Contract § 5.11 (H). After UHCC’s departure from the College, it became apparent that UHCC did not maintain the grease traps as required. Upon inspection, fifteen buckets of grease were removed from the grease traps. The College was forced to dispose of the grease, which required a special disposal process and for which the College incurred substantial costs. Additionally, the Contract required UHCC to pay 8% of gross sales with a minimum annual payment of $160,000. Contract § 6.1. Despite continuing to use the Cafeteria since the expiration of the Contract and during the period the ex parte TRO was in effect and for months after, UHCC has not made any payments during that time period. Plaintiff has attempted to overwrite the terms of the Contract and disrupt the food service operations on the College’s campus at every turn. Long past the expiration of the Contract and after the College’s multiple requests for Plaintiff to remove its property from the premises, this matter cannot be delayed further as a result of Plaintiff’s specious arguments. 13 15 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 CONCLUSION For all the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Court’s August 8, 2022 Order and for return of property should be denied in its entirety. Dated: New York, New York September 23, 2022 HON. SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX Corporation Counsel of the City of New York Attorney for Defendants City of New York and Bronx Community College of the City University of New York 100 Church Street, New York, New York 10007 By: Ashley F. Williams Tel. (212) 356-2555 ashwilli@law.nyc.gov Robert Funkhouser Vijeta Jasuja 14 16 of 17 FILED: BRONX COUNTY CLERK 09/23/2022 03:19 PM INDEX NO. 800821/2022E NYSCEF DOC. NO. 83 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 09/23/2022 SECTION 202.8-B CERTIFICATION I certify that the total count of this Memorandum of Law is 4076, which complies with Section 202.8-b of the Uniform Civil Rules For The Supreme Court & The County Court. I relied on the word count of the word-processing system used to prepare the document. Dated: New York, New York September 23, 2022 Ashley F. Williams Assistant Corporation Counsel 15 17 of 17