While on all accounts coronavirus (the viral matter that causes COVID-19) appears to have weakened since hitting the shores of New York City over two years ago in March 2020—just like how other viruses tend to weaken as they evolve over time—and the pandemic is finally coming to a close, so too have most of the COVID-19 defenses in court cases involving commercial leases. However, all may not be foreclosed for a commercial tenant, particularly where a tenant is able to point to a specific provision of its lease that could excuse its obligation to pay rent during the closure of its business.

In the spring of 2020, we witnessed the most deadly virus of our lifetimes ravage New York City, killing tens of thousands of people. In the state of New York, 68,781 people have died, over 50,000 of those being New York City residents as of the date of this article, while the total death toll in the United States has now exceeded 1 million people. Former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued a string of emergency executive orders requiring, among other things, that employees of non-essential businesses begin working remotely in order to stop the spread of the disease.