Justice Doris Ling-Cohan
Plaintiff 215 West 90th Street Retail sued for an alleged breach of lease by JSCM Corp., and an alleged breach of guaranty by the Minn defendants. 215 designated Suffolk County as the place of trial based on its principal place of business being located there. Defendants moved to change the place of trial, arguing Suffolk was not a proper county as none of the parties had a principal place of business, corporate office or residence there at the time the action was begun. Before service of an answer, defendants served a demand for change of venue to Manhattan, and 215 failed to show New York was an improper venue or that Suffolk was proper, as required by CPLR 511(b). Thus, defendants properly noticed the instant motion to be heard in Manhattan. The court noted 215′s principal place of business, on file with the Department of State at the time the action was begun, was in Nassau County. Hence, as none of the parties resided in or had a principal place of business in Suffolk, the court ruled 215 failed to designate a proper county when beginning this suit in Suffolk. Thus, as JSCM showed its principal place of business was in Manhattan, its motion to change the place of trial was granted.
