Justice Anil Singh
Plaintiff moved for summary judgment, and defendant cross-moved for summary dismissal. Plaintiff was the lessee of the premises, and defendant the cooperative corporation that owned it. The parties sought a declaratory judgment of plaintiff's contractual right to renew a lease related to commercial space in the co-op. The lease was executed in 1974 and set to run through 1992 with automatic renewals giving an additional 11 year term. Defendant recorded a termination of plaintiff's lease, without notifying plaintiff, noting the lease expired in 1992. Plaintiff alleged it was entitled to continued possession of the commercial space, arguing the lease enabled it to extend its possession until 2066 as a series of conditions to renewal were met. The co-op argued renewal was conditioned on it renewing the ground lease which expired in 1992. The court declined to rewrite the parties' unambiguous agreement to "effectuate the current reality," noting plaintiff could have added lease provisions at execution requiring renewal through 2066 in the event the co-op became the property's owner. It also found insufficient grounds for permitting estoppel based on the co-op's silence as the co-op did not owe plaintiff a duty. Hence, plaintiff's motion was denied.
