Opinion
April 22, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Held, J.).
Ordered that the order is modified, as an exercise of discretion, by deleting the provision which, in effect, denied the branch of the appellant's motion which was to vacate the provision of the judgment entered December 30, 1994, awarding the petitioner $945 as costs, disbursements, and fees, and substituting therefor a provision granting that branch of the motion; as so modified, the order is affirmed, with costs to the appellant.
The appellant correctly asserts that the petitioner should not have been awarded costs in this proceeding to confirm an arbitration award ( see, Matter of Mossman v. MVAIC, 19 A.D.2d 842; see, Rivera v. Sales, 208 A.D.2d 514, 515). However, the appellant is incorrect insofar as it claims that the interest awarded to the petitioner should be reduced. The petitioner is entitled to recover interest from the date of the final and definite arbitration award until the date that the petitioner entered the judgment against the appellant ( see, CPLR 5002; Matter of Kavares [MVAIC], 29 A.D.2d 68, 72, affd 28 N.Y.2d 939). Since interest is not a penalty, the amount awarded should not be reduced because of the petitioner's delay in entering the underlying judgment ( see, Love v. State of New York, 78 N.Y.2d 540, 544-545). O'Brien, J.P., Ritter, Pizzuto and Altman, JJ., concur.