Opinion
06-28-2017
Michael MORRONE, et al., respondents, v. Ralph T. COSTAGLIOLA, appellant, et al., defendant.
Casella & Casella LLP, Staten Island, NY (Ralph P. Casella of counsel), for appellant. Philip K. Greene, P.C., Woodbury, NY (Richard M. Greene of counsel), for respondents.
Casella & Casella LLP, Staten Island, NY (Ralph P. Casella of counsel), for appellant.
Philip K. Greene, P.C., Woodbury, NY (Richard M. Greene of counsel), for respondents.
RANDALL T. ENG, P.J., JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, LEONARD B. AUSTIN, and JEFFREY A. COHEN, JJ.
In an action to recover damages for breach of contract, the defendant Ralph T. Costagliola appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Archer, Ct.Atty.Ref.), entered March 9, 2015, which, upon a decision of the same court dated February 12, 2015, made after a nonjury trial, is in favor of the plaintiffs and against him in the principal sum of $160,000.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
" ‘In reviewing a determination made after a nonjury trial, this Court's power is as broad as that of the trial court, and it may render the judgment it finds warranted by the facts, taking into account that in a close case the trial court had the advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses' " ( Quadrozzi v. Estate of Quadrozzi, 99 A.D.3d 688, 691, 952 N.Y.S.2d 74, quoting BRK Props., Inc. v. Wagner Ziv Plumbing & Heating Corp., 89 A.D.3d 883, 884, 933 N.Y.S.2d 99 ; see Northern Westchester Professional Park Assoc. v. Town of Bedford, 60 N.Y.2d 492, 499, 470 N.Y.S.2d 350, 458 N.E.2d 809 ). Where the court's findings of fact " ‘rest in large measure on considerations relating to the credibility of witnesses,’ deference is owed to the trial court's credibility determinations" ( Tornheim v. Blue & White Food Prods. Corp., 88 A.D.3d 867, 868, 931 N.Y.S.2d 340, quoting Anderson v. Mastrangelo, 18 A.D.3d 677, 677, 796 N.Y.S.2d 118 ; see Trimarco v. Data Treasury Corp., 146 A.D.3d 1004, 1007–1008, 46 N.Y.S.3d 134 ).
Here, according deference to the Supreme Court's credibility assessments, the determination that the parties orally entered into a series of valid personal loan agreements that the defendant Ralph T. Costagliola breached by failing to repay was warranted by the facts. Moreover, contrary to Costagliola's contention, the loans were not void under the statute of frauds (see General Obligations Law § 5–701[a][1] ), because there was no evidence demonstrating that the loans had " ‘absolutely no possibility in fact and law’ " of being repaid within a year ( Micena v. Katz, 68 A.D.3d 826, 827, 890 N.Y.S.2d 619, quoting D & N Boening v. Kirsch Beverages, 63 N.Y.2d 449, 454, 483 N.Y.S.2d 164, 472 N.E.2d 992 ; see Cron v. Hargro Fabrics, 91 N.Y.2d 362, 366–367, 670 N.Y.S.2d 973, 694 N.E.2d 56 ; JNG Const., Ltd. v. Roussopoulos, 135 A.D.3d 709, 710, 22 N.Y.S.3d 567 ; Stillman v. Kalikow, 22 A.D.3d 660, 662, 802 N.Y.S.2d 714 ).