Opinion
Index No. 570252/24
09-16-2024
Mehran Soroudi, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Yorkroad Associates LLC and Samy Marelli, Defendants-Respondents.
Unpublished Opinion
PRESENT: Hagler, P.J., Brigantti, Tisch, JJ.
PER CURIAM
Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Aija Tingling, J.), entered December 21, 2022, after trial, in favor of defendants dismissing the action.
Order (Aija Tingling, J.), entered December 21, 2022, affirmed, without costs.
Plaintiff commenced this Small Claims action to recover for property damage allegedly sustained to his vehicles which were parked in a garage in a residential building owned by defendant Yorkroad Associates LLC. The evidence at trial established that the garage did not have any parking attendants; plaintiff personally drove in and out of the garage; parked his own vehicles in the garage, and always retained the car keys. No bailment was created by the parking arrangement depicted in the record (see Ellish v Airport Parking Co. Of Am, 42 A.D.2d 174, 178 [1973], affd 34 N.Y.2d 882 [1974]; Burke v Riverbay Corp., 25 Misc.3d 139 [A], 2009 NY Slip Op 52386[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2009]) and, absent competent proof of negligence, defendants are not liable for the damage to plaintiff's vehicles (see Hutton v Esplanade Gardens, Inc., 25 Misc.3d 132 [A], 2009 NY Slip Op 52145[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2009]). Dismissal of the action thus achieved substantial justice consistent with substantive law principles (see CCA 1807).