Opinion
Argued June 18, 2001.
November 19, 2001.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Kramer, J.), dated May 13, 1999, as, upon the motion of the defendant Nathan Botton to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against him, directed a hearing to determine whether the defendant Nathan Botton was properly served with the summons and complaint.
Baron Associates, P.C., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Thomas Torto of counsel), for appellant.
Jeffrey A. Block, New York, N.Y. (Michael J. Wells of counsel), for respondent.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., GLORIA GOLDSTEIN, ANITA R. FLORIO, STEPHEN G. CRANE, JJ.
ORDERED that the appeal is dismissed, with costs.
An order directing a judicial hearing to aid in the disposition of a motion does not decide the motion and does not affect a substantial right. Therefore, it is not appealable as of right (see, CPLR 5701[a][2][v]). Any party aggrieved by the judgment entered subsequent to the hearing may take an appeal (see, Liebling v. Yankwitt, 109 A.D.2d 780; Astuto v. New York Univ. Med. Center, 97 A.D.2d 805), which is, in fact, what the plaintiff did in this case (see, Tsirulnik v. Botton, 288 A.D.2d 372 [decided herewith]).
SANTUCCI, J.P., GOLDSTEIN, FLORIO and CRANE, JJ., concur.