Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in denying the plaintiffs motion for leave to enter a default judgment on the issue of liability against the defendant The Avenue Cafe, Inc. (hereinafter Avenue Cafe), and in granting Avenue Cafe's cross motion to compel the plaintiff to accept late service of its answer. Considering the lack of any prejudice to the plaintiff as a result of Avenue Cafe's relatively short delay in serving its answer, the existence of a potentially meritorious defense, and the public policy favoring the resolution of cases on the merits, the Supreme Court properly excused Avenue Cafe's delay in answering ( see Wiesel v Friends Exhaust Sys., Inc., 71 AD3d 1006; Falla v Keel Holdings, LLC, 50 AD3d 844, 845; Schmidt v City of New York, 50 AD3d 664; Stuart v Kushner, 39 AD3d 535; Schonfeld v Blue White Food Prods. Corp., 29 AD3d 673, 674).