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ROBERTO JUARBE, appellant, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, respondent.

DECISION ORDER

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

To vacate a default, a movant must establish both a reasonable excuse and a meritorious claim or defense (see Westchester County Med. Ctr. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 283 A.D.2d 488; Greene v. New York City Hous. Auth., 283 A.D.2d 458; Matter of AIU Ins. Co. v. Fernandez, 281 A.D.2d 542, 543; Poincy v. White Bus Co., 278 A.D.2d 467).

The only explanation offered by the plaintiff for his default in opposing the defendant's motion was that his attorney was late for a motion calendar call. Although law office failure may constitute a reasonable excuse under certain circumstances, the explanation offered was conclusory and devoid of any detailed factual allegations, and thus did not constitute a reasonable excuse (see Morris v. Metropolitan Transp. Auth., 191 A.D.2d 682, 683).

In addition, the proposed amended notice of claim was a "nullity," as it was served upon the defendant City of New York without leave of court (Henry v. Aguilar, 282 A.D.2d 711; see General Municipal Law § 50-e[a]). Further, any amended notice of claim served two years after the incident would be prejudicial to the City, since the initial notice of claim served in this case failed to describe the accident location with sufficient particularity (see Earle v. Town of Oyster Bay, 247 A.D.2d 357, 358).

The plaintiff's remaining contention raises an issue that is dehors the record and will not be considered on appeal (see Matter of Acme Bus Co. v. Board of Educ. of Roosevelt Union Free School Dist., 91 N.Y.2d 51, 56, n; R J Yorek, Inc. v. MCL Constr., 173 A.D.2d 531, 532; Carhuff v. Barnett's Bake Shop, 54 A.D.2d 969).

FEUERSTEIN, J.P., S. MILLER, FRIEDMANN and COZIER, JJ., concur.

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JUARBE v. CITY OF NEW YORK
(Mar 10, 2003)