DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant forfeited his right to be present at trial when he refused to appear in court after being notified that the trial would proceed without him should he fail to appear (see, People v. Taylor, 233 A.D.2d 534, 535 ; People v. Bryan, 158 A.D.2d 530 ; People v. Porter, 113 A.D.2d 814, 815 ; People v. Parker, 57 N.Y.2d 136, 141 ). Following reasonable efforts to ascertain that the defendant `s refusal was voluntary, the trial court properly determined that the trial should proceed in his absence (see, People v. Taylor, supra, at 535; People v. Bryan, supra).
The comments made by the prosecutor during summation were largely proper responses to the defense counsel's summation, which challenged the credibility of the People's witnesses (see, People v. Ramsey, 220 A.D.2d 697, 697-698 ). Any prejudice from improper comments was ameliorated by the trial court's curative instructions (see, People v. Ferguson, 82 N.Y.2d 837, 838 ; People v. Rivera, 142 A.D.2d 614, 615 ).