Ordered that the order and judgment is affirmed, with costs.
In a voluntary arbitration attorneys' fees may not be recovered unless they are expressly provided for in the arbitration agreement or by statute (see, Matter of MKC Dev. Corp. v. Weiss, 203 A.D.2d 573; CBA Indus. v. Circulation Mgt., 179 A.D.2d 615, 616; Grossman v. Laurence Handprints-N.J., 90 A.D.2d 95, 101; see also, Hooper Assocs. v. AGS Computers, 74 N.Y.2d 487, 490). Accordingly, because the arbitration agreement in the instant case failed to provide for attorneys' fees, the court properly refused to permit the defendants to offset their pastdue rent against attorneys' fees incurred in the present litigation. O'Brien, J.P., Copertino, Santucci and Krausman, JJ., concur.