Howard J. Woronov for Jodine L. Smolen, respondent.
Donald Schmidt, respondent
pro se. Vincent Finocchio, Jr., for petitioners.
Lucia Whisenand, Law Guardian.
OPINION OF THE COURT
DAVID G. KLIM, J. By a petition filed on January 13, 2000, pursuant to Domestic For all of the above reasons, it is hereby ordered that the motion of respondent Jodine Smolen to dismiss the petition is denied without prejudice to renew upon conclusion of the hearing to be conducted herein; and it is further ordered that the parties appear for an evidentiary hearing to be held on October 2, 2000 at 10:00 A.M. [*] Although a judicial determination of best interest never comes into play if the grandparents do not meet the threshold of establishing standing, as a practical matter the two components of the inquiry are so factually intertwined that bifurcated hearings are rarely, if ever, appropriate. (Matter of Luma v Kawalchuk, 240 AD2d 896; Matter of Agusta v Carousso, 208 AD2d 620, lv dismissed 85 NY2d 857.)