Reading the lease's casualty-related provisions together does not alter our determination. There is neither an explicit requirement that the owner give the tenant notice that the rental premises have been restored, nor any provision allowing the tenant to terminate the lease based on the lack of such notice. In light of the extensive damage, the New York City Department of Buildings issued a 'Vacate Order' that remained in effect for several months and required the discontinuance of occupancy at 538 Madison Avenue.rider paragraph 3, a tenant's casualty-based termination will occur only in one circumstancewhen, after receiving notice of the tenant's intent to terminate the tenancy, the owner fails to restore the premises within the prescribed one-year time frame. The disaster caused considerable damage to 538 Madison Avenue and temporarily shut down the area. On December 7, 1997, during the second year of the lease term, a wall of 540 Madison Avenuea building adjacent to the leased premisescollapsed. The lease term was for 10 years, with escalating rental payments beginning at $300,000 per year. The parties executed a Real Estate Board of New York standard form store lease and annexed a rider to the document. (VTB) leased first-floor retail space at 538 Madison Avenue in Manhattan from defendant 538 Madison Realty Company.

Because our longstanding contract interpretation principles prohibit us from adding a missing term to an unambiguous lease, we reverse the order of the Appellate Division and deny the tenant's motion for summary judgment.īeginning in October 1996, plaintiff Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. The courts below agreed with the tenant that the lease required the owner to give such notice. v 538 Madison Realty Co., 308 AD2d 33, reversed.Īfter substantial damage occurred to its retail store, the tenant in this case terminated its lease on the ground that the building owner had failed to provide timely written notice that the premises had been restored and were ready for occupancy. Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc., Respondent,Īrgued Februdecided March 25, 2004 Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.Īs corrected through Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Vermont teddy bear company