First Department Affirms $1.2 Million Jury Verdict for Preschool Tenant Against Bohemian Brethren Presbyterian Church Over Uncleared Building Violations

On October 13, 2026, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed a $1,216,177.36 jury judgment for a preschool operator, Ordinary Faces LLC, and its founder against their landlord, Bohemian Brethren Presbyterian Church. The jury found the church breached lease provisions requiring it to cooperate in obtaining city approvals and to act diligently on a fire alarm system, which kept the tenant from getting the Department of Buildings sign-off it needed to run the school. The court upheld the lost-profits award, held a rent abatement was not the tenant's only remedy, and ruled that a landlord-liability cap did not bar recovery after the church sold the building.

Why it matters

The ruling shows that a landlord's general duty to cooperate with a tenant's approvals can support a large lost-profits award when uncured violations on parts of the building outside the leased premises block the tenant's use. It also confirms that a standard clause limiting the tenant to the landlord's interest in the building still reaches sale proceeds, and that a landlord can lose a lease's jury waiver by raising it too late.

Case timeline · 5 entries Latest: October 13, 2026 — Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirms

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