Matter of Park Row 23 Owners LLC v. Jiha

Summary

The Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of a CPLR article 78 petition challenging the New York City Department of Finance's determination that the petitioner's property was ineligible for Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program benefits. The court held that the Department's interpretation of the statutory term "building or structure" was reasonable and rejected the petitioner's equitable estoppel argument.

Holdings

1. DOF's interpretation of "building or structure" in RPTL 489-bbbbbb(3)(f)(iii)(a) as referring to an entire building was reasonable and therefore could not be disturbed.
2. DOF was not equitably estopped from denying the ICAP application because estoppel may not be used to ratify administrative error, particularly where a sophisticated party could have discovered through reasonable due diligence that the representative's communications were not reliable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether DOF reasonably interpreted the term "building or structure" in RPTL 489-bbbbbb(3)(f)(iii)(a) to refer to an entire building rather than only the commercial portion or individual tax lots.
2. Whether DOF should be equitably estopped from denying the petitioner's ICAP application based on communications from a DOF representative.

Disposition

affirmed