Smoking in Tenant's Apartment Wasn't Prohibited by Lease and Didn't Constitute Nuisance

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for creating or permitting a nuisance due to excessive cigarette smoke that flowed into next-door tenant's apartment through gaps in the baseboards, floors, and the apartment front door. The court granted tenant's request to dismiss the case. Tenant had lived in the apartment for 46 years. There was no lease provision or house rule prohibiting smoking in apartments and no proof that tenant smoked in the building's common areas. Tenant's smoking therefore didn't constitute a nuisance.

Priceman Family LLC v. Kerrigan: Index No. 061738/2017, NYLJ No. 1526865988 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 5/7/18; Sikowitz, J)