Opinion
May 15, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Salvador Collazo, J.).
Since the IAS Court inexplicably declined to find that defendant's failure to fully comply with a so-ordered stipulation requiring it to provide certain services to disabled residents of New York City was contemptuous within the meaning of section 753 Jud. of the Judiciary Law, defendant could not be fined under that statute. While we would hold that the record clearly mandates a finding to the contrary, plaintiffs' failure to appeal from the IAS Court's ruling precludes us from doing so. The IAS Court's attempt to fashion an alternative remedy for defendant's breach of the stipulation by awarding contractual damages against defendant was not within its jurisdiction, since claims for money damages against the State of New York, including claims against State agencies and State officers acting in their official capacities, must be brought in the Court of Claims ( Morell v Balasubramanian, 70 N.Y.2d 297, 300; Sinhogar v. Parry, 53 N.Y.2d 424, 431).
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Ellerin, Rubin and Mazzarelli, JJ.