Opinion
April 11, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Fredman, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The record supports the determination of the Supreme Court that there is no substantial question as to whether a valid agreement to arbitrate existed between the petitioners and the respondent Howard Cohen in his capacity as architect. The petitioners retained the owner-architect agreement forwarded to them by Cohen, which contained an arbitration clause, and while they did not sign it, they and Cohen operated under the terms of the agreement for approximately one year. Moreover, when disputes arose between the parties, the petitioners sent Cohen a letter referring to the agreement and terminating the agreement due to his alleged failure to perform thereunder. Therefore, the court properly directed the parties to proceed to arbitration (see, CPLR 7503 [a]; Just In-Materials Designs v I.T.A.D. Assocs., 61 N.Y.2d 882). Bracken, J.P., Lawrence, Copertino and Florio, JJ., concur.