Opinion
October 13, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Golden, J.).
Ordered that the appeal from the order is dismissed; and it is further,
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed; and it is further,
Ordered that the respondent is awarded one bill of costs.
The appeal from the intermediate order must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of judgment in the action (see, Matter of Aho, 39 N.Y.2d 241, 248). The issues raised on appeal from the order are brought up for review and have been considered on the appeal from the judgment (CPLR 5501 [a] [1]).
To avoid dismissal of an action for failure to timely serve a complaint (CPLR 3012 [b]), a plaintiff must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the delay and the meritorious nature of the claim (see, Kel Mgt. Corp. v Rogers Wells, 64 N.Y.2d 904; Ferrara v Guardino, 164 A.D.2d 932; DeSiena v Maimonides Hosp. Ctr., 163 A.D.2d 351).
The failure of other defendants to file a notice of appearance is not a reasonable excuse for the plaintiff's eight-month delay in serving the complaint upon the defendant who demanded it. Nor did the plaintiff establish a prima facie breach of contract case. Therefore, the Supreme Court properly dismissed the complaint as against the moving defendant. Mangano, P.J., Sullivan, O'Brien, Ritter and Pizzuto, JJ., concur.