A Yellowstone proceeding (so-called after a Court of
Appeals decision establishing the legal protocol) maintains the
status quo so that a commercial tenant, when confronted by
a threat of termination of its lease, may protect its investment in
the leasehold by obtaining a stay tolling the cure
period—and, if an adverse determination on the merits ensues,
the tenant may cure the default and avoid a forfeiture.
The proceeding is New York–specific. Our Civil Courts in
New York City and District Courts in the rest of the State (where
landlord-tenant cases are litigated) do not have jurisdiction to
grant equitable relief. So a tenant charged with default (who
either controverts the default or needs more time to cure or both),
must file a Yellowstone proceeding in Supreme Court (which
has equitable jurisdiction) before the cure period ends to avoid
termination of the lease. Supreme Court has the ability to toll the
cure period and grant an extention of the time to cure (if
