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Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, July 16, 2008
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Sperber Denenberg & Kahan P.C., New York City (Seth Denenberg and Jacqueline Handel-Harbour of counsel), for petitioner. Jeffrey McAdams, New York City, for respondent.
{**20 Misc 3d at 816} OPINION OF THE COURT
George M. Heymann, J.
The petitioner commenced this holdover proceeding on the ground that "any license 'Jane Doe' (daughter of Ahmed Zokari), 'John Doe' and 'Jane Doe' may have had to occupy said premises [located at 719 Eighth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York] has expired due to the death of the tenant of record thereof, Ahmed Zokari." (Notice sent to respondent, dated May 30, 2007.)
The respondent, Amira Zokari, daughter of the deceased tenant of record, claims that she is entitled to succession rights to the subject premises in that she resided therein contemporaneously with her father for more than the requisite two years prior to his permanent departure therefrom.
This matter first appeared on the court's calendar on July 19, 2007. It was then adjourned three times thereafter and marked off calendar on December 18, 2007. The case was restored to the calendar on April 15, 2008 at which time the parties agreed to a motion schedule.
The petitioner now seeks the following relief: (a) pursuant to CPLR 1024, amending the caption to substitute "Amira Ahmed Zokari" for "Jane Doe"; (b) [*2]striking the respondent's defenses and counterclaims (for succession and legal possession and attorney's fees); (c) granting petitioner summary judgment pursuant to CPLR 3212; (d) entering a final judgment of possession in petitioner's favor; (e) issuance of a warrant forthwith and execution thereafter upon a marshal's notice; and (f) such other and further relief as this court deems just and proper.
Before reaching a determination on whether to strike the respondent's defenses and counterclaims and granting the petitioner summary judgment, it is necessary to ascertain if the petitioner crossed the jurisdictional threshold by using the pseudonym "Jane Doe," coupled with the parenthetical phrase "daughter of Ahmed Zokari," to name the respondent as a party.
The petitioner cites CPLR 1024 as the basis to amend the caption to substitute "Amira Ahmed Zokari" for "Jane Doe."
CPLR 1024 states:
"A party who is ignorant, in whole or in part, of the name or identity of a person who
may properly be made a party, may proceed against such person as an unknown party by
designating so much of his name and identity as is known. If the name or{**20 Misc 3d
at 817} remainder of the name becomes known all subsequent proceedings shall be taken
under the true name and all prior proceedings shall be deemed amended accordingly."
While the second sentence of this statute regarding the usage of the party's true name, once known, is written in the mandatory "shall," and according to Siegel, New York Practice (

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