Liquidated Damages Provision Violated Public Policy as an Illegal Penalty—It Was Grossly Disproportionate to the Actual Damages—Dissent Asserted It Should Be Enforced as a Valid Settlement Agreement Between Two Sophisticated Counseled Commercial Parties—Landlord-Tenant Surrender Agreement

This decision involved the "propriety of a liquidated damages provision" (damage provision) in a landlord-tenant "surrender agreement" (agreement). The New York Court of Appeals held that the agreement is "an unenforceable penalty in contravention of public policy."