The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document numbers (Motion 001) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39 were read on this motion for SUMMARY JUDGMENT. DECISION ORDER ON MOTION Upon the foregoing documents, plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied for the reasons set forth in the opposition papers (NYSCEF Doc. Nos. 32-36), in which the court concurs, as summarized herein. Background Central to this commercial-landlord tenant dispute is whether defendant, the tenant herein, properly exercised its limited right of early termination of the lease. The lease provides, in relevant part, that: A. Provided that each and every one of the terms and conditions set forth below are fully satisfied, each of Landlord and Tenant shall have the option (the “Early Termination Option”) to terminate this Lease, effective as of a date which is after the sixty second (62nd) full calendar month after the Commencement date (the “Early Termination Date”): 1. The terminating party (the “Terminating Party”) shall give the other party a written notice of its irrevocable election to exercise the Early Termination Option, which notice shall be given not later than six (6) full calendar months prior to the Early Termination Date which is designated in the notice, which Early Termination Date so designated shall be the last day of a calendar month; 2. If Tenant is the Terminating Party: a. Tenant may only exercise the Early Termination Option if Tenant shall have paid sixty (60) months of Fixed Rent hereunder by the date due, after the expiration of any applicable notice or cure period; and b. Tenant shall not be in default under any of the terms, covenants and conditions of this Lease to be observed and performed after the expiration of applicable notice and grace periods either on the date that Tenant exercises the Early Termination Option or on the Early Termination Date. c. Tenant shall pay to Landlord concurrently with Tenant’s exercise of the Early Termination Option, a cash lease termination fee (the “Fee”) in an amount equal to the sum of the unamortized amount (as amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of this Lease) as of the Early Termination Date of the sum of the following costs relating to this Lease: (i) the Fixed Rent Allowance, (ii) any fee, commission or other compensation paid by Landlord to any broker or finder and any attorney in connection with this Lease and the preparation thereof, and (iii) the cost of Landlord’s Work not paid for or reimbursed by Tenant. * * * C. Tenant’s right to the Early Termination Option shall automatically terminate and become null and void upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the termination of Tenant’s right to possession of the Demised Premises; or (ii) the failure of Tenant to timely or properly exercise the Early Termination Option. (Lease, NYSCEF Doc. No. 19, Art. 72.) At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, defendant suffered a “substantial decrease in business” (Benakis aff., NYSCEF Doc. No. 36,
3-4). The parties then attempted to renegotiate the lease, during which time plaintiff’s managing member, Kenneth S. Aschendorf, allegedly informed defendant’s Interim Managing Director, Alexandra Benakis, that defendant did not need to pay rent while the parties were attempting to renegotiate the lease (id.,
