This action to collect on sums allegedly owed on a commercial lease raises significant questions about the scope of the protections conferred on personal guarantors by New York City Administrative Code §22-1005. This action to collect on sums allegedly owed on a commercial lease raises significant questions about the scope of the protections conferred on personal guarantors by New York City Administrative Code §22-1005. Plaintiff-landlord, Mansion Realty LLC, initially brought this action against defendant-tenant, 656 6th Ave Gym LLC, seeking unpaid rent that had accrued through October 31, 2020. (See NYSCEF No. 1.) Landlord now moves under CPLR 3025 (b) to seek post-commencement unpaid rent against tenant. Landlord also seeks leave to add Alex Reznik, the individual guarantor of the lease, as a defendant, and to seek unpaid rent from the guarantor for, at a minimum, the period running from July 1, 2021, through the filing of this motion. Tenant and guarantor raise several arguments in opposition — most significantly, that landlord’s claim against guarantor for post-June 30, 2021, rent is permanently barred by §22-1005 because the underlying lease default occurred during the period in which §22-1005′s protections were in effect. The Appellate Division has not yet had occasion to address this important question. Although the issue is not free from doubt, this court ultimately concludes that tenant and guarantor read §22-1005 too broadly. That statute bars only those claims against guarantors seeking rent that came due within the statute’s protection period. It does not, as tenant and guarantor contend, bar claims against a lease guarantor for the life of the lease merely because the tenant first defaulted during the protection period. BACKGROUND In December 2019, landlord and tenant in this case entered into a lease of commercial premises for use as a gym facility. (See NYSCEF No. 19 at 11 §6.01 (A).) Guarantor simultaneously executed an absolute and unconditional guarantee of tenant’s obligations under the lease. (See id. at 31-32 [guarantee].) The complaint alleges that tenant stopped paying rent as of June 1, 2020. (NYSCEF No. 1 at 14.) Landlord brought this action in October 2020. As originally pleaded, the complaint asserts a breach-of-contract claim against tenant, claiming $430,684.17 in unpaid rent/additional rent accrued through October 31, 2020, plus attorney fees under the lease. (See id. at
18, 24, 26.) The complaint does not name guarantor as a defendant; but it asserts that he can be held liable in breach of contract under his guarantee, notwithstanding Administrative Code §22-1005. (See id. at
