The Rule Against Perpetuities

If you thought you had seen the last of the Rule Against Perpetuities after you finished law school and passed the bar exam, think again.

Today in Bleecker Street Tenants Corp. v. Bleecker Jones, LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department, addresses the applicability of the Rule to a clause in a commercial lease providing for nine options to renew for consecutive 10-year periods. In an opinion by Justice Saxe, the Court reverses Supreme Court, New York County, and concludes that the option clause violates the Rule.