Appeal from a decision of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Cheryl J. Gonzales, J.), dated February 24, 2009, deemed from a final judgment of the same court entered the same day (see CPLR 5520 [c]). The final judgment, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the petition in a holdover summary proceeding.

ORDERED that the final judgment is affirmed, without costs.

Landlord commenced this nuisance holdover summary proceeding, alleging that tenant and her son had committed various acts of destruction both in tenant's apartment and in other tenants' apartments. Landlord claimed at trial to have personally witnessed these incidents. Landlord did not produce any other witnesses at trial. After a nonjury trial, the Civil Court dismissed the petition, finding that landlord's testimony was not credible. We affirm.

The decision of a fact-finding court should not be disturbed upon appeal unless it is obvious that the court's conclusions could not be reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Claridge Gardens v Menotti, 160 AD2d 544 [1990]). Furthermore, the determination of the trier of fact as to issues of credibility is given substantial deference, as the trial court's opportunity to observe and evaluate the testimony and demeanor of the witnesses affords it a better perspective from which to assess the credibility of the witnesses (see Vizzari v State of New York, 184 AD2d 564 [1992]; Kincade v Kincade, 178 AD2d 510, 511 [1991]). We find that the record in this proceeding amply supports the Civil Court's conclusions, which were based in large part on landlord's lack of credibility.

Accordingly, the final judgment is affirmed.

Steinhardt, J.P., Golia and Rios, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: June 15, 2011