Public Not Third-Party Beneficiary of Lease Between City and Museum

On October 29, 2013, Justice Kornreich of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Saska v. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013 NY Slip Op. 23366, addressing, among other things, the law of third-party beneficiaries as applied to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "pay what you wish" admissions policy.

In Saska, the plaintiffs alleged that they were third-party beneficiaries of the lease entered into by the City and the museum in 1878 that prohibited the museum from charging for admission. The museum, they argued, had violated the lease by charging admission under its "pay what you wish" admissions policy, because that policy required almost all visitors to pay something to enter the museum, even if only a penny. Justice Kornreich found that the plaintiffs were not third-party beneficiaries of the lease, even though they were members of the public that the museum was founded to serve, and even if they were, they were not entitled to the remedy they were seeking:

[A] third-party beneficiary has no greater rights or remedies than the direct parties to a contract. . . . Assuming, arguendo, that plaintiffs are intended beneficiaries of the Lease, they still cannot compel specific performance that differs from the remedy provided for in the Lease. Third-party beneficiaries do not have contractual rights that go beyond or contravene the explicit terms of the contract. To wit, if the City were before this court, it would not get the injunctive relief requested by plaintiffs. Rather, service of a proper Notice to Cure and, if no cure takes place, eviction, is the remedy under the lease. Plaintiffs' rights as alleged third part beneficiaries are no greater than those of the City.

Further, on this record, there is little . . . doubt that the City has no desire to evict the Museum for the conduct alleged in this action. Plaintiffs should not be permitted to disregard the contracting party's decision as to the benefits it seeks to gain from its contract and the enforcement benefits it negotiated to achieve those benefits. In other words, plaintiffs cannot force the Museum to abide by the terms of the Lease in a manner that contravenes the express wishes of its landlord.

(Citations and internal quotations omitted).