Jacob Ruppert Realty Corp. v. Bank of United States

Plaintiff’s predecessor in title, the fee owner of a building at Forty-fourth street and Fifth avenue, New York city, entered into a lease with the Central Mercantile Bank of New York on November 23, 1926, covering a portion of the premises for the purposes of a bank for a period from February 1,1927, to February 1, 1948. The rentals were graduated each five years from the sum of $82,500 per year at the commencement of the term, to the sum of $128,333 per year for the last six years of the term.

The lease contained the following provision:

“ (1) If, before the commencement of the term, the…