Bleecker Street Tenants Corp. v. Bleeker Jones LLC

Read, J. (concurring).

The majority holds that “the rule against perpetuities does not apply to options to renew leases” (majority op at 274) in New York because “the rule against perpetuities [did] not appl[y] to options to renew leases under the American common law” (id. at 277). But the authorities cited by the majority do not demonstrate that options to renew leases enjoyed a blanket exemption from or were outside the purview of the rule against perpetuities under American common law. Instead, these authorities show that an option to renew did not run afoul of the historic prohibition…