Venue.

Pursuant to CPLR 503(a), "the place of trial shall be in the county in which one of the parties resided when [the action] was commenced." For venue purposes, a residence is where a party stays for some time with a bona fide intent to retain the place as a residence for some length of time and with some degree of permanency. Residence means living in a particular place, while domicile means living in that locality with the intent to make it a fixed and permanent home. For the purpose of determining venue, a party may have more than one residence .

To prevail on a motion to change venue, pursuant to CPLR 510(1), the defendant must show that the plaintiff's choice of venue is improper, and that the defendant's choice of venue is proper.

Pursuant to CPLR 510(3), the court, on notice of motion, may change the venue of an action where "the convenience of material witnesses and the ends of justice will be promoted by the change."  The movant must provide information about the prospective witnesses, including, but not limited to, their names and addresses, disclose the facts about which the proposed witnesses will testify at the trial, represent that the prospective witnesses are willing to testify, and state that, absent a change, the witnesses would be inconvenienced.

Case:  Bikel v. Bakertown Realty Group, Inc., NY Slip Op 00540 (2d Dep't January 31, 2018)

Here is the decision.