“A party to a contract cannot rely on the failure of another to perform a condition precedent where he has frustrated or prevented the occurrence of the condition” A.H.A. Gen. Constr. v. New York City Hous. Auth., 92 N.Y.2d 20, 31, 677 N.Y.S.2d 9, 699 N.E.(2d 368) (1998) (citing, Kooleraire Service & Installation Corp. v. Board of Ed. of City of New York, 28 N.Y.2d 101, 106, 268 N.E.2d 782, 320 N.Y.S.2d 46 (1971)).

In the Kooleraire Service & Installation Corp. case, supra at 106, the Court of Appeals summarized the applicable law:

“The general rule is, as it has been frequently stated, that a party to a contract cannot rely on the failure of another to perform a condition precedent where he has frustrated or prevented the occurrence of the condition. In Stern v. Gepo Realty Corp., 289 N.Y. 274, 277 [1942], it was observed ‘one may not take advantage of a condition precedent, the performance of which he himself has rendered impossible.”