Termination of Supertenancy

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of New York.

I am subletting an apartment in a co-op and I received a notice from the board's legal firm (addressed to the occupant - and a note that a copy had been sent to my name and previous address). The notice indicated that the tenancy had been terminated for delinquency in paying maintenance fees (i.e. the sublessor has not been paying rent, I have).

I have been receiving notices about the delinquency for about six months now and reported them to the sublessor. He has claimed that he would resolve the matter but clearly hasn't.

In this case, I spoke to the sublessor by phone after receiving the notice and forwarded a copy to him per his instruction. He said he would clarify the situation with the board and get back to me. This was nearly a week ago and I have had no response and I have not been able to contact him by phone.

To complicate the situation, I signed a 12 month contract for the original sublease but that was over two years ago. Since then no extending contract has been signed.

I would like to move out but I want to understand what rent I might be liable for if I do. Intuitively, I feel that if the tenancy has been terminated, then the sublessor is in breach of any implicit contract he might have with me.

Yes, obviously, if your tenancy is terminated due to the eviction of the original tenant, that would be a breach of that tenant's contractual duties to you as his subtenant.

From what you've said so far you're probably a month-to-month tenant.