Is verbal abuse divorce recognized in New York?

In New York, a spouse can file for a fault-based divorce on one of six grounds, including that of cruel and inhuman treatment, which includes verbal mistreatment that threatens the spouse's mental or physical well-being to the level of rendering it "unsafe or improper" for him or her to cohabit with the abuser.  It is a fact-specific inquiry, as there is no definition of the kind of behavior that meets the "cruel and inhuman treatment" standard. The court will require specific acts of cruelty that took place in the last five years.  In a long-term marriage, a plaintiff is required to offer more evidence of cruel and inhuman treatment in order to obtain a verbal abuse divorce.