In Carvel Corp. v. Noonan, 3 NY3d 182, 190 [2004] the Court of Appeals expressly declined to define what other exceptions there may be to the general rule, i.e., whether there can ever be other instances of conduct which, though not a crime or tort in itself, was so "culpable" that it could be the basis for a claim of tortious interference with economic relations (3 NY3d at 190-191). Thus, the question becomes whether the means employed by defendant were "wrongful" or "culpable" as defined by the Court of Appeals in NBT and Guard-Life (Carvel, 3 NY3d at 191-192.) Wrongful means has been held to include "physical violence, fraud or misrepresentation, civil suits or criminal prosecutions" (see A.D. Bedell Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Philip Morris, Inc., 272 AD2d 854, 854, 708 N.Y.S.2d 226 [4th Dept 2000]). Further, "conduct constituting tortious interference with business relations is, by definition, conduct directed not at the plaintiff itself, but at the party with which the plaintiff has or seeks to have a relationship" (Carvel, 3 NY3d at 192 ).