In People v. Carter (91 NY2d 795), the People had satisfied their readiness obligation by announcing their trial readiness in open court and notifying defendants of their readiness in a written communication. To be effective, a statement of readiness must be communicated on the record at a time when the People are truly ready to proceed. In People v. Carter the People filed the indictment, announced their readiness on the record and attempted to notify defendants by sending letters to their last-known address. The People here allege no mailing to the defendant of the readiness statement, nor announcing, on the record, their readiness. Their filed statement of readiness, the Memorandum referred to above, was sent to an attorney (Public Defender's Office) at a time when the attorney did not represent the defendant. The notice itself gave no indication that the defendant was so represented. The Memorandum, as a notice, is a nullity.