Sidewalk/Roadway Defects

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In Sangaray v West Riv. Assoc., LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 01002 (N.Y. Ct. App. Feb. 11, 2016), New York’s highest court interpreted NYC Administrative Code 7-210, which (generally speaking) shifts liability from the city to the owners of abutting property. The court held that summary judgment should not have been granted in favor of defendant property…

Read More Location of Alleged Defect Alone Does Not Dictate Liability in Sidewalk Defect Trip/Fall Case, Court of Appeals Holds
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In Mazza v. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church, 134 A.D.3d 1073 (N.Y. App. Div. 2nd Dept. 2015), the court affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on liability, and declined to find that the alleged defect upon which plaintiff tripped was “trivial” as a matter of law. In…

Read More Trip-and-Fall Case Continues; Alleged Defect Was Not “Trivial”
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In Torres v. Nine-O-Seven Holding Corp., the court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s sidewalk trip-and-fall case. After examination of the photographs and the other evidence presented in the record, including plaintiff’s deposition testimony, and considering all the relevant factors, this Court finds that as a matter of law the alleged defect in the…

Read More Trip-and-Fall Case Dismissed; Sidewalk Defect Was “Trivial” as a Matter of Law
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In Bednark v. City of New York (decided April 2, 2015), a bus-related personal injury case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court’s order granting summary judgment to the the defendant City of New York to deny that motion. The facts: Plaintiff was injured when, while disembarking from the rear doors of a…

Read More “Bus Stop” Includes Sidewalk; Summary Judgment to City Denied
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Cellar doors are a ubiquitous aspect of New York City life. As illustrated by a recent tragedy in which a man who apparently fell to his death through a cellar grate at 1281 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, they can be dangerous – even deadly. Property owners are required to maintain their property in a reasonably…

Read More Cellar Door Injuries
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In Rodriguez v. Woods (a snow/ice slip-and-fall case) the Appellate Division, First Department reversed summary judgment for defendant City of New York. Plaintiff sued to recover for injuries sustained when she fell on an icy sidewalk. The main dispute in this case was “whether plaintiff raised an issue of fact as to whether the ice on…

Read More Injured Plaintiff Presents Sufficient Facts to Overcome Summary Judgment in Snow/Ice Slip-and-Fall Personal Injury Case
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In an Order issued on August 12, 2014 in the matter of Gaifman v. City of New York, Index No. 155965-2014 – a sidewalk trip-and-fall case – the Supreme Court, New York County (Judge Freed) denied plaintiff’s application to file a late notice of claim. According to the supporting memorandum of law in the Gaifman case, plaintiff tripped and…

Read More Court Rules That City is not Liable When Sidewalk Defects Are Caused By Tree Roots
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A recent First Department decision, Cambio v. City of New York (decided June 19, 2014), underscores the notice function of a “notice of claim” and held that the plaintiff’s subsequent deviation from allegations in his notice of claim mandated dismissal. The facts: Plaintiff, who is legally blind, alleged in his notice of claim that he…

Read More Trip/Fall Claims Dismissed Where Litigation Theory Deviated From That Asserted in Notice of Claim
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In Wittorf v. City of New York, a bicycle injury case, the Court of Appeals reinstated an approximately $2 million jury verdict against the City. The court’s decision turned on the subtle, yet critical, distinction between “proprietary” and “governmental” functions. Judge Graffeo authored the opinion. Here are the facts of this bicycle injury case: On the…

Read More Court of Appeals Reinstates $2M Bicycle Injury Verdict, Finding That Closing Road Was a “Proprietary” Governmental Function
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In Rosario v. City of New York, a trip-and-fall case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motions for a directed verdict and/or judgment notwithstanding the verdict. “To impose liability on defendant City for a defective condition of a tree well, plaintiff must show that the municipality either received prior written…

Read More Citing Lack of Prior Written Notice, Court Dismisses Tree Well Trip-and-Fall Case
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