Hurt on a New York City Bus or in the Subway? The Notice of Claim Rules

A fall on a subway staircase. A crash with a city bus. An injury claim against the New York City Transit Authority does not start with a lawsuit. It starts with a Notice of Claim, and the rules for that notice leave little room for error. Two decisions from the Appellate Division, Second Department, on September 30, 2026, show what is at stake.

Step 1: Serve a Notice of Claim, Generally Within 90 Days

Before you can sue the Transit Authority for an injury, a Notice of Claim must be served on it within the time and in the manner that General Municipal Law § 50-e requires (Public Authorities Law § 1212(2)). The deadline is generally 90 days after the claim arises (General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a)).

The notice must be in writing and sworn to by or on behalf of the injured person. It must give the name and address of the injured person and of the lawyer, if any, the nature of the claim, the time, place, and manner in which it arose, and the injuries claimed so far as then practicable (§ 50-e(2)).

Step 2: Serve It the Way the Law Allows

How the notice is delivered matters as much as when. The law allows delivery personally, or by registered or certified mail, to the person designated by law to receive a summons for the agency, or to an attorney regularly engaged in representing it. In a city of more than one million people, electronic service counts only "in a form and manner prescribed by such city" (§ 50-e(3)(a)).

In Kopitova v New York City Transit Authority, the injured woman's lawyer emailed the notice to two Transit Authority lawyers. One of them replied within 10 minutes that the authority was not accepting service by personal delivery, email, or fax. The court held that the email "did not constitute valid service," because "e-mail was not a form and manner prescribed for service upon NYCTA," and the dismissal of her case was affirmed (2026 NY Slip Op 05524, *2).

The law can save a timely notice delivered the wrong way, but only in limited situations. If the agency demands to examine the injured person about the claim, or if the notice actually reaches a proper person in time and the agency does not return it, pointing out the defect, within 30 days, the service is valid (§ 50-e(3)(c)). If the agency does return it in time, the injured person may serve a new notice the right way within 10 days after receiving the returned one, and the new notice "shall be deemed timely served" (§ 50-e(3)(d)). Those 10 days go by quickly.

Step 3: Serve the Right Agency

Several public agencies run transit in New York City, and serving the wrong one can cost you time. In Matter of Tkebuchava v New York City Transit Authority, the driver of a vehicle that was allegedly hit by a bus served his notice on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and MTA Bus Company. About four weeks after the crash, MTA Bus Company wrote back that it was not the proper party. The bus was owned by the New York City Transit Authority. The 90 days then passed without a Notice of Claim being served on the Transit Authority, and about six months after the crash, the driver asked the court for permission to serve a late one. As explained next, the court allowed it because the Transit Authority already had actual knowledge of the essential facts from another source. Claims against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its subsidiaries are governed by a different section of the law (Public Authorities Law § 1276), and the rules are not all the same.

If You Miss the 90-Day Deadline

A missed deadline does not always end the claim. If a notice is served on the wrong party and you are still within the 90 days, the notice can simply be served on the right party. After that, only a court can allow a late Notice of Claim. In deciding, the court must consider "in particular" whether the agency, its attorney, or its insurance carrier acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts of the claim within the 90 days or a reasonable time after, along with other circumstances, such as whether the injured person made an excusable error about which agency to serve. The extension cannot go past the Statute of Limitations, the deadline for starting the lawsuit itself (§ 50-e(5)).

In Tkebuchava, the court allowed the late notice even though the driver did not provide a reasonable excuse for the delay. A passenger on the bus had served her own timely Notice of Claim about the same crash, with a police report attached, so the Transit Authority had "actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the petitioner's claim," and the authority did not show that the delay hurt its defense (2026 NY Slip Op 05543, *2).

The driver got a second chance only because someone else on that bus had already served a timely Notice of Claim. That is luck, and no one should count on it.

Step 4: Wait 30 Days, Then Sue in Time

The complaint must allege that at least 30 days have passed since the claim was presented and that the authority has not adjusted or paid it (Public Authorities Law § 1212(1)). The lawsuit itself must be started within a short time: one year and 90 days after the accident under § 1212(2), and § 1212(4) refers to one year for claims based on an employee's negligence in operating a vehicle. The authority may also require the injured person to be questioned under oath about the claim (§ 1212(5)). We suggest injured people talk to a lawyer right away. Do not wait until the end of either period. In our experience, the sooner someone comes to us, the more prepared we can be throughout our representation.

What This Means for You

• Do not wait. If you were hurt on a Transit Authority bus or on a subway platform or staircase, the 90-day clock starts right away. Other public agencies, such as the Port Authority, have their own deadlines. In some circumstances, your time to act may be even shorter.
• Do not email the notice unless the law clearly allows it for that agency.
• Make sure you serve the right agency, and keep proof of how and when it was served.
• Have a lawyer prepare the notice. A Notice of Claim is a sworn document, and what it says can matter later in the case.

Claims against the City of New York, the New York City Housing Authority, and other public entities also require a Notice of Claim, and the details can differ. Our post on what to do after a fall on public property explains more.

If you were hurt on a bus or in the subway, contact The Eskesen Law Firm for a free consultation. Calls are answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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