As a famous television show put it, "Winter is coming," and with snow and ice come falls on sidewalks, front steps, subway stairs, and parking lots. New York law has specific rules about who must clear snow and ice, how fast, and what happens when someone falls while the snow is still coming down.
In New York City: Four Hours After the Snow Stops
A city law requires "[e]very owner, lessee, tenant, occupant, or other person, having charge of any building or lot of ground in the city, abutting upon any street where the sidewalk is paved," to clear the sidewalk "within four hours after the snow ceases to fall." The hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. are not counted (Administrative Code § 16-123(a)). If the snow and ice are frozen so hard that they cannot be removed without damaging the sidewalk, the law allows them to be covered with "ashes, sand, sawdust, or some similar suitable material," and the sidewalk must be cleaned "as soon thereafter as the weather shall permit" (§ 16-123(b)).
A separate law makes the abutting owner, meaning the owner of the building or lot that the sidewalk runs in front of, liable for injuries caused by failing to keep the sidewalk reasonably safe, including "the negligent failure to remove snow, ice, dirt or other material from the sidewalk" (Administrative Code § 7-210). There is an exception for owner-occupied one-, two-, and three-family homes used only as residences. Our post on falls on wet leaves explains who is responsible for which sidewalks.
The Storm-in-Progress Rule
No one is expected to keep a sidewalk clear while snow is still falling. The Court of Appeals has held that "[a] property owner will not be held liable in negligence for a plaintiff's injuries sustained as the result of an icy condition occurring during an ongoing storm or for a reasonable time thereafter" (Solazzo v New York City Transit Authority, 6 NY3d 734 [2005]). In that case, the injured person was hurt on the steps down into a subway station on a day when "it had been snowing, sleeting and raining on and off all day," and the dismissal of the case was affirmed.
The rule applies to sidewalks too. As the Second Department has explained, an owner or tenant in possession "will not be held responsible for accidents caused by snow or ice that accumulates on its premises during a storm, or on an abutting public sidewalk that it has a statutory duty to clear, until an adequate period of time has passed following the cessation of the storm to allow the owner an opportunity to ameliorate the hazards caused by the storm" (Laris v City of New York, 236 AD3d 639 [2d Dept 2025], quoting an earlier decision).
The Limits of the Rule
The storm-in-progress rule is a defense, and it has limits.
- Old ice. Once an owner shows that a storm was in progress, the injured person may still show that "the accident was caused by something other than precipitation from the storm in progress" (Laris). Ice left over from an earlier storm is one example. But it takes proof. In a 2026 case against the City, the court noted that the injured man "failed to provide any evidence to support his theory that the ice he slipped on was old or preexisting" (Gonzalez-Taveras v City of New York, 2026 NY Slip Op 03389 [1st Dept 2026]).
- Careless shoveling. An owner who starts clearing snow must do it carefully: "[O]nce a property owner elects to remove snow or ice, it must do so with reasonable care or it could be held liable for creating a hazardous condition or exacerbating a natural hazard created by the storm" (Grossman v Bridgeview Holdings, LLC, 238 AD3d 1004 [2d Dept 2025], quoting an earlier decision). In Laris, a fall on an icy Brooklyn sidewalk, one owner's motion for summary judgment failed because it did not show that the snow and ice removal it admittedly did that morning "did not create or exacerbate the icy condition that allegedly caused the accident."
- Recurring conditions. Knowing that an area gets wet or icy in bad weather is not enough by itself. In Solazzo, the injured man argued that the storm rule should not apply because his injury was caused by a recurring condition that the Transit Authority knew about, but the Court of Appeals held that "[a] general awareness that the stairs and platforms become wet during inclement weather was insufficient to establish constructive notice of the specific condition causing plaintiff's injury."
Weather records matter. In Gonzalez-Taveras, the City supported its motion with "certified climatological records." But weather records are not the last word. In October 2026, the First Department affirmed the denial of a condominium's motion for summary judgment dismissing a woman's claim that she slipped on black ice on a walkway, because her testimony and a video of her fall raised a question of fact about whether the freezing rain had stopped, and the condominium did not show when the walkway was last inspected or cleaned (see our Decision Day entry on Brown v Parkchester).
Outside New York City
In the suburbs and upstate, abutting owners are generally not responsible for public sidewalks unless they created the hazard, made a special use of the sidewalk, or a local law makes them liable, as our wet leaves post explains. And a village cannot be sued for injuries caused solely by snow or ice on its sidewalks and streets unless written notice "relating to the particular place, was actually given to the village clerk" and the village failed to act within a reasonable time (Village Law § 6-628). Towns have a similar rule for their sidewalks (Town Law § 65-a(2)).
These laws do not protect a village or town that created the hazard through an affirmative act of negligence. In one case, a woman said she fell on black ice that formed when a pile of snow the village had plowed in its parking lot melted and refroze, and the Court of Appeals held that a jury must decide whether the village's snow clearing created the ice (San Marco v Village/Town of Mount Kisco, 16 NY3d 111 [2010]).
When a Public Entity Is Involved
If the City or another public entity may be responsible, a sworn Notice of Claim generally must be served within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e), and the lawsuit generally must be started within one year and 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-i). Our posts on falls on public property and bus and subway injuries explain more.
What to Do After a Fall on Snow or Ice
- Get medical care, and follow your doctor's advice.
- If your medical condition allows, photograph the spot right away, or ask someone with you to do it. Snow and ice melt, get shoveled, or get covered with salt. Show whether the area was cleared, how thick the snow or ice was, and whether it looked new or old. In our experience, a photograph taken at the time is the best evidence of what the surface looked like. When you describe the ice, say what you saw and felt, rather than using a phrase like "black ice," which others may interpret by their own definition rather than yours (our Decision Day entry on Brown v Parkchester explains why).
- Write down the exact address, the time you fell, and when the snow stopped, if you know.
- Keep the shoes you were wearing, in the same condition as at the time of the accident. In other words, stop wearing them and store them, should you ever need to prove that your shoes were in good condition.
- Write down the names and phone numbers of witnesses, and look for cameras on nearby buildings and stores. Video can be recorded over in a matter of weeks; see our Decision Day entry on Fernandez v Port Authority.
- Talk to a lawyer early, especially if the City or another public entity may be involved, because of the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline. In some circumstances, your time to act may be even shorter.
If you were hurt in a fall on snow or ice, 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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