This page summarizes and comments on a published court decision. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Unless this page says otherwise, The Eskesen Law Firm did not represent any party in this case.
Bottom line
New York City generally cannot be held liable for a defect in a street or crosswalk unless it had prior written notice of that specific defect, and a Big Apple map can serve as that notice only if it marks the defect that caused the fall. Here, the Second Department affirmed the dismissal of a man’s claim for a fall in a Queens crosswalk, because the City’s records search showed no prior written notice, and a “dotted line” on a Big Apple map did not match any defect symbol in the map’s key.
The case
- Court
- Appellate Division, Second Department
- Decided
- October 28, 2026
- Case
- Melendez v City of New York
- Citation
- 2026 NY Slip Op 06294
- Official text
- Read the decision on the New York courts’ official reporter site
The facts
The plaintiff alleged that on June 10, 2010, he was walking in a crosswalk across Cornelia Street at the northwest corner of its intersection with Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, when his foot caught in a hole, causing him to lose his balance and twist his leg. In June 2011, he sued the City of New York, alleging that it was negligent in maintaining the crosswalk. The City moved for summary judgment, arguing that it had not received prior written notice of the defect as Administrative Code § 7-201(c)(2) requires. The Supreme Court, Queens County, granted the motion in December 2024, and the plaintiff appealed.
The holding
The Second Department affirmed. Under § 7-201(c)(2), prior written notice “is a condition precedent that the plaintiff is required to plead and prove to maintain an action against the City” (2026 NY Slip Op 06294, *1), meaning that the case generally fails unless the plaintiff can show that the City received that written notice or acknowledged the defect in writing. The court explained that Big Apple Pothole and Sidewalk Protection Corporation “is a corporation established by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association for the purpose of giving notices in compliance with [Administrative Code § 7-201(c)(2)]” (id., quoting D’Onofrio v City of New York), that it does so “through maps on which coded symbols are entered to represent defects” (id. at *1 to *2), and that a Big Apple map submitted to the Department of Transportation “may serve as prior written notice of a defective condition” (id. at *2, quoting Ghumann v City of New York). But “[t]he awareness of one defect in the area is insufficient to constitute notice of a different particular defect which caused the accident” (id.). The City met its burden through the affidavit of a Department of Transportation employee who searched “certain databases and paper records for a period of two years prior to and including the date of the accident, including Big Apple maps” (id.). And a “dotted line” symbol on the maps “did not correspond to any symbol denoting a defect as listed in the 'Key to Map Symbols’ for the maps, and any designated symbols depicted on the maps did not pertain to the specific condition that allegedly caused the accident” (id.).
What changed
Nothing new: this applies settled law, including the Court of Appeals’ decisions in Katz v City of New York (87 NY2d 241) and D’Onofrio v City of New York (11 NY3d 581).
What it means
- Big Apple maps are one way that notice is given. A mark that does not match a symbol in the map’s key, or a symbol for a different defect nearby, may not count.
- The City must prove its search, and here it did.
- On the same day, in Matos-Matos v City of Yonkers, the court reversed and granted the City of Yonkers summary judgment on the claim of a woman who tripped over a plank of wood bordering a tree well on a Yonkers sidewalk. The City showed that it had no prior written notice under its own law, and she did not show that the plank’s installation or the City’s removal of a tree from the tree well in 2017 immediately created a dangerous condition.
Our view
Commentary by Frank N. Eskesen. This section is opinion.
This is our third entry on prior written notice since October 21. In Young v City of New York, the City lost its motion because its records-search affidavit fell short; in Maldonado v City of New York and here, the City’s proof was enough. The rule is the same in every case; the proof is what differs. This decision adds a lesson about Big Apple maps. A map is only as good as its legend: a mark counts as notice only if it matches the key and marks the defect that caused the fall. Our post on Big Apple maps explains where the maps came from, why new ones stopped after 2003, and why old ones can still count. Two lessons. 1. After a fall on a City street or crosswalk, and if your medical condition allows, photograph the exact defect, with something in the picture that shows its size, and the exact location, and get legal advice promptly; the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline is short. 2. For lawyers, when a Big Apple map is the notice, compare the symbol at the precise spot with the map’s key and with the defect your client describes.
Topics
Court: Second Department. Year: 2026. Statutes: Administrative Code of City of NY § 7-201(c)(2). Result: affirmed.
Reviewed by Frank N. Eskesen, admitted in New York since 2000. Decided October 28, 2026. Posted October 28, 2026.
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