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
When the people responsible for a building know about a dangerous condition and do not fix it, an injured person may be able to win on fault without a trial. Here, the First Department affirmed summary judgment on liability for a man hurt when part of a ceiling fell, because the defendants had actual notice of a leak and it appeared they had simply plastered and painted over the ceiling two weeks before the accident.
The case
- Court
- Appellate Division, First Department
- Decided
- October 8, 2026
- Case
- Wims v River Park Bronx Apts., Inc.
- Citation
- 2026 NY Slip Op 05869
- Official text
- Read the decision on the New York courts’ official reporter site
The facts
As the decision describes the evidence, there was a leak in a wall of the apartment, which the plaintiff complained about on numerous occasions and which the defendants’ employees observed more than six months before a portion of the adjacent ceiling fell and injured him. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment on liability against four of the defendants (River Park Bronx Apartments, Inc., River Park Residences, L.P., River Park Bronx Apartments Developers, LLC, and Reliant Realty Services, LLC). The Supreme Court, Bronx County, granted the motion, and those defendants appealed, arguing that the plaintiff had blocked access to the apartment.
The holding
The First Department unanimously affirmed. It held: “Plaintiff established his prima facie entitlement to summary judgment by submitting evidence that defendants had actual notice of the defect that caused his injury and that the defect was not repaired” (2026 NY Slip Op 05869, *1). “Defendants failed to create an issue of fact on the issue of notice, and summary judgment was warranted because they did not establish that they properly remedied the condition” (id.). On access, the defendants’ own internal emails showed that the plaintiff put his belongings in storage and left the apartment as of September 30, 2014, giving them more than a week of access. “There is no evidence that the work included remedying the leak; rather, it appears that defendants simply plastered and painted over the ceiling, two weeks before the accident occurred” (id.).
What changed
Nothing new: this applies settled law, including the court’s earlier decisions in Dunn v 6-8 St. Nicholas Realty Corp. (204 AD3d 466) and Singh v United Cerebral Palsy of N.Y. City, Inc. (72 AD3d 272).
What it means
- In a case about a dangerous condition in a building, notice is often the key question: did the defendant know about the problem? Here, the court found actual notice, based on testimony, documents, and photographs.
- Once notice was shown, the defendants had to show they “properly remedied the condition.” Plaster and paint over the ceiling did not show that the leak itself was fixed.
- The access argument failed on the defendants’ own internal emails.
- This decision addresses liability only. It does not decide damages.
Our view
Commentary by Frank N. Eskesen. This section is opinion.
This was the right result. We note that the plaintiff complained about the leak on numerous occasions, and the record included testimony, documents, and photographs. In our experience, many tenants report problems by phone or in passing, and those reports can be hard to prove years later. We believe two lessons follow. 1. If you see a leak or another dangerous condition where you live, report it in writing, keep copies, and take dated photographs. 2. A fresh coat of paint does not show that a problem was fixed. Sometimes the other side’s own records make the case.
Topics
Court: First Department. Year: 2026. Result: affirmed.
Reviewed by Frank N. Eskesen, admitted in New York since 2000. Decided October 8, 2026. Posted October 8, 2026.
Questions about your own accident?
Call us for a free consultation. Calls answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.