Premises
Decisions on injuries caused by dangerous conditions on property, such as slip, trip, and fall cases.
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Fall on the Riegelmann Boardwalk: City’s “No Prior Written Notice” Defense Fails Because Its Records Search Was Not Shown to Be Complete (Young v City of New York, 2d Dept 2026)
A New York City law generally makes the City liable for a defect in its streets and sidewalks only if it had prior written notice of it, but to have a claim dismissed on that ground before trial, the City must first show that it had none. Here, the Second Department reversed the dismissal of a man’s claim for a fall on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Brooklyn, because the City’s affidavit did not say unequivocally that its records search found no prior written notice, and did not show that all the relevant records were searched.
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Fall Blamed on Low Lighting in a Restaurant: The Landlord Is Out of the Case Because the Staff Set the Lights (Mella v Russian Samovar, Inc., 1st Dept 2026)
A landlord that has leased out a property, and is responsible under the lease for structural repairs, is generally not responsible for a condition that is not structural. Here, the First Department affirmed the dismissal of the claims against a restaurant’s landlord, because the low lighting the plaintiff blamed for the fall was set by the restaurant’s employees, and the plaintiff’s expert did not connect the other conditions listed to the fall.
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Suing the Right Owner in Time: Claim Dismissed Because the Property’s Owners Were Added Too Late (Gonzalez v Country Manor Apts., 1st Dept 2026)
In New York, an injured person generally has three years to sue, and that time can run out if the lawsuit names the wrong party and the right one is not brought in before the deadline. Here, the First Department affirmed the dismissal of the claim against the companies that owned the property where the plaintiff alleged he was hurt, because he did not seek to add them until almost four years after the accident.
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Porter Struck by Loose Plywood: No Scaffold Law Claim, but Labor Law 200 Reaches Beyond Construction Sites (Neil v Areeba, Inc., 2d Dept 2026)
Labor Law 240(1), often known as the Scaffold Law, protects workers engaged in certain kinds of work on a building or structure, but not routine maintenance, while Labor Law 200’s duty to keep a workplace safe is not limited to construction work. Here, the Second Department held that a porter struck by loose sheets of plywood could not add a Labor Law 240(1) claim to his case, but should have been allowed to add a Labor Law 200 claim.
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Trip on a Fire Hydrant Base: Claim Against the Building Owner Dismissed Because the City Was Responsible for the Hydrant (Fung v Exxon Mobil Oil Corp., 2d Dept 2026)
In New York City, the owner of the building or lot that a sidewalk runs in front of (the “abutting” owner) must keep that sidewalk reasonably safe, but it may not be responsible for a fire hydrant on the sidewalk that it does not own, control, or maintain. Here, the Second Department affirmed the dismissal of a pedestrian’s claim against the abutting owner after his foot caught on a fire hydrant base, because the owner showed that the City was responsible for maintaining the hydrant.
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Dram Shop Act: A Widow May Sue a Restaurant for Her Own Loss of Support, but Her Husband’s Estate May Not (Vera v BH Broadway Owner LLC, 1st Dept 2026)
New York’s Dram Shop Act can let a spouse who loses financial support when a drinker is hurt or killed sue the business that unlawfully served the drinker, but it gives no claim to the drinker or his estate. Here, the First Department let a widow’s own loss-of-support claim go forward against a restaurant that, she alleges, kept serving her visibly intoxicated husband before he fell down its stairs, but held that the claim fails insofar as it was brought on behalf of anyone else, including his estate.
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Fall Through Open Floor Doors at a Bar: The Landlord That Leased Out the Space Stays in the Case (Cutter v Bayard’s Ale House, 1st Dept 2026)
A landlord that has handed over a property to a tenant is generally not responsible for its condition, but it may be held liable if it kept a right to reenter to make repairs and a specific building safety law was violated. Here, the First Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to the landlord of a Greenwich Village bar where a patron fell down basement stairs, because the landlord did not address the statutes and codes the patron cited.
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Ceiling Collapse After Repeated Leak Complaints: Injured Man Wins Summary Judgment on Liability (Wims v River Park Bronx Apts., 1st Dept 2026)
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.
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Slip-and-Fall Video Overwritten After a Preservation Letter: Adverse Inference Charge Ordered (Fernandez v Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J., 2d Dept 2026)
Where there is a question of fact as to the time a preservation letter is received and the time when the video is destroyed, the jury is to determine whether “spoliation of evidence” occurred. Here, in a slip-and-fall case against an airline, the Second Department held that “[t]he appropriate sanction” for any spoliation “would be an adverse inference charge” against the airline.
Decision Day summarizes and comments on published court decisions. 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 an entry says otherwise, The Eskesen Law Firm did not represent any party in these cases.
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