Centeno v. 575 E. 137TH St. Real Estate, Inc.

• Decision Date: 19 November 2013
• Citation: 111 A.D.3d 531,975 N.Y.S.2d 335,2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 07689
• Parties: Neftali CENTENO, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. 575 E. 137TH ST. REAL ESTATE, INC., Defendant–Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

111 A.D.3d 531

975 N.Y.S.2d 335

2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 07689

Neftali CENTENO, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.575 E. 137TH ST. REAL ESTATE, INC., Defendant–Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

Nov. 19, 2013.

Freed & Lerner, New York (Martin A. Lerner of counsel), for appellant.

Gannon, Rosenfarb, Balletti & Drossman, New York (Lisa L. Gokhulsingh of counsel), for respondent.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alison Y. Tuitt, J.), entered on or about October 16, 2012, which granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff failed to show that the trapdoor through which he fell suffered from a structural or design defect in violation of a specific statutory provision, as required to impose liability upon defendant, an out-of-possession landlord ( see Kittay v. Moskowitz, 95 A.D.3d 451, 944 N.Y.S.2d 497 [1st Dept.2012], lv. denied20 N.Y.3d 859, 2013 WL 518556 [2013]; Devlin v. Blaggards III Rest. Corp., 80 A.D.3d 497, 916 N.Y.S.2d 580 [1st Dept.2011], lv. denied16 N.Y.3d 713, 2011 WL 1755603 [2011] ). The stairway beneath the trapdoor served as a means of providing easy access between the upstairs store room and the basement. There is no evidence that it provided a means of egress from the building. Accordingly, Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 27–375 (“Interior Stairs”) is not applicable, since “Interior Stair” is defined as “[a] stair within a building, that serves as a required exit” (Administrative Code § 27–232) ( see Cusumano v. City of New York, 15 N.Y.3d 319, 324, 910 N.Y.S.2d 410, 937 N.E.2d 74 [2010] ). Administrative Code § 28–301.1, which repeals and re-codifies former sections 27–127 and 27–128 ( see McLaughlin v. Ann–Gur Realty Corp., 107 A.D.3d 469, 469, 968 N.Y.S.2d 12 [1st Dept.2013] ), is also unavailing. Sections 27–127 and 27–128 were merely non-specific safety provisions (Ram v. 64th St.–Third Ave. Assoc., LLC, 61 A.D.3d 596, 597, 878 N.Y.S.2d 27 [1st Dept.2009]; see Kittay, 95 A.D.3d at 452, 944 N.Y.S.2d 497).

Similarly unavailing is Administrative Code § 27–126, which was merely a non-specific provision defining certain work as non-minor.

ANDRIAS, J.P., FRIEDMAN, RICHTER, MANZANET–DANIELS, FEINMAN, JJ., concur.