Diaz v. Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J.

• Decision Date: 20 August 2014
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Parties: Angel DIAZ, plaintiff-respondent, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF N.Y. & N.J., defendant-respondent, Cristi Cleaning Service Corp., appellant, et al., defendant.

120 A.D.3d 611
990 N.Y.S.2d 882
2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 05830

Angel DIAZ, plaintiff-respondent,
v.
PORT AUTHORITY OF N.Y. & N.J., defendant-respondent,
Cristi Cleaning Service Corp., appellant, et al., defendant.

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

Aug. 20, 2014.

Stewart H. Friedman, New York, N.Y. (William L. Bonifati of counsel), for appellant.

Ronald W. Ramirez, Forest Hills, N.Y., for plaintiff-respondent.

James M. Begley, New York, N.Y. (Cheryl Alterman and Devika Persaud of counsel), for defendant-respondent.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant Cristi Cleaning Service Corp. appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Brathwaite Nelson, J.), entered October 10, 2012, as denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against it.

ORDERED that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with one bill of costs, and the motion of the defendant Cristi Cleaning Service Corp. for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against it is granted.

The plaintiff, who was employed by nonparty Air–Serv Corporation, which provides shuttle bus service for airport employees at LaGuardia Airport, allegedly slipped and fell on black ice on the roadway in a parking lot during the course of his employment. Pursuant to a contract

[990 N.Y.S.2d 883]

with the defendant Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J. (hereinafter the Port Authority), the appellant Cristi Cleaning Service Corp. (hereinafter Cristi) had performed snow removal services on the sidewalk areas at the airport. Cristi moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against it, contending that it had no duty to remove snow from the roadway where the plaintiff's accident occurred. The Supreme Court denied the motion, concluding that Cristi failed to demonstrate, prima facie, that the pile of snow left on the sidewalk did not compel the plaintiff to walk into the roadway where the accident occurred, thereby proximately causing the plaintiff's alleged injuries.

As a general rule, a limited contractual obligation to provide snow removal services does not render the contractor liable in tort for the personal injuries of third parties ( see Rudloff v. Woodland Pond Condominium Assn., 109 A.D.3d 810, 810, 971 N.Y.S.2d 170;Lubell v. Stonegate at Ardsley Home...