Frazier v. City of New York

• Decision Date: 22 January 2008
• Docket Number: 2006-06902.
• Citation: 47 A.D.3d 757,2008 NY Slip Op 00450,850 N.Y.S.2d 552
• Parties: JOHN FRAZIER, Appellant, v. CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Respondents, et al., Defendant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

47 A.D.3d 757

850 N.Y.S.2d 552

2008 NY Slip Op 00450

JOHN FRAZIER, Appellant, v. CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Respondents, et al., Defendant.

2006-06902.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department.

Decided January 22, 2008.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Flug, J.), dated June 14, 2006, which granted those branches of the separate motions of the defendant Harvard Maintenance, Inc., and the defendants City of New York, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Sterling Mets, L.P., doing business as New York Mets National League Baseball Club, and Sterling Enterprises, LLC, which were for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them.

Ordered that the order is affirmed, with one bill of costs payable to the respondents appearing separately and filing separate briefs.

The plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell on a ramp at Shea Stadium. After the plaintiff fell, he saw a reddish streak on the ramp and a ketchup-like substance on his shoes. The plaintiff's wife alleged that about an hour before the accident, she saw a messy white condition consisting of a portion of a crushed hotdog bun, ketchup, and mustard on the ramp, as well as a hotdog, a hotdog bun, and two napkins. The plaintiff's wife did not witness the accident, and she alleged that the plaintiff must have slipped on the remnants of the mess that she had seen about an hour before the accident. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff commenced this action against, among others, the City of New York and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (hereinafter collectively referred to as the City), Sterling Mets, L.P., doing business as New York Mets National League Baseball Club, and Sterling Enterprises, LLC (hereinafter collectively referred to as Sterling), which leased the premises from the City, and Harvard Maintenance, which had a cleaning management contract with Sterling at the time of the accident.

The Supreme Court granted that branch of the motion of Harvard Maintenance which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it on the ground that it did not create the alleged defect or have actual or constructive notice of it. The Supreme Court also granted that branch of the motion of Sterling and the City which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as...