James v. Jamie Towers Housing Co., Inc.
| Decision Date | 03 April 2003 |
| Parties | JAHI JAMES et al., Appellants, v. JAMIE TOWERS HOUSING CO., INC., et al., Respondents. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Law Offices of Louis Venezia at Union Square, P.C., New York City (Louis Venezia of counsel), for appellants.
Mendes & Mount, LLP, New York City (Kevin J. Philbin of counsel), for Lance Investigation Service, Inc., respondent.
Law Offices of Richard M. Duignan, New York City (Mary Bergmann and Richard M. Duignan of counsel), for Jamie Towers Housing Co., Inc., respondent.
Before: Chief Judge KAYE and Judges SMITH, CIPARICK, WESLEY, ROSENBLATT, GRAFFEO and READ concur.
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed with costs.
Defendant Jamie Towers Housing Company, Inc. owns a four-building cooperative housing complex in the Bronx. Jamie Towers contracted with defendant Lance Investigation Service, Inc. to provide security services, including 24-hour security guards, for the housing complex.
In June 1994, Jahi James and two companions, all residents of the housing complex, were accosted by a gang of teenagers while on a pathway between two of the complex's buildings. James and his companions fled through the unlocked front glass doors and into the vestibule of the closest building in the complex. Intercoms for the apartments were located in the vestibule, and access to the building's lobby from the vestibule was through a pair of locked glass doors. James, the last of the three to enter the building, found himself stranded alone in the vestibule outside the locked glass doors, for which he had no key because he did not reside in the building. The gang caught up with James there and assaulted him. None of the security guards was stationed in the building's lobby at the time.
James's father commenced this action on his infant son's and his own behalf, alleging that Jamie Towers and Lance negligently failed to provide adequate security and negligently allowed security personnel to abandon their post in the building's lobby. Plaintiffs also claimed breach of contract on the theory that James was a third-party beneficiary of the contract between Jamie Towers and Lance.
After plaintiffs filed a note of issue, Lance moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims asserted against it. Jamie Towers cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims asserted against it; p...
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