Muller v. City of N.Y.

• Decision Date: 15 July 2020
• Docket Number: Index No. 517890/16,2019–05095
• Parties: Eileen MULLER, Respondent, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Appellant, et al., Defendants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

185 A.D.3d 834
125 N.Y.S.3d 576 (Mem)

Eileen MULLER, Respondent,
v.
CITY OF NEW YORK, Appellant, et al., Defendants.

2019–05095
Index No. 517890/16

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

Submitted—May 8, 2020
July 15, 2020

Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, Albertson, N.Y. (Glenn A. Kaminska and Nicholas P. Calabria of counsel), for appellant.

George Zelma (Law Office of Stephen Z. Williamson, PLLC, Forest Hills, NY, of counsel), for respondent.

JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, J.P., ROBERT J. MILLER, COLLEEN D. DUFFY, BETSY BARROS, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant City of New York appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Kathy J. King, J.), dated March 13, 2019. The order, insofar as appealed from, denied that branch of that defendant's motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

The plaintiff, a librarian employed by the Brooklyn Public Library, fell while stepping out of an allegedly mis-leveled staff elevator at a branch of the library. The defendant City of New York owned the building where she fell. The plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries against the City, among others. The City moved, inter alia, for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it. In an order dated March 13, 2019, the Supreme Court, inter alia, denied that branch of the City's motion. The City appeals.

"An owner or tenant in possession of realty owes a duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition" ( Boudreau–Grillo v. Ramirez, 74 A.D.3d 1265, 1267, 904 N.Y.S.2d 485 [internal quotation marks omitted] ). However, "[a]n out-of-possession landlord and its agent are not liable for injuries caused by dangerous conditions on leased premises in the absence of a statute imposing liability, a contractual provision placing the duty to repair on the landlord, or a course of conduct by the landlord giving rise to a duty" ( Irizarry v. Felice Realty Corp., 157 A.D.3d 874, 874,...