Price v. County of Suffolk

• Decision Date: 17 March 2003
• Citation: Price v. County of Suffolk, 303 A.D.2d 571, 756 N.Y.S.2d 758 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)
• Parties: CYNTHIA J. PRICE et al., Respondents,<BR>v.<BR>COUNTY OF SUFFOLK et al., Appellants, et al., Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

303 A.D.2d 571

756 N.Y.S.2d 758

CYNTHIA J. PRICE et al., Respondents,

v.COUNTY OF SUFFOLK et al., Appellants, et al., Respondents.

Decided March 17, 2003.

S. Miller, J.P., Goldstein, Adams and Rivera, JJ., concur.

Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with one bill of costs, the motions are granted, the complaint and all cross claims are dismissed insofar as asserted against the appellants, and the action against the remaining defendants is severed.

The plaintiff Cynthia J. Price fell and was injured while walking on a sidewalk adjacent to East Hoffman Avenue in the Village of Lindenhurst. She and her husband subsequently commenced this action against the Village of Lindenhurst, the Town of Babylon, the County of Suffolk, and others alleging, inter alia, that the defendants were negligent in maintaining the sidewalk.

Where, as here, a municipality has enacted a prior written notice statute, it may not be subject to liability for personal injuries from an improperly-maintained sidewalk unless it received written notice of the dangerous condition, its affirmative negligence proximately caused the accident, or a special use conferred a special benefit on it (see Amabile v City of Buffalo, 93 NY2d 471 [1999]; James v City of New Rochelle, 282 AD2d 503 [2001]; Caramanica v City of New Rochelle, 268 AD2d 496 [2000]). There is no evidence that the County or Town received prior written notice or affirmatively created the condition, or that a special use existed (see Vise v County of Suffolk, 207 AD2d 341 [1994]; Pinon v Town of Islip, 255 AD2d 568 [1998]; Caramanica v City of New Rochelle, supra).

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