Zielinski v. City of Mount Vernon

• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: PETER B. SKELOS
• Citation: Zielinski v. City of Mount Vernon, 2014 NY Slip Op 2039, 115 A.D.3d 946, 982 N.Y.S.2d 531 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014)
• Decision Date: 26 March 2014
• Parties: Michael ZIELINSKI, respondent, v. CITY OF MOUNT VERNON, appellant.

115 A.D.3d 946

982 N.Y.S.2d 531

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 02039

Michael ZIELINSKI, respondent,

v.CITY OF MOUNT VERNON, appellant.

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

March 26, 2014.

Nichelle A. Johnson, Corporation Counsel, Mount Vernon, N.Y. (Hina Sherwani of counsel), for appellant.

Meagher & Meagher, P.C., White Plains, N.Y. (Meryl F. Weiner of counsel), for respondent.

PETER B. SKELOS, J.P., PLUMMER E. LOTT, SHERI S. ROMAN, and JEFFREY A. COHEN, JJ.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Tolbert, J.), dated October 3, 2012, which denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The plaintiff commenced this action after he allegedly fell and sustained injuries as a result of a defective condition in the sidewalk abutting his residence. The defendant moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, arguing, inter alia, that it did not receive prior written notice of the alleged defect in the sidewalk, and that it did not create the defective condition.The Supreme Court denied the defendant's motion.

Where, as here, a municipality has enacted a prior written notice statute, it may not be subject to liability for personal injuries caused by a defective street or sidewalk condition unless it has received prior written notice of the defect, or an exception to the written notice requirement applies ( see Amabile v. City of Buffalo, 93 N.Y.2d 471, 474, 693 N.Y.S.2d 77, 715 N.E.2d 104;Salierno v. City of Mount Vernon, 107 A.D.3d 971, 971–972, 966 N.Y.S.2d 901;Laracuente v. City of New York, 104 A.D.3d 822, 822, 961 N.Y.S.2d 527). The Court of Appeals has recognized only two exceptions to this rule, “namely, where the locality created the defect or hazard through an affirmative act of negligence and where a ‘special use’ confers a special benefit upon the locality” ( Amabile v. City of Buffalo, 93 N.Y.2d at 474, 693 N.Y.S.2d 77, 715 N.E.2d 104;see Laracuente v. City of New York, 104 A.D.3d at 822, 961 N.Y.S.2d 527;Katsoudas v. City of New York, 29 A.D.3d 740, 741, 815 N.Y.S.2d 243).

Here, the defendant failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, as its submissions raised a triable issue of fact as to whether it created the allegedly defective sidewalk condition that caused the plaintiff's accident through an affirmative act...