Tenant Has Duty to Keep Premises Reasonably Safe
The Second Department noted that a tenant (TJX) has an obligation to keep the premises safe even if the landlord agreed in the lease to keep the premises in good repair. Here it was alleged that water dripping from a fire escape resulted in an icy area on the abutting sidewalk where plaintiff fell:
“A tenant has a common-law duty to remove dangerous or defective conditions from the premises it occupies, even though the landlord may have explicitly agreed in the lease to maintain the premises and keep them in good repair” … . Here, TJX failed to establish, prima facie, that it had no duty to maintain the fire escape in a reasonably safe condition … . Sellitti v TJX Cos., Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 02748, 2nd Dept 4-1-15