Application to File Late Notice of Claim Should Have Been Granted—Plaintiff Was Incapacitated for Months and the City Contributed to the Delay by Failing to Respond to Freedom of Information Requests
Reversing Supreme Court, the First Department determined plaintiff’s application for leave to file a late notice of claim in a slip and fall case should have been granted. Plaintiff was incapacitated by her injuries for months and did not unreasonably delay in making the application after she retained counsel. Counsel had difficulty determining the owners of the construction site in issue, of which the city was one, and the city contributed to the delay by failing to respond to plaintiff’s freedom of information requests:
Under these circumstances, where the City contributed to the delay, and the motion was made within the one-year and ninety-day statute of limitations (see CPLR 217-a; see also General Municipal Law § 50-e[5]), the City cannot argue that petitioner unduly delayed in making the motion, or that it did not acquire essential knowledge of the facts underlying petitioner’s claim within a reasonable time after the expiration of the 90-day period for filing a timely notice of claim … . Matter of Rivera v City of New York, 2015 NY Slip Op 03029, 1st Dept 4-9-15