You are here: / / VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP...
,

VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS ON THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED.

The Fourth Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined the abutting property owner (Bank of America) was not liable for this public sidewalk slip and fall. The village code placed responsibility for sidewalk maintenance on the abutting property owner, but did not explicitly impose tort liability on an abutting property owner:

​

“Generally, liability for injuries sustained as a result of negligent maintenance of or the existence of dangerous and defective conditions to public sidewalks is placed on the municipality and not the abutting landowner”… . “That rule does not apply, however, if there is an ordinance or municipal charter that specifically imposes a duty on the abutting landowner to maintain and repair the public sidewalk and provides that a breach of that duty will result in liability for injuries to the users of the sidewalk; the sidewalk was constructed in a special manner for the use of the abutting landowner; the abutting landowner affirmatively created the defect; or the abutting landowner negligently constructed or repaired the sidewalk” … .

We conclude that Bank of America and Jones Lang [the property manager] met their prima facie burden of establishing their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law … . Although the Code of the Village of Williamsville (Code) imposes a duty on landowners to keep public sidewalks “in good order and repair” (Code § 89-3), it is undisputed that the Code does not “clearly subject landowners to . . . liability” for failing to comply with that duty … . It is also undisputed that the public sidewalk was not constructed in a special manner for the property owner’s benefit, and that neither Bank of America nor Jones Lang [the property manager] negligently constructed or repaired the sidewalk or otherwise created the defect. Clauss v Bank of Am., N.A., 2017 NY Slip Op 04606, 4th Dept 6-9-17

 

MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS ON THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/NEGLIGENCE (MUNICIPAL LAW, SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS ON THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/SLIP AND FALL (SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS ON THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/SIDEWALKS (SLIP AND FALL, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, VILLAGE CODE DID NOT EXPLICITLY IMPOSE TORT LIABILITY FOR SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALLS ON THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS, ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)

You might also like
PRIME CONTRACTOR DID NOT CONTRACT WITH PLAINTIFF’S EMPLOYER, DID NOT SUPERVISE PLAINTIFF’S WORK AND DID NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER THE WORKSITE, ITS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS LABOR LAW 241 (6) 200 AND COMMON LAW NEGLIGENCE ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).
ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER PROPERLY GRANTED A LICENSE PURSUANT TO REAL PROPERTY ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS LAW (RPAPL) 881 TO ENTER NEIGHBOR’S PROPERTY TO PAINT A FENCE (FOURTH DEPT).
PERIODS OF POSTRELEASE SUPERVISION MERGE AND CANNOT RUN CONSECUTIVELY, ILLEGAL SENTENCE MUST BE CORRECTED EVEN IF ISSUE NOT RAISED ON APPEAL (FOURTH DEPT).
PRIVATE COLLEGE DID NOT ADHERE TO ITS PUBLISHED RULES AND GUIDELINES AND FAILED TO INFORM PETITIONER-STUDENT OF HIS RIGHT TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS TO HIS ACCUSER, DETERMINATION THAT PETITIONER VIOLATED THE COLLEGE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT POLICY ANNULLED (FOURTH DEPT).
Court Should Not Have Deferred, Over Defense Counsel’s Objection, to Defendant’s Request that the Jury Not Be Charged on a Lesser Included Offense—To Do So Denies Defendant His Right to the Expert Judgment of Counsel
Neglect Finding Cannot Be Based Upon Theoretical Future Harm
A FIREFIGHTER INJURED ON THE JOB RETURNED TO THE JOB BUT COULD NOT WORK THE 10 TO 24 HOUR SHIFTS WHICH ARE THE “REGULAR DUTIES” OF A FIREFIGHTER; BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT OFFERED THE FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT OF THE SHORTER SHIFTS OR LIGHT-DUTY WORK, SHE WAS ENITLTED TO GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW 207-A BENEFITS (FOURTH DEPT).
Under the Facts, the Failure to Call a Witness Requested by the Inmate Was a Regulatory, Not a Constitutional, Violation—New Hearing Ordered

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

ALTHOUGH THE TOWN HIRED PLAINTIFF TO REPAIR A VACANT HOUSE, THE TOWN WAS NOT... DUE TO NEGLIGENCE BY A TIRE SHOP WHICH CONCEDED LIABILITY, A WHEEL FLEW OFF...