DEFENDANT CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that the defendant city’s motion for summary judgment in this car-pedestrian injury case should not have been granted. The city had paved a driveway which connected a road to a pave walking path in a park. Defendant driver, who was intoxicated, drove his car to the park path where plaintiffs had been walking their dogs. There were no barriers or warning signs. The city was not immune because maintenance of a park is a proprietary, not a governmental function:

… [W]e note that, while the City has a duty to maintain its roads in a reasonably safe condition … , plaintiffs’ claims also implicate the City’s “duty to maintain its park and playground facilities in a reasonably safe condition”… . We thus reject the City’s contention that it is immune from liability because plaintiffs’ claims arise from its performance of a governmental function. “It is well settled that regardless of whether or not it is a source of income the operation of a public park by a municipality is a quasi-private or corporate and not a governmental function” … . Furthermore, a “municipality may not ignore the foreseeable dangers [it created], continue to extend an invitation to the public to use the area and not be held accountable for resultant injuries” … . Similarly, where, as here, it is undisputed that the City did not consider and render a determination regarding any potential danger prior to paving the driveway, the City’s maintenance of the intersection in question is also a proprietary function … . …

The City never disputed in its motion papers that it paved the driveway during its development of the park, thereby creating the condition of which plaintiffs now complain, but it instead argued that “[p]laintiffs have offered no evidence” that the City failed to adhere to applicable design standards or that the driveway created or enhanced a risk to park patrons. It is well established that “a party does not carry its burden in moving for summary judgment by pointing to gaps in its opponent’s proof” … . Similarly, because the City relied exclusively on its argument, unsupported by any evidence, that a defective or dangerous condition did not exist for which a warning was required, it also failed to establish as a matter of law that it had no duty to warn of the foreseeable danger of collision created by this driveway access … . Brady v City of N. Tonawanda, 2018 NY Slip Op 03253, Fourth Dept 5-4-18

​NEGLIGENCE DEFENDANT (CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, IMMUNITY, CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))/IMMUNITY (CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))/PARKS (NEGLIGENCE, MUNICIPAL LAW, IMMUNITY, CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))/PROPRIETARY FUNCTION (NEGLIGENCE, MUNICIPAL LAW, CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))/SUMMARY JUDGMENT (GAPS IN PROOF, CITY PAVED A DRIVEWAY CONNECTING A ROAD TO A PAVED PARK PATH, DEFENDANT DRIVER DROVE UP THE DRIVEWAY TO THE PAVED PATH WHERE PLAINTIFFS HAD BEEN WALKING THEIR DOGS, MAINTENANCE OF A PARK IS A PROPRIETARY NOT GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION, NO GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, CITY’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RELIED SOLELY ON GAPS IN PLAINTIFFS’ PROOF AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED (FOURTH DEPT))