DEFENDANTS DID NOT SUBMIT EVIDENCE SHOWING WHEN THE SIDEWALK WAS LAST INSPECTED IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this sidewalk slip and fall case should not have been granted. Defendants offered no evidence of when the sidewalk was last inspected:

In a trip and fall case, a defendant moving for summary judgment has the initial burden of making a prima facie showing that it neither created the hazardous condition nor had actual or constructive notice of its existence for a sufficient length of time to discover and remedy it …. A movant cannot satisfy its initial burden by merely pointing to gaps in the plaintiff’s case … .

Here, the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that they did not have constructive notice of the alleged hazardous condition. In support of their motion, the defendants submitted no evidence as to when the subject sidewalk was last inspected prior to the accident … . Ariza v Number One Star Mgt. Corp., 2019 NY Slip Op 01551, Second Dept 3-6-19