DEFENDANT HOUSING AUTHORITY DEMONSTRATED THE AREA WHERE PLAINTIFF SLIPPED AND FELL HAD BEEN INSPECTED ON THE MORNING OF THE ACCIDENT AND THERE HAD BEEN NO PRIOR COMPLAINTS ABOUT A WET CONDITION, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined that defendant New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA’s) motion for summary judgment in this stairway slip and fall case was properly granted. Plaintiff alleged she slipped on a wet condition that was recurrent. The NYCHA presented evidence the stairway had been inspected the morning of the accident and there had been no prior complaints about a wet condition:

NYCHA established, prima facie, that it did not create or have actual or constructive notice of the condition alleged by the plaintiff to have caused the accident … . The deposition testimony of the building caretaker who was on duty the morning of the accident was sufficient to establish that the area where the plaintiff fell was inspected that morning before the plaintiff’s accident occurred, and would have been cleaned if there were any hazardous conditions present during the inspection. Furthermore, in regard to the claim that it had constructive notice of a recurrent dangerous condition, NYCHA submitted evidence that no complaints about the condition of the stairwell had been received for one year prior to and including the morning of the plaintiff’s accident. Pagan v New York City Hous. Auth., 2019 NY Slip Op 03608, Second Dept 5-8-19