THE NYC ADMINSTRATIVE CODE REQUIRES ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNERS TO REPAIR SIDEWALK FLAGS OVER 1/2 INCH; PLAINTIFF PRESENTED EVIDENCE THE FLAG WAS THREE INCHES; DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant’s motion for summary judgment in this sidewalk slip and fall case should not have been granted. There was evidence the sidewalk flag was three inches high and the NYC Administrative Code requires the abutting property owner to repair any flags over 1/2 inch:
The Administrative Code of the City of New York requires owners of real property abutting any sidewalk to maintain that sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition, which includes repaving, repairing and replacing defective sidewalk flags (Administrative Code § 7-210[3]). Furthermore, property owners are specifically required to, at their own cost and expense, repave or repair any portion of the sidewalk that constitutes a tripping hazard where “the vertical grade differential between adjacent sidewalk flags is greater than or equal to one half inch” ,,, ,
Plaintiff testified at the 50-h hearing that he tripped on a raised sidewalk flag that was approximately three inches higher than the adjacent flag, There is also photographic evidence that shows a visibly raised sidewalk flag in the area he identified as where his accident occurred. Tropper v Henry St. Settlement, 2021 NY Slip Op 00397, First Dept 1-26-21