THE CITY DID NOT HAVE WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE SIDEWALK/CURB DEFECT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE BECAUSE THE DEFECT DID NOT APPEAR ON THE BIG APPLE MAP WHICH HAD BEEN SERVED ON THE CITY, DESPITE THE APPARENT EXISTENCE OF ANOTHER BIG APPLE MAP WHICH SHOWED THE DEFECT BUT WAS NOT SHOWN TO HAVE BEEN SERVED ON THE CITY (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the Big Apple map demonstrated the city did not have prior written notice of the sidewalk/curb defect where plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell, despite the apparent existence of another Big Apple map which showed the defect but was not shown to have been served on the city (NYC):
Maps prepared by Big Apple Pothole and Sidewalk Protection Committee, Inc. (hereinafter Big Apple), and filed with the Department of Transportation serve as prior written notice of defective conditions depicted thereon … . Where a plaintiff relies on a Big Apple map, the map served on the City closest in time prior to the subject accident is controlling … .
Here, the City met its prima facie burden by proffering evidence that the most recent Big Apple map served on it did not show the defect and that it had not received any other prior written notice of the allegedly defective condition … . Although the plaintiff produced a competing Big Apple map which purportedly showed the defect, that map was not accompanied by any evidence showing when it had been served on the City. Abdullah v City of New York, 2021 NY Slip Op 01377, Second Dept 3-10-21
