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DEFENDANT PROPERTY OWNERS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE, AS A MATTER OF LAW, THE DECORATIVE FENCE IN THE GRASSY AREA BETWEEN THE CURB AND THE SIDEWALK WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendant property-owner was not entitled to summary judgment in this slip and fall case. The plaintiff allegedly tripped over a decorative fence located in the grassy area between the curb and the sidewalk abutting defendants’ home. The defendants argued the fence was open and obvious:

“The determination of whether an asserted hazard is open and obvious cannot be divorced from the surrounding circumstances, and whether a condition is not inherently dangerous, or constitutes a reasonably safe environment, depends on the totality of the specific facts of each case” … . “A condition that is ordinarily apparent to a person making reasonable use of his or her senses may be rendered a trap for the unwary where the condition is obscured or the plaintiff is distracted” … .

Here, contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination, the homeowner defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that the decorative fence was open and obvious and not inherently dangerous given the circumstances at the time of the accident, including the lighting conditions and color of the fence … . Rosenman v Siwiec, 2021 NY Slip Op 04248, Second Dept 7-7-21

 

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