The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined: (1) there was a question of fact whether the Big Apple map provided the city with written notice of the sidewalk defect alleged to have caused plaintiff’s slip and fall; (2) the city’s evidence to the contrary was improperly first submitted in reply; (3) the plaintiff was entitled to amend the complaint to correct the deficiency in pleading the city had written notice of the sidewalk defect:
In support of its summary judgment motion, the City submitted evidence, including the most recent Big Apple Map received by the City prior to plaintiff’s accident, and argued that the Map did not depict the type of sidewalk defect that plaintiff testified caused her accident.
Based on all the evidence submitted, including the Big Apple Map and photographs of the sidewalk defect, plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact as to whether the City had prior written notice of the alleged dangerous condition … . The City’s contention that the Big Apple Map had been rendered inapplicable by subsequent sidewalk repairs is unavailing. Aside from the fact that this argument was improperly raised for the first time on reply, the City’s submissions indicated that the defect remained unchanged. Further, the issue of whether the Big Apple Map was sufficiently close in time to provide prior written notice, and whether the area had remained unchanged, was a question for the jury … . Bchakjan v City of New York, 2022 NY Slip Op 06543, First Dept 11-17-22
Practice Point: In NYC, a Big Apple map may provide the city with written notice of a sidewalk defect.