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BENCH TRIAL VERDICT REVERSED, COMMON CARRIER NOT LIABLE FOR BUS PASSENGER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE AFTER STEPPING OFF THE BUS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing a bench trial verdict in Supreme Court, determined defendant transit authority was not liable for plaintiff’s slip and fall on black ice upon exiting defendant’s bus:

The defendant, as a common carrier, “owe[d] a duty to alighting passenger[s] to stop at a place where [they] may safely disembark and leave the area” … , and towards that end “to exercise reasonable and commensurate care in view of the dangers to be apprehended” … . However, whether the defendant has breached its duty to provide a passenger a safe place to alight from the bus will depend on whether the bus driver could have observed the dangerous condition from the driver’s vantage point… . Here, there was no evidence that the bus driver was aware of or reasonably should have been aware of the ice in the roadway. The fact that it was cold and there was a pile of snow near the rear exit does not create a basis to conclude that the bus driver should have known of the dangerous condition … . Guzman v New York City Tr. Auth., 2018 NY Slip Op 04310, Second Dept 6-13-18

​NEGLIGENCE (MUNICIPAL LAW, BUSES, BENCH TRIAL VERDICT REVERSED, COMMON CARRIER NOT LIABLE FOR BUS PASSENGER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE AFTER STEPPING OFF THE BUS (SECOND DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW (BUSES, BENCH TRIAL VERDICT REVERSED, COMMON CARRIER NOT LIABLE FOR BUS PASSENGER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE AFTER STEPPING OFF THE BUS (SECOND DEPT))/BUSES (NEGLIGENCE, MUNICIPAL LAW, BENCH TRIAL VERDICT REVERSED, COMMON CARRIER NOT LIABLE FOR BUS PASSENGER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE AFTER STEPPING OFF THE BUS (SECOND DEPT))/SLIP AND FALL (NEGLIGENCE, MUNICIPAL LAW, BENCH TRIAL VERDICT REVERSED, COMMON CARRIER NOT LIABLE FOR BUS PASSENGER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE AFTER STEPPING OFF THE BUS (SECOND DEPT))

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BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department determined the driver of a bus, Garcia, was not liable for suddenly applying the brakes pursuant to the emergency doctrine. A taxi had suddenly swerved into the bus’s lane:

The motion court properly invoked the emergency doctrine in finding that no issues of fact exist as to defendants’ negligence given plaintiff’s failure in opposition to adduce any evidence tending to show that the bus operator, defendant Garcia, created the emergency or could have avoided a collision with the nonparty livery taxi by taking some action other than applying his brakes … . The sudden unexpected swerving of the livery taxi into the bus’s lane required Garcia to take immediate action … . Garcia’s reaction of pressing the brakes with enough force to prevent an impact between his bus and the taxi and swerving the bus to the right was a reasonable response to the emergency that was not of his own making … . That Garcia was aware that taxis often cut buses off does not require a different result. Jones v New York City Tr. Auth., 2018 NY Slip Op 04281, First Dept 6-12-18

​NEGLIGENCE (BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT))/BUSES (BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT))/EMERGENCY DOCTRINE (BUSES, BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW (BUSES, (BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT))/BRAKES (BUSES, BUS DRIVER REACTED TO AN EMERGENCY, NOT LIABLE FOR SUDDENLY APPLYING THE BRAKES (FIRST DEPT))

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QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this snow plow traffic accident case should not have been granted. The snow plow driver was backing up below the crest of a hill and plaintiff was unable to brake in time when he crested the hill. The Fourth Department held that there was a question of fact whether the snow plow driver acted in reckless disregard of the safety of others in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law 1103:

Defendants failed to meet their initial burden of establishing that Marsh did not operate the snowplow with reckless disregard for the safety of others, and defendants thus were not entitled to summary judgment dismissing the complaint against them. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1103 (b) “exempts from the rules of the road all vehicles actually engaged in work on a highway”… . However, the statute does not protect snowplow drivers “from the consequences of their reckless disregard for the safety of others” (§ 1103 [b]). The operator of a snowplow acts with such “reckless disregard” when he or she ” acts in conscious disregard of a known or obvious risk that is so great as to make it highly probable that harm will follow’ ” … . The reckless disregard standard “requires a showing of more than a momentary judgment lapse” … .

Here, defendants’ submissions in support of the motion establish that Marsh had been a driver of the snowplow route for 15 years and was aware that an intersection where he could safely turn around was less than a quarter of a mile away. Despite that knowledge, Marsh drove the snowplow in reverse, in front of a hill that obscured his view of approaching traffic on a narrow, two-lane country road with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour, without first sounding his horn in warning. Marsh’s deposition testimony that he did not realize that he had collided with plaintiff’s vehicle until several seconds after the collision raises a question of fact whether he was utilizing his rear view mirrors while traveling in reverse. Chase v Marsh, 2018 NY Slip Op 04231, Fourth Dept 6-8-18

NEGLIGENCE (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, MUNICIPAL LAW, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS,  QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT))/VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW (NEGLIGENCE, MUNICIPAL LAW, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT))/TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (MUNICIPAL LAW, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT))/SNOW PLOWS (TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, MUNICIPAL LAW, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER SNOW PLOW DRIVER ACTED WITH RECKLESS DISREGARD IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT))

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CITY’S DETERMINATION IT WOULD NOT DEFEND A POLICE OFFICER IN A CIVIL ACTION STEMMING FROM THE OFFICER’S STRIKING A CIVILIAN WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department. over a two-justice dissent, determined the city’s refusal to defend and indemnify a police officer who was sued civilly for striking a civilian was arbitrary and capricious:

We respectfully disagree with the view of our dissenting colleagues that a 30-second-long video recording of a portion of the incident, considered in conjunction with the indictment, provides a factual basis for respondent’s implicit determination that petitioner was not acting within the scope of his employment and duties as a police officer. First, it is well settled that “[a]n indictment is a mere accusation and raises no presumption of guilt” … . Thus, the filing of an indictment against petitioner does not provide a factual basis to support the denial of a defense to petitioner in the civil action. Second, the video recording captured only part of the encounter between petitioner and the complainant, and did not capture the beginning or the end of the encounter. As a result, the recorded images of petitioner striking the complainant in the area of his legs and feet with a baton are unaccompanied by contextual factual information that would be essential to support a determination that petitioner’s actions fell outside the scope of his employment and duties as a police officer. Notably, the brief video clip shows a loud and chaotic intersection with a heavy police presence, and petitioner appeared to be dressed in police uniform and wearing a jacket with the word “POLICE” printed in bold letters. Three of the officers in the video appeared to be carrying batons, like petitioner, and one other officer appeared to have been engaged in a physical struggle with a civilian on the sidewalk. That struggle appeared to continue into the roadway before the other officer and the civilian disengaged, at which point the camera panned over to a parking lot where petitioner was already engaged with the complainant.

Although it is well settled that an employee’s conduct does not fall within the scope of his or her employment where his or her actions are taken for wholly personal reasons not related to the employee’s job … , we conclude that the video recording does not establish that petitioner’s actions were taken for wholly personal reasons unrelated to his job as a police officer. Matter of Krug v City of Buffalo, 2018 NY Slip Op 04118, Fourth Dept 6-8-18

MUNICIPAL LAW (EMPLOYMENT LAW, POLICE OFFICERS, CITY’S DETERMINATION IT WOULD NOT DEFEND A POLICE OFFICER IN A CIVIL ACTION STEMMING FROM THE OFFICER’S STRIKING A CIVILIAN WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (FOURTH DEPT))/EMPLOYMENT LAW (MUNICIPAL LAW, POLICE OFFICERS, CITY’S DETERMINATION IT WOULD NOT DEFEND A POLICE OFFICER IN A CIVIL ACTION STEMMING FROM THE OFFICER’S STRIKING A CIVILIAN WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (FOURTH DEPT))/POLICE OFFICERS ( CITY’S DETERMINATION IT WOULD NOT DEFEND A POLICE OFFICER IN A CIVIL ACTION STEMMING FROM THE OFFICER’S STRIKING A CIVILIAN WAS ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS (FOURTH DEPT))

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LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Troutman, determined local laws concerning health benefits for retired town employees were invalid because they were not enacted by referendum:​

Plaintiffs correctly acknowledge that the modification clauses in the 2009 Law and the 2014 Law run afoul of Municipal Home Rule Law § 23 (2) (f) because those laws were not enacted by referendum. “[A] local law shall be subject to mandatory referendum if it . . . [a]bolishes, transfers or curtails any power of an elective officer” (id.). Therefore, a local legislative body lacks the power to enact legislation curtailing the voting powers of its own members; such legislation cannot be enacted except by referendum. Here, the modification clauses in the 2009 Law and the 2014 Law curtailed the voting powers of the elected members of the Town Board by requiring a supermajority vote to enact certain kinds of legislation. The 2009 Law and 2014 Law are thus invalid inasmuch as they were not enacted by referendum. …

Where, as here, a local law is subject to a mandatory referendum, the failure to enact it by referendum renders the entire law invalid … . Parker v Town of Alexandria, 2018 NY Slip Op 04126, Fourth Dept 6-8-18

MUNICIPAL LAW (LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT))/EMPLOYMENT LAW (MUNICIPAL LAW, LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT))/MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW (LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT))/LOCAL LAWS (MUNICIPAL LAW, (LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT))/HEALTH BENEFITS (MUNICIPAL LAW, EMPLOYMENT LAW, LOCAL LAWS CONCERNING HEALTH BENEFITS FOR RETIRED TOWN EMPLOYEES WHICH WERE NOT ENACTED BY REFERENDUM ARE ENTIRELY INVALID (FOURTH DEPT))

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STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s action against the municipality was timely commenced. The one-year-and-ninety-day statute of limitations was tolled when plaintiff filed a successful motion for leave to file a late notice of claim:

Pursuant to General Municipal Law, a plaintiff must first serve a notice of claim against a municipality within 90 days after the claim arises … and commence any subsequent tort action against the municipality within one year and 90 days after the claim arises (see General Municipal Law § 50-i). Because plaintiff’s claims against defendants, if any, arise from the fire that occurred on February 18, 2014, he was therefore required to file and serve a notice of claim by May 19, 2014 and commence any subsequent tort action by May 19, 2015. Having failed to file and serve his notice of claim by May 19, 2014, plaintiff was permitted to, and did, commence a special proceeding seeking leave to file a late notice of claim. While the applicable one year and 90-day statute of limitations began to run on February 18, 2014, upon plaintiff’s commencement of the proceeding, the provisions of CPLR 204 (a) operated to toll the remainder of the statute of limitations until the date that the court granted the requested relief, at which point the statute began to run once again … . To put it in mathematical terms, when plaintiff commenced the proceeding seeking leave to serve a late notice of claim on November 14, 2014, he had 186 days remaining in order to timely commence this action within the applicable statute of limitations. As of that date, the statute of limitations stopped running and did not resume until May 27, 2015, when Supreme Court issued its order granting plaintiff’s application. Thus, plaintiff had 186 days running from May 27, 2015 or until November 29, 2015 to timely commence this action. Since plaintiff commenced this action on October 20, 2015, it was timely commenced and may now proceed to a determination as to whether it has any merit. Kulon v Liberty Fire Dist., 2018 NY Slip Op 04062, Third Dept 6-7-18

MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, NOTICE OF CLAIM, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT))/NEGLIGENCE (MUNICIPAL LAW, NOTICE OF CLAIM, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (MUNICIPAL LAW, NOTICE OF CLAIM,, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT))/NOTICE OF CLAIM (MUNICIPAL LAW, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT))/STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, NOTICE OF CLAIM, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COMMENCING AN ACTION AGAINST THE MUNICIPALITY TOLLED WHEN PLAINTIFF MOVED FOR LEAVE TO FILE A LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM (THIRD DEPT))

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PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined there was no special relationship between the town and the plaintiffs. The town had allowed fill to be dumped near a stream (Normanskill) by issuing a permit to the property owner, 165 Salisbury Road LLC. A landslide occurred which caused flooding on plaintiffs’ property:

To establish that a municipality created a special relationship by voluntarily assuming a duty, a plaintiff must show: “(1) an assumption by the municipality, through promises or actions, of an affirmative duty to act on behalf of the party who was injured; (2) knowledge on the part of the municipality’s agents that inaction could lead to harm; (3) some form of direct contact between the municipality’s agents and the injured party; and (4) the party’s justifiable reliance on the municipality’s affirmative undertaking”… . Plaintiffs failed to allege any assumption by the Town to act on their behalf, any direct contact between them and any agent of the Town or any justifiable reliance by plaintiffs … .

As for the third way of forming a special relationship, the municipality must not only assume positive direction or control when a known, blatant and dangerous safety violation exists, but must “affirmatively act to place the plaintiff in harm’s way,” through words or conduct that “induc[e] the plaintiff to embark on a dangerous course he or she would otherwise have avoided” … . Although we recently held that Normanskill and 165 Salisbury Road alleged a special relationship with the Town on this basis … , the alleged safety violation existed on property owned or leased by those parties. They were in a markedly different position than plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs are removed from the Normanskill property that was directly affected by the fill and permit activities, and the complaint contains no allegations that plaintiffs were even aware of, or had contact with any of the parties involved in, those activities. The allegations provide no indication of how plaintiffs could have been induced by the Town to embark on any course of action, let alone a dangerous one that they would otherwise have avoided … . Szydlowski v Town of Bethlehem, 2018 NY Slip Op 04066, Third Dept 6-7-18

MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))/NEGLIGENCE (MUNICIPAL LAW, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))/SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))/LANDSLIDES (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))/FLOODING  (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))/IMMUNITY (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOWN, TOWN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOODING CAUSED BY LANDSLIDE (THIRD DEPT))

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CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, BUT CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department determined the city was properly found liable for the stabbing death of plaintiff’s decedent in a parking garage, but found that the city should not have been held 100% liable. Operating a parking garage is a proprietary function to which governmental immunity does not apply:

Contrary to the City’s contention, it was not entitled to governmental immunity for these claims, which arose out of the performance of proprietary functions. In that respect, the plaintiffs offered proof that the City failed in its capacity as a commercial owner of a public parking garage to meet the basic proprietary obligation of providing minimal security for its garage property … . …

… [T]he plaintiffs made out a prima facie case of negligence at trial, and the jury’s finding in this regard was not against the weight of the evidence. Under the circumstances of this case, in which the plaintiffs established that the City employed almost no security measures in the parking garage where the decedent was murdered, no expert testimony was necessary for the plaintiffs to establish that the City breached its duty to provide minimal security precautions to protect the patrons of the parking garage where the decedent was murdered … . Additionally, in light of the history of criminal activity in the parking garage, which included people being ambushed as they walked to their cars, as was the decedent in this case, the City should have been aware of the “likelihood of conduct on the part of third [parties]” that would “endanger the safety” of visitors to the garage … . …

… [T]he apportionment of 100% of the fault in the happening of the attack to the City was not supported by a fair interpretation of the evidence … . An apportionment of 65% of the fault to the defendant and 35% of the fault to the nonparty tortfeasor better reflects a fair interpretation of the evidence … . Granata v City of White Plains, 2018 NY Slip Op 03964, Second Dept 6-6-18

​NEGLIGENCE (MUNICIPAL LAW, CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW (NEGLIGENCE, ASSAULT, CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT))/IMMUNITY (MUNICIPAL LAW, ASSAULT, CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT))/ASSAULT (MUNICIPAL LAW, NEGLIGENCE, CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT))/PARKING GARAGE (MUNICIPAL LAW, CITY LIABLE FOR STABBING DEATH OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT IN PARKING GARAGE, SECURITY INADEQUATE, HISTORY OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CITY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HELD 100% LIABLE (SECOND DEPT))

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PROPERTY USED BY THE TOWN AS A PUBLIC PARK WAS NOT SUBJECT TO COUNTY TAX (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the town had used land as a public park and, therefore, the land was not subject to taxation by the county:

The New York State Legislature has declared that “[a]ll real property within the state shall be subject to real property taxation . . . unless exempt therefrom by law”… . “Tax exclusions are never presumed or preferred and before [a party] may have the benefit of them, the burden rests on it to establish that the item comes within the language of the exclusion” … .

Here, the Town relies upon section 406 of the Real Property Tax Law. That section provides, with limited exceptions not applicable to this appeal, that “[r]eal property owned by a municipal corporation within its corporate limits held for a public use shall be exempt from taxation and exempt from special ad valorem levies and special assessments” … .

“Although what comprises a public use’ within the meaning of the statute has never been defined with exactitude’ and must necessarily depend upon the peculiar circumstances of each case’, it has been said . . . that [h]eld for a public use, in this connection, means that the property should be occupied, employed, or availed of, by and for the benefit of the community at large, and implies a possession, occupation and enjoyment by the public, or by public agencies'” … . …

The Town’s submissions demonstrated that the subject property was exempt from taxation from the time of its conveyance to the Town in 2005, and that the subsequent tax liens issued by the County were therefore “void ab initio” … . Town of N. Hempstead v County of Nassau, 2018 NY Slip Op 04021, Second Dept 6-6-18

​MUNICIPAL LAW (REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW, PROPERTY USED BY THE TOWN AS A PUBLIC PARK WAS NOT SUBJECT TO COUNTY TAX (SECOND DEPT))/REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW (MUNICIPAL LAW, PROPERTY USED BY THE TOWN AS A PUBLIC PARK WAS NOT SUBJECT TO COUNTY TAX (SECOND DEPT))/PARKS (REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW, MUNICIPAL LAW, PROPERTY USED BY THE TOWN AS A PUBLIC PARK WAS NOT SUBJECT TO COUNTY TAX (SECOND DEPT))

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DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION ATTACKING THE PROCEDURE USED TO ENACT LEGISLATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOUR-MONTH ARTICLE 78 STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CHALLENGING THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SUBJECT TO THE SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, in a lawsuit brought by plaintiff village alleging the county did not have the power to issue parking tickets in the village, explained how to determine the appropriate statute of limitations in actions seeking a declaratory judgment:

While no period of limitation is specifically prescribed for a declaratory judgment action, the six-year catch-all limitation period of CPLR 213(1) does not necessarily apply to all such actions. Rather, in order to determine the statute of limitations applicable to an action for a declaratory judgment, a court must examine the substance of the action. Where it is determined that the parties’ dispute can be, or could have been, resolved in an action or proceeding for which a specific limitation period is statutorily required, that limitation period governs … .

A proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 is unavailable to challenge the validity of a legislative act … . However, when a challenge is directed to the procedure followed in enacting, rather than the substance of, legislation, a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 may be maintained … . …

… [T]he plaintiff’s third cause of action alleged that the actions taken by the defendants in the formation of the agency were void, invalid, and illegal due to the failure of the defendants to comply with the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act … . “SEQRA challenges must be commenced within four months after the determination becomes final and binding upon the petitioner … .

… [T]he plaintiff’s … causes of action … for declaratory relief … challenging the substantive validity of the defendants’ formation of the [county parking ticket] agency and the defendants’ continuing actions with respect to the adjudication of tickets issued for violations occurring in the Village, either could not have been maintained in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 … , or related to ongoing actions of the defendants, and, thus, were not barred by the four-month limitation period under CPLR 217(1). Accordingly, since the six-year statute of limitations of CPLR 213(1) applies … .  Village of Islandia v County of Suffolk, 2018 NY Slip Op 04025, Second Dept 6-6-18

​CIVIL PROCEDURE (DECLARATORY JUDGMENT, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION ATTACKING THE PROCEDURE USED TO ENACT LEGISLATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOUR-MONTH ARTICLE 78 STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CHALLENGING THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SUBJECT TO THE SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (SECOND DEPT))/STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION ATTACKING THE PROCEDURE USED TO ENACT LEGISLATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOUR-MONTH ARTICLE 78 STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CHALLENGING THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SUBJECT TO THE SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (SECOND DEPT))/DECLARATORY JUDGMENT (STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION ATTACKING THE PROCEDURE USED TO ENACT LEGISLATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOUR-MONTH ARTICLE 78 STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CHALLENGING THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SUBJECT TO THE SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (SECOND DEPT))/MUNICIPAL LAW  (DECLARATORY JUDGMENT, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION ATTACKING THE PROCEDURE USED TO ENACT LEGISLATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOUR-MONTH ARTICLE 78 STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION CHALLENGING THE LEGISLATION ITSELF IS SUBJECT TO THE SIX-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (SECOND DEPT))

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