Based on clear and convincing evidence presented at the 35-day custody trial, the court determined that the mother had deliberately and actively alienated the child from the father in “one of the most clear-cut and disturbing examples of parental alienation that this court has observed through thousands of custody cases over many years.” Accordingly, the court reasonably determined that this is one of the unfortunate and rare situations where suspension of the noncustodial parent’s child support obligation was warranted. Specifically, the court decided the pendente lite motion by directing the father to pay 90% of the child’s unreimbursed medical and mental health expenses and otherwise suspended the father’s child support obligation until the child’s visitation with the father was “meaningfully resumed” or “there is otherwise good cause to resume the support” … . * * *

As the motion court found, the child’s reasonable and appropriate needs are being met … . It is undisputed that the mother and child continue to reside in a 1,500 square foot luxury apartment with views of Central Park and that the father continues to pay all of the child’s expenses for private school, extracurricular activities and tutoring, in addition to 90% of her unreimbursed medical and mental health expenses. Rosenfeld v Rosenfeld, 2026 NY Slip Op 04048, First Dept 6-25-26

“‘Section 7-210 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York unambiguously imposes a nondelegable duty on certain real property owners to maintain city sidewalks abutting their land in a reasonably safe condition'” … . “However, this liability-shifting provision does not apply to ‘one-, two- or three-family residential real property that is (i) in whole or in part, owner occupied, and (ii) used exclusively for residential purposes'” … . “The statute does not expressly contain a primary residence requirement as part of the owner-occupied exemption, but the term ‘owner occupied’ generally is used to mean that the owner regularly occupies the property as a residence” … . Although “owner occupied” is not defined in the statute, it is clearly a lower standard than that of a primary residence. Furthermore, “[t]he purpose of the exception in the Code is to recognize the inappropriateness of exposing small-property owners in residence, who have limited resources, to exclusive liability with respect to sidewalk maintenance and repair” … .

The Supreme Court should have denied that branch of the defendants’ motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them. The defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that they were entitled to the exemption from liability under Administrative Code § 7-210(b). Although the defendants submitted proof that they are the owners of the subject property, which is a one-family home, they failed to eliminate triable issues of fact as to whether the property was “owner occupied” within the meaning of the statute … . Mantinaos v City of New York, 2026 NY Slip Op 03957, Second Dept 6-24-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for insight into the meaning of “owner occupied” in the NYC Administrative Code such that the sidewalk-maintenance obligation does not apply.

… [T]he plaintiff satisfied the second prong of the relation-back test with respect to the causes of action sounding in negligence and gross negligence, as the plaintiff established that the proposed defendants and the original defendants were united in interest as to those causes of action. “As a general rule, ‘a party who retains an independent contractor, as distinguished from a mere employee or servant, is not liable for the independent contractor’s negligent acts'” … . However, this general rule is subject to various exceptions, including where the work performed is inherently dangerous … . In this case, the amended complaint and the proposed second amended complaint alleged sufficient facts demonstrating that the work being performed was inherently dangerous and, thus, the original defendants could be held vicariously liable for the negligent acts or omissions of the proposed defendants … . Further, the plaintiff satisfied the third prong of the relation-back test, as the plaintiff demonstrated that the proposed defendants knew or should have known that, but for a mistake by the plaintiff as to the identity of the proper parties, the action would have been brought against them as well … . Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have granted that branch of the plaintiff’s motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3025(b) for leave to amend the amended complaint to add the proposed defendants as defendants with respect to the causes of action sounding in negligence and gross negligence … . Crossbay Assoc., LLC v Singh, 2026 NY Slip Op 03941, Second Dept 6-24-26

Practice Point: A party can be vicariously liable for the work done by an independent contractor if the work is “inherently dangerous.” The excavation work at issue in this case was deemed inherently dangerous.

“Among the statutory requirements [set forth in CPLR 2214(a) and (b)] is that notices of motion set forth ‘the relief demanded and the grounds therefor.’ The failure to give a party proper notice of a motion deprives the court of jurisdiction to entertain the motion and renders a resulting order void” … . In other words, “[a] court lacks jurisdiction to grant relief against a defaulting party where that relief is not requested in the moving papers” … .

Here, since the plaintiff did not move for leave to enter a default judgment against Molina, the Supreme Court should not have, sua sponte, granted that relief … . As the court lacked jurisdiction to grant such relief … , so much of the order … , as, sua sponte, granted leave to enter a default judgment against Molina was rendered void … , “‘warranting vacatur pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(4)'” … . As to the court’s reliance on the language in the notice of motion seeking “such other and further relief that this Court deems just and proper,” this Court has explicitly held that courts may not “rely upon general relief clauses in noticed motions—’for such other and further relief the court deems just and proper’—to justify the sua sponte [granting of dispositive relief]” … . Citimortgage, Inc. v Pena, 2026 NY Slip Op 03940, Second Dept 6-24-26

Practice Point: The phrase in motion papers requesting “such other relief as is deemed appropriate” cannot be the basis for dispositive relief.​

Plaintiff, who fell from an eight-foot A-frame ladder while installing sheetrock, established his prima facie entitlement to summary judgment on his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action through his testimony that the ladder moved from side to side and caused him to fall … .

… [Even] if plaintiff’s hearsay statement contained in his post-accident medical report and post-accident investigation report that he lost his balance may be considered, it is not inconsistent with his testimony that the ladder moved and caused him to fall … . Gomez v Brookfield Props. One WFC Co., LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op 03921, First Dept 6-23-26

Practice Point: The statement that a ladder-fall resulted from movement of the ladder from side to sided and the statement that the ladder-fall resulted from plaintiff’s losing his balance are not inconsistent and do not create a question of fact.

… [N]o expert evidence has been presented to draw a causal connection between the cellar door and the crack, nor has evidence been presented that the commercial tenant made any “special use” … of the portion of the sidewalk where the injuries were incurred. Nonetheless, on this record, the dissent would deny the commercial tenant summary judgment on the ground that the tenant could not affirmatively prove a negative proposition — namely, that none of its activities was a cause of the sidewalk defect on which plaintiff tripped five years before the summary judgment motion was made. We disagree with this approach.

In our view, as more fully described below, in this context, the commercial tenant — which moved for summary judgment after the close of discovery — carried its burden of establishing its prima facie entitlement to judgment by showing that it had no legal or contractual duty to keep the sidewalk in good repair. It then became plaintiff’s burden to come forward with evidence tending to show that some affirmative act of the commercial tenant at least contributed to the causation of the crack in the sidewalk. Plaintiff failed to come forward with any such evidence, instead relying on speculation about the crack’s causation based solely on the crack’s proximity to the commercial tenant’s cellar door, as shown in a photograph. Nor did plaintiff come forward with any evidence showing that the commercial tenant made any special use of the portion of the sidewalk on which she was injured. We hold that this was not sufficient to raise a triable issue of fact. Accordingly, we reverse the order appealed from and grant the commercial tenant summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against it. Fuentes v Parkchester S. Condominium, Inc., 2026 NY Slip Op 03920, First Dept 6-23-26

Practice Point: In a sidewalk-crack slip and fall, once a defendant demonstrates it has no responsibility for maintaining the sidewalk it need not go on to present evidence it did not make special use of the sidewalk. It is the plaintiff which must present evidence of defendant’s special use to defeat defendant’s summary judgment motion.

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We conclude that the sentencing court abused its discretion in imposing the consent-to-search condition on Brazeal. Although his conviction was for a crime of violence, at no point was Brazeal shown to otherwise possess firearms or illegal weapons, and the knife used in his crime was an ordinary kitchen knife. The Appellate Division referenced his “history of violence” … , but that characterization overstates the defendant’s relatively remote criminal history. He had a previous conviction for property destruction in Las Vegas, a harassment conviction with “physical contact” in the Bronx, and a youthful offender adjudication for assault in Yonkers, the most recent of which was almost a decade before the present offense. The 2007 youthful offender adjudication is the only other incident that references the use of an unspecified “weapon/instrument,” and only the 2007 and 2009 proceedings included assault charges. None of Brazeal’s arrests in Georgia resulted in further prosecution apart from an outstanding warrant for failure to appear. Aside from these facts, the record reflects no basis for the imposition of the condition. Brazeal has not been assessed as being in need of alcohol or substance abuse treatment, the People concede that substance abuse is not implicated in his case, and his admission of occasional marijuana use in the past does not support further supervision. On this record, the sentencing court abused its discretion by imposing a condition that was not “individually tailored in relation to the offense[ ]” or to Brazeal’s “rehabilitation” … .

Because she did not object to the consent-to-search condition before the sentencing court, Lora’s statutory and constitutional challenges are unpreserved for our review … . People v Brazeal, 2026 NY Slip Op 03910, CtApp 6-23-26

Practice Point: To appeal a consent-to-search condition of probation (to the Court of Appeals), the issue must be preserved by raising it in the sentencing court.

Defendant’s assigned counsel later moved to suppress defendant’s statements. At a pretrial hearing, counsel argued that defendant provided those statements while operating under a reasonable belief that he would be given immunity in exchange for his information, and therefore the statements were involuntary. Counsel supported that argument with a variety of evidence, including, among other things, defendant’s refusal to offer any statements until he could speak with an assistant district attorney (ADA), an unrecorded conversation with an ADA, and a note in the police file in defendant’s handwriting stating that he would need immunity and payment in exchange for his information. Counsel also relied upon defendant’s Miranda waiver form, on which he crossed out “defendant” and wrote in “C.I.,” for confidential informant. Defendant also testified at the suppression hearing that he had been offered immunity by the ADA during the unrecorded conversation.  * * *

In 2019, while his direct appeal was still pending, defendant moved to vacate the judgment pursuant to CPL 440.10. He argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate his history of mental health disorders and substance abuse. The court ordered a hearing, at which defendant’s trial counsel testified. Counsel asserted that although he was aware of defendant’s mental health and substance abuse history, defendant “had given [counsel] such a clear picture” of what happened that “was supported by documentary evidence” and that in counsel’s “50 years of practicing [he had] never had a case where [he had] seen, or known of a case where [he had] seen that a person” who shared defendant’s mental health diagnosis successfully suppress a statement on that ground. People v Fernandez, 2026 NY Slip Op 03915, CtApp 6-23-26

Practice Point: Although defendant’s mental health and substance abuse history may have been used to argue his statements to police were not voluntary, defense counsel felt that argument would fail and pursued a reasonable alternative strategy which did not require a mental-health and substance-abuse investigation. Defense counsel was therefore not “ineffective.”

We … do not opine as to the full scope of the RTRAs’ application or any other places where the RTRAs may apply. We reformulate the question as follows:

“Does either N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 79-p or Administrative Code of the City of New York §§ 14-189 afford individuals such as plaintiff Reyes the right to video record law enforcement activities inside the publicly accessible lobbies of police stationhouses?”

We answer that question in the negative. Reyes v City of New York, 2026 NY Slip Op 03914, CtApp 6-23-26

In response to increasing violence fueled by hateful rhetoric on social media, the legislature enacted General Business Law § 394-ccc (hereinafter the “Hateful Conduct Law” or “HCL”) with the aim of “requiring social media networks to provide and maintain mechanisms for reporting hateful conduct on their platform[s]” … . Before the law became effective, the social media network plaintiffs obtained a stay of its enforcement from the federal district court, claiming that its provisions would effectively compel them to speak out against hateful conduct and otherwise chill the publication of qualifying content in violation of the First Amendment.

In reviewing that order on appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has certified three questions to us concerning the scope of the statute. The first two questions essentially ask whether a social media network can comply with the HCL without explicitly referencing its definition of hateful conduct. Applying our ordinary canons of statutory construction, we answer those questions in the affirmative. The third certified question essentially asks whether the statute requires a social media network to respond to a user report of hateful conduct. We answer that question in the negative. Volokh v James, 2026 NY Slip Op 03913, CtApp 6-23-26