Casella Constr. Corp. v. 322 E. 93rd St. LLC

2024 NY Slip Op 31966(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedJune 5, 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 31966(U) (Casella Constr. Corp. v. 322 E. 93rd St. LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court, New York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Casella Constr. Corp. v. 322 E. 93rd St. LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 31966(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Casella Constr. Corp. v 322 E. 93rd St. LLC 2024 NY Slip Op 31966(U) June 5, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 155098/2017 Judge: Verna L. Saunders Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 155098/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 393 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 06/06/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. VERNAL. SAUNDERS, JSC PART 36 Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 155098/2017 CASELLA CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION, Plaintiff, MOTION SEQ. NO. _ _ _00_7_ __

- V - DECISION+ ORDER ON 322 EAST 93RD STREET LLC and 324 E. 93 LLC, MOTION Defendants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

322 EAST 93RD STREET LLC, Counterclaimant

-v- 324 E. 93 LLC, Additional Counterclaim Defendant. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 007) 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298,299,300,301,302,303,304,305,306,307,308,309,310,311,312,313,314,315,316,317,318,319,320, 323,324,325,326,327,328,329,330,331,332,333,334,335,336,337,338,339,340,341,342,343,344,345, 346,347,348,349,350,351,352,353,354,355,356,357,358,359,360,361,362,363,364,365,366,367,368, 369,370,371,372,373,374,375,376,377,378,379,380,381,382,383,384,385,386,387,388,389 were read on this motion to/for SUMMARY JUDGMENT

A six-alarm fire at 324 East 93 rd Street on October 27, 2016, brought about this action. The owner of the building, 324 E. 93 LLC ("324"), moves for summary judgment dismissing the counterclaims by the owner of the adjacent building at 322 East 93 rd Street. The owner of the adjacent building, 322 East 93 rd Street LLC ("322"), cross-moves for summary judgment on liability against 324.

The main action in this case concerns work which was performed by plaintiff Casella Construction Corp. to remedy fire damage. Casella's claim to enforce a lien against 322 has been voided and discharged (Casella Constr. Corp. v 322 E. 93rd St. LLC, 211 AD3d 458 [1st Dept 2022]).

The buildings at 322 East 93 rd Street and 324 E. 93 rd St. shared a party wall. The fire damaged both buildings, 324 to the extent that it was demolished by the order of the New York City Department of Buildings (NYC DOB). 322 brings claims for property damage against 324 on the ground that 324's negligence caused the fire. 322 alleges that fire, smoke, and water damaged the entirety of its premises, and that the roof was destroyed (NYSCEF Doc. No. 163, BOP, ,r ,r 5, 6).

155098/2017 CASELLA CONSTRUCTION vs. 322 EAST 93RD STREET LLC Page 1 of 9 Motion No. 007

[* 1] 1 of 9 INDEX NO. 155098/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 393 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 06/06/2024

Lemmy Thuku, a tenant at 324 93 rd St., died in the fire. The Office of the New York City Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was smoke inhalation. The estate of Lemmy Thuku brought an action for wrongful death and negligence against 324; Perry Gault Management Co., Inc. ("Gault"), the managing agent of 324; and David Shepherd ("D. Shepherd") and Ashley Shepherd ("A. Shepherd"), tenants in apartment 1Wat 324 (Timothy Thuku as the Administrator of the Estate of Lemmy Thuku v 324 E. 93 LLC, Perry Gault Afanagement Co., Inc., David Shepherd, and Ashley Shepherd, Index No. 452203/2018, Supreme Court, New York County). Fire Marshal Kenneth Hettwer of the New York City Fire Department, the primary investigator, determined that the fire started in the Shepherds' apartment (NYSCEF Doc. No. 294, Fire Incident Report, February I, 2017).

On its instant summary judgment motion, 324 contends that a decision in the Thuku case collaterally estops 322 from making the same arguments in this case.

322 was not a party in Thuku. 324 and Gault, defendants in Thuku, moved for summary judgment dismissing plaintiffThuku's complaint and plaintiff cross-moved to strike defendants' answer for spoliation of evidence and for summary judgment on liability against them. Key to deciding the motions was whether defective electrical wiring in 324 caused the fire and whether the door to apartment 1W was defective and contributed to the fire spreading to the rest of the building. On April 12, 2022, J. Kahn issued a determination on the motions (Thuku v 324 E. 93 LLC, 2022 NY Slip Op 31267[U] [Sup Ct, NY County 2022]; NYSCEF Doc. No. 317).

Under New York City Administrative Code§ 27-371 [b ], a door to an interior corridor must be self-closing, and under§ 27-2041.1 of the code it is the duty of the owner of a multiple dwelling to equip it with self-closing doors. J. Khan denied that part of 324's and Gault's motion that was based on the argument that the door was closed during the fire, finding that the defendants failed to eliminate issues of fact as to whether the door was self-closing, given that witnesses made contradictory statements about whether the door would habitually close on its own and whether it was closed during the fire. Also, while 324 and Gault demonstrated actual lack of notice of a defect in the door, they did not demonstrate lack of constructive notice. Otherwise, 324's and Gault's motion was granted as to Thuku's other bases ofliability, which were all dismissed. Thuku's cross-motion for summary judgment was denied, as was the motion to strike 324's and Gault's answer for spoliation.

The Thuku decision included extensive discussions of the evidence, including that from experts and party and non-party witnesses. The court quoted the part of the Fire Incident Report that bore the heading "Origin and Extension":

Examination showed that fire originated in the subject premises, on the first floor, in apartment 1-W, in the Ii ving room approximately one foot from the north wall and one foot from the west wall at floor level in a combustible material (electrical cord insulation) . . . Fire further extended to the public hallway through the apartment door. Fire further extended to the walls and ceiling of the first floor public hallway ... Fire further extended to the second, third, fourth and fifth floor apartments via the interior stairs and auto exposure from the shafts .... Fire further extended to the light/air shaft on the exposure four side via windows to shaft. Fire further extended to the second, third, fourth and fifth

155098/2017 CASELLA CONSTRUCTION vs. 322 EAST 93RD STREET LLC Page 2 of 9 Motion No. 007

[* 2] 2 of 9 INDEX .NO. 155098/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 393 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 06/06/2024

floor via auto exposure. Fire extended to the bottom of the west light shaft via drop down. Fire extended to the basement via window. Fire further extended to the light/air shaft on the exposure four side via windows to shaft ....

Fire further extended to all floors of 326 and 322 East 93rd Street with extension to the shaft rooms of the structure.

(Thuku, 2022 NY Slip Op 31267[U], * 1; NYSCEF Doc. No. 294 ).

As noted in Thuku, during his deposition, Hettwer confirmed that the report stated "Electrical" under the title "Cause of Fire". Under the title "Description", the report notes "NFA in the area of electrical wiring - extension cords and power strips." Hettwer testified that "NFA" is an acronym for "not further ascertained" which in that context meant that no further testing or evaluation of the electrical wiring was performed.

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2024 NY Slip Op 31966(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/casella-constr-corp-v-322-e-93rd-st-llc-nysupctnewyork-2024.