Cheryl H. Daniels v. New York City Transit

• Court: New York Court of Appeals
• Decided: March 24, 2020
• Docket: 51 SSM 1
• Status: Published

Opinion

State of New York Court of Appeals This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York Reports.

No. 51 SSM 1 Cheryl H. Daniels, Respondent, v. New York City Transit Authority, Appellant.

Submitted by Harriet Wong, for appellant. Submitted by Brian J. Isaac, for respondent.

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On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.11 of the Rules, order reversed, with costs, and a new trial ordered. In these circumstances, the trial court properly admitted plaintiff’s expert testimony regarding non-mandatory gap standards promulgated by the American Public Transit Association and the Public Transportation Safety Board (see De Long v County of Erie, 60 NY2d 296, 307 [1983]). However, Supreme Court abused its discretion as a matter of law by admitting evidence of prior accidents at New York City subway stations involving the gap between the train car and platform in the absence of a showing that the relevant conditions of those accidents were substantially the same as plaintiff’s accident (see Hyde v County of Rensselaer, 51 NY2d 927, 929 [1980]; Gilliard v Long Is. R.R. Co., 45 NY2d 996, 997 [1978]). Chief Judge DiFiore and Judges Rivera, Stein, Fahey, Garcia, Wilson and Feinman concur.

Decided March 24, 2020