Florman v. City of New York

293 A.D.2d 120, 741 N.Y.S.2d 233, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4712
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMay 7, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 293 A.D.2d 120 (Florman v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Florman v. City of New York, 293 A.D.2d 120, 741 N.Y.S.2d 233, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4712 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Sullivan, J.

On the afternoon of July 11, 1996, plaintiff Jill Florman, a female friend and two male friends drove to Randall’s Island to attend the Lollapalooza Festival, a concert which was being presented at Downing Stadium by defendants Delsener/Slater Enterprises, Inc.; Ardee Festivals, Inc.; Ardee Productions, Ltd.; Beach Concerts Inc.; Broadway Concerts, Inc.; Ron Delsener and Mitch Slater (collectively Delsener), pursuant to a permit issued by the City of New York.

Plaintiff and her friends, who did not have tickets but hoped to buy some scalped tickets when they arrived, parked their vehicle in one of the ball fields being used for parking and purchased concert tickets from an unidentified man. They remained for 30 or 40 minutes in the parking lot, tailgating, with other friends whom they met, before heading for the stadium. When they arrived at the gate, they learned that their tickets were counterfeit and were turned away. The group returned to the parking lot. Plaintiff and her girlfriend found their car and stood a few feet in front of it, talking, while their two male friends, intent on finding the scalper, went looking for him. Plaintiff then observed her two friends, about 200 feet away, initially yelling at the scalper and two other men, and, later, as the confrontation escalated, fighting with them. She watched for about four minutes. According to her deposition testimony, her next recollection was of waking up in the hospital. She had not seen or heard any vehicle coming toward her. She later learned that a vehicle struck her and that, after hitting her, it had hit another member of the group.

According to plaintiff, her girlfriend later told her that the vehicle “came out from nowhere” and that she “thought” the driver was the scalper’s friend. Although her other friends thought the same, they were “not positive.” According to plaintiff, the police questioned the scalper and his friends, but were unable to ascertain the driver’s identity.

The City of New York, Delsener—the concert’s producer— and its subcontractors provided security for the event. Delsener [122]*122hired a private company to provide security inside the stadium and had obtained the services of Country Club Services, Inc. and C.C.S. Parking, Inc. to manage and control vehicular parking. Sometime prior to the concert, the Parks Department of the City of New York held at least one meeting, attended by Delsener, its subcontractors, representatives of the Police and Fire Departments and other City agencies to discuss the logistics, including security, of holding such a concert.

As the record shows, Country Club, which had over 30 employees, including seven or eight managers, deployed in and around the ball fields, was responsible for directing cars into parking spaces in an orderly fashion and taking the necessary precautions to avoid the blocking of parked vehicles. Its attendants, wearing security vests and equipped with lights, were also to assist patrons in finding their cars after the concert and getting safely to them. An estimated 20 officers from the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) monitored the area outside the stadium, primarily the ball fields, to ensure the patrons’ observance of Parks Department rules and regulations. Some were assigned to look for illegal vendors.

The New York City Police Department also patrolled Randall’s Island on the day of the concert. Concerned primarily with the smooth flow of traffic on and off the island and the safety of the attendees, the police also patrolled the parking fields, maintaining a constant presence of 24 officers and three sergeants, mainly to prevent loitering and drinking and drug usage. In all, approximately 100 police officers patrolled Randall’s Island between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. on the day in question.

The contract between the City and Delsener provided for Delsener’s use of Downing Stadium and additional areas on Randall’s Island and required Delsener “[a]t its sole cost and expense * * * to operate an efficient vehicular parking operation at no charge to the public” and to provide “sufficient trained security personnel as may be necessary * * * for the proper policing of the [s]tadium and additional facilities.” Delsener had to prepare and submit for the approval of the Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation an operations plan that included security in the parking fields from one hour before the start of the concert until two hours after the last performance. Another of the contract’s provisions required Delsener to “maintain close liaison with [PEP] and New York City Police and cooperate with all efforts to remove disorderly patrons and illegal vendors from the [p]ermitted [123]*123and surrounding [p]remises and to ensure the safety and protection of all persons and property.”

Plaintiff, alleging negligence in failing to take reasonable security precautions, commenced this action against, inter alia, the City, the Department of Parks and Recreation and Delsener to recover for personal injuries.

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Bluebook (online)
293 A.D.2d 120, 741 N.Y.S.2d 233, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/florman-v-city-of-new-york-nyappdiv-2002.