Kivlehan v. 2220 Adams Place Realty Corp.

2 Misc. 3d 851, 774 N.Y.S.2d 626, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1697
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 31, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2 Misc. 3d 851 (Kivlehan v. 2220 Adams Place Realty Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kivlehan v. 2220 Adams Place Realty Corp., 2 Misc. 3d 851, 774 N.Y.S.2d 626, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1697 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Gerald Esposito, J.

Motion by defendant for summary judgment to dismiss plaintiffs complaint is decided in accordance with the following:

[853]*853In this action, the plaintiff seeks recovery for an injury he sustained, to his wrist on August 24, 1999. On that date, the plaintiff was employed as a police officer with the New York City Police Department in the Tracer Unit, in the 48th Precinct, Bronx, New York. The Tracer Unit concentrates on drug enforcement tactics within problem areas of a given precinct. As stated in the affirmation in opposition, the plaintiffs version of how he was injured is as follows:

“During the course of his tour [of duty] on August 24, 1999, the Tracer Unit was involved in a street narcotics enforcement unit operation. The target of this operation was drug sales which were taking place in front of defendant’s building . . . [The p]laintiff was stationed on the roof of an adjacent building observing activities taking place in front of [the building when he] observed a male Latino [later revealed to be Mel Apodaca, the brother of one of the tenants in the building] conducting drug sales . . . [The drugs were being stored in a] baby carriage . . . [The plaintiff] relayed this information to his partner [who then entered a radio patrol car with two other officers]. When Mr. Apodaca observed the patrol car approaching the premises, he fled into the building, followed shortly thereafter by the three police officers . . . [The plaintiff] left the adjacent rooftop ... to assist in the apprehension. While en route to the front of 2220 Adams Place, [the plaintiff] heard his fellow officers calling for help on the police radio . . . Upon arriving at the front door of 2220 Adams Place, [the plaintiff] found that the outer door to the premises was locked. The building had a vestibule area with a door communication intercom system to permit tenants to buzz open the interior entry door to the hallway of the premises . . . [The plaintiff] began yelling and knocking on the windows of the adjoining apartment in the hope that someone would open the outer door . . . Realizing that he could no longer stand by and wait for someone to open the locked door for him, [the plaintiff] broke the glass in the door with his portable radio and put his hand through the glass to unlock the door. Unfortunately, in the course of this process, [the plaintiff] seriously injured himself, suffering a severe laceration to the right hand and wrist . . . After gaining access to the vestibule, a [854]*854second officer came by and, time being of the essence, broke the glass to the interior door and the two officers entered the premises and proceeded to the fifth floor to assist in the arrest of Mr. Apodaca.”

As stated in plaintiffs examination before trial, a copy of the transcript of which is annexed to the moving papers as exhibit D (hereinafter referred to as plaintiffs tr.), the incident took place between 11:30 and 12:00 p.m. (Plaintiffs tr. at 27.) He did not recall the address of the adjacent building where he was stationed on the date of the incident. He was there as part of the street narcotic enforcement unit which would observe drug sale transactions and arrest the individuals involved. (Plaintiffs tr. at 11.) He did not recall how many police officers were involved in this operation on the date in question. Plaintiff knew that there was a program entitled the “Clean Halls” program whereby a landlord would execute an affidavit requesting that individuals be arrested as trespassers if they are present in the building but are not there as tenants or visitors. He did not know whether, as part of that program, the landlord would have to supply the police department with keys to the building, and did not know if the defendant was a member of the “Clean Halls” program; however, he did know police officers who did have keys to buildings. (Plaintiffs tr. at 21.) When the decision was made to arrest Mr. Apodaca, the plaintiff radioed the information to his partner. Plaintiffs partner “went down the street. He was in a marked radio motor patrol car. Mr. Apodaca saw him coming down the street. He fled inside the building. [Plaintiffs] partner attempted to get in. And he got in. He got in with [two other officers].” (Id. at 25.) Plaintiff described the locked outer front door as being a wire mesh steel door. (Id. at 29.) To gain entry to the building the plaintiff “struck the window with [his] radio and then at that point [he] severed [the] nerve on [his] hand.” (Id. at 30.) When asked if he actually injured his hand while he was putting the radio through the window, the plaintiff answered, “Yes.” (Id. at 31.) Mr. Apodaca was subsequently apprehended, tried and convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance. (Id. at 38-39.)

Plaintiff alleges two causes of action in his complaint. The first cause of action seeks recovery based on common-law negligence. The second cause of action seeks recovery pursuant to General Municipal Law § 205-e. Briefly stated, plaintiff contends that the defendant was negligent in two respects: the first is in allowing criminal activity to be transacted on its premises, and the second is in locking the outer vestibule door.

[855]*855On October 23, 2001, Ms. Catherine Macri testified at an examination before trial on behalf of the defendant. A copy of her testimony is annexed to the moving papers as exhibit E (hereinafter referred to as tr.). Briefly stated, Ms. Macri testified that she is the president of the defendant corporation. (Tr. at 7.) She is also employed by Cosmopolitan Property Management, Inc., as its president. Cosmopolitan is employed by the defendant as its managing agent and was the managing agent at the time the plaintiff was injured. (Tr. at 6.)

The address 2220 Adams Place, Bronx, New York, is a multifamily residential building with 15 units, 3 on each floor. (Tr. at 11.)

In 1996, Ms. Macri enrolled this building in the police department’s “Clean Halls” program because the block where the building is located was experiencing “a lot of drug activity.” (Tr. at 13.) The program requires that the police department be given an affidavit of enrollment, keys to the building, and a list of tenants, every three months. “In return, the police department is supposed to watch the building for you. Make their rounds, arrest anyone who’s loitering in front of the building, who does not belong there, who cannot prove that they belong in the building.” (Tr. at 13-14.)

A tenant named Lisa Cosme resided in unit E3, on the fifth floor, at the time the plaintiff was injured. She had resided in the building since 1994. While Ms. Macri did not receive any complaints from tenants or the police regarding Ms. Cosme, the superintendent of the building told her that Ms. Cosme’s brother had been released from jail, and as a result thereof, “there was drug activity and people hanging out in front of the building.” (Tr. at 16.) Ms. Macri contacted the police and gave them all the information which was available to her. She also telephoned Ms. Cosme and informed her that the superintendent had advised her that Ms. Cosme’s brother had been released from prison and that there was drug activity “going on” in front of the building, “and perhaps that was her brother.” (Id.) Ms. Macri asked Ms. Cosme not to stay in front of the building. Ms. Cosme responded that her brother was leaving and that she would talk to him about it. (Tr. at 17.)

Ms.

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Related

Kivlehan v. 2220 Adams Place Realty Corp.
2003 NY Slip Op 23968 (New York Supreme Court, Bronx County, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Misc. 3d 851, 774 N.Y.S.2d 626, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1697, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kivlehan-v-2220-adams-place-realty-corp-nysupct-2003.