Langston v. Gonzalez

39 Misc. 3d 371
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 4, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 39 Misc. 3d 371 (Langston v. Gonzalez) 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
Langston v. Gonzalez, 39 Misc. 3d 371 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Debra Silber, J.

The decision/order on these motions is as follows:

Defendant Benito Gonzalez, doing business as Neighborhood Grocery, moves for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against him and all cross claims. Defendant Albert Long also moves for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against him or, alternatively, for summary judgment against Gonzalez on his cross claims for contractual indemnification. Plaintiff opposes both motions. Gonzalez opposes the Long motion in part. For the reasons set forth herein, the Gonzalez motion is granted and the Long motion is denied.

Plaintiff claims he sustained personal injuries on November 4, 2009, when he tripped and fell on a sidewalk located appurtenant to defendant Gonzalez’s grocery store, which is located on the ground floor of an apartment building owned by defendant Long, allegedly because of a defect in the metal cellar doors on the sidewalk. Defendants claim that they neither caused nor had notice of any defective condition and that any defect in the cellar doors was trivial as a matter of law. Defendant Gonzalez also maintains that he owed plaintiff no duty of care with respect to the maintenance of the cellar doors. He also argues that codefendant Long, who owns the property, has no actionable indemnification claim against him and asks that Long’s cross claims be dismissed.

Plaintiff testified at his examination before trial (EBT) that he went into the defendant’s store to buy cigarettes. Upon leaving, he was walking on Jackson Street and moved aside to let a person with a baby carriage go by. As he did so, he caught his foot on the metal cellar doors on the sidewalk. The doors were closed at the time of the accident. He fell and was injured.

Black and white copies of photographs attached to both the defendants’ motions and plaintiff’s opposition show what is described by plaintiff as visible gaps between the two cellar doors, and gaps between one of the doors and its metal frame. [374]*374Plaintiffs testimony states the photos show the condition of the cellar doors at the time of his accident.

Gonzalez’s son, Benito, Jr., testified at his EBT that he was present at the store when the accident occurred. He saw plaintiff tell the ambulance driver he tripped over the cellar doors. He testified that everyone who worked at the grocery used the doors, as they provided access to the cellar, where the store’s inventory was kept. He himself used them about 10 times a day. In the four years he worked at the store, he never made any repairs to the cellar doors. He never replaced them. He never had received any complaints about them. He said that it was his understanding that the lease provides that it is the store’s responsibility to fix the cellar doors if they need to be repaired. However, the cellar is not mentioned in the lease at all, nor is there any reference to the cellar doors.

Albert Long, the building’s owner, testified at his EBT that he’s owned the building for 14 years and the grocery is the commercial tenant. He himself visits the property at least every other week to check on the building, which has six residential apartments. He is “not an absentee landlord.” He checks building conditions, including the sidewalk. He is unaware of any prior accidents involving the cellar doors. He’s never repaired the cellar doors. They were there when he purchased the building. He made repairs to the sidewalk in 2001 or 2002, because there were cracks in the sidewalk. He hired the company and the grocery split the cost with him. He said it is his understanding that it is the store’s responsibility to fix the cellar doors if they need to be repaired.

Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs Action

Defendants both aver that, if there was a defect, it was trivial. Generally, whether a dangerous or defective condition exists depends on the particular facts of each case, and is properly a question of fact for the jury unless the defect is demonstrated to be trivial as a matter of law. (See Trincere v County of Suffolk, 90 NY2d 976, 977 [1997]; Fisher v JRMR Realty Corp., 63 AD3d 677 [2d Dept 2009]; DeLaRosa v City of New York, 61 AD3d 813 [2d Dept 2009].) Property owners (and their commercial tenants) may not be held liable for trivial defects not constituting a trap or nuisance, over which a pedestrian might merely stumble, stub his or her toe, or trip. (See Trincere v County of Suffolk, 90 NY2d at 977; DeLaRosa v City of New York, 61 AD3d at 813; Shiles v Carillon Nursing & Rehabilitation Ctr., LLC, 54 AD3d 746 [2d Dept 2008].) In determining whether a defect is trivial [375]*375as a matter of law, the court must examine all of the facts presented, including the width, depth, elevation, irregularity and appearance of the defect, along with the time, place and circumstance of the injury. (Trincere v County of Suffolk, 90 NY2d at 978, quoting Caldwell v Village of Is. Park, 304 NY 268, 274 [1952]; Fontana v Winery, 84 AD3d 863, 864-865 [2d Dept 2011].) There is no “minimal dimension test” or “per se rule” that the condition must be of a certain height or depth in order to be actionable. (See Trincere v County of Suffolk, 90 NY2d at 977; Ricker v Board of Educ. of Town of Hyde Park, 61 AD3d 735 [2d Dept 2009].)

Defendants have not made a prima facie showing that, as a matter of law, the allegedly defective condition did not constitute a trap or nuisance and was merely a non-actionable trivial defect. Neither defendant included in his papers the report of any expert, such as an engineer, who might have inspected the sidewalk area and measured the alleged defect(s) in the subject cellar doors and opined about their size and/or significance and whether or not they (or it) are (is) indeed trivial. (See e.g. DePascale v E&A Constr. Corp., 74 AD3d 1128, 1131 [2d Dept 2010]; Zalkin v City of New York, 36 AD3d 801, 802 [2d Dept 2007]; Nathan v City of New Rochelle, 282 AD2d 585, 585-586 [2d Dept 2001]; Lopez v New York City Hous. Auth., 245 AD2d 273, 274 [2d Dept 1997].) Defendants do not provide any proof that the alleged height differential is less than one-half inch and thus in compliance with Administrative Code of the City of New York § 19-152. (See Rossy v Miracle Pentecostal Church, 2012 NY Slip Op 30216[U] [Sup Ct, NY County 2012]; Green v City of New York, 76 AD3d 508 [2d Dept 2010].) Finally, defendants’ reliance upon fuzzy photographs to demonstrate that the defect was too trivial to be actionable is misplaced. The photographs are of poor quality and do not establish that the alleged defect is trivial as a matter of law. (See e.g. Cohen v Tuneway Co., 35 AD3d 340, 341 [2d Dept 2006]; Corrado v City of New York, 6 AD3d 380, 380-381 [2d Dept 2004].)

Defendants next argue that they did not have actual or constructive notice of the alleged defect. This argument is unavailing. The condition of the cellar doors is not analogous to spilt liquid or garbage which has been strewn or blown into the area. To be clear, inasmuch as the alleged defect was not transient, temporary or moveable in nature, defendants’ claim that they did not have actual or constructive notice of the alleged defect is not an appropriate argument here. Because Mr. [376]*376Gonzalez testified that he and his staff used the doors at frequent intervals every day, he cannot claim that he did not have actual or constructive notice of the condition of the cellar doors.

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Bluebook (online)
39 Misc. 3d 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langston-v-gonzalez-nysupct-2013.