Matter of New York Black Car Operators' Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. v. City of New York

2024 NY Slip Op 32219(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedJuly 1, 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 32219(U) (Matter of New York Black Car Operators' Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. v. City of New York) 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
Matter of New York Black Car Operators' Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. v. City of New York, 2024 NY Slip Op 32219(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Matter of New York Black Car Operators' Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. v City of New York 2024 NY Slip Op 32219(U) July 1, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 452422/2023 Judge: John J. Kelley 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. 452422/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 12 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 07/01/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. JOHN J. KELLEY PART 56M Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 452422/2023 In the Matter of MOTION DATE 07/12/2024 NEW YORK BLACK CAR OPERATORS' INJURY COMPENSATION FUND, INC. also known as NEW YORK MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 BLACK CAR FUND, as subrogee of CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS,

Petitioner, DECISION, ORDER, AND -v- JUDGMENT CITY OF NEW YORK,

Respondent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 were read on this motion to/for CONFIRM/DISAPPROVE AWARD/REPORT .

New York Black Car Operators’ Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. (NYBCOICF), also

known as New York Black Car Fund, petitions pursuant to CPLR 7510 to confirm two arbitration

awards, dated March 7, 2023, and August 17, 2023, respectively, made by an arbitrator acting

under the auspices of Arbitration Forums, Inc. (AFI), and pursuant to CPLR 7514 to direct the

entry of judgment thereon. The respondent, City of New York, does not oppose the petition.

The petition is granted, the awards rendered under AFI Docket Nos. I2301BBCCE8-C1-D1 and

I2301BBCCE8-C1-D2 are confirmed, and NYBCOICF is entitled to enter a money judgment

against the City in the principal sum of $2,783.68, plus statutory interest on the sum of $216.67

from March 7, 2023 and on the sum of $2,567.01 from August 17, 2023.

NYBCOICF was the insurer of a motor vehicle owned and operated by Christian

Contreras, who operated the vehicle in his capacity as an employee of the Lyft ride-share

company, which was a member of NYBCOICF. The City was the owner of a police vehicle that

452422/2023 IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF NEW YORK BLACK CAR Page 1 of 7 OPERATORS' INJURY COMPENSATION FUND INC. A/K/A NEW YORK BLACK CAR FUND AS SUBROGEE OF CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS vs. CITY OF NEW YORK Motion No. 001

1 of 7 [* 1] INDEX NO. 452422/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 12 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 07/01/2024

was operated by New York City Police Department (NYPD) Officer Armando Arias. On

November 27, 2022, Contreras was proceeding westbound on West 167th Street in Bronx, New

York, when Arias proceeded in an emergency capacity southbound on Ogden Avenue, and

approached the intersection of those two thoroughfares. As Arias approached the intersection,

a red light governed traffic traveling southbound on Ogden Avenue. Arias had activated his

emergency lights and sirens as he approached the intersection. Arias did not stop his vehicle at

the red light and entered the intersection, at which time Contreras’s vehicle struck Arias’s NYPD

vehicle, causing the police vehicle to spin off the roadway.

Contreras thereafter made a claim upon his insurer, NYBCOICF, for Workers’

Compensation benefits in lieu of first-party no-fault benefits (see A.I. Transp. v New York State

Ins. Fund, 301 AD2d 380, 380 [1st Dept 2003]; Arvatz v Empire Mut. Ins. Co., 171 AD2d 262,

268 [1st Dept 1991]; Insurance Law §§ 5102[a], [b]; 5103 [a]; Workers' Compensation Law §

2[3]). NYBCOICF paid claims totaling on Contreras’s behalf in the sum of $7,927.97 in medical

benefits, and in two separate sums of $866.66 and $2,340.06, respectively, in lost wages.

Inasmuch as the vehicle that NYBCOICF had insured was a “motor vehicle used

principally for the transportation of persons or property for hire” (Insurance Law § 5105[a]),

NYBCOICF was entitled to seek a personal injury protection (PIP) or Workers’ Compensation

“loss transfer” from the City to reimburse it for the benefits that it had paid out to Contreras (see

A.I. Transp. v New York State Ins. Fund, 301 AD2d at 380). To obtain this loss transfer,

NYBCOICF was required to establish that Arias, as the operator of the self-insured City vehicle,

was completely or partially at fault in the happening of the accident. Insurance Law § 5105(b)

provides that, where an insurer seeks to recover first-party benefits/PIP or Workers’

Compensation loss transfer from the “insurer of any other covered person” on the ground that

the other covered person was at fault in the happening of the accident, “[t]he sole remedy . . .

shall be the submission of the controversy to mandatory arbitration pursuant to procedures

452422/2023 IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF NEW YORK BLACK CAR Page 2 of 7 OPERATORS' INJURY COMPENSATION FUND INC. A/K/A NEW YORK BLACK CAR FUND AS SUBROGEE OF CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS vs. CITY OF NEW YORK Motion No. 001

2 of 7 [* 2] INDEX NO. 452422/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 12 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 07/01/2024

promulgated or approved by the superintendent” of the New York State Department of Financial

Services. Pursuant to those regulations, AFI has been designated as the exclusive forum for

resolution of no-fault related arbitration matters (see 11 NYCRR 65.10).

On January 10, 2023, NYBCOICF demanded inter-insurer arbitration with the City before

AFI, and thus filed a PIP loss-transfer arbitration claim with AFI. In an initial award dated March

7, 2023, an AFI arbitrator found Contreras’s description of the accident to be credible. The

arbitrator noted that although Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(b)(2) provides that “[t]he driver of

an authorized emergency vehicle may . . . [p]roceed past a steady red signal, a flashing red

signal or a stop sign,” that driver may do so “only after slowing down as may be necessary for

safe operation.” Thus, although Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(e) “establishes a reckless

disregard standard of care for determining . . . civil liability for damages resulting from the

privileged operation of an emergency vehicle; if the conduct causing the accident resulting in

injuries and damages is not privileged under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(b), the standard of

care for determining civil liability is ordinary negligence” (Kabir v County of Monroe, 16 NY3d

217, 230-231 [2011] [citation and internal quotation marks omitted]). The arbitrator found that

Arias did not slow down to the extent necessary for the safe operation of his vehicle and, hence,

he did not engage in vehicular operation that was privileged by Vehicle and Traffic Law §

1104(b). Thus, she found that Arias was negligent, and that he was 25% at fault in the

happening of the subject accident. Upon finding that the amount of medical expenses and lost

wages that Contreras claimed had been “proven,” and multiplying those amounts by 25%, she

determined, in two separate awards dated March 7, 2023 and August 17, 2023, respectively,

that the City was obligated to pay NYBCOICF the total sum of $2,783.68 in first-party benefits

for Contreras’s basic economic loss. On September 25, 2023, NYBCOICF commenced this

proceeding to confirm the awards.

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2024 NY Slip Op 32219(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-new-york-black-car-operators-injury-compensation-fund-inc-v-nysupctnewyork-2024.