People v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc.

146 Misc. 2d 547, 551 N.Y.S.2d 754, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 42
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedFebruary 5, 1990
StatusPublished

This text of 146 Misc. 2d 547 (People v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc., 146 Misc. 2d 547, 551 N.Y.S.2d 754, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 42 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Robert H. Straus, J.

In each of the above dockets, the defendant is charged with violating section 19-105 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York. It is alleged that on various dates and at various work sites the defendant failed to post suitable notices regarding unsafe conditions created by the excavation of roadways and/or sidewalk cuts. The defendant has moved to dismiss these actions pursuant to CPL 170.30 (1) (f) on the ground that section 19-105 is unconstitutionally vague.

[548]*548Administrative Code § 19-105 reads as follows: "Unsafe Conditions; notice. Whenever any person shall have authority, under any contract with the city or any officer thereof, or under any permit, to remove the pavement from or to excavate, occupy or use any part of a public street, so as to obstruct travel therein, he or she shall erect suitable notices of the obstructions in conspicuous positions, at all points of intersections of such street with the crossstreets nearest to the obstructions. Such notices shall be in the form prescribed by the department.”

The defendant concedes that no notices were posted at the locations where the alleged violations of section 19-105 occurred but argues that because the Department of Transportation never prescribed the form of the notice required to be posted pursuant to section 19-105 it was under no legal obligation to post any notices.

The defendant initially moved for dismissal of these dockets in the interest of justice based upon the failure of the Department of Transportation to prescribe the required form. In response to the defendant’s original motion, Corporation Counsel essentially acknowledged that the Department of Transportation had not prescribed the form. However, relying on Schulman v Consolidated Edison Co. (85 AD2d 186 [1st Dept 1982]), the Corporation Counsel asserted that defendant’s obligation to erect suitable notices (and incur criminal liability for failure to do so) was not contingent upon the Department of Transportation’s promulgation of such a form.

The court, believing that the defendant’s motion had raised a significant constitutional issue, requested the parties to submit legal memoranda on the issue of whether, in the absence of a prescribed form by the Department of Transportation, Administrative Code § 19-105 was void for vagueness.

In their brief the defendant argues that section 19-105 must be declared void for vagueness on two grounds: (1) the failure of the Department of Transportation to promulgate the form of the required notice, and (2) the lack of a definition in the statute for the terms "obstruction” and "[u]nsafe condition”.

In response to the court’s request, the Corporation Counsel for the first time asserted that the Department of Transportation had prescribed a form for the notices required under section 19-105 and that such was contained in section 2.0.17 of the New York City Department of Transportation Highway Regulations. In the alternative, again citing Schulman v [549]*549Consolidated Edison Co. (supra), the Corporation Counsel argues that even in the absence of a prescribed form, Administrative Code § 19-105 is not void for vagueness.

At the outset, the court notes that Corporation Counsel’s reliance on Schulman v Consolidated Edison Co. (supra) is misplaced. In Schulman, the court held that Administrative Code former § 692-5.0 (§ 19-105 in the revised Administrative Code) imposed a duty on Con Edison to post suitable notices regardless of a lack of a prescribed form and upheld the trial court’s instruction to the jury that it could consider Con Edison’s failure to post such a notice at an excavation site on the issue of negligence. The Schulman court, however, considered the application and effect of former section 692-5.0 in a civil liability context rather than in the context of a criminal action where a different set of interests are at stake. Surely, even without a statute requiring a particular form of notice of an unsafe condition at a work site, a reasonable notice warning the public of such a danger would be required to avoid civil liability for an accident that may occur at such a location. This court does not find the reasoning of Schulman to be necessarily controlling in a case where the issue is whether a defendant may incur criminal liability for failure to post notices if and where a statutorily required form of such notice has never been prescribed. That difficult issue, however, need not be reached by this court in the instant matter, for the Department of Transportation has, in fact, prescribed the form for the required notices in section 2.0.17 of the New York City Department of Transportation Highway Regulations.

Section 2.0.17 reads as follows:

"a. Every street opening, material pile or obstruction to the public on a sidewalk or roadway, shall be protected by barricades with red flags or signs placed at suitable intervals of not more than twenty (20) feet during twilight hours and during the night there shall be provided at such point where a sign or flag is required, a red lantern or red light which shall be kept burning from sundown to sunrise. Section 692-6.0 and Section 693a-2.0 A.C.

"b. Barricades, lights and warning signals shall be constructed and displayed in accordance with the ’Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways’.”

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways is a 1978 publication of the United States [550]*550Department of Transportation Federal Highways Administration. The manual sets forth the various types of warning and regulatory signs required for public roadways including size, shape and color of signs, proper techniques for erection of signs and proper placement of signs. Sections 6B-12 and 6B-13 of the manual prescribe the function, design and application and maintenance sites on public roadways and reads as follows:

"6B-12 Function

"Warning signs for construction and maintenance projects are used to notify drivers of specific hazards which may be encountered, when those operations are underway. Within the construction zone there may be a variety of temporary roadway facilities. Pavement width may be reduced. Open excavations may be present in or near the roadway, or travel across an unpaved section may be required. Drivers should be properly alerted to possible dangers ahead in sufficient time to adjust their speed for the hazard.

"6B-13 Design and Application

"Warning signs for construction and maintenance shall be diamond shaped (square with one diagonal vertical), having a black symbol or message on an orange background except as provided for herein.

"Construction. or maintenance operations on freeway or expressway facilities, may also require large movable warning signs. Mounting considerations for some of these signs may justify a change from the standard diamond shape to a rectangular shape, but such variances should have prior approval of the appropriate highway authority.

"The square Advisory Speed plate (sec. 6B-34) shall have a black message and border, and shall have an orange background when used in conjunction with an orange background sign and shall have a yellow background when used with a yellow background sign. It shall have a minimum 24 X 24 inches size when used with a 36 X 36 inches sign or larger.

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Related

People v. Cruz
399 N.E.2d 513 (New York Court of Appeals, 1979)
Schulman v. Consolidated Edison Co.
85 A.D.2d 186 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
146 Misc. 2d 547, 551 N.Y.S.2d 754, 1990 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-consolidated-edison-co-of-new-york-inc-nycrimct-1990.