P.R. Ex Rel. Shameka W. v. New York City Housing Authority

2017 NY Slip Op 7955, 155 A.D.3d 458, 63 N.Y.S.3d 672

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: November 14, 2017
• Docket: 4940 150649/12
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Cynthia S. Kern, J.), entered August 8, 2016, which granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Dismissal of the complaint was warranted in this action for personal injuries sustained when infant plaintiff slipped off the bed and fell against hot pipes that conveyed steam to the radiators in the apartment. The court properly concluded that defendant did not violate its common-law duty to plaintiffs in failing to insulate the hot pipes (see White v New York City Hous. Auth., 139 AD3d 579, 580 [1st Dept 2016]; see also Rivera v Nelson Realty, LLC, 7 NY3d 530, 535 [2006]). Plaintiffs argue that because the pipes were not the primary source of heat to the apartment, insulation would not have interfered with the functionality of the heating system, unlike in White. However, even plaintiffs’ expert acknowledged that the pipes were part of the heating system and supplied some heat to the room.

Concur—Richter, J.P., Mazzarelli, Kahn and Moulton, JJ.