Ryan v. State

192 Misc. 408, 77 N.Y.S.2d 764, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2192
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedMarch 24, 1948
DocketClaim No. 28310
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 192 Misc. 408 (Ryan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. State, 192 Misc. 408, 77 N.Y.S.2d 764, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2192 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1948).

Opinion

Lambíase, J.

The State of New York owns, operates and maintains Allegany State Park as part of its park system. It owns and maintains therein a number of cabins, and in its operation of said park, rents them out furnished for short periods of time. Included among said cabins there was on the 28th day of July, 1946, and there had been for some years previous thereto, one known and described as Cabin No. 8 which, at all times in the claim herein mentioned, was located on what is designated as the Kaiser Trail of the so-called Quaker Area of said park.

On or about July 11,1946, claimant and her husband, Matthew Ryan, rented from the State of New York, for a valuable consideration, the aforementioned Cabin No. 8 for the period commencing noon July 27, 1946, and ending noon, August 3, 1946. Immediately prior to their rental of said cabin, they had been shown three cabins one of which was Cabin No. 8. At that time claimant and her husband went inside Cabin No. 8 for "a few moments, but neither at that time nor at any time prior to their moving into said cabin did they go out upon the open porch located and attached to the rear of the cabin and forming a part thereof. In due course and on or about July 27, 1946, at or about 6:30 p.m., claimant, her husband and her children moved into and took possession of said cabin intending to spend their vacation there.

On the morning of July 28,1946, at about 11:30 a.m. claimant stepped from the interior of the cabin on to the back porch thereof and had taken but a few steps thereon when her left leg went through the planking or board floor thereof and became wedged in the opening in the floor thus made. As the result thereof she sustained certain injuries to her said leg and incurred [410]*410certain expenses in connection with, the care and treatment thereof, all of which are more particularly discussed and described hereinafter.

Cabin No. 8 had been built without a porch about the year 1930. Some time in 1936 or 1937, the porch, an open one, was built by someone other than the State of New York. Since the building of the porch, the State had made repairs to it and had maintained it and the cabin.

On or about June 5, 1946, one of the State’s employees, a ranger employed in the park, reported in writing to the supervising park ranger, his immediate superior, that while inspecting cabins on a routine patrol in the Quaker Area of the park, the worst condition which he had found in connection with them was with reference to porches and railings, and particularly those porches built without roofs. He reported that such porches, and particularly those without roofs, had rotted to the danger point, and suggested and recommended that the first attention of the carpenters should be given to them. Cabin No. 8, the one involved herein, was included among the cabins thus inspected and thus reported upon and was one of a number of cabins which had a porch without a roof. Thereafter and some time during the early part of June the supervising park ranger of Allegany State Park, whose duties included, among other things, that of protecting the health and safety of visitors to .the park, personally inspected the back porch of Cabin No. 8, and particularly the floor thereof, and found that the said floor, which was composed of unmatched hard and soft wood, was partly rotted underneath, that is on its under side. He described the planks in the floor as old and “ dozey ”, the latter term meaning, he explained, that the planks and boards were brittle and about to break at any time. During the course of his inspection, he walked across the 128 square feet of the floor surface of the porch about three times, during which, he testified, that he “ put my weight on one foot and sprung a little bit to try the different boards ”. He further stated that his “ inspection consisted of jumping and walking across the back porch ”. As the result of these tests he then notified the executive secretary of the park of the said condition sending in a report stating therein that repairs should be made to the cabins in the Quaker Area, and that he could find none that could be considered safe.

No repairs were made by the State to the back porch of said cabin between the time that notice of said condition was thus [411]*411brought to its attention and the time that claimant and her family moved into the cabin. Furthermore, the State of New York, its agents, servants, and employees, gave no warning and made no disclosure of the dangerous condition of the floor or planking of said porch to claimant and her husband at any time up to the happening of the accident.

As the result of the accident hereinbefore described, claimant sustained personal injuries consisting of a large contusion with a hematoma or swelling of the left thigh. There resulted from said injury an area of ecchymosis or black and blue or hemorrhage which extended from the upper part of the thigh to and around and in back of the knee. She developed a condition of the thigh known as phlebitis which her doctor stated to be entirely due to the injury, although he stated that he did not-believe that claimant would have any permanent disability therefrom. Claimant’s injuries were painful, and she was unable to perform her ordinary household duties as a housewife for a considerable period of time, although she was ambulatory during most of the period of her disability. She was compelled to and did, out of her own funds, pay for the services of a physician and for medicines, and for the performance by her sister of work in her household, which work she ordinarily would have done herself. In addition thereto, she sustained other damages which are more particularly set forth in the claim but which we do not deem necessary to specifically mention herein.

Claimant sues herein for the recovery of the damages sustained as hereinbefore mentioned which she claims arose out of the negligence of the State of New York in operating and maintaining for hire the aforesaid cabin, and particularly in knowingly permitting the floor of said cabin to remain in a dangerous condition which condition she maintains caused her to fall and to suffer the injuries hereinbefore mentioned and in her claim detailed. The State, while not denying the existence of the defects claimed by the claimant, maintains on its part that the claimant rented the cabin without warranties and without representation on its part; that such defects as are alleged by claimant were obvious and were capable of being observed upon inspection; and that claimant should have observed them and could have discovered them in the course of the exercise of reasonable care.

The liability of the State of New York must be predicated herein upon proof of a breach of its common-law duty as a landlord; and in that connection there are decisions holding to [412]*412the effect that a landlord is not liable for his negligence in leaving a building in a dangerous condition when it is let. (Jaffe v. Harteau, 56 N. Y. 398; Campbell v. Holding Co., Inc., 251 N. Y. 446.) There is, however, an exception to the foregoing rule in that when there are concealed defects attended with danger to a lessee, known to the lessor, and of such a nature as not to be discovered by the lessee in the exercise of reasonable care, the lessor is bound to reveal them to the lessee in order that the latter may guard against them; and the failure of the lessor so to do constitutes such negligence as lays the foundation for an action against the lessor if injury occurs. (Cesar v. Karutz, 60 N. Y. 229; Steefel v. Rothschild,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Rhee v. HIGHLAND DEVELOPMENT CORP.
958 A.2d 385 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2008)
Boland v. Morrill
148 N.W.2d 143 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1967)
Faber v. Creswick
156 A.2d 252 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1959)
Kiechle v. Circelli
10 Misc. 2d 1016 (City of New York Municipal Court, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 Misc. 408, 77 N.Y.S.2d 764, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-state-nyclaimsct-1948.