Tompa v. 767 Fifth Partners, LLC

113 A.D.3d 466, 979 N.Y.2d 288

This text of 113 A.D.3d 466 (Tompa v. 767 Fifth Partners, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tompa v. 767 Fifth Partners, LLC, 113 A.D.3d 466, 979 N.Y.2d 288 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Defendant established its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law in this action in which plaintiff alleges that she slipped and fell on a thin sheet of ice on the plaza in front of defendant’s building. Defendant submitted evidence — including testimony from the building’s security director and from the operations manager of third-party defendant Temco Service Industries, Inc., which provided cleaning and janitorial services — showing that defendant neither created nor had notice of the icy condition of the plaza.

Additionally, there is no evidence that defendant had actual or constructive notice of the icy condition (see Gordon v American Museum of Natural History, 67 NY2d 836 [1986]). The evidence submitted by defendant, including security logs, establishes that defendant’s employees routinely inspected the area where plaintiff fell, had conducted an inspection one hour prior to her accident, and did not observe any ice. In opposition and in support of her cross motion, plaintiff failed to provide evidence showing that the ice was discernable.

On appeal, plaintiff does not dispute defendant’s lack of actual notice of ice on the plaza, having conceded, at her examination before trial, that it was not visible. She testified that although conditions at about 9:30 a.m. were bright and clear, it “looked like a thin layer of ice that wasn’t noticeable enough for me to see it before I fell.” Thus, the record establishes that the hazardous condition was not “visible and apparent” so as to enable defendant’s employees to discover it and take remedial measures [467]*467(Gordon, 67 NY2d at 837; see Harrison v New York City Tr. Auth., 94 AD3d 512 [1st Dept 2012]).

Plaintiff argues that the only possible source of the water that froze on the plaza was a fountain situated in the area where she fell. She advances two theories: (1) that defendant created the icy condition by running its fountains in windy weather and notice need not be established or (2) that icing was a “recurrent condition” as a result of water being blown onto the plaza from the fountains so that defendant is properly chargeable with constructive notice of each subsequent recurrence of the condition. Plaintiff posits that the ice was the result of an “overspray condition” from the nearby fountain and submitted weather records reflecting an average wind speed of 13.5 miles an hour and wind gusts of up to 37 miles an hour during the course of the day on which the accident occurred (without indicating the specific time of the measured gusts). In addition, the weather records indicate that a trace of snow fell during each hourly interval between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.

While there is a reflecting pool with a fountain located in the vicinity of the area where plaintiff fell, there is no evidence that the fountain was running. At her deposition, plaintiff stated, “I believe it was off,” and recalled only that the fountain basins had some water in them. Thus, plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that defendant caused the icy condition.

As to plaintiff’s alternative theory, nothing in the record establishes that water from the fountains was routinely deposited on the plaza to support her claim that this was a recurring condition. Nor does she establish the particular weather necessary to create the alleged icy condition. As depicted in the record, the reflecting pools are recessed below the level of the plaza. Each fountain consists of an array of sixteen water outlets, situated in the center of the pool, which elevate water to a modest height of perhaps one foot. Plaintiff s opposing papers fail to describe the mechanism by which water would be propelled from the fountain onto the plaza’s surface, even assuming that the fountain was running. Specifically, there is no proof of the wind speed required. Thus, her theory presents an intriguing problem in fluid dynamics (windage) well beyond the knowledge and experience of the average jurist, requiring expert testimony to support such a hypothesis (see Carter v Metro N Assoc., 255 AD2d 251 [1st Dept 1998]; Ecco High Frequency Corp. v Amtorg Trading Corp., 81 NYS2d 610, 617 [1948]). In sum, even assuming that “overspray” from the fountains was a recurring condition, as plaintiff contends, there is no evidence regarding the weather conditions that might [468]*468cause this effect and, arguably, put defendant on notice that icing was likely to occur.

Finally, plaintiffs assertion that the fountain must have been the source of the water on the plaza ignores the evidence contained in the weather records for the date — a trace of snow fell during each hour between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. that morning. Plaintiffs claim is based on sheer surmise — that defendant’s fountain was operating, that certain weather conditions can cause water to be blown onto the plaza, that conditions on the morning of her accident were sufficient to cause water to accumulate on the plaza, where it froze, and that defendant should have known that the weather conditions that morning would cause an icy condition requiring it to take preventive action (Bernstein v City of New York, 69 NY2d 1020, 1021-1022 [1987]).

Since defendant’s purported knowledge of the hazardous condition is supported only by speculation, summary judgment is warranted (see Acevedo v York Intl. Corp., 31 AD3d 255, 256 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 8 NY3d 803 [2007]).

We have considered plaintiffs remaining arguments and find them unavailing. Concur — Tom, J.E, Friedman and Freedman, JJ.

Feinman, J., dissents in part in a memorandum as follows: I respectfully dissent in part because defendant failed to establish a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment. Although I agree with the majority that the branch of plaintiffs cross motion which sought summary judgment was properly denied, I do so because the cross motion was untimely filed and should not have been considered (see Brill v City of New York, 2 NY3d 648 [2004]; Kershaw v Hospital for Special Surgery, 114 AD3d 75 [1st Dept 2013]).

Plaintiff alleges that she was injured on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at about 9:30 a.m., when, after taking three or four steps on the plaza in front of defendant’s building known as the GM building at 767 Fifth Avenue,

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Bluebook (online)
113 A.D.3d 466, 979 N.Y.2d 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tompa-v-767-fifth-partners-llc-nyappdiv-2014.