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Harris v. New York City Housing Authority

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 21, 1993
194 A.D.2d 714 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)

Opinion

June 21, 1993

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ramirez, J.).


Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The plaintiff was alone in a seventh floor apartment when he heard gunfire outside the apartment building and then in the hallway beyond the locked apartment door. The plaintiff exited the apartment through a rear window, climbing down the drainpipe until it ended at approximately the third floor. He then jumped to the ground. In the ensuing action, the plaintiff sought to impose liability based upon the defendant's alleged negligence in failing to maintain locks on the front doors of the apartment building.

The Supreme Court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment. We affirm. The plaintiff failed to submit evidence that the defendant had notice of prior criminal incidents or similar occurrences in the building, so as to give rise to a corresponding duty on the defendant's part to adopt security measures (see, Nallan v. Helmsley-Spear, Inc., 50 N.Y.2d 507; cf., Jacqueline S. v. City of New York, 81 N.Y.2d 288). In any event, even if the plaintiff could establish a duty on the part of the defendant, the failure to provide a lock on the front door was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries, since the plaintiff's leap from the drainpipe was an intervening act which could not have been foreseen (see, Rivera v. City of New York, 11 N.Y.2d 856). Sullivan, J.P., Miller, O'Brien and Ritter, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Harris v. New York City Housing Authority

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 21, 1993
194 A.D.2d 714 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
Case details for

Harris v. New York City Housing Authority

Case Details

Full title:ALBERT HARRIS, Appellant, v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, Respondent

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Jun 21, 1993

Citations

194 A.D.2d 714 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
600 N.Y.S.2d 102

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