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Lebron v. New York City Housing Authority

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 31, 2000
268 A.D.2d 563 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)

Opinion

Submitted May 20, 1999

January 31, 2000

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Barasch, J.), dated May 26, 1998, which granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

Stuart J. Silverman, Rockville Centre, N.Y., for appellant.

Cullen and Dykman, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Michael Sande of counsel), for respondent.

FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., SONDRA MILLER, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.


DECISION ORDER

ORDERED that order is affirmed, with costs.

The infant plaintiff was injured when he was bitten by a dog owned by a tenant of the defendant. The keeping of the dog by the tenant was in violation of the tenant's lease with the defendant. In a case arising from a dog bite, where, as here, the plaintiff is seeking to recover against a defendant landlord under a theory of strict liability, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had both notice that the dog was being harbored on the premises, and that the dog had vicious propensities of which the defendant knew, or should have known (see, Beljean v. Maiuzzo, 256 A.D.2d 533 ).

The defendant's moving papers established a prima facie case of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. The burden then shifted to the plaintiff to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether the defendant had knowledge that the tenant was harboring the animal on the premises and, if so, whether the defendant also knew that the dog had vicious propensities (see, Alvarez v. Prospect Hosp., 68 N.Y.2d 320 ; see also, Strunk v. Zoltanski, 96 A.D.2d 1074, affd 62 N.Y.2d 572 ).

Contrary to the plaintiff's contention, she failed to raise a triable issue of fact that the defendant possessed such knowledge. Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted summary judgment to the defendant (see, Alvarez v. Prospect Hosp., supra; Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557 ).

SANTUCCI, J.P., S. MILLER, FEUERSTEIN, and SMITH, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Lebron v. New York City Housing Authority

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 31, 2000
268 A.D.2d 563 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)
Case details for

Lebron v. New York City Housing Authority

Case Details

Full title:MARIA A. LEBRON, etc., appellant, v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY…

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

Date published: Jan 31, 2000

Citations

268 A.D.2d 563 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)
702 N.Y.S.2d 623

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