Opinion
2015-06833 Index No. 17004/12.
02-10-2016
Talene PERRY–RENWICK, respondent, v. GIOVANNI MACCHIA LANDSCAPING & GARDENING, INC., appellant.
Gorton & Gorton LLP, Mineola, N.Y. (John T. Gorton of counsel), for appellant. Bernstone and Grieco, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Matthew A. Schroeder of counsel), for respondent.
Gorton & Gorton LLP, Mineola, N.Y. (John T. Gorton of counsel), for appellant.
Bernstone and Grieco, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Matthew A. Schroeder of counsel), for respondent.
Opinion
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Lewis, J.), dated May 15, 2015, which denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
On January 10, 2011, the plaintiff was walking on the roof level of a garage in Brooklyn owned by nonparty Maimonides Hospital when she allegedly slipped and fell on a large patch of ice. At the time of the accident, the plaintiff was employed by Maimonides Hospital as a registered nurse, and the defendant had an oral agreement with Maimonides Hospital to remove snow from the garage in question.
The Supreme Court properly denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. The plaintiff alleged facts in her pleadings in support of her allegation that the defendant created or exacerbated an alleged dangerous condition. In support of its motion for summary judgment, the defendant was, therefore, required to establish, prima facie, that it did not create or exacerbate an alleged dangerous condition (see Espinal v. Melville Snow Contrs., 98 N.Y.2d 136, 140, 746 N.Y.S.2d 120, 773 N.E.2d 485; Harris v. Lanai House, Inc., 111 A.D.3d 603, 603–604, 974 N.Y.S.2d 118; Benavides v. 30 Brooklyn, LLC, 96 A.D.3d 889, 890, 946 N.Y.S.2d 513; Gushin v. Whispering Hills Condominium I, 96 A.D.3d 721, 722, 946 N.Y.S.2d 202). The defendant failed to establish, prima facie, that it did not create or exacerbate a dangerous condition and, thus, launch a force or instrument of harm (see Harris v. Lanai House, Inc., 111 A.D.3d at 603–604, 974 N.Y.S.2d 118). Since the defendant failed to make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, we need not examine the sufficiency of the opposition papers (see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 N.Y.2d 851, 487 N.Y.S.2d 316, 476 N.E.2d 642).