Opinion
02-10-2015
Jozef ACAR, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. ECCLESIASTICAL ASSISTANCE CORPORATION, Defendant–Respondent, Montessori School of New York, Defendant.
Morelli Alters Ratner, LLP, New York (Adam Deutsch of counsel), for appellant. Leahey & Johnson, P.C., New York (Peter James Johnson, Jr. of counsel), for respondent.
Morelli Alters Ratner, LLP, New York (Adam Deutsch of counsel), for appellant.
Leahey & Johnson, P.C., New York (Peter James Johnson, Jr. of counsel), for respondent.
TOM, J.P., FRIEDMAN, ANDRIAS, DeGRASSE, GISCHE, JJ.
Opinion Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Louis B. York, J.), entered September 24, 2013, which granted defendant Ecclesiastical Assistance Corporation's (defendant) motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The affidavit of plaintiff's expert meteorologist was not sufficient to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether the ice upon which plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell was a result of melting and refreezing of runoff created by defendant's snow-clearing activities. As Supreme Court found, the meteorologist's opinion offered by plaintiff was speculative. Plaintiff's expert did not refute the testimony of defendant's maintenance supervisor that, shortly before plaintiff's fall, he had inspected the subject area and observed that it was free of ice. In any event, even if the snow removal efforts were incomplete, they did not exacerbate any hazardous condition (see Joseph v. Pitkin Carpet, Inc., 44 A.D.3d 462, 843 N.Y.S.2d 586 [1st Dept.2007] ).