Opinion
6008.
November 10, 2005.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Patricia Anne Williams, J.), entered on or about October 8, 2004, which denied the motions by defendant and plaintiff for summary judgment, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Melli, Guerin Wall, P.C., Paramus, NJ (Michelle Wall of counsel), for appellant-respondent.
Philip Newman, P.C., Bronx (Paul Bibuld of counsel), for respondent-appellant.
Lester Schwab Katz Dwyer, LLP, New York (Harry Steinberg of counsel), for appellant.
Before: Buckley, P.J., Saxe, Nardelli, Williams and Catterson, JJ., concur.
It is well settled that a manufacturer is not responsible for injuries resulting from substantial alterations to or modifications of a product by a third party that render the product defective or otherwise unsafe ( Robinson v. Reed-Prentice Div. of Package Mach. Co., 49 NY2d 471, 475), except where the product is purposefully manufactured to permit or encourage its use without a designed safety feature ( Liriano v. Hobart Corp., 92 NY2d 232). There are issues of fact as to when the alleged modification took place on the machine that led to plaintiff's injuries, and whether Smithe performed or authorized that alteration ( Lopez v. Precision Papers, 67 NY2d 871).
We have considered the parties' other arguments for affirmative relief and find them unavailing.