Opinion
234 A.D.2d 74 650 N.Y.S.2d 231 Jane DOE, et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellants, and Pinkerton's Inc., Defendant. Supreme Court of New York, First Department December 10, 1996.
Michel Baumeister, for Plaintiffs-Respondents.
Steven A. Lee, for Defendants-Appellants.
Before MILONAS, J.P., and WALLACH, KUPFERMAN, TOM and ANDRIAS, JJ.
MEMORANDUM DECISION.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Arber, J.), entered April 2, 1996, which, inter alia, denied defendants-appellants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against them, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Summary judgment was precluded by the presence of issues of fact, including whether plaintiff's injury was foreseeable in light of defendants' admitted knowledge of several crimes committed at the premises, including a robbery attempt involving a co-worker less than three weeks earlier on the same floor (see, Jacqueline S. v. City of New York, 81 N.Y.2d 288, 295, 598 N.Y.S.2d 160, 614 N.E.2d 723). The prior criminal conduct need not have been of the same type as the incident involving plaintiff (see, Splawn v. Lextaj Corp., 197 A.D.2d 479, 480, 603 N.Y.S.2d 41, lv denied 83 N.Y.2d 753, 612 N.Y.S.2d 107, 634 N.E.2d 603). Under the circumstances, the adequacy of building security and proximate cause were further issues of fact (id.; see also, Banayan v. F.W. Woolworth Co., 211 A.D.2d 591, 622 N.Y.S.2d 24; Rudel v. National Jewelry Exch. Co., 213 A.D.2d 301, 623 N.Y.S.2d 878; cf., Gill v. New York City Hous. Auth., 130 A.D.2d 256, 519 N.Y.S.2d 364).
Defendants' argument regarding proof of the manner in which plaintiff's assailant gained access to the floor where the assault took place, first articulated in their reply papers before the motion court, would not have been a proper basis for granting summary judgment in their favor (see, Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Morse Shoe Co., 218 A.D.2d 624, 625, 630 N.Y.S.2d 1003).
We have considered appellants' other contentions and find them to be without merit.