Opinion
October 30, 1961
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff, a pedestrian, when he was knocked down by a motor vehicle owned by defendant Glick and operated by defendant Sturgis, defendants appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County, dated March 13, 1961, which denied their motion, made pursuant to subdivision 3 of section 187 of the Civil Practice Act, to change the venue of the action from Queens County to Sullivan County. Order reversed, with $10 costs and disbursements, and motion granted. The accident occurred on the grounds of the Monticello Hospital in Sullivan County, while the plaintiff was visiting a patient at the hospital. After the accident plaintiff was admitted to the hospital and treated by its doctors. Under the circumstances here, there should be a change of venue from the urban county of Queens to the rural county of Sullivan, because: (1) the material witnesses to the accident, the hospital doctors who treated the plaintiff and the hospital records are in Sullivan County; (2) a transitory action should generally be tried in the county where it arose; and (3) in view of the comparative calendar conditions, a trial may be had in Sullivan County much earlier than in Queens County. Nolan, P.J., Ughetta, Christ, Pette and Brennan, JJ., concur.