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Gabriele v. Edgewater Park Owners Coop

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Nov 10, 2009
67 A.D.3d 484 (N.Y. App. Div. 2009)

Opinion

No. 1426.

November 10, 2009.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Edgar G. Walker, J.), entered on or about July 29, 2008, which granted motions by the city defendants and Edgewater Park Owners Cooperative Corp., Inc. for summary judgment respectively dismissing the complaint as against each, unanimously modified, on the law, to deny Edgewater's motion, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

Law Office of William A. Gallina, Bronx (Frank V. Kelly of counsel), for appellant.

Brian R. Hoch, White Plains, for Edgewater Park Owners Cooperative Corp., Inc., respondent.

Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Karen M. Griffin of counsel), for municipal, respondents.

Before: Tom, J.P., Friedman, Nardelli, Buckley and Richter, JJ.


Plaintiff asserts that as she was getting out of a vehicle, she was forced by construction work on the sidewalk to walk onto the roadway, and was injured when she stepped into a pothole located one foot from the curb. Edgewater, whose property abutted the sidewalk, had a duty to keep the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition (Administrative Code of City of NY § 7-210). As Edgewater did not proffer its declaration or bylaws, it does not avail it to argue that as a large, cooperative development consisting of 675 unattached, single-family homes, any liability rests solely with the shareholder whose unit abutted the portion of the sidewalk that was obstructed ( cf. Murphy v State of New York, 14 AD3d 127). Edgewater's evidence that it did not undertake or authorize the construction merely raises an issue of fact as to who might have done so. Plaintiffs failure to include certain of Edgewater's exhibits in the appellate record does not preclude meaningful review ( cf. Sebag v Narvaez, 60 AD3d 485).

Concerning the City, the complaint was properly dismissed in the absence of evidence rebutting the City's prima facie showing that it did not have notice of or create the pothole in question (Administrative Code § 7-201 [c] [2]; cf. Kiernan v Thompson, 73 NY2d 840, 841-842). Permits issued by the City in the months prior to plaintiffs accident for water meter work in units close to the unit immediately abutting the obstructed area of the sidewalk do not indicate that the City was aware of the pothole in question "so as to constitute a `written acknowledgment' within the meaning of the Pothole Law, and the issuance of the work permits is insufficient to satisfy the prior written notice requirement of the statute" ( DeSilva v City of New York, 15 AD3d 252, 253 [citations omitted]).


Summaries of

Gabriele v. Edgewater Park Owners Coop

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Nov 10, 2009
67 A.D.3d 484 (N.Y. App. Div. 2009)
Case details for

Gabriele v. Edgewater Park Owners Coop

Case Details

Full title:GINA GABRIELE, Appellant, v. EDGEWATER PARK OWNERS COOPERATIVE CORP.…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Nov 10, 2009

Citations

67 A.D.3d 484 (N.Y. App. Div. 2009)
2009 N.Y. Slip Op. 8082
891 N.Y.S.2d 319

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