Opinion
March 8, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County, LeVine, J.
Present — Pine, J.P., Fallon, Callahan, Balio and Boehm, JJ.
Order insofar as appealed from unanimously reversed on the law with costs and motion granted. Memorandum: Supreme Court erred in denying plaintiffs' motion to compel disclosure of defendant's records relating to prior criminal activity at the apartment buildings owned and operated by defendant in Jackson Heights ( see, CPLR 3101 [a]; Jacqueline S. v City of New York, 81 N.Y.2d 288, 294, rearg denied 82 N.Y.2d 749). A landlord has a duty to maintain minimal security measures in the face of foreseeable criminal intrusion upon tenants ( Miller v State of New York, 62 N.Y.2d 506, 513) and to make the public areas of its property reasonably safe for those who might enter ( Nallan v Helmsley-Spear, Inc., 50 N.Y.2d 507, 519). The records that plaintiffs seek are necessary in the prosecution of this negligence action and are material to the issues of foreseeability and whether defendant maintained the property in a safe condition ( see, Nallan v Helmsley-Spear, Inc., supra, at 519-520).