Opinion
October 6, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Golden, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
On the afternoon of November 15, 1992, the plaintiff was walking on a public sidewalk adjacent to the defendant's property when he allegedly slipped on some randomly scattered wet leaves, fell to the ground, and sustained injuries. After conducting discovery, the defendant moved for summary judgment, contending that liability could not be imposed upon a landowner based solely upon the presence of wet leaves on the abutting public sidewalk. The Supreme Court granted the defendant's motion, and we now affirm.
In the absence of an ordinance or statute imposing liability, an abutting landowner may only be held liable for a defective or dangerous condition on a public sidewalk if the landowner created the condition or caused it to occur because of some special use ( see, Carbone v. Pathrose, 236 A.D.2d 352; Gianna v. Town of Islip, 230 A.D.2d 824). Here, however, the plaintiff's speculative assertion that the leaves upon which he slipped came from the defendant's trees is insufficient to raise an issue of fact as to whether the defendant created a dangerous condition on the abutting public sidewalk.
Sullivan, J.P., Pizzuto, Friedmann and Krausman, JJ., concur.