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Serrano v. Brook Plaza, LLC

Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 15, 2022
2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 7171 (N.Y. App. Div. 2022)

Opinion

No. 16914 Index No. 450493/18 Case No. 2021-03067

12-15-2022

Jose Serrano, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Brook Plaza, LLC, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

Lester Schwab Katz & Dwyer, LLP, New York (Daniel S. Kotler of counsel), for appellants. Hasapidis Law Offices, South Salem (Annette G. Hasapidis of counsel), for respondent.


Lester Schwab Katz & Dwyer, LLP, New York (Daniel S. Kotler of counsel), for appellants.

Hasapidis Law Offices, South Salem (Annette G. Hasapidis of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Renwick, J.P., Shulman, Rodriguez, Higgitt, JJ.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Lewis J. Lubell, J.), entered on or about August 2, 2021, which denied defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Defendants failed to establish prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, as they did not present any evidence that the accident did not occur on their property. Moreover, contrary to defendants' contentions, plaintiff repeatedly testified that a "break" in the sidewalk abutting defendants' premises was the injury-causing defect, consistently described the location of his fall, and identified the location of the break in three photographs (see Joachim v AMC Multi-Cinema, Inc., 129 A.D.3d 433, 434 [1st Dept 2015]). Any inconsistencies in plaintiff's testimony raised only issues of fact and credibility, which are not determined on a motion for summary judgment (see Johnson v Ann-Gur Realty Corp., 117 A.D.3d 522 [1st Dept 2014]; Fernandez v VLA Realty, LLC, 45 A.D.3d 391 [1st Dept 2007]). Whether plaintiff's subsequent fall from a 15-foot embankment was a superseding cause of his injuries was improperly raised for the first time in reply (see Lewis v Revello, 172 A.D.3d 505, 506 [1st Dept 2019]; Ruggerino v Prince Holdings 2012, LLC, 170 A.D.3d 568, 568 [1st Dept 2019]).


Summaries of

Serrano v. Brook Plaza, LLC

Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 15, 2022
2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 7171 (N.Y. App. Div. 2022)
Case details for

Serrano v. Brook Plaza, LLC

Case Details

Full title:Jose Serrano, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Brook Plaza, LLC, et al.…

Court:Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Dec 15, 2022

Citations

2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 7171 (N.Y. App. Div. 2022)
178 N.Y.S.3d 437