Serrano v. City of New York

Full title: CHRISTIAN SERRANO, an Infant, by His Parent and Natural Guardian, ANIBAL…

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

Date published: Dec 17, 1998

256 A.D.2d 176 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)

681 N.Y.S.2d 528

Opinion

December 17, 1998

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Joseph Giamboi, J.).

This is an action to recover for injuries allegedly sustained by the infant plaintiff as the result of another child's setting fire to flammable aerosol paint found in a rubbish-strewn vacant lot owned by defendant City, which children allegedly used for play. The complaint was properly dismissed because, even assuming that the lot can be likened to a park and that the City had notice that rubbish fires periodically occurred there, such condition did not constitute ultrahazardous and criminal activity that the City had a duty to prevent ( Benjamin v. City of New York, 64 N.Y.2d 44, 46).

Concur — Nardelli, J. P., Wallach, Rubin and Williams, JJ.