Did Landlord Have Notice of Hazardous Condition in Stairwell?

Tenant sued landlord for negligence, claiming that she slipped and fell on dirty paper and urine in an interior stairway of her apartment building. She claimed that landlord failed to maintain the stairway in a reasonably safe condition. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, arguing that it didn't create the claimed hazardous condition, or have actual or constructive notice that it existed. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed, and the case was reopened. Landlord failed to show that it didn't have notice of the condition. The accident occurred around midnight, and the statement of the building's super was insufficient to establish when the stairway was last inspected and cleaned before that. Another employee stated that the normal janitorial schedule wasn't in effect on the day before the accident, since it was Thanksgiving. 

Williams v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 7/25/14, p. 23, col. 2 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Skelos, JP, Chamber, Duffy, Lasalle, JJ)