Ice and Snow Fell from Roof and Struck Pedestrian

Pedestrian sued landlord for negligence after he was struck by snow and ice that, he claimed, fell from the top of landlord's five-story building. The snow and ice fell during a severe snowstorm with high winds. Tenant's construction expert testified that the snow and ice fell because two or three snow guards were missing from the mansard roof and other snow guards were bent. The court ruled for pedestrian after a trial, and landlord appealed. The appeals court ruled for landlord and dismissed the complaint. The expert's testimony was speculation and not sufficient proof of the cause of pedestrian's injury. In addition, there was no proof of notice to landlord of a dangerous condition. There was no claim that ice or snow had fallen previously or that the ice and snow that fell on pedestrian was left over from a prior snowstorm.

DiBartolo v. Kim: NYLJ, 5/20/05, p. 24, col. 1 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Suarez, PJ, Davis, Schoenfeld, JJ)