Landlord Not Responsible for Child's Injury on Fence

June 17, 2014

LVT Number: #25590

Tenant's child was injured when she kicked a soccer ball into a planting area on the grounds of a NYCHA building and then tripped over a decorative wicket fence surrounding the planting area. Tenant sued NYCHA and the contractor that had installed the fence several years earlier. NYCHA and the contractor asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against them. They appealed and won. Testimony and photographs showed that the wicket fence was open and obvious, and not inherently dangerous.

Tenant's child was injured when she kicked a soccer ball into a planting area on the grounds of a NYCHA building and then tripped over a decorative wicket fence surrounding the planting area. Tenant sued NYCHA and the contractor that had installed the fence several years earlier. NYCHA and the contractor asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against them. They appealed and won. Testimony and photographs showed that the wicket fence was open and obvious, and not inherently dangerous. Tenant's expert failed to support his opinion that the planting area was defectively designed, and a provision of the Building Code that tenant claimed applied to the case didn't apply to a planting area. 

Samantha R. v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 5/27/14, p. 20, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Renwick, JP, Richter, Manzanet-Daniels, Feinman, Gische, JJ)

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