Landlord Not Responsible for One Tenant's Stabbing Attack on Other Tenant

Tenant sued landlord after another building tenant stabbed him. Landlord claimed that it wasn't responsible for the attack on tenant and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. Landlord proved it wasn't responsible for the attack because the attack wasn't reasonably foreseeable. There was no proof that the attacking tenant had engaged in criminal conduct prior to the attack or that he was violent, had a propensity toward violence, or had threatened any tenants at the building. The attacking tenant's inconsiderate behavior, such as playing loud music at all hours, engaging in loud arguments with his sister in the apartment, and banging on his apartment walls, was insufficient to have placed landlord on notice that he would stab the plaintiff tenant in response to that tenant's complaints about noise from his apartment. While it was "conceivable" that the dispute might escalate into violence, "conceivability is not the equivalent of foreseeability."

Goris v. NYCHA: App No. 2284, 2024 NY Slip Op 02661 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 5/14/24; Singh, JP, Moulton, Mendez, Rosado, Michael, JJ)