Landlord Not Responsible for Pedestrian's Trip and Fall Over Garbage Bags

Pedestrian sued landlord for negligence after she tripped and fell on garbage bags placed on the sidewalk in front of landlord’s building. Landlord claimed that it wasn’t responsible for any injuries, and the court granted landlord’s request to dismiss the case without a trial. Pedestrian appealed and lost. The garbage bags were an open and obvious condition and weren’t inherently dangerous. And pedestrian’s claim that the sidewalk was wet, causing her to slip after her initial trip over the garbage bag, didn’t make the landlord responsible. She failed to show that landlord created, or had notice of, any dangerous condition caused by claimed wetness. There was no proof that water leaked out of any of the garbage bags or that pedestrian tripped on a protrusion from one of the bags.

Ruiz v. 221-223 E. 28th St. LLC: 2016 WL 6078819, 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 06790 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 10/18/16; Friedman, JP, Andrias, Saxe, Feinman, Kahn, JJ)