NYCHA Not Responsible for Slip and Fall in Snow

Pedestrian sued landlord NYCHA for negligence after she slipped and fell on a patch of snow on a sidewalk in front of landlord's building. The court denied NYCHA's request to dismiss the case without a trial. NYCHA appealed and won. Snow had fallen overnight, and the accident happened at about 7:50 a.m. NYCHA employees were performing snow removal at the time of the accident. Pedestrian claimed that snow had stopped falling around 7 a.m., while a NYCHA employee claimed that it continued to snow until 9 a.m. NYCHA showed that at the time of the accident, a reasonably sufficient time had not passed to allow removal of a dangerous condition before the accident. And NYCHA's ongoing snow removal at the time of the accident didn't create or worsen conditions caused by the storm.

Batista v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 7/7/14, p. 27, col. 6 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Rivera, JP, Balkin, Leventhal, Roman, JJ)