Is NYCHA Responsible for Tenant's Burn Injuries from Heating Pipe?

Tenant's family sued landlord NYCHA, after a now deceased tenant was burned when he came into contact with a heating pipe in his apartment that was between 218 and 235 degrees Fahrenheit. When NYCHA asked the court to dismiss the case without trial, the plaintiffs argued that landlord made this request too late because it did so more than 120 days after the "note of issue" was filed in the case. Landlord explained that it was adversely affected by closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to decreased staffing levels and an inability to review its paper records.

The court found that landlord had demonstrated good cause for requesting summary judgment 60 days late. But the court denied landlord's actual request to decide the case without a trial. The court found that, as long as landlord had notice of a dangerous condition and a reasonable opportunity to remedy it, landlord could be held liable for exposed heating pipes even though the applicable building code when the building was constructed didn't require those pipes to be covered. A trial was needed because landlord had a common law duty to maintain the apartment in a reasonably safe condition. The tenant's at-home caretaker testified that, days and weeks before tenant's accident, she reported to the building porter that the heat pipes in tenant's apartment were very hot. So there was a question as to whether NYCHA had sufficient notice of a dangerous condition in the apartment, and it didn't matter whether or not landlord had a duty to provide insulation or covers for heating pipes under established precedent. 

Ronda v. City of New York: Index No. 155293/2018, 2022 NY Slip Op 30141(U)(Sup. Ct. NY; 1/19/22; Kotler, J)