Tenant Slipped and Fell on Icy Landing

Tenant sued landlord for negligence, claiming that he was injured when he slipped and fell on the front entrance landing as he left for work at 8 a.m. on Dec. 24, 2008. He stated that the landing was covered in a transparent sheet of ice, apparently caused by overnight precipitation. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed, and the case was reopened. The lower court found that landlord had until 11 a.m. to remedy the icy condition on the landing pursuant to NYC Administrative Code Section 16-123. But that provision governs landlord's duty to remove snow, ice, and other debris from the public sidewalk in front of its building. It didn't apply to the landing, which isn't part of the sidewalk. There were questions of fact concerning the applicability of the "storm in progress" rule. It was undisputed that on the day of the accident, a light mixture of sleet and freezing rain fell in that area between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., then changed to normal rain until 6 a.m., followed by only a trace or light rainfall. There also were questions as to whether the building super had enough time during the two hours between when the freezing rain stopped and the accident to notice the condition and whether he should have done anything at that time. There also were questions as to whether the structural defects tenant claimed existed on the landing contributed to a hazardous condition on the landing. 

Vosper v. Fives 160th LLC: 2013 NY Slip Op 06815, 2013 WL 5712510 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 10/22/13; Gonzalez, PJ, Tom, Saxe, Manzanet-Daniels, Gische, JJ)