Tenant Tripped Over Drainpipe on Walkway

Tenant of a three-family house sued landlord for negligence after she tripped on a drainpipe on a walkway leading to her basement apartment. Landlord claimed that she wasn't responsible for tenant's injuries. Tenant walked past the drainpipe every day, and it wasn't an inherently dangerous condition. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and won. The appeals court reopened the case. A drainpipe led from the roof of the house to the ground. It then emptied into a cylindrical pipe that ran along the edge of a paved walkway leading from the house toward the street. Normally, this wasn't a dangerous condition. But tenant claimed that the pipe wasn't in its usual position when she tripped. It had blown away from the edge of the walkway and lay partially across the walkway. A trial was needed to determine if landlord had kept the building in a reasonably safe condition.

Salomon v. Prainito: NYLJ, 6/30/08, p. 34, col.2 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Fisher, JP, Carni, McCarthy, Belen, JJ)