Two Handrails Not Required on Staircase

Tenant claimed that she was injured when she slipped while going up stairs from the building lobby to the second floor. She said there was dirt, trash, and debris on the stairs and that she had previously complained to landlord seven or eight times about the need to clean the stairs. There also was one handrail in the staircase. The court granted landlord’s request to dismiss the case without a trial, and denied tenant’s request to add a claim for violations of the Tenement House Act of 1901, the Building Code of 1916, and the Building Code of 1938.  It would be unfair to permit tenant to add these claims at this point in the case. And tenant failed to show how the 1916 and 1938 laws would retroactively apply to the building, which was built in 1913. Also the Tenement Act required that all stairways be provided with only bannisters and railings kept in good repair, and any requirement for stairways to have two handrails ended when the 1916 Code went into effect.

Barnard v. 501 West 45th Street LLC: Index No. 152880/14, NYLJ No. 120278282196323 (Sup. Ct. NY; 2/24/17; Hagler, J)