Duty to Maintain Public Sidewalk
As we have discussed before, in New York City, the owner of a premises has a duty to keep the sidewalks abutting the premises in a reasonably safe condition as mandated by the
Administrative Code of the City of New York § 7-210. The Code exempts property owners of one-, two-and three-family residential real property that is owner occupied, and used exclusively for residential purposes.
§ 7-210. Liability of real property owner for failure to maintain Sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition.
a. It shall be the duty of the owner of real property abutting any sidewalk, including, but not limited to, the intersection quadrant for corner property, to maintain such sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition.
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the owner of real property abutting any sidewalk, including, but not limited to, the intersection quadrant for corner property, shall be liable for any injury to property or personal injury, including death, proximately caused by the failure of such owner to maintain such sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition. Failure to maintain such sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition shall include, but not be limited to, the negligent failure to install, construct, reconstruct, repave, repair or replace defective sidewalk flags and the negligent failure to remove snow, ice, dirt or other material from the sidewalk. This subdivision shall not apply to one-, two- or three-family residential real property that is (i) in whole or in part, owner occupied, and (ii) used exclusively for residential purposes.
c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the city shall not be liable for any injury to property or personal injury, including death, proximately caused by the failure to maintain sidewalks (other than sidewalks abutting one-, two- or three-family residential real property that is (i) in whole or in part, owner occupied, and (ii) used exclusively for residential purposes) in a reasonably safe condition.
This subdivision shall not be construed to apply to the liability of the city as a property owner pursuant to subdivision b of this section.
d. Nothing in this section shall in any way affect the provisions of this chapter or of any other law or rule governing the manner in which an action or proceeding against the city is commenced, including any provisions requiring prior notice to the city of defective conditions.
The duty to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition includes liability for personal injury caused the negligent failure to remove snow, ice, dirt or other material from the sidewalk.
With Administrative Code § 7-210, the applicable property owners are under a statutory nondelegable duty to maintain the abutting sidewalk. This is true even if the owner is an out-of-possession landlord. (See,Litkenhous v. 1158 Hylan Blvd. Corp., 26 Misc.3d 19, and James v. Blackmon, 58 AD3d 808, Di Natale v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 5 AD3d 1123). There is also no exemption for the property owner for the failure to remove snow or ice from the abutting sidewalk even where that owner enters into a “comprehensive and exclusive” contract for snow removal. (See, Simon v. Astoria Federal Savings, 27 Misc.3d 1206[A] [N.Y.Sup. Apr 08, 2010]).
It would, therefore, be prudent for these property owners to properly maintain the abutting sidewalks in order to avoid tort liability.
If you are injured as a result of a New York City trip and fall on a sidewalk because of sidewalk defect or sustained an injury as a result of a slip and fall on ice, snow or other material on a public sidewalk, you should not make any legal assumptions for yourself, but rather speak to a qualified personal injury lawyer and obtain proper legal advice.
