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Melissa Smith is the plaintiff in this case. The defendants of the case are the City of New York, Dag Hammarskjold Tower and the Board of Managers of Dag Hammarskjold Tower. This case is being heard in the Supreme Court of New York County.
Case Background
The plaintiff commenced this action to recover for injuries that she sustained when she tripped and fell on the west side of Second avenue between East 47th and East 46th Street in New York, New York. She states that the accident was caused by a defect in the public sidewalk. This incident occurred on the 11th of September, 2002.
The plaintiff offered testimony that made it quite clear that she was unsure as to what exactly caused her to fall. The plaintiff simply contends that she was walking on the sidewalk when all of a sudden her foot struck something and she started doing an acrobatic act up the street. She states she does not know how it happened or what her foot hit to cause her to start tumbling.
Case Discussion
The defendants have moved for summary judgment in this matter to have the complaint against them dismissed. In order for the court to grant summary judgment in favor of either party it must be established that there are no triable issues of fact in the case.
The Dag defendants and the City have made prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of the law based on the plaintiff’s inability to identify the defect that caused her to fall. The moving defendants have presented other evidence in the case as well to prove their respective involvement with the site of the plaintiff’s accident or any negligence on their part. However, this is unnecessary as the simply fact of the matter is that the plaintiff has failed to show evidence of what caused her fall and therefore the defendants cannot be held as liable in this matter.
Court Decision
In regard to this trip and fall matter the court orders that the motion that is made by Dag Hammarskjold Condominium Tower and the Board Managers of Dag Hammarskjold Condominium Tower for summary judgment dismissing the complaint is granted.
The motion made by the City of New York for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint and all cross claims against them is granted. The cross motion for summary judgment on liability made by the plaintiff is denied.
Dag Hammarskjold Condominium Tower will serve a copy of this decision and order with notice to all other parties involved in this matter. Once service of a copy of this decision is made the Clerk of this Court is to enter a judgment that dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety.
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