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Slip and Fall Lawyer in Tottenville, Staten Island
Tottenville's slip-and-fall mix is unusual for NYC. The neighborhood is almost entirely single-family detached homes, which means most of the public sidewalk in front of these properties stays under City of New York responsibility because of the owner-occupied one- and two-family carve-out in § 7-210. The commercial center is small, Main Street, Page Avenue, the south end of Hylan Boulevard, and Conference House Park and the Boardwalk add a seasonal stream of waterfront falls. Hurricane Sandy (2012) damaged infrastructure across the waterfront and some of those conditions persist. I represent Tottenville fall victims out of my Forest Hills office and file Richmond County cases at 18 Richmond Terrace, St. George. Call 718-261-0546.
Where Tottenville slip-and-fall cases happen
Public sidewalks in front of owner-occupied homes are the recurring case here. Most of Tottenville's housing is single-family or owner-occupied two-family homes. NYC Administrative Code § 7-210 normally puts sidewalk maintenance on the abutting property owner, but it carves out an exception for owner-occupied one- and two-family residential properties. That exception means the City of New York retains liability for the public sidewalk in front of most homes in Tottenville. Translation: if you fell on a broken flag or a raised section of sidewalk in front of a single-family home, the defendant is likely the City, not the homeowner. The 90-day Notice of Claim clock under GML § 50-e runs from the day of the fall.
The Main Street and Page Avenue commercial frontage is the second cluster. These § 7-210 cases run against the adjacent commercial property owner, restaurant entryways, storefront sidewalks, parking-lot transitions. The southernmost section of Hylan Boulevard adds a few more storefronts and the older retail at the south end produces step-up entries and slick-floor falls inside.
Conference House Park and the Boardwalk at Mount Loretto generate the seasonal stream. NYC Parks owns and operates the park and the Boardwalk, which puts these cases on the 90-day Notice of Claim clock. Boardwalk falls during the summer season (loose or missing boards, gaps between sections, broken handrails), trip-and-falls on the park paths, and falls at the public restroom and concession structures. Some of the post-Hurricane Sandy infrastructure repairs in the area have left transitions that produce predictable trip hazards.
The fourth cluster: Tottenville High School (Notice of Claim under § 50-e on the DOE 90-day clock for student or visitor falls) and the SIR Tottenville station (MTA cases on the same 90-day clock).
NYC sidewalk law and the owner-occupied carve-out
NYC Administrative Code § 7-210 puts the abutting property owner on the hook for sidewalk maintenance. The owner-occupied one- and two-family carve-out is the part that matters for Tottenville: if the building is a single-family residence with the owner living in it, or a two-family residence with the owner living in one of the units, the City keeps responsibility for the public sidewalk out front. Most of Tottenville's housing stock falls into one of these categories. That means a Notice of Claim against the City of New York within 90 days under § 50-e is often the right move, not a § 7-210 claim against the neighbor.
The exception flips back to § 7-210 for the Main Street and Page Avenue commercial frontage, for the rare multi-family rental buildings in the neighborhood, and for absentee landlord-owned residential properties. The check on ACRIS is essential before filing.
For falls at Conference House Park, the Boardwalk, Bicentennial Veterans Memorial Park, Tottenville Pool, Tottenville High School, the SIR Tottenville station, or any other public property, § 50-e gives you 90 days. Lawsuit within one year and 90 days.
Snow and ice on the South Shore
NYC § 16-123 gives the owner four hours after snow stops falling to clear the sidewalk during daylight hours. The owner-occupied carve-out under § 7-210 changes who that obligation runs against for the snow-clearance specifically, courts have read § 16-123 as creating a separate duty on the abutting owner even when the underlying maintenance duty stays with the City. The storm-in-progress doctrine prevents the owner from being liable during the storm itself.
What to do after a slip-and-fall in Tottenville
- Get medical care. Staten Island University Hospital - South at 375 Seguine Avenue is the closest hospital. Richmond University Medical Center is further north.
- Photograph the defect, the lighting, any signage, and the scene from multiple angles. Save your shoes. Photograph the weather conditions if ice is involved.
- Determine whether the building is owner-occupied. If it's a single-family or two-family with the owner living there, the case may be against the City, and the 90-day clock is running.
- Get witness contact information. Neighbors, anyone walking past, the mail carrier.
- Report the fall to the building owner, school principal, or business manager. For Park or Pool falls, file a NYC Parks incident report. For school falls, ask DOE for the incident report.
Venue: Richmond County is conservative
Richmond County is the most defense-friendly NYC venue. On a Tottenville slip-and-fall, the venue is usually unavoidable, the City has its own venue rules under CPLR § 504, but Notice of Claim cases against NYC default to Richmond County for incidents on Staten Island. When the case involves a commercial property owner headquartered off-island, or where the defendant's residence supports another venue, CPLR § 503(a) sometimes opens a different county. When it doesn't, we work the case in Richmond. We settled a $1.5M sanitation worker slip-and-fall case in Richmond County. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Cases I take
- Sidewalk falls in front of single-family homes (City of New York, 90-day Notice of Claim under the owner-occupied carve-out)
- Sidewalk falls on the Main Street and Page Avenue commercial frontage (§ 7-210)
- Conference House Park, Boardwalk, and Bicentennial Veterans Memorial Park falls (NYC Parks, 90-day Notice of Claim)
- Tottenville Pool falls and Mount Loretto-area injuries
- Tottenville High School and DOE school cases (90-day Notice)
- SIR Tottenville station and platform falls (MTA Notice of Claim)
- Restaurant, storefront, and retail slip-and-falls along Hylan Boulevard south
- Snow and ice clearance failures across the neighborhood
- Apartment building stairwell and lobby falls in the few multi-family rentals
Talk to Nick
Call 718-261-0546. Spanish line available. Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. Office at 102-11 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.