Who is responsible when I slip on a NYC sidewalk?

For most commercial and residential buildings in NYC, NYC Administrative Code §7-210 makes the abutting property owner liable for sidewalk maintenance. Owners of one-, two-, or three-family owner-occupied homes are exempt, for those, the City is responsible. For everyone else (commercial, larger residential, NYCHA), the building owner bears the duty.

What do I have to prove in a slip-and-fall case?

Three things: a defective condition existed; the owner had actual or constructive notice of the condition (knew about it or should have known); and the condition caused your injury. 'Constructive notice' usually means the defect was visible long enough that the owner should have discovered it through reasonable inspection.

Can I sue the City for a sidewalk fall?

Only in narrow situations: City-owned property, properties with abutting-owner exemptions, or where the City did the defective work (utility cuts, tree-root upheaval). A 90-day Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law §50-e is required before suing the City. Most NYC sidewalk cases proceed against the private abutting owner, not the City.

How long do I have to file a slip-and-fall lawsuit in New York?

Three years from the date of the fall under CPLR §214(5). Against the City or a public entity, 90 days for the Notice of Claim, then within one year and 90 days for the lawsuit.

What if I slipped on snow or ice, when is the property owner liable?

New York's 'storm-in-progress' doctrine generally protects owners while a storm is actively in progress. The duty to clear arises a reasonable time after the storm ends. NYC Admin Code §16-123 also gives commercial property owners specific timeframes to clear snow. The case turns on what the owner knew, when they knew, and what they did.

My fall was partly my own fault. Can I still recover?

Yes. New York uses pure comparative fault under CPLR §1411, your award is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can recover even if you were 99% at fault. There is no all-or-nothing contributory bar like some states have.

Slip and Fall Lawyer in Washington Heights, Manhattan | Nicholas Rose

Attorney Advertising

Slip and Fall Lawyer in Washington Heights, Manhattan

The steep hilly geography of Washington Heights, the pre-war walk-up housing stock that dominates the neighborhood, and the heavy retail churn along Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue produce a particular set of slip-and-fall claim patterns that do not show up the same way in other parts of Manhattan. I represent Washington Heights fall victims out of my Forest Hills office. Servicios completos en español. Call 718-261-0546.

Where Washington Heights slip-and-fall cases happen

The Broadway commercial corridor from 168th to 191st produces the highest sidewalk-fall volume in the neighborhood. Heavy small-storefront density means inconsistent maintenance, cracked sidewalk flags outside Dominican-owned bodegas and restaurants, and untreated ice in winter. The blocks near 181st on Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue stay slick for hours after snowfall because the steep cross-streets concentrate runoff onto the avenues. Bus-stop sidewalk falls cluster at the M3, M4, M5, and M100 stops along the corridor.

The pre-war walk-up housing stock is the second concentration. Washington Heights has one of the highest proportions of elevator-less five- and six-story walk-up buildings in Manhattan. Original interior stairs have worn over a century of use. The marble nosings on a service flight are rounded smooth, the handrails are missing or loose, and lobby tile gets tracked with water and snow that goes unmopped. Stoop falls in winter when the abutting owner fails to clear ice are constant. The hilly cross-streets between Broadway and St. Nicholas, with their concrete stairs and steep approaches, generate additional public-stair falls.

The third cluster is the subway system itself. The A train station at 181st Street is one of the deepest in the system, the 1 train station at 181st sits at the top of a hilltop, and the elevators at both have a documented failure record. Elevator outages force riders onto stairs that were not designed as a primary route. Falls on the long stairwells at 181st A, 181st 1, 168th, and 175th A all run as MTA premises cases with the 90-day Notice of Claim procedural track.

NYCHA premises cases run in parallel. The Dyckman Houses, the Audubon Houses, and other northern Manhattan NYCHA developments produce hallway, stairwell, and lobby falls that follow the same 90-day procedural track as the MTA station falls.

NYC sidewalk law and adjacent property owner liability

NYC Administrative Code section 7-210 makes the owner of the property abutting the public sidewalk responsible for keeping it in reasonably safe condition. In Washington Heights, that owner is the brownstone owner, the walk-up apartment building owner, or the small-business landlord along Broadway. The City of New York is generally not the right defendant.

Owner-occupied one- and two-family homes remain under City responsibility for the public sidewalk in front. The City retains liability for tree-pit defects, manhole covers, and hydrants. Utility-owned grates shift liability to the utility company, NYC Water, or Verizon. We settled a $145,000 case against the utility company for an 80-year-old client who caught her foot on a raised utility grate in Manhattan, and the same hazard pattern repeats throughout the Heights. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Government-property cases are common here. MTA station falls, NYCHA falls, and falls at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia (which is privately owned, not H+H, so this one is the standard premises framework) all run on separate tracks. NYC parks land along Hudson River Park, Fort Tryon Park, Fort Washington Park, and Highbridge Park requires a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law section 50-e, with the lawsuit filed within one year and 90 days. Miss the deadline and the case is over.

Snow and ice cases turn on the four-hour clearance rule under NYC section 16-123 and the storm-in-progress doctrine.

What to do after a slip-fall in Washington Heights

Get medical attention. NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center at 177 Fort Washington Avenue is the closest hospital and the primary trauma center for upper Manhattan. Allen Hospital is the alternative for Inwood-border falls.
Photograph the hazard, the surrounding context, the weather, and your injuries. Walk-up stairwell falls particularly need photos before the building owner gets to the scene with a mop and a new handrail.
Get witness contact information. The neighbor, the bodega owner, the bus driver.
Report the fall to the responsible party. Decline recorded statements from any insurance carrier.

Cases I take

Sidewalk falls on Broadway, St. Nicholas Avenue, Amsterdam Avenue, Audubon Avenue, and 181st Street
Pre-war walk-up stairwell, lobby, and stoop falls
181st Street A train and 1 train station stairwell and elevator falls (MTA 90-day rule)
Dyckman Houses and other NYCHA hallway and stairwell falls
Hospital premises falls at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia
Fort Tryon Park, Fort Washington Park, Highbridge Park, and Hudson River Park trip-and-falls (Parks 90-day rule)
the utility company and utility-grate trip-and-falls
Bus-stop sidewalk falls along the Broadway and St. Nicholas corridors
Snow and ice clearance failures

Talk to Nick

Call 718-261-0546. Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. Office: 102-11 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375. Manhattan virtual office by appointment. Tenemos servicios completos en español.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Slip accident lawyer in Washington Heights