Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996

Stark v. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided February 26, 1996

224 A.D.2d 681; 639 N.Y.S.2d 57; 1996 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1909

Cases that cite this one

41 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Duffy v. United States (District Court, S.D. New York 1999)
Angwin v. SRF Partnership, L.P. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
Fucile v. Grand Union Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
Behluli v. 228 Hotel Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2019)
Seawright v. Port Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2011)
Bouima v. Dacomi, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Yadegar v. International Food Market (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Rhian v. PABR Associates, LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Lowe-Barrett v. City of New York (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2006)
Chery v. Exotic Realty, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2006)
Ingargiola v. Waheguru Management, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2004)
Sangiorgio v. Ace Towing & Recovery (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2004)
Dominguez v. Food City Markets, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
Nunez v. Alfred Bleyer & Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
Thompson v. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
Silverman v. Blenheim Associates Realty Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Tatar v. Port Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Hernandez v. Seven Fried Food (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Javier v. Ludin (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Jackson v. United States Tennis Ass'n (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Eckers v. Suede (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Beaumont-Strumer v. Buffalino (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Wilson v. Laung Hang Realty Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
Abrams v. Berelson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
Zappel v. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

—In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Dunkin, J.), dated November 30, 1994, which granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The plaintiff, an employee of Pan American World Airways *682(hereinafter Pan Am), was injured when she fell on an allegedly deteriorated sidewalk near the front entrance of Hangar 17 at John F. Kennedy Airport. At the time of the accident, Pan Am leased the hangar and the surrounding premises from the defendant. The lease agreement provided that Pan Am had exclusive possession and control of the premises and was responsible for maintenance and repairs. The defendant retained the right to enter the premises and to make repairs at Pan Am’s expense in the event Pan Am failed to fulfill its obligations.

"It is well settled that an out-of-possession owner or lessor is not liable for injuries that occur on the premises unless the owner or lessor has retained control over the premises or is contractually obligated to repair or maintain the premises” (Dalzell v McDonald’s Corp., 220 AD2d 638; see, Putnam v Stout, 38 NY2d 607). Reservation of the right to enter the premises for the purpose of inspection and repair may constitute sufficient retention of control to permit a finding that the landlord had constructive notice of a defective condition provided a specific statutory violation exists and there is a significant structural or design defect (see, Guzman v Haven Plaza Hous. Dev. Fund Co., 69 NY2d 559; Velazquez v Tyler Graphics, 214 AD2d 489; Gantz v Kurz, 203 AD2d 240; Manning v New York Tel. Co., 157 AD2d 264).

The Supreme Court properly granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint since the defendant was not obligated under the lease to repair the sidewalk and there was no evidence that it retained a sufficient degree of control over the premises to provide a basis for liability (see, O’Gorman v Gold Shield Sec. & Investigation, 221 AD2d 325; Love v Port Auth., 168 AD2d 222). The plaintiff failed to offer evidence of a significant structural defect or of any specific statutory violations.

The plaintiff’s remaining contentions are without merit. O’Brien, J. P., Santucci, Altman and Goldstein, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.