Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011

Tsekhanovskaya v. Starrett City, Inc.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided December 20, 2011

90 A.D.3d 909; 935 N.Y.2d 128

Cases that cite this one

19 later published cases cite this decision.

Barris v. One Beard Street, LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Mehta v. Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Fernandez v. Festival Fun Parks, LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
Marchese v. St. Martha's Roman Catholic Church, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Marchese v. St. Martha's Roman Catholic Church, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Fargiano v. WFP Tower D Co., L.P. (New York Supreme Court, Kings County 2025)
Fargiano v. WFP Tower D Co., L.P. (New York Supreme Court, Kings County 2025)
Mitchell v. New York City Hous. Auth. (New York Supreme Court, Kings County 2024)
Mitchell v. New York City Hous. Auth. (New York Supreme Court, Kings County 2024)
Mitchell v. New York City Hous. Auth. (New York Supreme Court, Kings County 2024)
Strough v. Incorporated Vil. of W. Hampton Dunes (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
Davidson v. Steel Equities (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
Vazquez v. Gun Hill Associates, LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
Maloney v. Farris (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
Maloney v. Farris (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
Campbell v. New York City Transit Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Campbell v. New York City Transit Authority (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Indelicato v. Parkway North Associates, L.P. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2012)
Indelicato v. Parkway North Associates, L.P. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2012)

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

*910In a trip-and-fall case, a defendant moving for summary judgment has the initial burden of making a prima facie showing that it neither created the hazardous condition nor had actual or constructive notice of its existence for a sufficient length of time to discover and remedy it (see Leary v Leisure Glen Home Owners Assn., Inc., 82 AD3d 1169 [2011]; Pryzywalny v New York City Tr. Auth., 69 AD3d 598 [2010]). “To meet its initial burden on the issue of . . . constructive notice, the defendant must offer some evidence as to when the area in question was last cleaned or inspected relative to the time when the plaintiff fell” (Birnbaum v New York Racing Assn., Inc., 57 AD3d 598, 598-599 [2008]; see Mei Xiao Guo v Quong Big Realty Corp., 81 AD3d 610 [2011]; Braudy v Best Buy Co., Inc., 63 AD3d 1092 [2009]). A movant cannot satisfy its initial burden merely by pointing to gaps in the plaintiffs case (see Cummins v New York Methodist Hosp., 85 AD3d 1082 [2011]).

Here, the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that they did not have constructive notice of the alleged dangerous condition, as they failed to proffer evidence demonstrating that the condition existed for an insufficient amount of time for them to discover and remedy it (id.; see Catanzaro v King Kullen Grocery Co., 194 AD2d 584 [1993]). Since the defendants failed to meet their initial burden as the movants, we need not review the sufficiency of the plaintiffs opposition papers (see Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851 [1985]), and thus the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint should have been denied. Skelos, J.E, Belen, Lott and Cohen, JJ., concur.

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