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Akerman v. City of New York

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1996
226 A.D.2d 326 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)

Opinion

April 1, 1996

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Goldstein, J.).


Ordered that the appeal from the order is dismissed; and it is further,

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.

The appeal from the intermediate order must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of the judgment in the action ( see, Matter of Aho, 39 N.Y.2d 241, 248). The issues raised on the appeal from the order are brought up for review and have been considered on the appeal from the judgment ( see, CPLR 5501 [a] [1]).

On July 2, 1989, at approximately 12:00 P.M., the plaintiff Andrew Akerman, who was then 16 years old, dove into the ocean at Rockaway Beach between Beach 138th and Beach 139th Streets. The plaintiff hit something and, as a result, sustained a compression fracture of the sixth cervical vertebrae, which rendered him a quadriplegic. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiffs commenced this action against the City of New York, claiming that his head had struck a submerged jetty at Beach 138th Street that was concealed by sand and water at the time of the accident. At trial, however, there was no testimony linking the jetty with the cause of Andrew's injuries since no one saw him strike the jetty or dive in its direction.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs and affording them the benefit of every favorable inference that may reasonably be drawn therefrom, we agree with the trial court that they failed to establish a prima facie case of negligence against the defendant ( see, Fleming v. Kings Ridge Recreation Park, 138 A.D.2d 451). While the plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence from which the jury could conclude that the jetty was submerged in the water with no warning signs at the time of the accident, the record is devoid of any evidence from which a jury could conclude, based on the logical inferences to be drawn from the evidence and not speculation, that the defendant's negligence was a substantial cause of the events that produced Andrew's injuries (see, Fleming v. Kings Ridge Recreation Park, supra).

We have reviewed the plaintiffs' remaining contentions and find them to be without merit ( see, Nicastro v. Park, 113 A.D.2d 129, 133; Tucker v. Elimelech, 184 A.D.2d 636; LaMotta v. City of New York, 130 A.D.2d 627; Truran v. Otis El. Co., 192 A.D.2d 598). Miller, J.P., Joy, Altman and Friedmann, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Akerman v. City of New York

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1996
226 A.D.2d 326 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
Case details for

Akerman v. City of New York

Case Details

Full title:ANDREW AKERMAN et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Respondent

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Apr 1, 1996

Citations

226 A.D.2d 326 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
640 N.Y.S.2d 571

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