Opinion
02-22-2017
Alejandro CEDENO, appellant, v. Arnulfo HIGUITA, respondent.
Michael D. Ribowsky, Richmond Hill, N.Y., for appellant. Martyn, Toher, Martyn & Rossi, Mineola, N.Y. (Megan C. Sampson of counsel), for respondent.
Michael D. Ribowsky, Richmond Hill, N.Y., for appellant.
Martyn, Toher, Martyn & Rossi, Mineola, N.Y. (Megan C. Sampson of counsel), for respondent.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Weiss, J.), dated July 22, 2016, which granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell on a thin, transparent layer of ice covering the stairs outside the residence he was renting from the defendant in Elmhurst, Queens. He commenced this action against the defendant to recover damages for personal injuries allegedly resulting from the fall.
The defendant established his prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that he did not create the alleged icy condition or have actual or constructive notice of it (see Gershfeld v. Marine Park Funeral Home, Inc., 62 A.D.3d 833, 879 N.Y.S.2d 549 ). The defendant established, inter alia, that he had no actual notice of the icy condition, and that the condition was not present for a sufficient period of time for him to have discovered and remedied it prior to the accident (see Valentin v. Shoprite of Chester, 105 A.D.3d 1036, 1037, 965 N.Y.S.2d 510 ; Zerilli v. W. Beef Retail, Inc., 72 A.D.3d 681, 682, 898 N.Y.S.2d 614 ).
In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact. The plaintiff's contention that runoff water dripped from an awning onto the steps and froze during the night is speculative (see Edwards v. Mantis, LLC, 106 A.D.3d 689, 690, 964 N.Y.S.2d 235 ; Abbattista v. King's Grant Master Assn., Inc., 39 A.D.3d 439, 441, 833 N.Y.S.2d 592 ).
Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
RIVERA, J.P., DILLON, CHAMBERS and HINDS–RADIX, JJ., concur.