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Lehner v. Boyle

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 17, 2004
7 A.D.3d 677 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)

Opinion

2003-02559.

Decided May 17, 2004.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Jones, J.), dated January 10, 2003, which granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

George David Rosenbaum, New York, N.Y. (Richard M. Kane of counsel), for appellant.

Hammill, O'Brien, Croutier, Dempsey Pender, P.C., Smithtown, N.Y. (Kristin Blair Tyler of counsel), for respondents.

Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, SANDRA L. TOWNES, WILLIAM F. MASTRO, JJ.


DECISION ORDER

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

An owner of land abutting a public sidewalk does not, solely by reason of being an abutting owner, owe a duty to keep the sidewalk in a safe condition ( see Loforese v. Cadillac Fairview Shopping Ctrs., U.S., 235 A.D.2d 399). An abutting landowner will not be liable to a pedestrian injured on a public sidewalk unless that landowner created the defective condition complained of or caused the defect to occur because of some special use, or a local ordinance or statute casts a duty upon him or her to maintain and repair the sidewalk and imposes liability for injuries resulting from a breach of that duty ( see Eidelman v. Hochauser, 242 A.D.2d 596, 597).

In the absence of any such local ordinance or statute, and of evidence that any defective condition existed, the Supreme Court properly granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint ( see Leggio v. County of Nassau, 281 A.D.2d 518; Gross v. Kam She Ng, 269 A.D.2d 424).

SANTUCCI, J.P., SCHMIDT, TOWNES and MASTRO, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Lehner v. Boyle

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 17, 2004
7 A.D.3d 677 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
Case details for

Lehner v. Boyle

Case Details

Full title:GERARD LEHNER, appellant, v. JOHN BOYLE, ET AL., respondents

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

Date published: May 17, 2004

Citations

7 A.D.3d 677 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
776 N.Y.S.2d 834

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