Opinion
2012-01-31
Julio QUINTANA, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants–Respondents.
Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & De Cicco, New York (Brian J. Isaac of counsel), for appellant. Cullen and Dykman LLP, Brooklyn (Joseph Miller of counsel), for NYCHA, respondent.
Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & De Cicco, New York (Brian J. Isaac of counsel), for appellant. Cullen and Dykman LLP, Brooklyn (Joseph Miller of counsel), for NYCHA, respondent.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Janet L. Zaleon of counsel), for municipal respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Karen S. Smith, J.), entered on or about April 26, 2010, which, insofar as appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendant New York City Housing Authority's (NYCHA) motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims against it, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Dismissal of the complaint as against NYCHA was appropriate in this case where plaintiff alleges that he was injured when he slipped and fell while attempting to climb over a mound of snow created along the curb of the sidewalk by NYCHA's snow plow. Contrary to plaintiff's assertion, the record does not establish that the mound of snow impeded access to the crosswalk and prevented pedestrians from safely crossing the street. In the absence of evidence that the mound obstructed the crosswalk or was of such magnitude at the corner that it was more reasonable for a pedestrian to cross the street where plaintiff made his attempt, NYCHA could not reasonably have foreseen that a person in the circumstances in which plaintiff found himself would have acted as he did. Moreover, even assuming that an issue of fact exists as to whether the crosswalk was blocked by the mound, plaintiff was not in an “emergent situation,” and had other, albeit less convenient options for crossing the street, including walking back down the block, rather than crossing over the mound outside of the crosswalk ( Guida v. 154 W. 14th St. Co., 13 A.D.2d 695, 696, 213 N.Y.S.2d 919 [1961], affd. 11 N.Y.2d 731, 226 N.Y.S.2d 439, 181 N.E.2d 453 [1962] ).