Opinion
8583 Index 160133/14
03-05-2019
William SPENCER, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. 322 PARTNERS, L.L.C., Defendant–Respondent.
Sanders, Sanders, Block, Woycik, Viener & Grossman, P.C., Mineola (Mark R. Bernstein of counsel), for appellant. Cartafalsa, Turpin & Lenoff, New York (Carolyn Comparato of counsel), for respondent.
Sanders, Sanders, Block, Woycik, Viener & Grossman, P.C., Mineola (Mark R. Bernstein of counsel), for appellant.
Cartafalsa, Turpin & Lenoff, New York (Carolyn Comparato of counsel), for respondent.
Acosta, P.J., Richter, Manzanet–Daniels, Tom, Moulton, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol R. Edmead, J.), entered February 16, 2018, which, insofar as appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claim under Labor Law § 240(1), unanimously affirmed, without costs.Although plaintiff injured his elbow when the ladder he was using in defendant's building fell over, he is not entitled to relief under Labor Law § 240(1) since he was not engaged in construction-related activity at the time of his accident (see Rhodes–Evans v. 111 Chelsea LLC, 44 A.D.3d 430, 431–433, 843 N.Y.S.2d 237 [1st Dept. 2007] ). Plaintiff's actions of opening a splice box affixed to the wall and splicing telephone wires therein while on a service call for a customer of his employer did not constitute an alteration of the building, but rather routine maintenance (see id. ; Ventura v. Ozone Park Holding Corp., 84 A.D.3d 516, 517, 923 N.Y.S.2d 67 [1st Dept. 2011] ; Cosentino v. Long Is. R.R., 201 A.D.2d 528, 607 N.Y.S.2d 720 [2d Dept. 1994] ).