Opinion
13710 Index No. 154199/16 Case No. 2020-04905
04-29-2021
Joseph TORRES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE AND TUNNEL AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants-Respondents.
Jaroslawicz & Jaros PLLC, New York (David Tolchin of counsel), for appellant. Pillinger Miller Tarallo, LLP, New York (Mary Ellen O'Brien of counsel), for respondents.
Jaroslawicz & Jaros PLLC, New York (David Tolchin of counsel), for appellant.
Pillinger Miller Tarallo, LLP, New York (Mary Ellen O'Brien of counsel), for respondents.
Kapnick, J.P., Moulton, Scarpulla, Mendez, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Laurence L. Love, J.), entered July 24, 2020, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on his Labor Law § 241(6) cause of action and granted defendants’ cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the claim, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court properly concluded that the area where plaintiff fell did not constitute a passageway as contemplated by Industrial Code ( 12 NYCRR) § 23–1.7(e)(1) (see Muscarella v. Herbert Constr. Co., 265 A.D.2d 264, 697 N.Y.S.2d 35 [1st Dept. 1999] ). The court also properly concluded that Industrial Code § 23–1.7(e)(2) was inapplicable, since the demolition debris resulted directly from the ongoing work being performed, which plaintiff had been assigned to clean up, and thus constituted an integral part of that work (see Solis v. 32 Sixth Ave. Co. LLC, 38 A.D.3d 389, 390, 832 N.Y.S.2d 524 [1st Dept. 2007] ; Cabrera v. Sea Cliff Water Co., 6 A.D.3d 315, 316, 776 N.Y.S.2d 541 [1st Dept. 2004] ).