Opinion
November 13, 2000.
Appeal from Judgment of Court of Claims, Midey, Jr., J. — Negligence.
PRESENT: PIGOTT, JR., P. J., HAYES, HURLBUTT, BALIO AND LAWTON, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed with costs.
Memorandum:
Defendant appeals from a judgment apportioning 90% liability to defendant for injuries sustained by claimant Eleanor Tuttle when she tripped over a tree stump on a paved pathway while camping in a State park. We reject the contention of defendant that it owed no duty to claimants. "The State, as a landowner, has a duty to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance and control of its parks to prevent injury to foreseeable users of its facilities" ( O'Keeffe v. State of New York, 140 A.D.2d 998, 998-999, appeal dismissed 73 N.Y.2d 756). "The path in question had been artificially constructed and the State was under a duty to see that it was constructed and maintained in a reasonably safe condition" ( Nichols v. State of New York, 286 App. Div. 281, 283; see also, Loughran v. City of New York, 298 N.Y. 320, 322). By allowing a three-inch tree stump to remain in the middle of the pathway, the State failed to maintain its paved pathway in a reasonably safe condition. We also decline to exercise our power to reapportion liability ( see, Saiia v. State of New York, 190 A.D.2d 1059).