Fowler v. New York City Housing Authority

Full title: RICHARD FOWLER, Appellant, v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, Respondent

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

Date published: Oct 9, 1997

243 A.D.2d 284 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

663 N.Y.S.2d 32

Opinion

October 9, 1997

Appeal from Supreme Court, Bronx County (Luis Gonzalez, J.)

In this negligence action premised on allegedly inadequate security measures, plaintiff's claim that his assailants were not residents of the building or invitees is based on his assumption that since he did not recognize them and has not seen them since the attack, they must have been intruders. Such conclusions are speculative and insufficient as a matter of law to establish proximate cause ( Tolliver v. New York City Hous. Auth., 238 A.D.2d 187; Maria S. v. Willow Enters., 234 A.D.2d 177, 178-179) and will not survive defendants' motion for summary judgment.

We have considered plaintiff's other arguments and find them to be without merit.

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Rosenberger, Wallach, Nardelli and Mazzarelli, JJ.