Summary
In Greene Steel Wire Co. v. Meyers Bros. Operations, Inc., 44 Misc.2d 646, 254 NYS2d 299, the undisputed facts that the parking lot operator's method of operation of the lot, the signs posted around the lot, the ticket obtained by the automobile operator defining the service sold by defendant, and the automobile owner never having given possession or control to the defendant, led the court to conclude that defendant assumed no duty to safeguard plaintiff's automobile and to further conclude that the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant was that of licensor and licensee.
Summary of this case from Wall v. Airport Parking Co. of ChicagoOpinion
November 5, 1964
Appeal from the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County, JOHN J. MANGAN, J.
Rosenberg, Stone Notkins ( Richard C. Reiner and J. Jacques Stone of counsel), for appellant.
Plaintiff alleged a cause of action for breach of a contract of bailment. Whether a person simply hires a place to put his car or whether he has turned its possession over to the care and custody of another depends on the place and conditions of the transaction ( Osborn v. Cline, 263 N.Y. 434, 437). The place and conditions of the instant transaction are undisputed and are set forth with sufficient specificity to warrant a determination as a matter of law. The manner of operation of defendant's parking lot, the posted signs and the ticket plaintiff obtained defining the service sold, and the circumstance that plaintiff never surrendered possession or control of its vehicle to the defendant, establish that the plaintiff acquired a mere license or privilege to park its car. Defendant assumed no responsibility for safekeeping such vehicle and is not responsible for its damage.
The order so far as appealed from should be reversed, with $10 costs, and defendant's motion for summary judgment granted.
Concur — HOFSTADTER, J.P., TILZER and GOLD, JJ.
Order reversed, etc.