Summary
holding one-inch level difference in sidewalk, standing alone, not actionable
Summary of this case from Cornelisse v. United StatesOpinion
April 25, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Anne Targum, J.).
Plaintiff was allegedly injured when she tripped on a sidewalk in Coop City, which is owned and operated by defendant Riverbay Corporation. Plaintiff testified that the sidewalk was not level, with a displacement of "[a]bout an inch."
It is settled that "[t]he owner of a public passageway may not be cast in damages for negligent maintenance by reason of trivial defects on a walkway, not constituting a trap or nuisance, as a consequence of which a pedestrian might merely stumble, stub his toes, or trip over a raised projection" ( Liebl v. Metropolitan Jockey Club, 10 A.D.2d 1006; Guerrieri v. Summa, 193 A.D.2d 647; Hecht v. City of New York, 89 A.D.2d 524, mod on other grounds 60 N.Y.2d 57; Mascaro v. State of New York, 46 A.D.2d 941, affd 38 N.Y.2d 870). Further, differences in elevation of about one inch, without more, have been held to be nonactionable ( Hecht v. City of New York, supra; Mascaro v. State of New York, supra; Allen v Carr, 28 A.D.2d 155, affd 22 N.Y.2d 924).
In the matter at bar, the differential between the two slabs was, by plaintiff's own testimony, about an inch and possessed none of the characteristics of a trap or a snare.
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Ross, Nardelli and Tom, JJ.