Swinson v. City of N.Y.

Full title: Darren SWINSON, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Volunteers of…

Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department, New York.

Date published: Feb 28, 2014

42 Misc. 3d 144 (N.Y. App. Term 2014)

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 50279

988 N.Y.S.2d 526

Opinion

No. 570013/14.

2014-02-28

Darren SWINSON, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Volunteers of America Greater NY, Defendants–Appellants.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff's unparticularized allegations that he sustained “worsening migraines” as a result of vaguely described “harass[ing] and threaten[ing]” conduct on the part of a neighboring tenant (nonparty Donnell Cunningham) at the SRO hotel in which they both reside were insufficient to impose liability upon defendants, the owner and managing agent of the hotel premises. Even assuming that the conduct attributed to Cunningham constituted some form of “harassment” or other actionable conduct, no showing was made that defendants “had the ability or a reasonable opportunity to control the [alleged] aggressor [ ] and that the harm complained of was foreseeable” (Simms v. St. Nicholas Ave. Hotel Co., 187 A.D.2d 373 [1992],lv denied81 N.Y.2d 704 [1993];see Hughes v. City of New York, 238 A.D.2d 477 [1997] ). Thus, defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissal of the complaint should have been granted. THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.