First published: Apr 2022
Heavy Wind, Then a Tragedy
Where a terrace or balcony is involved, the building, its unit owners and their tenants are responsible for securing its contents or bringing it indoors during inclement weather. Even heavy furniture needs this attention, so that pedestrians below are protected from potentially tragic outcomes. It’s the law, and a common law responsibility. Non-resident renters, as well as the buildings, are bound by it. As for this court decision, it was not a motion on the merits of the claim, and it does not mean that the renters will be liable for the terrible injuries suffered by the plaintiff. A jury may well determine that, if there is fault, it will be apportioned, and the greater fault may be assigned to the Unit Owner, if that is who placed the chair there.
SEN V. GR REALTY HOLDINGS LLC
WHAT HAPPENED In November 2019 a California couple leased a twelfth- floor duplex penthouse apartment in a condominium for one year, paying
$50,000 per month. It had more than 2000 square feet of terrace on two levels and was fully furnished, including the outdoor terrace furniture. A few months later on a rainy and windy day in January, the plaintiff, who was 23 years old and worked for a private equity firm, was walking by the building with her boyfriend when a heavy wooden lounge chair, which was unsecured at the time, fell off the apartment’s terrace and struck her in the head. She suffered severe traumatic brain injury and had to undergo multiple brain surgeries. She sued the condominium, its management company, the apartment’s owner, and the owner’s two tenants, alleging that they were negligent. In lieu of an answer, the California couple filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the claim that New York lacked personal jurisdiction. On the day of the incident the tenants, residents of California, were in Florida.
YOU SHOULD KNOW New York state has a long-arm statute which allows it to exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-resident who has certain contacts
with the state.
IN THE COURT The court discussed New York’s long-arm statute, CPLR
§302(a)(2) and (4), which extends New York jurisdiction to nonresidents who have engaged in some purposeful activity in New York in connection with the cause of action asserted. It specifically includes a cause of action arising from defendants’ ownership, use or possession of real property in New York. Merely leasing an apartment in New York makes it foreseeable that the tenant-lessee defendants could be hauled into New York for claims arising from the lease itself. The motion by the non-resident tenants to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was denied. This decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division.
COUNSEL For Condominium Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles / For Plaintiff Morelli Law Firm / For Appellants
Kaplan Hecker & Fink
NOT TO BE LEFT OUT A citation was issued by the NYC Dept. of Buildings for violation of Section 28-391.1 – Failure to Maintain Building in Code- Compliant Manner. The building was fined $6,250.
