| Kucevic v Three Park Ave. Bldg. Co., L.P. |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 08095 [55 AD3d 792] |
| October 21, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Zuma Kucevic, Appellant, v Three Park Avenue Building Co.,L.P., et al., Respondents. (And a Third-Party Action.) |
—[*1] Hoey King Toker & Epstein, New York, N.Y. (Robert O. Pritchard of counsel), for respondentsThree Park Avenue Building Co., L.P., and Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. Geringer & Dolan, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Robert E. Coleman of counsel), for respondent NewYork Elevator Company.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from a judgment of theSupreme Court, Queens County (Grays, J.), entered July 10, 2007, which, upon so much of an orderof the same court entered October 10, 2006, as granted the motion of the defendant New YorkElevator Company for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it, andupon an order of the same court entered May 4, 2007, which, in effect, granted the separate motion ofthe defendants Three Park Avenue Building Co., L.P., and Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., in effect, forsummary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them, is in favor of thedefendants and against her dismissing the complaint.
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, with one bill of costs payable by the defendantsappearing separately and filing separate briefs, the motion of the defendant New York ElevatorCompany for summary judgment and the separate motion of the defendants Three Park AvenueBuilding Co., L.P., and Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., in effect, for summary judgment dismissing thecomplaint insofar as asserted against each of them are denied, the complaint is reinstated, and theorders entered October 10, 2006 and May 4, 2007 are modified accordingly.[*2]
The plaintiff allegedly was injured when an elevator in whichshe was a passenger suddenly changed direction, dropped several floors rapidly, and came to anemergency stop. She commenced this action against the defendant New York Elevator Company(hereinafter NY Elevator), the company retained to maintain the elevator, and the defendants ThreePark Avenue Building Co., L.P., and Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., the building's owner and managingagent, respectively (hereinafter together the Building Defendants).
Both NY Elevator and the Building Defendants failed to establish their prima facie entitlement tojudgment as a matter of law. The evidence offered in support of their respective motions failed toestablish, prima facie, that the elevator was not defective, or that they had no actual or constructivenotice of a defective condition (see Gilbert vKingsbrook Jewish Ctr., 4 AD3d 392, 393 [2004]; cf. Cox v Pepe-Fareri One, LLC, 47 AD3d 749 [2008]). This failure tomake a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law required denial of themotions, regardless of the sufficiency of the opposition papers (see Cox v Pepe-Fareri One, LLC,47 AD3d at 749; see generally Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]).
The plaintiff's remaining contention is without merit. Santucci, J.P., Dillon, Dickerson andChambers, JJ., concur.