| Levine v City of New York |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 08163 [67 AD3d 510] |
| November 12, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Jerry Levine et al., Appellants, v City of New York,Respondent. |
—[*1] Steven S. Efron, New York, for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Martin Shulman, J.), entered May 27, 2008,which, in an action for personal injuries allegedly caused by malfunctioning elevator doors thatclosed too quickly as plaintiff was exiting the elevator, granted defendant premises owner'smotion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Assuming defendant, the City of New York, had a nondelegable duty to maintain theelevators in this building, a courthouse, in a reasonably safe condition, even though it had cededall responsibility for maintenance and repair of the elevators to an independent contractor, ashowing that defendant had notice of the alleged malfunction would still be necessary (seeCamaj v East 52nd Partners, 215 AD2d 150, 151 [1995]). No such showing was made byplaintiff in response to defendant's evidence that prior to the accident there had been nocomplaints that the subject elevator's doors were closing too quickly, and it does not availplaintiff that defendant did have notice that the elevator's doors were not opening andclosing—a different mechanical problem (see Gjonaj v Otis El. Co., 38 AD3d 384 [2007]; Lapin v Atlantic Realty Apts. Co.,LLC, 48 AD3d 337, 338 [2008]; Narvaez v New York City Hous. Auth., 62 AD3d 419 [2009]). Nordoes the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur avail plaintiff where defendant had ceded all maintenanceand repair responsibility to an independent contractor (see Hodges v Royal Realty Corp., 42 AD3d 350, 351-352 [2007]).Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Sweeny, Catterson, Acosta and Abdus-Salaam, JJ. [See2008 NY Slip Op 31445(U).]