| Milano v Staten Is. Univ. Hosp. |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 04557 [73 AD3d 1141] |
| May 25, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Palma Milano, Appellant, v Staten Island UniversityHospital, Respondent. |
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In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order ofthe Supreme Court, Richmond County (Maltese, J.), entered December 19, 2008, which grantedthe defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the defendant's motion forsummary judgment dismissing the complaint is denied.
On a rainy morning, the plaintiff arrived for a medical appointment at the defendant, StatenIsland University Hospital, in which she had to walk through a hallway with wall-to-wallcarpeting to reach the reception area. She allegedly slipped and fell on water on the linoleumfloor at the reception area, which lacked any floor mats. It is undisputed that precipitation in theform of rain and snow was falling outside at the time of the accident. Although the plaintifftestified at her deposition that she did not see any wet condition on the floor prior to her fall, theplaintiff further testified that, immediately after falling, she saw "water on the floor," "stuff froman umbrella," and "dirty footprints," which she attributed to water dripping from wet umbrellas.
In support of its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, the defendantsubmitted evidence establishing, prima facie, that it neither created the alleged wet condition norhad actual or constructive notice of its existence for a sufficient length of time to discover andremedy it that morning (see Gordon v American Museum of Natural History, 67 NY2d836, 837-838 [1986]; Wartski v C.W. Post Campus of Long Is. Univ., 63 AD3d 916, 917[2009]; Rogers v Rockefeller Group Intl., Inc., 38 AD3d 747, 749 [2007]; Perlongo vPark City 3 & 4 Apts., Inc., 31 AD3d 409 [2006]).
However, in opposition, the plaintiff submitted sufficient evidence to raise a triable issue offact (see Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]) as to whether thedefendant had constructive notice of the alleged wet condition. "A defendant who has actualknowledge of an ongoing and recurring dangerous condition can be charged with constructivenotice of each specific reoccurrence of the condition" (Freund v Ross-Rodney Hous.Corp., 292 AD2d 341, 342 [2002] [internal quotation marks [*2]omitted]; see Kormusis v Jeffrey Gardens Apt. Corp., 31AD3d 392 [2006]; Fielding v Rachlin Mgt. Corp., 309 AD2d 894, 895 [2003];LoSquadro v Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn, 253 AD2d 856, 857 [1998]).The record reveals, inter alia, that the defendant was aware that the immediate area surroundingthe reception desk would become wet and dangerous during periods of inclement weather, andthe maintenance staff followed a procedure of placing additional mats on the area where theplaintiff fell (see Pasqua v Handels-En Productiemaatschappij De Schouw, B.V., 43AD3d 647, 648 [2007]; Fielding v Rachlin Mgt. Corp., 309 AD2d at 895; cf.Pomahac v TrizecHahn 1065 Ave. of Ams., LLC, 65 AD3d 462, 466 [2009]; Perlongo vPark City 3 & 4 Apts., Inc., 31 AD3d at 411).
Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have denied the defendant's motion for summaryjudgment dismissing the complaint. Skelos, J.P., Balkin, Roman and Sgroi, JJ., concur.