Sidewalk Accidents

When sidewalks are chipped, cracked or have been insufficiently maintained by the city or by property owners who are responsible, it can lead to serious accidents and injuries. If you have been involved in a slip, trip or fall accident on a sidewalk, you need to talk with an attorney about getting the money you need to pay for your medical bills and other expenses.

Common causes of sidewalk falls may include:

* Cracks in the sidewalk
* Insufficient maintenance of the sidewalk
* Snow and ice
* Debris on the sidewalk
* Other potential sidewalk hazards

If you believe that you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to defective sidewalks or walkways in the New York Area, you should contact an experienced lawyer as soon as possible.

PREMISES/SIDEWALK/PROPERTY ACCIDENTS

Falls resulting in significant injuries including fractures/broken bones, connective tissue (muscle, ligament, disc and/or cartilage) injury and nerve damage happen because of dangerous or defective conditions that exist on the sidewalk or on any type of public, private or municipal property. Some of these dangerous and hazardous conditions are as follows:

• cracks, holes and depressions on the sidewalk or street

• broken curbs or missing concrete/cement

• uneven walking surfaces

• sidewalk obstructions

• unnatural accumulation of snow and ice on sidewalks or pathways which has not been removed or cleaned

• loose, cracked or broken steps

• loose or broken handrails

• loose or defective flooring/tiles

• loose or defective carpeting

• slippery flooring due to improper maintenance/cleaning

• failure to properly maintain an area under construction  or an area where work is occurring

• defective elevators/escalators Even if your accident occurred on the public sidewalk in any of the five boroughs, a recent change in the law (New York City Administrative Code §7-210) now makes the adjacent private property owner (such as owners of office buildings, hotels, supermarkets, schools, restaurants, businesses and residential apartment buildings) responsible in most instances. Otherwise, the City of New York remains responsible for the public sidewalk.

We have personally handled these specific types of cases for over 25 years with tremendous success for all of our clients and their families who have been the unfortunate victims of what really amounts to simple neglect in managing and maintaining property.

Over the past 25 years, we have dedicated our practice to solely helping people and families who have been harmed by the negligent and wrongful acts of others. We have never represented insurance companies which insure the people  and companies who are being sued for their negligence and wrongdoing. On the contrary, we have been successful in fighting these insurance companies which are largely responsible for paying the monies in order to compensate the victims we represent for their pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, lost wages and other related damages.

We have recovered millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts battling relentlessly on behalf of our clients year after year. Recently, on June 14,2011, Mr. Perlman as trial counsel to another attorney, successfully achieved a $300,000.00 settlement after jury selection for a woman who fractured (broke) her wrist after falling down broken and worn steps in a small walk-up residential building in the Bronx. The landlord unsuccessfully attempted to defend the lawsuit by claiming a tenant in the building had damaged the steps shortly before our client fell. (Richardson v. Sobro Sharp LLC., Index No. 20779/08- Kings County).

On May 12, 2011 while Mr. Perlman was on trial,, our client recovered $200,000.00 in settlement from the New York City Housing Authority due to a broken wrist caused by a fall on a defective and broken sidewalk. During the trial, the defendant Housing Authority unsuccessfully tried to blame the City of New York for not fixing the sidewalk. Only after the trial commenced did the defendant reveal and admit that the accident location was the subject of two prior trip and fall accidents.

(Ciprian v. NYCHA, Index No.13317/09- Queens County).

On December 22, 2010 , the Court approved a $380,000.00 settlement we negotiated on behalf of a child in order to provide compensation and damages for her after she fell from a water slide in defendant’s backyard where it was claimed children were left unattended without supervision.

(Papagoerge v. Litman, Index No. 19980/08- Nassau County).

On July 12, 2010, we were successful in reaching a $235,000.00 settlement on behalf of our 91 year old client who was caused to fall on the sidewalk due to a worn and broken Con Edison grating which covered an underground transformer. Con Edison tried to claim that the defect was small and minimal (de minimis) and that our client was not paying attention while she walked down the sidewalk.

(Wexler v. Con Edison of New York, Index No. 103699/08- New York County)

On May 21, 2010, we negotiated a settlement for our client in the amount of $260,000.00 after two and one-half years of litigating her case which involved a slip and fall in her elevator vestibule where the floor was wet. The insurance carrier for the building where she fell claimed that the floor was well maintained and dry at the time of the accident in addition to claiming that our client’s injuries pre-existed the happening of the accident.

(Joshua v. Park City Estates Tenants Corp.,  Index No. 30950/07- Queens County).

On February 24, 2010, while on trial in Supreme Court, Kings County, Mr. Perlman was successful in getting the insurance company for the Defendant, a private property owner, to reverse its “we will not pay”stance and enter into a Three Hundred Fifty Thousand ($350,000.00) Dollar settlement in order to fairly compensate our client who aggravated a previously existing back condition in addition to fracturing her toe due to a defective and broken public sidewalk in front of Defendant’s property.

(Merced v. Estate of Rose A. Glick, Index No. 14343/06 –Kings County).

Similarly, when an insurance company for a residential/commercial landlord in Brooklyn refused to fairly compensate our client for a fractured ankle she sustained due to a broken and defective public sidewalk in front of the Defendant’s premises, Mr. Perlman obtained a jury award/verdict in the amount of Nine Hundred Twenty-Seven Thousand ($927,000.00) Dollars for pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment and other related damages.

(Pitchford v. Fried, Index No. 12931/04 –Kings County).

In November, 2009, Mr. Perlman was hired as trial counsel for another law firm which was representing a victim who sustained a fracture and subsequent nerve injuries after she fell on a public sidewalk adjacent to a residential building owned by Defendant New York City Housing Authority (the largest public housing authority in the United States). We were successful in negotiating a Five Hundred Thousand ($500,000.00) Dollar settlement of all claims on behalf of our client in order to bring the matter a final resolution .

(Vera v. New York City Housing Authority, Index No. 17648/06 –Bronx County).

Likewise, in January, 2009 we were also able to effectuate a Six Hundred Fifty Thousand ($650,000.00) Dollar settlement for our client who was also the victimof an unnecessary fall which occurred on the public sidewalk in front of a privately owned residential building.

(Burch v. Bedford Stuyvesant NSA1 Redevelopment Company, Index No. 12801/07 –Kings County). In December, 2009 we successfully negotiated a Two Hundred Forty Thousand ($240,000.00)

Dollar settlement for our older client who was on her way to work in Manhattan and tripped on a very slight mis-leveled sidewalk. Defendants and their insurance companies had initially refused to take responsibility under the theory that the defect was too minimal to warrant any responsibility. After vigorously litigating the lawsuit, the insurance carriers for the Defendants finally listened to what we were claiming all along and the settlement agreement was reached while the case was awaiting trial.

(Cassidy v. Lexreal Associates, et al, Index No. 114187/06–New York County).

After years of litigation and the commencement of trial in November, 2009, a major department store chain and its insurance carrier reversed its “we will not pay because we did nothing wrong” stance and finally accepted responsibility agreeing to pay Two Hundred Forty Thousand ($240,000.00) Dollars after hangers had been left on the store floor causing an obstruction which resulted in our client falling and sustaining injuries.

(Davis v. TJX Companies, Index No. 31328/05 –Kings County).

When our client fell down the remaining flight of steps inside a building where there was an insufficient handrail and inappropriate carpeting on the steps, we obtained a Three Hundred Twenty Thousand ($320,000.00) Dollar settlement for shoulder injuries sustained by our client in March, 2009 (Digiovanni v. 514 86th Street, LLC, Index No. 43215/03 –Kings County).

We are truly there to help you. Start protecting yourself and give us a call to discuss the circumstances surrounding your accident without any further obligation.