It is well settled that, absent allegations of a breach of duty independent of the contract, a cause of action based on negligent or grossly negligent performance of a contract is not cognizable. Here, the allegations of negligence relate only to defendants' alleged faulty performance of the construction work, which does not fall outside of the obligations agreed to under the contract. Plaintiff's attempt to rely on NY Lien Law article 3-A in an effort to establish an extra-contractual duty owed to plaintiff is unavailing. The allegations of negligence are not based on a breach of defendants' purported duty to pay subcontractors, but on defendants' alleged failure to perform the work properly. The negligence allegations are duplicative of those asserted in support of plaintiff's claim for breach of contract and the claim is dismissed.
320 W. 115 Realty LLC v. All Bldg. Constr. Corp., NY Slip Op 03107 (May 13, 2021)
