Practice point: Plaintiff was injured when, while disembarking from the rear doors of a bus, she stepped onto an allegedly broken and uneven sidewalk causing her to fall. Located approximately 55 feet west of the location where plaintiff fell is a sign designating a bus stop. The Appellate Division found a triable issue of fact as to whether plaintiff fell within
a designated bus stop location, and reinstated the complaint as
against the City.
The fact that plaintiff believed she did not fall within the bus stop is immaterial since she has no knowledge regarding what the City has designated to be the location of the bus stop. The motion court's reliance on Section 16-124.1(a)(2) of the Administrative Code as limiting a bus stop to "five feet of the sidewalk and the gutter immediately adjacent to the curb," was misplaced. The regulation pertains to the City's responsibility to remove snow and ice adjacent to bus stops, and does not purport to define "bus stop" for all purposes. In addition, the regulation became effective three years after the incident.
Student note: A bus stop is not delimited to the roadway where buses operate, but
includes the sidewalk where passengers board and disembark.
Case: Bednark v. City of New York, NY Slip Op 02841 (1st Dept. 2015)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: The arbitrability of a fee dispute.
