Municipal Liability / Injury Breaking News

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Trial Lawyers on Sidewalk Law: Liability Shift is Workable, Liability Share Falls Short

Commenting on the passage of Intro Nos. 193 and 522 in the City Council Friday, NYSTLA President Jeffrey Lichtman said shifting liability and making landlords accountable for maintaining sidewalks will help make New York a safer place for pedestrians. However, any plan to shift liability must be done sensibly and include shared liability with the City, Lichtman said.

“As we’ve said since last summer, shifting liability and making landlords accountable for the sidewalks in front of their buildings – coupled with shared City liability – is a good idea,” said Jeffrey Lichtman, President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

"That is why we are supporting Intro 193, which will motivate landlords to maintain the sidewalks and help to make New York a safer place for pedestrians."

"However, as we’ve said all along, any change must be done sensibly and include shared liability with the City. This is a safety net for New Yorkers injured where a landlord is financially irresponsible, which would leave a citizen with no legal recourse. While we are glad that both the City Council and the Mayor heard us and acknowledged the need for the City to share liability in these cases, the fact is that the legislative mechanism created to address this issue falls short of a workable solution," said Lichtman.

"We are hopeful that the City Council will re-visit this issue and work to develop a mechanism for shared liability that truly does protect New Yorkers," concluded Lichtman.

Lawsuit Against West Nile Spraying in New York Will Proceed

July 7th, 2005 (news.findlaw.com)

By RITA CICERO, Andrews Publications Staff Writer In the long-running lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging New York's method of spraying for West Nile virus, a federal judge has refused to dismiss the groups' Clean Water Act claims.
After cases of West Nile were reported in all five boroughs of New York in summer 1999 and a few residents became ill, the city instituted an insecticide spraying program using helicopters and trucks. Since 1999 the virus has reappeared each summer and the program is still in effect.
Opponents of the program, including the No Spray Coalition and the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Clean Water Act.
The Clean Water Act requires a federal permit in order to discharge a pollutant into a navigable body of water. The law allows any citizen to bring suit to stop a violation of the act.

Cleanup Workers File Class Action Lawsuit over WTC health effects

September 13th, 2004 legalnewswatch.com)

A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Ground Zero workers alleges the leaseholder of the World Trade Center, owners, controllers and the companies hired to oversee the clean up did very little to protect workers from asbestos and other toxins in the air.

Al Sharpton settles lawsuit filed against city of New York - Law & Justice - Brief Article

Jan 5, 2004 (findarticles.com)

New York City has agreed to pay $200,000 in damages to Democratic presidential candidate the Rev. Al Sharpton after he was stabbed nearly 13 years ago at a protest where he said police failed to protect him. Sharpton was hospitalized for five days in January 1991 after Michael Riccardi stabbed him with a 5-inch knife in a Brooklyn schoolyard just blocks from where Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager, was cornered and fatally shot in August 1989 by a group of White youths wielding baseball bats. Sharpton, who has a 1-inch scar on his chest from the assault, says he still fears large crowds. The settlement came as jury selection was to begin in his decade-old civil case against the New York Police Department. Sharpton claimed police were "careless, negligent and reckless" during the incident. His attacker, was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to the maximum of 5 to 15 years in prison.

Brain-Damaged New York Teen Is Awarded $29 Million Judgment In Hospital Lawsuit - Bronx, New York - Brief Article

December 7th, 1998 (findarticles.com)

A jury recently awarded a Bronx, NY, teen with a $29 million judgment against the city's Health and Hospitals Corp. for a botched birth that left him brain-damaged and wheelchair-bound, the New York Post reported. The jury found that Charles Frye, 15, was deprived of oxygen for three days in his mother's womb, which left him with permanent brain damage and cerebral palsy. Gladys Frye, Charles' mother, said she felt "wonderful" about the verdict, adding that now she can offer her son a better life. "When I told him, he was ecstatic," the mother of three told the Post. "I'm overjoyed for my son because now he won't be left out of things. "This will make a big difference because he's going to need a lot of help with his disability. He will probably never be able to work and this will take care of him."

see also:

Policeman Worker Compensation GML 207-c provides for payment of salary, wages, medical and hospital expenses of policemen with injuries or illness incurred in the performance of their duties
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