Menu
100% Free Consultation
718-539-3100menu
A property owner’s motion to dismiss has been rejected by a judge in Queens after an 82-year-old tenant slipped and fell at an apartment where she was temporarily housed while renovations were made to her flat.
Kathy Pantos, the elderly woman, had an apartment on 29th Street in Astoria that the owners were updating. They asked her to temporarily relocate to another building on Crescent Street, also in Astoria, until the repairs were completed. In her complaint, Pantos said that employees from the moving company she hired told her that, because of recent renovations to the Crescent Street apartment, the floors were too slippery and posed a significant risk of injury. She contacted her landlord, who promised to fix the floors in the Crescent Street apartment and reimburse her for the costs of the temporary move.
Pantos subsequently moved into the Crescent Street apartment, but the floors were never fixed. Shortly after she moved in, she fell, sustaining a concussion, as well as injuries to her knees, shoulder and back.
The landlords sought to have Pantos’ lawsuit dismissed, arguing that they did not own the property on Crescent Street and therefore had no liability. Queens Supreme Court Justice Rudolph Greco, Jr., disagreed. Because Pantos sought damages for “negligent repair,” he held, it did not matter who owned the property. He found that the landlord had made a promise to repair, and that Pantos’ decision to move into the apartment was reasonably based on that promise. Accordingly, the landlord could be found liable for failing to make repairs.
To set up an appointment with us,
contact our office online or call us toll free at 888-519-6400. Your first consultation is free of charge.
Trying to head off potential problems, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a number of light-hearted, but pointed public service announcements during the 2015 Christmas season, including one that reminded drone owners that “Rudolph can fly anywhere, but your drone can’t.” Consumer goods experts say nearly three quarters of a million drones were sold in the last two months of the year, an uptick of almost 100% from last year.
According to FAA rules, if your drone weighs more the one half of a pound, it must have a label with an FAA registration number. Owners are then required to register the device with the FAA before using it or face potential civil and criminal penalties.
Authorities say that, though motorized hobbyist flying has been around for quite some time, the new wave of drones changes the game completely. Before, when you wanted to fly a motorized hobby plane, you had to assemble it first, and you had to know enough about how it worked to get it running. As a part of that process, owners typically ran a number of test flights and learned how to safely operate the gizmo. However, the drones now on the market are operational out of the box, so there’s no learning curve necessary at all.
Many attorneys expect to see a wave of personal and property injury claims stemming from the use of drones. In early December, a drone in a TGI Friday’s restaurant in New York crashed into a patron’s face, cutting her nose. The drone was apparently carrying mistletoe, encouraging couples to kiss. It is unknown whether the woman has filed legal action against the restaurant.
At Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP, we have more than 60 years of experience protecting the rights of personal injury victims. For a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call us toll free at 888-519-6400.