Last month New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced an agreement to improve accessibility in 95% of subway stations in New York City that currently lack elevators or ramps. According to a press release by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agreement is part of a class-action settlement between the MTA and accessibility advocates. While it is […]
Municipal Liability
Suit Against School for Failure to Provide Adequate Supervision Survives
In Amandola v Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Ctr., 2015 NY Slip Op 06099 [130 AD3d 761], the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department denied a defendant’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss a cause of action for failure to provide adequate supervision in its school. A plaintiff brings suit against his school for failure to […]
Investigation Finds Rampant NYC School Bus Moving Violations
A recent investigation by the New York Daily News found that as nearly two-thirds of New York City school buses “have been issued at least one speeding or red light camera ticket since 2014.” Of the city’s 10,497 registered school buses, 6,895 (or 65%) have received tickets. Of those 6,895 buses that received tickets for speeding or […]
Women Are Afraid of Walking in Cities Because of Sexual Assault, Study Shows
A new study examining the gendered nature of urban design, published by Leading Cities, found that the risk of sexual assault disproportionately prevents women from walking around their cities. According to the study, 30% of women respondents said they either “always” or “very frequently” avoid walking around their cities because of fear, instead choosing other modes of transportation. […]
New York Safe Streets Activists Propose New Road Safety Legislation
Earlier this month a group of safe-streets lobbying groups in New York released the Crash Victims Rights and Safety Act, a collection of eight pieces of legislation “that will better support victims of traffic violence and make streets safer across New York State at a moment when traffic fatalities and speeding are both on the rise,” according […]
Car Crash Claims Against New York City Increase in 2020
The New York City Comptroller’s office recently released a report showing that between July 1, 2019 until June 30, 2020, New York City paid $142.4 million to settle “1,390 claims filed by people injured by the on-the-job driving practices of city employees.” StreetsBlog NYC reported earlier this month that this figure reflects a 3% increase in car crash claims since the […]
Study: Falls Are Most Common Cause of Death for Construction Workers
A new study released by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine showed that falls remain the second leading cause of death for workers across the country. The study showed that falls represented 14 percent of all workplace fatalities in the United States during an 11-year period between 2003 and 2014. Workers with the highest rates of fatal falls were […]
New York Workplace Deaths Increased 55 Percent in 2017
Workplace fatalities in New York rose 55 percent during 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. With 87 deaths during the year, the number of workplace fatalities has not been this high since 2008. The high number of deaths is especially surprising because the number of construction fatalities, the industry with the highest number of deaths […]
New York Lawmakers to Revisit Scaffold Law
New York lawmakers are revisiting the state’s century-old scaffolding law that requires construction companies to cover the full cost of all workplace injuries. According to The New York Daily News, the recent conversation about reforming New York’s construction safety laws comes at the behest of the Trump administration and the construction industry, which are looking for ways […]
Widow of Glenn Frey, Former Eagles Bandmember, Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Cindy Frey, the widow of late Eagle’s co-founder Glenn Frey, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mt. Sinai hospital and physician Steven Itzkowitz. The lawsuit alleges the hospital and doctor were negligent in failing to properly diagnose and treat the health conditions that led to his untimely death in January 2016. Frey died at the age of 67 from complications […]
Queens Mom Sues NYC Alleging Missing Stop Sign Caused her Son’s Crash
A Queens mom has sued New York City for a missing stop sign that caused the Uber she was riding in to crash, injuring herself and her one-month-old son. The mother, Oddeth Davidson, was traveling with her infant son, Kaiden Brown, in a ride-share vehicle when another car T-boned the Uber in Cambria Heights at the intersection of […]
New York Post: New York Hospitals Sued for Releasing Dangerous Patients
Two New York City hospitals are being sued for the damages caused by the release of allegedly dangerous patients from their psychiatric wards. In the past month, two lawsuits have been filed against New York City hospitals alleging that the hospitals behaved in a negligent or careless manner when they released dangerous patients into the tri-state area. These patients […]
After Deadly Bronx Fire Families Sue City
A month after one of New York’s deadliest fires in a quarter-century killed 13 people, the survivors and their families have sued the city. Eleven of the victims are seeking a combined $110 million from the Administration for Child Services Department (ACS) alleging that the mother of the child was known to the city’s welfare agency for her neglectful parenting, […]
Five Years After Metro-North Derailment, An Overdue Reckoning with Rail’s Safety
Recent train and subway accidents have led to renewed attention to the 2013 Metro-North derailment that killed four and injured dozens. After an investigation by LoHud.com showed that the Metro-North Railroad still had not installed the required safety equipment to prevent another crash, Connecticut Senator Blumenthal and New York Senator Chuck Schumer called for the railroad to speed up its efforts. On December 1, […]
Students Injured at Bronx High School In Science Experiment Gone Wrong
A mishap in a New York City high school’s science lab ended up sending four students to the hospital. St. Catharine Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in the Bronx, said that an experienced chemistry teacher was performing an experiment to teach students how an atom “goes from ground state to excited state,” according to the New York […]
Dodging Responsibility, MTA Tries to Make Homeless Man With No Assets Pay for Verdict
The Metropolitan Transit Authority, responsible for running New York City’s subways and buses, is attempting to dodge responsibility and pin a $30-million award on a homeless man. In 2012, Naeem Davis, described as “homeless” and “a drifter” by the New York Post, pushed Ki Suck Han in front of a subway train. Arguing that he was […]
Family of NYC Bike Path Victim Plans to Sue City
Parents of a victim lost to the terrorist attack on one of Lower Manhattan’s bike trails has filed a notice of their intent to sue New York City. The parents of Darren Drake state that New York designed a bike path that was unsafe for people to use. According to them, New York should have foreseen […]
On Hospital Safety: New York Ranks a Lowly 47th in the US, Mixed Results for Hudson Valley
According to a watchdog organization, New York has the 47th worst record in the United States when it comes to hospital safety. New York’s ranking has been in a slow decline – dropping a full seven spots in the last five years. The watchdog group, Leapfrog, was founded by healthcare employers and unions wanting to provide more […]
Lawsuit: Brooklyn Prison Staff Ignored MS-13 Assault on Inmate
According to a new lawsuit, two federal prison guards in Brooklyn allowed a gang member to attack a fellow inmate causing horrific damage. The injured inmate, Rafael Lopez, alleges in his new lawsuit that the Metropolitan Detention Center knew that Douglas Mendoza was a disturbed person and affiliated with the notoriously violent MS-13 gang. The alleged attack […]
Former Councilman Sues NYC For His Treatment at Riker’s Island
Disgraced New York City Councilman Ruben Wills has sued the City of New York over his treatment while incarcerated on Riker’s Island. According to the former politician, his four-day stint at Rikers caused him immense pain and resulted in his need for a wheelchair. Wills is now trying to hold the Department of Corrections and the NYC […]
For Physically Disabled, New York City Sidewalks Create a Nightmare
Despite its reputation for progressive politics, New York City is failing its residents with physical disabilities. While the subway has long created a nightmare of obstacles for New Yorkers with special needs, sidewalks are also becoming an increasing problem for the city. Disability advocates point to two main problems with the city’s sidewalks. First, there are […]
Comptroller’s Office Audits Westchester Medical Center
An audit of Westchester Medical Center (WMC) found company executives were paid millions of dollars in bonuses between 20013 and 2015. State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli’s office found that $4.6 million dollars were to paid to 18 employees without sufficient record keeping as to why the payments were made. The hospital was audited because it is a […]
OSHA Implements New Injury Reporting Regulations
In a report released January 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that there were 10,388 severe workplace injuries in 2015; 7,636 of those injuries resulted in hospitalization and 2,644 resulted in amputations. The manufacturing industry has the highest reported accidents, accounting for 57% of all amputations and 26% of all hospitalizations, followed by the […]
Appellate Court Allows Case to Proceed Where Defendant Owner Allegedly Failed to Provide Protective Gear on Construction Site
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department in Montenegro v P12, LLC, 2015 NY Slip Op 05919 [130 AD3d 695] reversed a lower court’s decision granting a defendant’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss a cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241(6), predicated on 12 NYCRR 23-1.8(a). The plaintiff was employed as a carpenter on […]
Defendant Fails to Submit Evidence of Last Inspection of Slate; Case Proceeds
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department in Bergin v Golshani, 2015 NY Slip Op 06103 [130 AD3d 767], denied a defendant’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss a cause of action alleging negligence. In the slip-and-fall case, the plaintiff sought to recover damages for personal injury for defendant’s failure to inspect the area where plaintiff was injured. […]
