Landlord May Be Responsible for Child's Playground Injury

Tenant sued landlord for negligence, after her child's leg was injured at the building playground. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, claiming that it wasn't responsible for the child's injury. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. The child was jumping on an inverted glass fish tank that another child had dragged onto the playground from an adjoining lot. Pretrial questioning showed that the fish tank had been left either in the playground or in the other lot for at least a few days before the accident. Under the circumstances, it may have been foreseeable that the child would have jumped on the fish tank while playing. It also wasn't clear whether landlord had enough notice that the fish tank was there that it could have removed it before the accident occurred. A trial was needed to determine the facts.

Smith v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 6/30/08, p. 33, col. 1 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Fisher, JP, Carni, McCarthy, Belen, JJ)