Tenant's Child Burned After Radiator Cover Removed

Tenant sued landlord for damages based on injuries suffered by her 3-year-old child. Tenant claimed that the child's face and hand came into contact with a baseboard radiator near the child's bottom bunk bed in the apartment for an unknown length of time and that the child was severely burned. Landlord claimed that it had no duty to provide radiator covers and that it wasn't responsible for the child's injuries. The court granted landlord's request to dismiss the case.

Tenant appealed, and the case was reopened. Tenant claimed that the bedroom radiator had a cover when she moved in, that she had asked the super to remove the cover because it was rusty, bent, and sharp in places, and had scratched her children's legs. She also asked the super and landlord to replace the cover many times for six months before her child was injured. A trial was needed to determine whether landlord created an unsafe condition by removing the baseboard heating unit's cover and leaving the unit uncovered, and whether the uncovered radiator needed repairs or was defective. 

Nina W. v. NDI King Limited Partnership: 2013 NY Slip Op 08202, 2013 WL 6419924 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 12/10/13; Andrias, JP, Acosta, Saxe, Renwick, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ)