SANTIAGO v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY (2000)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Gerald Esposito, J.), entered May 6, 1999, which, in an action for personal injuries sustained in a slip and fall on a patch of ice on a pathway in defendant's housing development, denied defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Summary judgment in defendant's favor is precluded by an issue of fact as to whether the ice on which plaintiff allegedly slipped was formed as a result of the piles of snow on either side of the pathway, created by defendant's grounds keepers in removing almost two feet of snow that had fallen within a week of the accident, melting and refreezing (see, Grizzaffi v. Paparodero Holding Corp., 261 A.D.2d 437, 690 N.Y.S.2d 93;  see also, Zahn v. City of New York, 299 N.Y. 581, 86 N.E.2d 105;  Jiuz v. City of New York, 244 A.D.2d 298, 664 N.Y.S.2d 303).   It is for a jury to decide whether defendant's snow removal methods “created a more hazardous condition than would have obtained had the snow been left untouched” (Glick v. City of New York, 139 A.D.2d 402, 526 N.Y.S.2d 464).

MEMORANDUM DECISION.