CHOPRA v. GYU KAKU JAPANESE BBQ (2023)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Alexander M. Tisch, J.), entered on November 29, 2022, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against defendants Gyu–Kaku Japanese BBQ, Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, and Reins International New York, Inc., unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.

Although defendants established prima facie entitlement to summary relief by demonstrating that the step upon which plaintiff fell was open and obvious when approached from the front of the restaurant, plaintiffs raised material issues of fact as to whether, under the circumstances, the step was an unreasonably dangerous trap given the step's location (see Saretsky v. 85 Kenmare Realty Corp., 85 A.D.3d 89, 92, 924 N.Y.S.2d 32 [1st Dept. 2011];  Westbrook v. WR Activities–Cabrera Mkts., 5 A.D.3d 69, 72, 773 N.Y.S.2d 38 [1st Dept. 2004]).