WERNER v. JAG 1ST AVE REALTY LLC (2024)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shlomo S. Hagler, J.), entered January 30, 2023, which granted defendant Jag 1st Ave Realty LLC's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against it, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Defendant made a prima facie showing of entitlement to summary judgment based on the storm-in-progress doctrine by submitting certified climatological records showing that it was snowing at the time of plaintiff's accident, as well as plaintiff's deposition testimony acknowledging that there was heavy snow at that time (see Sherman v. New York State Thruway Auth., 27 N.Y.3d 1019, 1020–1021, 32 N.Y.S.3d 568, 52 N.E.3d 231 [2016];  DeJesus v. Belle Apts. Hous. Dev. Funding Corp., 191 A.D.3d 424, 425, 142 N.Y.S.3d 17 [1st Dept. 2021];  see also Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 16–123[a]).

In opposition, plaintiff fails to raise an issue of fact.  We reject plaintiff's argument that defendant might be liable because it failed to adhere to its own snow and ice removal procedures during a snowstorm.  Liability cannot be based on the violation of an internal rule imposing a higher standard of care than the one provided by law, unless plaintiff also makes a showing of detrimental reliance (see Prince v. New York City Hous. Auth., 302 A.D.2d 285, 286, 756 N.Y.S.2d 158 [1st Dept. 2003]).  Plaintiff makes no such showing, but merely speculates without any supporting evidence that defendant may have made the accumulation of snow worse by negligently removing it (see Bi Fang Zhou v. 131 Chrystie St. Realty Corp., 125 A.D.3d 429, 430, 3 N.Y.S.3d 21 [1st Dept. 2015]).  Plaintiff also fails to provide any evidence that ice under the snow was already on the sidewalk before the snow began (see Levene v. No. 2 W. 67th St., Inc., 126 A.D.3d 541, 542, 6 N.Y.S.3d 232 [1st Dept. 2015]).