TORRES v. WASHINGTON HEIGHTS BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION INC (2008)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Leland G. DeGrasse, J.), entered May 22, 2007, which granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Summary dismissal was properly granted in this matter where plaintiff was injured when she tripped on a plastic bag during a street fair that was hosted and sponsored by defendant.   Although defendant, as a licensee who obtained permission to use the designated streets to sponsor and host the fair, owed a duty of care to maintain the area in a reasonably safe condition (see Maheshwari v. City of New York, 2 N.Y.3d 288, 294, 778 N.Y.S.2d 442, 810 N.E.2d 894 [2004] ), the evidence demonstrates that defendant established its entitlement to summary judgment by showing that it had no constructive notice of the defective condition (see Smith v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 50 A.D.3d 499, 856 N.Y.S.2d 573 [2008] ).   The general awareness of litter in the streets is insufficient to raise a triable issue as to whether defendant had constructive notice of the plastic bag that caused plaintiff's fall (see Gordon v. American Museum of Natural History, 67 N.Y.2d 836, 838, 501 N.Y.S.2d 646, 492 N.E.2d 774 [1986];  Melendez v. New York City Hous. Auth., 23 A.D.3d 211, 803 N.Y.S.2d 547 [2005] ).