CRISCENTI v. VERIZON (2012)

Orders, Supreme Court, New York County (Milton A. Tingling, J.), entered April 28, 2011 and August 3, 2011, which, to the extent appealed from, denied defendants JEK Communications, Inc.'s, Marble Heights of Westchester's, Verizon, Verizon Services Corp., Inc., Telesector Resources Group, Inc., and Verizon New York, Inc.'s respective motions for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against them, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motions granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of said defendants dismissing the complaint as against them.

Plaintiff was injured when she slipped and fell on the cover of a Verizon utility box located in a common-area lawn in her condominium complex. Without a showing of notice to defendants, the fact that the utility box cover was slippery when wet does not raise an issue of fact as to negligence (see Contreras v. Zabar's, 293 A.D.2d 362, 740 N.Y.S.2d 203 [1st Dept 2002] ). Nor do plaintiff's expert opinions raise an issue of fact, since they are unsupported either by the record or by specific, applicable safety standards (see id.).

Plaintiffs strict products liability claim fares no better. The record demonstrates conclusively that defendants did not manufacture, sell or distribute the utility box (see Reeps v. BMW of N. Am., LLC, 94 A.D.3d 475, 476, 941 N.Y.S.2d 597 [1st Dept 2012] ).

M—3843 Criscenti v. Verizon et al.

Motion to strike footnote denied.