Raymond Heinichen, et al., appellants, v. CITY OF NEW YORK (2000)

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the plaintiffs Raymond Heinichen and Rita Heinichen appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Polizzi, J.), dated June 1, 1998, which denied their motion for leave to amend the complaint, and granted that branch of the cross motion of the defendant City of New York which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action to recover damages pursuant to General Municipal Law § 205-e.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion for leave to amend the complaint is granted, the branch of the cross motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action to recover damages pursuant to General Municipal Law § 205-e is denied, and the second cause of action is reinstated.

 To recover damages pursuant to General Municipal Law § 205-e, there is no requirement that the notice of claim specify the particular legal theory under which recovery is sought (see, Sclafani v. City of New York, 271 A.D.2d 430, 706 N.Y.S.2d 129;  Reilly v. City of New York, 271A.D.2d 425, 706 N.Y.S.2d 124, 2000 WL 371546 [2d Dept., Apr. 3, 2000];  Simons v. City of New York, 252 A.D.2d 451, 675 N.Y.S.2d 597).   Here, the plaintiffs' notice of claim recited the date, time, and location of the accident.   It also listed the license plate numbers of both the radio motor patrol vehicle operated by the injured plaintiff and the other vehicle involved in the accident, and the name of the operator of that vehicle.   It was therefore sufficient to enable the City of New York to make a prompt investigation of the facts and to explore the merits of the claim while information was likely to be available (see, Yankana v. City of New York, 246 A.D.2d 645, 668 N.Y.S.2d 241;  Walston v. City of New York, 229 A.D.2d 485, 645 N.Y.S.2d 513).   Further, because this accident involved two City-owned vehicles operated by police officers acting in the line of duty, the New York City Police Department itself had conducted an immediate investigation.   Since the City did not make the requisite showing of significant prejudice, the plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend the complaint to identify the statutory predicates for the claim under General Municipal Law § 205-e should have been granted (see, Shelton v. City of New York, 256 A.D.2d 611, 613, 683 N.Y.S.2d 123;  Weeden v. Corzo Constr. Co., 240 A.D.2d 732, 660 N.Y.S.2d 998), and the branch of the cross motion by the defendants to dismiss the claim should have been denied.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.