A municipality that has a prior written notice law cannot be held liable for a defect within the scope of the law unless the requisite written notice has been given. The New York Village law for prior written notice applies to six surfaces and the Town law applies to three. Recently courts have continued to expand the definition to apply to other surfaces that “functionally fulfill the same purpose as a statutory surface.”

New York Statutes

New York Village Law §6-628 provides, that: “no civil action shall be maintained” against a defendant village for personal injury sustained as a result of a defect in “any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk or crosswalk” unless prior written notice of the alleged defect is provided.

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