One of the more common types of personal injury lawsuits is when a pedestrian slips and falls on an alleged condition of snow and ice on a public sidewalk abutting a commercial premises. Under long-standing N.Y. law, generally, liability for injuries sustained as a result of a dangerous condition such as snow/ice on a public sidewalk rested with the municipality and not the abutting landowner. See City of Rochester v. Campbell, 123 N.Y. 405 (1890); Roark v. Hunting, 24 N.Y.2d 470 (1969). Traditionally, there are exceptions where the landowners can be held liable:

[W]here the sidewalk was constructed in a special manner for the benefit of the abutting owner, the abutting owner affirmatively caused the defect, where the abutting landowner negligently constructed or repaired the sidewalk, and where a local ordinance or statute specifically charges an abutting landowner with a duty to maintain and repair the sidewalks and imposes liability for injuries resulting from the breach of that duty.

Hausser v. Giunta, 88 N.Y.2d 449, 453 (1996) (emphasis added).