Justice Michael Stallman
City of New York moved for summary judgment dismissing Bednark’s complaint against it in this personal injury action. Bednark alleged she fell and injured herself after alighting from a bus and stepped into a cracked area of sidewalk abutting a gas station owned by Heron Real Estate and BP America. The city argued judgment should be granted in its favor as abutting owners of the subject property had a duty to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition, not the city, pursuant to New York City Administrative Code §7-210. Heron and BP argued §7-210 did not include bus stops, thus sought judgment in their favor. The court noted, assuming that the definition of “bus stop” under §16-124.1(a)(2) should apply here, it was undisputed that Bednark did not trip and fall within five feet of a bus stop sign, rather she fell nearly 55 feet from the nearest bus stop pole. As such, it concluded Bednark did not trip and fall within a designated public bus stop, and the area was not under the city’s responsibility to maintain. Hence, the abutting property owners had responsibility for maintaining the subject sidewalk area on the date of the accident, and the city’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it was granted.
