A fall on a negligently maintained sidewalk, a wet floor in a Nassau County shopping center, or an icy parking lot outside a Suffolk County office park can produce life-altering injuries. New York's slip-and-fall law places specific procedural burdens on plaintiffs, particularly the notice requirement, that make early investigation and legal representation essential.

Why Gold & Gold in New York

Jonathan E. Gold and the Melville team understand the local landscape: which municipalities have adopted prior-written-notice codes, how Long Island property owners and their carriers respond to notice defenses, and which Nassau and Suffolk County Supreme Court judges routinely handle premises-liability motion practice. We move quickly to inspect the scene, gather maintenance logs, and document the condition before it is repaired.

New York courts, deadlines & rules

New York's general personal-injury statute of limitations is 3 years (CPLR 214). For falls on municipal property, a city or town sidewalk, a county parking lot, a public building, a Notice of Claim within 90 days is required before suit. Many New York municipalities (including New York City and numerous Long Island towns) have enacted prior-written-notice ordinances that require the plaintiff to show the municipality received written notice of the specific defect before the accident, unless the municipality itself created the condition. This is a significant defense advantage that does not exist in Florida and that must be addressed in every case involving public property. New York's pure comparative negligence rule (CPLR 1411) applies, so evidence about how the fall occurred and what the plaintiff observed is heavily contested.

Common slip, trip & fall cases we see in New York

  • Icy or snowy sidewalk falls in Nassau and Suffolk County towns during winter months
  • Wet-floor falls in Long Island shopping centers, supermarkets, and big-box stores
  • Trip-and-fall injuries on uneven pavement or raised sidewalk flags in Nassau County villages
  • Staircase and parking-garage falls at commercial properties in the Long Island Expressway corridor
  • Falls at New York City properties owned or managed by Long Island-based entities
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

I fell on a town sidewalk. Does the town have a defense I need to worry about?
Likely yes. Most Long Island municipalities require prior written notice of the specific defect before they can be held liable for a sidewalk defect. We immediately investigate whether any prior notice was filed, whether the municipality created the defect (which bypasses the notice requirement), and whether any applicable ordinance shifts the duty to the adjacent property owner.
The store says there was a 'wet floor' cone nearby. Does that defeat my claim?
Not necessarily. The cone's placement, visibility, adequacy, and how long the hazard existed before the cone was set out all go to whether the property owner acted reasonably. We obtain surveillance video and maintenance logs promptly to challenge these defenses before the evidence is overwritten.
How is New York different from Florida for slip-and-fall cases?
Florida does not have a statewide prior-written-notice system for municipal sidewalks, and Florida recently shifted to a modified comparative-negligence rule that bars recovery if the plaintiff is more than 50 percent at fault. New York retains pure comparative negligence (no percentage bar) but imposes the prior-written-notice hurdle for public property, which requires prompt investigation and a specific litigation strategy.