Carlos Vega fell to the ground and was injured while riding his bicycle over a pothole. When he later filed suit, the New York County Supreme Court denied the City's request to have the case thrown out.
While local law requires prior notice of a condition before liability can attach, an exception exists if the City's "affirmative act of negligence" created an "immediately dangerous condition."
Although the pothole was repaired some five months before Vega's accident, because that work wasn't the result of "an affirmative act of negligence" nor immediately dangerous, the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed and dismissed the lawsuit.
That cratered.
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Vega v. City of New York