After falling on Diane Burgan's sidewalk, Kris Cangemi sued claiming the area had been covered with ice due to water runoff triggered by a storm or by one of Burgan's commercial tenants.
When the Nassau County Supreme Court refused to throw the personal-injury case out, the owner appealed.
Because the Village of Hempstead didn't require the removal of snow or ice for up to 12 hours after a storm's end, and the injury occurred while the inclement weather was in progress, the Appellate Division, Second Department, could find no basis for the landlord's liability.
(Cangemi's claim that the building's tenant failed to properly drain water used for its car-washing business was viewed as "speculative," since it was based on observations made some two years after the accident.)
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Cangemi v. Burgan