What New York law requires to prove a slip and fall claim, the deadlines that govern it, and the markets we serve in person.
Get a Free Case Review
Property owners in New York owe everyone who lawfully enters — customers, tenants, visitors — a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe. But a fall alone is not a case: New York premises liability turns on notice, meaning proof that the owner created the hazard or knew (or should have known) about it long enough to fix it. Everything strategic in these cases flows from that requirement.
The defendant's first argument in every New York fall case is "we didn't know." Beating it takes one of three showings:
The evidence that proves notice is the evidence that disappears fastest: surveillance footage (often overwritten within days), sweep logs, incident reports. A preservation letter in the first week routinely decides these cases. Photographs of the exact condition — the liquid, the broken step, the missing handrail, with something for scale — taken before the store cleans it up are worth more than any witness.
The ordinary statute of limitations is 3 years (CPLR §214), with suit filed in the New York State Supreme Court for the county where the accident occurred for the county where the accident occurred accidents — but treat 90 days as the working deadline until the defendant's identity is confirmed private.
Gordon v. American Museum of Natural History, 67 N.Y.2d 836
The constructive-notice standard every New York fall case is measured against: the defect must be visible and apparent, and exist long enough before the accident for the owner to discover and fix it.
No — that report belongs to the store and you may never see it voluntarily. What protects your case: photos of the hazard, names of witnesses, prompt medical care, and a preservation letter for surveillance footage before it is overwritten, which at many chains happens within a week.
No. Comparative fault (CPLR §1411) reduces recovery by your percentage but never bars it, and "open and obvious" goes to your share of fault, not the owner's duty to fix hazards. Juries understand that people walk through stores looking at shelves, not floors.
In New York City, usually the owner of the abutting building under Admin Code §7-210 — not the City — unless it's an owner-occupied 1-3 family home, where liability can shift back to the City and a 90-day notice of claim applies. Outside NYC, many municipalities require prior written notice of the defect. Defendant identification is step one, because it sets which deadline you're on.
Potentially yes. New York landlords owe tenants minimal security precautions — working locks above all — against foreseeable criminal intrusion. Prior break-ins or crime in the building establish foreseeability, and the broken lock, reported and unrepaired, establishes the breach. These cases are proven with repair records, complaint histories, and police reports.
Each page covers the courts, roads and local procedure for that market.
Who is liable for a New York City sidewalk is counter-intuitive, and getting it wrong at the start is usually fatal …
New York was a pure comparative fault state for half a century. Since May 2026 it has run two different rules side by…
Most New York claims are not lost to the limitations period. They are lost to one of the much shorter clocks that runs…
The consultation is free and carries no obligation.