Founding Attorney
Who is liable for injuries caused by falling down buildings?
Residents of New York City should be concerned about the city’s public safety, or lack thereof, in recent months. When city officials know of dangers and fail to take action, serious consequences can result. Despite the city’s obvious, at least partial, culpability for these deaths, immunity laws are in place rendering it difficult and at times impossible to obtain financial compensation from the municipality.
Recent evidence has emerged that suggests New York City officials are letting crime and safety hazards persist, leading to the deaths of innocent citizens. In a period of just ten days, at least three people in Manhattan died due to a lack of policing and ignorance of known safety risks. In Morningside Park, an 18-year-old woman was stabbed to death during an attempted mugging. The area in which she died had been the site of at least 20 similar robberies, a tremendous surge since the previous year. Despite this rise in crime, no additional actions were taken to protect residents and visitors to the area.
Elsewhere in Manhattan, accidents led to the deaths of two individuals. A 60-year-old architect died while walking under a building when a piece of the façade crumbled and hit her in the head. Tragically, investigations revealed that the Department of Buildings was well aware of structural issues with the building, but did not take action. The Department of Buildings cited the structure eight months earlier, but inspectors never performed a follow-up. The death was preventable had the city taken appropriate actions.
Lastly, a 26-year-old woman died while crossing in a crosswalk when a truck backed into her. The truck had extensive violations totaling 723, with several of these violations for dangerous driving on the part of the driver. Yet the driver still had his license and vehicle.
NYC Immunity Laws
Immunity laws will complicate any lawsuit against the city or city entity. However, there are exceptions to immunity laws that might open the door to viable litigation. Our personal injury lawyers at Michael LoGiudice, LLP have extensive knowledge and experience in fighting for injured members of the public. We can evaluate your potential case to uncover whether you might be able to pursue compensation from the city, county, or other governmental entity.