Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
On December 31, 2000, the plaintiff was injured when he fell down a stairway in a Manhattan apartment building owned by the defendant. He alleged that his fall was caused by a defective step.
The defendant failed to satisfy its prima facie burden of demonstrating its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law ( see Alvarez v. Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324-325), as it failed to establish the absence of notice of the allegedly defective condition as a matter of law ( see Colon v. Produce Warehouse Carle Place, 303 AD2d 354). Accordingly, the defendant's motion was properly denied without considering the sufficiency of the plaintiff's opposition papers ( see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851, 853; Mariaca-Olmos v. Mizrhy, 226 AD2d 437, 438; Colon v. Produce Warehouse Carle Place, supra).