PENA v. NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY

Plaintiff alleges that he was attacked and stabbed in the lobby of a building owned by defendant by unknown assailants who had been hiding in the stairwell. The only basis for liability against defendant is that the lock on the front door was broken. This record, which contains no indication of prior criminal activities by third parties in the building, is insufficient to hold the landlord liable. At a minimum there must be some basis to conclude that the cited negligence proximately caused plaintiff's injury. (See, Pagan v. Hampton Houses, 187 A.D.2d 325; Camacho v. Edelman, 176 A.D.2d 453.)

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Ross, Asch and Kassal, JJ.