Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff's decedent, an employee of the New York City Transit Authority, was killed by a subway train as he was descending a catwalk ladder 50 feet inside the subway tunnel. The City of New York relinquished possession and control of the subway system when it leased the property to the New York City Transit Authority. Since it cannot be said that the area in which the accident occurred was intended or leased for a "public purpose", there is no basis to impose liability against the City of New York as a landlord lessor out-of-possession (see, Junkermann v Tilyou Realty Co., 213 N.Y. 404; Hecht v Vanderbilt Assocs., 141 A.D.2d 696). Thus, the plaintiff's complaint against the City of New York was properly dismissed. Bracken, J.P., Kooper, Sullivan and O'Brien, JJ., concur.