Navarre v. Ketcham

RUTH C. BALKIN

Affirmed.
Kujawski & Kujawski, Deer Park, N.Y. (Mark C. Kujawski of counsel), for appellant. Baxter, Smith & Shapiro, P.C., Hicksville, N.Y. (Valerie Siragusa of counsel), for respondents.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Whelan, J.), dated March 5, 2013, which granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.

The defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that the plaintiff did not know what caused her to fall ( see Martone v. Shields, 71 A.D.3d 840, 841, 899 N.Y.S.2d 249; Lissauer v. Shaarei Halacha, Inc., 37 A.D.3d 427, 829 N.Y.S.2d 229). Further, the defendants established that, in any event, the lack of a handrail was not a violation of the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code or the Property Maintenance Code of the State of New York because the subject building was built before the enactment of the those codes ( see Swerdlow v. WSK Props. Corp., 5 A.D.3d 587, 588, 772 N.Y.S.2d 864; Matter of Village of Westbury v. Straehle, 307 A.D.2d 931, 762 N.Y.S.2d 892), and even if a handrail were required by law, its absence was not a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury ( cf. Antonia v. Srour, 69 A.D.3d 666, 893 N.Y.S.2d 186). In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact ( see Martone v. Shields, 71 A.D.3d 840, 841, 899 N.Y.S.2d 249; Reiff v. Beechwood Browns Rd. Bldg. Corp., 54 A.D.3d 1015, 864 N.Y.S.2d 175; Meehan v. David J. Hodder & Son, Inc., 13 A.D.3d 593, 594, 788 N.Y.S.2d 134; Lester v. Waterman, 242 A.D.2d 683, 684, 664 N.Y.S.2d 927). Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.