New York City Premises Liability Lawyer

Injured on someone else’s property in New York City, NY? Contact the top premises liability attorney in New York City to seek justice and compensation.

A fall on a wet supermarket floor. A ceiling that gives way in a rental apartment. An assault in a parking garage with broken cameras and no security on duty.

These cases happen every day in New York City because owners cut corners on maintenance, inspections, and safety, and their insurers already have a team working to make sure you never prove what they ignored.

At Grigor Law Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, we represent injured people across the five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester from our offices in Ridgewood, The Bronx, and Hempstead.

We handle every category of premises claim, from sidewalk trips and stairway falls to building collapses and negligent security assaults, and our New York City premises liability lawyers build each case to prove the owner knew about the danger, ignored it, and caused your injury.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

What Is Premises Liability in New York?

Premises liability is the area of law that holds property owners accountable when an unsafe condition on their property injures someone who was lawfully there. It covers far more than slip-and-fall accidents. Broken staircases, collapsed ceilings, assaults due to failed security, and defective elevators all fall under this category.

Do You Have a Valid NYC Premises Liability Claim?

Sustaining an injury on someone’s property does not automatically mean you have a case. Our New York City premises liability attorneys must establish four elements to recover compensation:

• Duty of Care: The owner or manager had a legal obligation to maintain safe conditions for you.

• Breach: They knew, or should have known, about the hazardous condition and failed to fix or warn about it.

• Causation: That hazard was a direct and substantial cause of your injury.

• Damages: You suffered real, quantifiable losses as a result.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for Your Injuries?

Liability depends on who had control over the property at the time of your accident. In NYC premises cases, responsible parties can include landlords, co-op and condo boards, retail and restaurant operators, property management companies, and maintenance or snow removal contractors. Identifying every liable defendant, not just the most obvious one, directly impacts the size of your recovery.

What to Do After an Injury on Someone Else’s Property

What you do immediately after an accident determines what we can prove on your behalf.

Report the Incident Before You Leave

Notify the property owner, store manager, or building superintendent on-site and request a written incident report. Get a copy before you walk out the door.

Document the Scene Yourself

Photograph the exact hazard, the surrounding area, any warning signs (or the absence of them), and your visible injuries. Set aside the shoes and clothing you were wearing without washing them.

Seek Medical Care the Same Day

A prompt evaluation ties your injuries directly to the accident. Without it, the insurer will argue your injuries came from somewhere else.

Do Not Speak to the Insurance Company

The property owner’s insurer is not on your side. Adjusters are trained to gather statements that reduce or eliminate what you can recover. Decline any recorded conversation until you have an attorney.

NYC Sidewalk Injuries: Who Is Liable Under Local Law 49?

Many people assume the City of New York is responsible when they trip on a sidewalk. Under NYC Administrative Code § 7-210, that changed for most properties. The adjacent property owner is now legally on the hook for defective sidewalk conditions, not the City.

Property Type	Who Is Liable for Sidewalk Defects?
Apartment, commercial, and mixed-use buildings	Adjacent property owner
Owner-occupied 1-, 2-, or 3-family homes	City of New York
Uncleared snow and ice after a storm	Adjacent property owner

When the City of New York is the correct defendant, a Notice of Claim within 90 days must be filed. Missing that window can permanently end your right to recover.

A tactic our injury attorneys in NYC see repeatedly in sidewalk cases is the property owner arguing the defect sits in a tree well, curb, or pedestrian ramp the City controls, while the City argues the reverse. Busy blocks in Midtown Manhattan and along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx often combine all of these features within a few feet of each other.

We measure and photograph the exact location of the defect early and match it against Department of Transportation records so the right party is named before any deadline runs.

Can You Still Recover If You Were Partly at Fault?

Yes. New York follows pure comparative negligence, which means partial fault does not stop you from recovering compensation. Your award is simply reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury awards you $80,000 but finds you 20% responsible, you walk away with $64,000.

How Much Time Do You Have to File?

Deadlines in New York premises cases are strict:

• Most premises liability claims: Three years from the date of injury.

• Wrongful death claims: Two years from date of death.

• Claims against the City, MTA, or any government entity: Notice of Claim within 90 days, and lawsuit filed within one year and 90 days.

Beyond legal deadlines, surveillance footage is often overwritten unless steps are taken to preserve it. Every day you wait costs you evidence that cannot be recovered.

Premises Liability Cases We Handle in New York City

Our attorneys represent injured clients across all five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County.

Slip and Fall Accidents

Wet floors, broken tiles, uneven pavement, and poor lighting in apartment buildings, retail stores, and restaurants are among the most common causes of serious injuries we handle.

Negligent Security

When assaults happen because a property owner failed to maintain working locks, functional cameras, or on-site security in a high-crime area, that owner can be held legally responsible for the harm that results.

Elevator and Escalator Accidents

Sudden drops, mis-leveled floors, and malfunctioning doors are frequent in NYC’s aging building stock. Property owners must comply with NYC Department of Buildings inspection requirements. When they don’t, people get hurt.

Snow and Ice Falls

Property owners are required to clear snow and ice within a reasonable time after a storm ends. When they neglect that duty, they are accountable for every injury that follows.

Stair and Railing Failures

Missing banisters, unstable treads, and broken handrails are not just dangerous. They are often direct violations of the NYC Building Code and powerful evidence of negligence.

Falling Objects and Building Collapses

We represent people hurt by falling facade brick, scaffolding failures, air conditioner drops, and ceilings that collapsed from years of deferred maintenance.

Dog Bites

New York holds dog owners liable when they knew, or should have known, their animal had dangerous tendencies, a standard called “known vicious propensity.” Since the Court of Appeals decided Flanders v. Goodfellow in 2025, owners can also be held liable under ordinary negligence for failing to control their dog.

Injuries Commonly Seen in NYC Premises Cases

Premises accidents frequently cause injuries serious enough to change your life:

• Fractures: Broken hips, wrists, and ankles are most common in fall-down accidents.

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Head strikes can cause anything from a concussion to lasting neurological damage.

• Spinal Cord Injuries: These range from herniated discs with chronic pain to catastrophic paralysis.

• Soft Tissue Damage: Torn ligaments, cartilage injuries, and muscle damage that limit your ability to work and function normally.

• Wrongful Death: Surviving family members can bring a claim when a fatal accident results from a property owner’s negligence.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

We pursue every available category of damages on your behalf. Special damages cover your measurable financial losses: past and future medical bills, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity.

General damages compensate for what a spreadsheet cannot capture: your physical pain, emotional distress, and the activities and enjoyment that your injuries have taken from you. We benchmark your claim against comparable New York verdicts to make sure nothing is left on the table.

How We Investigate and Build Your Case

Insurance companies know our New York City premises liability lawyers take cases to trial, and that changes every negotiation. Our investigation begins the moment you hire us.

Scene Investigation

We dispatch investigators to document the accident location before the property owner can repair the hazard and destroy the evidence of their negligence.

Preservation of Surveillance and Records

We issue spoliation letters, which are formal legal demands requiring property owners to preserve all video footage, maintenance logs, and inspection records before they are overwritten or disposed of.

NYC Violation and Code History

We pull building records from the NYC Department of Buildings and other city agencies to uncover prior violations and unresolved complaints. A documented history of neglect is powerful ammunition in court.

Expert Witnesses

We retain engineers, architects, lighting specialists, and security consultants who provide professional testimony to establish how the property owner was negligent and how that negligence has affected your life.

What we see across the premises claims we handle in New York City is that older buildings in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx often carry open HPD violations, facade inspection findings under the city’s Local Law 11 program, and Department of Buildings complaints tied to the hazard that caused an injury.

When a falling object or ceiling collapse is involved, those records can show the landlord knew about the problem long before anyone was hurt. That history turns a disputed notice argument into strong evidence that the owner chose not to act.

Why Choose Grigor Law for Your NYC Premises Claim?

Founded in 2015 by Chrissy Grigoropoulos, Esq., our firm operates out of three offices in Ridgewood (on the Brooklyn-Queens border), The Bronx, and Hempstead and serves clients throughout New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County.

We bring a shark attitude to every case because that is what it takes to go up against the insurance industry and win.

• Trial-Ready from Day One: We prepare every case for the courtroom from the start, which is exactly why insurers take our demands seriously.

• We Come to You: If your injuries prevent you from traveling, our attorneys come to your home or hospital room.

• No Fee Unless We Win: We work on contingency. If we do not recover money for you, you owe us nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Soon Can a Property Owner Erase Surveillance Video After an NYC Accident?

Many buildings overwrite footage on short cycles, which is why we send legal preservation demands immediately after you hire us, before critical evidence can disappear.

Can I Still File a Claim If I Did Not Report the Incident on the Day It Happened?

Yes. Witness statements, photographs, and medical records can support your claim even without a formal incident report from the property.

Does a Visible Warning Sign Protect the Property Owner from All Liability?

Not necessarily. A warning sign does not eliminate liability when it was obscured, insufficient for the hazard, or when the defect should have been repaired rather than just marked.

Does Immigration Status Affect My Right to File a NYC Premises Claim?

No. New York law protects the right of every injured person to pursue compensation, regardless of immigration status.

Can I Collect Workers’ Compensation and File a Premises Lawsuit at the Same Time?

Yes. If a property owner’s negligence caused your injury while you were on the job, you can receive workers’ compensation benefits and simultaneously pursue a separate third-party premises liability claim.

Can Both a Building Owner and a Snow Removal Contractor Be Named as Defendants?

Yes. When inadequate snow clearing causes an injury, both the property owner who hired the contractor and the contractor itself can be held liable.