Slip, trip and fall

What you actually have to prove

People assume a fall on someone’s property means that person pays. New York does not work that way. A property owner has a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe, not to guarantee that nobody is ever hurt on it.

In practice a claim turns on showing one of three things about the hazard:

• The owner created it, the floor they waxed, the step they built.
• The owner knew about it, a complaint, a prior fall, a repair request that went nowhere.
• The owner should have known. It had been there long enough that a reasonable inspection would have found it.

That third one is where most of these cases live, and it is a question about time. A spill on a supermarket floor in an aisle staff walk down every few minutes is a different case at ninety seconds than at an hour. Which is why the first questions we ask are rarely about the injury. They are about when it happened, who was around, and what was recorded.

Snow and ice, which is most of the winter here

Central New York produces a particular kind of case. New York recognizes that an owner is generally allowed a reasonable time after a storm ends to clear snow and ice, the storm-in-progress rule. You cannot expect a parking lot to be salted in the middle of a squall.

So the fight becomes: when did the storm end, and what happened afterwards? That turns weather records, plowing and salting logs, and the timing of your fall into the evidence that decides the case. It also means the difference between a claim and no claim can be a few hours.

A related trap: ice that forms from a downspout emptying across a walkway, or from a plow pile melting and refreezing, is not really a "storm" case at all. It is a recurring condition the owner created, and that is a stronger position.

Falls on public property

If you fell on a sidewalk, in a park, or at a municipal building, the ordinary three-year deadline does not apply and the case becomes procedural fast:

• A sworn notice of claim is due within ninety days under General Municipal Law § 50-e.
• The action itself must be commenced within one year and ninety days under § 50-i.
• Many municipalities also require prior written notice of the specific defect before they can be held liable at all, meaning somebody had to have told them about that particular crack, in writing, before you fell.

That last requirement surprises people and it is the reason a serious injury on a public sidewalk can still be a difficult claim. It is worth finding out early rather than at the end.

Fault works differently here than in a car case

Two things that apply to motor vehicle claims do not apply to a fall:

• The serious injury threshold does not apply. That is part of the no-fault system and it governs motor vehicle claims. A fall is ordinary negligence.
• Comparative fault still reduces rather than bars. Since May 26, 2026, a claimant more at fault than the defendants in a motor vehicle case recovers nothing. That new rule is written for actions subject to Insurance Law Article 51. A fall is governed by CPLR § 1411(a), where your share reduces the recovery and does not eliminate it. See our car accident page for the contrast.

So expect to hear that you were not looking, or were wearing the wrong shoes, or were on your phone. It is an argument about percentages, not about whether you have a claim.

What helps, if you can manage it

Photographs of the condition before it is cleaned up, taken from more than one distance. The names of anyone who saw it. An incident report, with a copy for you. The shoes you were wearing, unworn since. And a request, in writing and as early as possible, that any video be preserved, once it is gone it is gone, and the fact that it existed is rarely enough on its own.

Questions people ask

Is the property owner automatically responsible because I fell?

No, and this is where most of these cases are won or lost. Falling on someone’s property is not enough on its own. You generally have to show the owner created the dangerous condition, or knew about it, or that it existed long enough that they should have found and fixed it.

What does "should have known" actually mean?

It is about time and inspection. A spill that has been on a supermarket floor for an hour, in an aisle staff walk down constantly, is different from one that happened ninety seconds earlier. That is why how long the condition existed is usually the central factual fight.

I fell on ice. Does that change things?

Yes. New York recognizes that a property owner is generally given a reasonable time after a storm ends to clear snow and ice, the storm-in-progress rule. When the storm ended, and what was done afterwards, becomes the question, which makes weather records genuinely important evidence.

Does the serious injury threshold apply to a fall?

No. That threshold is part of the no-fault system and it governs motor vehicle claims. A fall is ordinary negligence. Comparative fault also works the older way here, reducing a recovery by your share rather than barring it, which is not true of car claims since May 2026.

They are saying I was on my phone. Does that end my claim?

Not by itself. New York reduces a recovery by your share of the fault rather than eliminating it, so being partly responsible for a fall reduces what you recover instead of ending the claim. Expect the argument; it is not the answer.

I fell on a public sidewalk. Who do I sue?

It depends on the municipality, and it gets procedural quickly. A notice of claim is due within ninety days, and many municipalities also require that they had prior written notice of the specific defect before they can be held liable at all. Both are reasons to move immediately.

How long do I have?

Three years from the date of the fall under CPLR 214(5) for most claims against a private owner. Against a municipality it is far shorter: ninety days for the notice of claim, and one year and ninety days to commence the action. The three-year figure lulls people.

Related

Sources

CPLR § 214 — Actions to be commenced within three years ·CPLR § 1411 — Damages recoverable when contributory negligence is established ·General Municipal Law § 50-e ·General Municipal Law § 50-i
Verified August 23, 2026. This page describes general principles of New York premises liability. It is not advice about your own case: whether a particular owner is responsible for a particular fall depends on facts this page cannot know.