Gonzalez v City of New York

Gonzalez v City of New York 2012 NY Slip Op 00651 Decided on January 31, 2012 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on January 31, 2012
Tom, J.P., Sweeny, DeGrasse, Abdus-Salaam, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.
6660 102659/08

[*1]Lester Gonzalez, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v

City of New York, et al., Defendants-Respondents, George Alvarez, et al., Defendants.




Weiner & Strauss, LLP, Nanuet (Neil S. Weiner of counsel),
for appellant.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York
(Mordecai Newman of counsel), for respondents.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Geoffrey D. Wright, J.), entered February 10, 2011, which granted defendants-respondents' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against them, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.

Defendant Duffy was driving a fire truck to the scene of an emergency when the truck collided with a van, injuring plaintiff, a passenger in the van. The record shows that Duffy had stopped on Third Avenue and was turning right onto 68th Street, with the traffic light in his favor, when the fire truck hit the van. Duffy was not engaged in any of the specific conduct that the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in an emergency operation is permitted by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(b). He was not stopping, standing or parking in violation of the rules of the road, proceeding past a red signal or stop sign, speeding, or proceeding in the wrong direction or making an unlawful turn. Thus, his conduct is governed not by the reckless disregard standard of [*2]care in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104(e) but by ordinary negligence principles (Kabir v County of Monroe, 16 NY3d 217 [2011]; Tatishev v City of New York, 84 AD3d 656, 657 [2011]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

ENTERED: JANUARY 31, 2012

CLERK