Personal Injury Attorneys - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and the Bronx

The claimant’s deceased husband suffered a heart attack and died on Super Bowl Sunday of 2010 while working as acting store manager of a Waldbaum’s supermarket in Roberts v. Waldbaum's, 513795, 2012 WL 4449387 (3d Dept., September 27, 2012).  Claimant applied for workers' compensation death benefits alleging that the heart attack (myocardial infarction) was triggered by the stress and excitement resulting from the responsibility of running the entire store on Super Bowl Sunday, an historically busy day at the store.  Also, several hours earlier decedent was involved in an altercation with an irate customer.  The Appellate Division upheld the determination of the Workers’ Compensation Board that decedent's death was causally related to his employment.

In May of this year the New York State Department of Transportation announced a series of pedestrian safety improvements along Hempstead Turnpike, which bears the unwanted distinction of being Long Island’s most dangerous road.  Much of the work is expected to begin this week.  Engineering improvements include remarking and widening crosswalks, increasing pedestrian crossing times at traffic signals, reprogramming dozens of crosswalks, adding pedestrian countdown timers, relocating bus stops closer to crosswalks, and installing additional no turn on red signs.  Crossing buttons will feature buttons that light up and stay lit when pushed, and raised medians where pedestrians frequently cross mid-block will be built to provide refuge from traffic.

If you want to know, go to the website of the New York City Buildings Department, you can find a list of ten of the top offenders who will be pursued under the Department’s Elevator Enforcement Program.  The list is compiled using complaint data, violations, maintenance filings, and field inspection records.  The list was last updated July 31, 2012.

This past Thursday the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") shut down 26 discount bus companies declaring them imminent hazards to public safety. The shutdowns affected dozens of routes out of New York City’s Chinatown.  In addition, FMCSA ordered 10 individual bus company owners, managers and employees to cease all passenger transportation operations, which includes selling bus tickets to passengers.  The carriers had multiple safety violations, including using drivers without valid commercial driver's licenses (CDLs), failing to have alcohol and drug testing programs, and operating vehicles that had not been regularly inspected and repaired. Drivers also had serious hours-of-service and driver qualification violations.  Earlier this year, FMCSA released the SaferBus mobile app to give travelers a quick way to view a bus company's safety record before buying an interstate ticket or booking group travel.

In USAA Casualty Insurance Co., as Subrogee v. Permanent Mission Of The Republic Of Namibia, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Namibia to the United Nations was sued for the $397,730 worth of damage to an adjoining property caused by its alleged failure to comply with Section 3309.8 of the New York City Building Code.   The Mission claimed that it was immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.  The Second Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals not only rejected the claim of immunity for damages caused by the Mission’s negligence, but also held that the Mission had a nondelegable duty to the adjoining landowner, meaning that it was liable even if the damage was caused by work of the contractor or the subcontractor.  The decision comes during the New York City Buildings Department’s 8th annual No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program.

Whether or not to get out of your car is a big question, maybe a life-determining one.  With cars, trucks and buses speeding by so closely, you feel that if your vehicle is hit your will defineitely be injured, if not killed.  And you worry about everyone else in your vehicle.  But if you get out, you lose the protection the vehicle's metal provides to you, especially if your vehicle is struck and debris flies.

Effective February 12, 2012, a new law goes into effect in New York that expands the list of convictions that disqualify a school bus driver from either permanently or temporarily operating a school bus.  The law adds to the list of convictions that would either permanently disqualify an applicant from being a bus driver or disqualify the candidate for five years. The law also changes from a temporary five-year prohibition to a permanent prohibition vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, aggravated vehicular homicide, and promoting prostitution in the first, second, or third degree. Additionally, added to the list of crimes which would result in a five-year prohibition are forcible touching and criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance.

The NYC Buildings Department brought National Elevator Safety Awareness Week the the city last month.  There are 62,000 elevators and escalators  in the city, and children use them on a daily basis. Since 2004, more than 100 children have been injured in by an elevator or escalator in New York City. 

The program’s safety slogan is “Ring, Relax, Wait,” which reminds children to ring the elevator’s safety bell in an emergency and wait patiently for help instead of trying to pry the doors open. Many accidents occur when elevator passengers attempt to jump out of the elevator cab just before the doors unexpectedly close or the elevator moves.Many accidents occur when elevator passengers attempt to jump out of the elevator cab just before the doors unexpectedly close or the elevator moves.  

Initially recalled in December of 2009, yesterday LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Co., in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), urged consumers to check if they have Goldstar or Comfort-Aire dehumidifiers. The firm is re-announcing the recall of these dangerous products because only two percent of the 98,000 consumers who purchased these units have received a free repair, which means that consumers and their property remain at serious risk. The power connector for the dehumidifiers compressor can short circuit, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers and their property. The initial recall followed eleven incidents, including four significant fires. Since that time, the company has received sixteen additional incident reports of arcing, smoke and fire a

The driver of the tour bus that crashed into a highway sign post on I-95 in the Bronx, killing 15 people and injuring seven others on March 12, 2011, has been charged with 15 counts each of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, plus reckless driving, assault and third-degree unlicensed driving. Ophadell Williams, Jr. plead not guilty, and his bail was set at $250,000. Alsolast Thursday, New York State Inspector General Ellen Biben today released an investigative report that found the bus driver was able to exploit weaknesses in the state regulatory system and obtain a commercial bus driver license and employment with tour operators despite