Construction
Accidents

Premises
Liability

Motor Vehicle
Accidents

Premise liability and window guards in New York City

On Behalf of | Nov 3, 2017 | Premises Liability

New York City started to grow upwards faster than it grew outwards, making skyscrapers and high-rise apartments things that just seemed to go along with the city.

Early builders, unfortunately, weren’t necessarily inclined toward common safety — which ultimately resulted in the deaths of far too many children and adults who accidentally fell through screens and windows.

Now, window guards — which are different than bug screens — are part of mandatory housing laws in New York City for even first-floor apartments if you live in a building with more than two apartments or have a child under the age of 11 living with you.

You also have the right to ask for them — without justifying the reason. (Perhaps you occasionally babysit for a friend or perhaps you sleepwalk. It isn’t your landlord’s concern. It’s enough that you make the request. However, be smart, put it in writing and send it certified mail so that it is hard to deny later that it was sent and received, should something happen.)

In order to qualify as safe, all window guards have to be installed properly and screwed in with tamper-proof (one-way) screws.

In addition, it is your landlord’s responsibility to provide these window guards and make certain that they are properly installed. Your landlord must also keep the guards in good repair.

Every landlord has certain obligations to his or her tenants to keep the property they rent as reasonably safe from known dangers as possible. This is what is known as premises liability. While this imposes a general obligation, landlords are responsible for following state-specific and city-specific laws in addition to general “common sense” issues.

If you, a relative or a guest were injured due to a faulty or improperly-installed window guard, please contact an attorney for advice about the possibility of a claim.

Source: NYC Health, “Window Guards: They Save Lives, They’re the Law,” accessed Nov. 03, 2017

Archives

Verdicts &
Settlements

$3.75 Million

settlement for a construction worker injured by falling metal mesh

Verdicts & Settlements

$3.5 Million

Million for a carpenter injured on a construction site by a falling metal clamp

Verdicts & Settlements

$3 Million

for a 35 year old Carpenter injured when his arm became partially impaled on an improperly exposed metal support (rebar) at a construction site.

Verdicts & Settlements

$2 Million

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries after being struck by a hit and run driver in Manhattan.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.825 Million

Verdict for a 29 year old construction worker injured during the building of the World Trade Center Memorial.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.475 Million

for a Carpenter who was injured when the scaffold he was working upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete worker from Queens who sustained serious injuries to his back when he slipped on debris and refuse.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a Construction worker and young father in the Bronx who was fatally electrocuted while on a scaffold.

Verdicts & Settlements

$950,000

for two sisters in high school who sustained serious injuries when struck by a vehicle that mounted the sidewalk in Brooklyn as they waited for the bus to take them to school.

Verdicts & Settlements

$825,000

for a woman injured as a passenger in an accident involving a bus and a car in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$777,000

for an Ironworker on Long Island who sustained serious injuries when he fell from a ladder which slid out from under him due to icy footing.

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a surgeon who sustained a broken knee in a motor vehicle accident (January, 2017).

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a man severely burned in his apartment by excessively hot shower water (Sept. 2020).

Verdicts & Settlements

$660,000

verdict for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete laborer who was injured when the scaffold he was walking upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a cement and concrete worker who slipped and fell over construction debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker who injured his back as a result of slipping upon a discarded pipe and falling down a flight of steps.

Verdicts & Settlements

$500,000

for a Nursing Home resident injured due to lack of proper care.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries to her shoulder as a result of a trip and fall upon a defective sidewalk at a construction project in Manhattan.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

verdict in the exact amount demanded by our office for our client, but refused by the responsible defendants, was awarded by the jury to our client who sustained a fractured elbow as a result of a fall upon a badly broken sidewalk.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a young woman who sustained a fractured ankle as a result of a fall on soapy steps in her apartment building in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$495,000

for a young mother who was struck by a car while crossing the street near her home in Queens sustaining serious injuries to her leg requiring the surgical placement of a metal plate and screws.

Verdicts & Settlements

$600,000

for a woman who sustained multiple injuries as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident.

Verdicts & Settlements

$425,000

was secured by our office for a Cement and Concrete worker injured when a work area collapsed beneath him.

Verdicts & Settlements

$400,000

for a woman struck from behind by a car as she walked to a supermarket in a shopping center parking lot in Yonkers.

Verdicts & Settlements

$200,000

for a young man, 15 years of age, who sustained a partial tear of the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, which has now healed without any limitation upon his activities.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a school principal in the Bronx who tripped and fell over a construction plate in the school parking lot.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a young Cement and Concrete worker who was struck by falling debris dislodged from a building by a swinging crane.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker injured as a result of a fall at a Manhattan construction site.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a school teacher in the Bronx who sustained an injury to her shoulder when she tripped and fell due to negligently placed computer wiring.

Verdicts & Settlements

$275,000

to a Construction laborer doing bridge work whose arm was fractured when falling construction material caused him to fall into the East River and onto debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

for a child injured when a table fell on him in a laundromat in Queens.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

verdict for a Volunteer Firefighter in Westchester who sustained injuries in the course of fighting a fire.

Verdicts & Settlements

10 Best Attorney 2017-2023 Client Satisfaction American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys
NTL Top 100 Member Seal
Super-lawyers-Howard-r-sanders2022
New York Magazine
Howard R. Sanders Esq. BBB Business Review
FindLaw Network