A New York City Sergeant assigned to Manhattan North received a 1.2 million dollar settlement from the City of New York after injuring her left ankle on a roadway defect in Washington Heights. While conducting a car stop, the Sergeant lost her balance and twisted her left ankle in a significant depression in the roadway. The defect stemmed from a prior excavation on the roadway around a Department of Environmental Protection fire hydrant gate box. After the excavation, the roadway area surrounding the box was inadequately repaired by the City of New York and created a substantial hazard to the public. The City had not repaired the defect in years and a member of the public called 311 to notify the City of New York about the defect. Unfortunately, the City did not respond to this notification and failed to fix the roadway defect.

On behalf of the Sergeant, DCD sued the City of New York pursuant to General Municipal Law § 205-e alleging the City violated provisions of the New York City Charter and the Administrative Code in failing to correct the roadway depression thereby causing the Sergeant’s injury. The ankle injury necessitated surgery with a recommendation of a second surgery. The Sergeant was awarded a ¾ disability line-of-duty accident.

After a protracted and contentious litigation which involved extensive motion practice, the City of New York settled the case for 1.2 million dollars.