08/02/2026
Potential Liability When a Person Is Injured by a Defective Boardwalk Condition.
When a pedestrian trips over a protruding screw, exposed nail, loose board, broken plank, uneven surface, or other dangerous condition on the boardwalk and suffers an injury, the incident may give rise to a personal-injury claim against the City of New York and, where applicable, other responsible public entities. Depending on the circumstances, the injured person may seek damages for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other legally recoverable losses.
Because the boardwalk is public property, however, a claim against the City is subject to special statutory prerequisites. Under New York General Municipal Law (“GML”) § 50-e, a person seeking to assert a tort claim against the City generally must serve a written notice of claim within 90 days after the claim arises. GML § 50-e(1); Bermudez v. City of New York, 167 A.D.3d 733, 733–34 (2d Dep’t 2018).
The notice-of-claim requirement is a condition precedent to suit and allows the City to investigate a claim in a timely and efficient manner, while the facts are still fresh in the minds of witnesses and before the claim grows stale, and to assess whether the claim can and should be resolved before litigation. Rosenbaum v. City of New York, 8 N.Y.3d 1, 10-11 (2006); Brown v. City of New York, 95 N.Y.2d 389, 392 (2000); see S.M. v. City of New York, 186 A.D.3d 1374, 1374 (2d Dep't 2020).
Accordingly, if a person is injured by a protruding screw or nail on the boardwalk, the incident should be reported promptly, and the dangerous condition should be documented as thoroughly as possible. Relevant evidence may include photographs and video of the defect, the exact location of the incident, measurements or identifying landmarks, photographs of the injured person’s footwear and clothing, witness names and contact information, medical records, and any reports made to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, 311, the police, emergency medical personnel, or other governmental agencies. If the condition is repaired or removed shortly after the incident, contemporaneous photographs and witness testimony may become especially important.
The injured person must also establish the substantive elements of the claim. The mere fact that an accident occurred does not, by itself, establish municipal liability. The claimant may need to demonstrate that the boardwalk condition constituted a dangerous or defective condition, that the City was responsible for maintaining the location, and that the City had the legally required notice of the condition or otherwise created the defect, subject to the applicable statutes, regulations, and judicially recognized exceptions. The claimant must also establish that the dangerous condition was a substantial factor in causing the injury and must prove legally recoverable damages.
If the injured person fails to serve a notice of claim within the 90-day statutory period, the person may apply to the court for permission to serve a late notice of claim. GML § 50-e(5); Kumar v. Dormitory Auth. of the State of New York, 150 A.D.3d 1117 (2d Dep't 2017). To determine whether relief is appropriate, courts consider all "relevant facts and circumstances," but in particular whether the municipality had "actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim" within the 90-day period. GML § 50-e(5); Wieman-Gibson v. County of Suffolk, 206 A.D.3d 666, 667 (2d Dep't 2022) ("Whether the municipality had actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim is of great importance.").
In determining whether to grant a petition for leave to serve a late notice of claim or to deem a late notice of claim timely served nunc pro tunc, the court must consider all relevant circumstances, including whether:
(1) the public corporation acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim within 90 days after the claim arose or a reasonable time thereafter,
(2) the injured party was an infant at the time the claim arose and, if so, whether there was a nexus between the infancy and the failure to serve a timely notice of claim,
(3) the petitioner demonstrated a reasonable excuse for failure to serve a timely notice of claim, and
(4) the delay would substantially prejudice the public corporation in its defense on the merits.
See General Municipal Law § 50-e [5]; Matter of C.N. v City of New York, 208 AD3d 784, 786; Matter of Brown v City of New York, 202 AD3d 783, 783).
Although no single factor is necessarily dispositive, whether the municipality obtained actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim is of great importance. (Matter of Wieman-Gibson v County of Suffolk, 206 AD3d 666, 667, 170 N.Y.S.3d 123 [2022]
Actual knowledge generally requires more than generalized awareness that the boardwalk may have been in poor condition. The municipality ordinarily must have knowledge of the essential facts underlying the particular claim, including the occurrence of the accident, the alleged dangerous condition, and the nature of the claim. Thus, evidence that City personnel inspected the specific location, received complaints concerning the particular protruding screw or nail, prepared incident or inspection reports, responded to the accident, or documented the condition may be relevant to a late-notice application.
The existence of repeated complaints, photographs, inspection records, repair requests, 311 reports, community communications, and prior reports concerning dangerous nails, screws, loose boards, or deteriorated sections of the boardwalk may also be significant. Such evidence could help establish that the City had notice of recurring dangerous conditions and may assist an injured person in investigating and proving the claim. Nevertheless, generalized knowledge that the boardwalk was deteriorating may not, standing alone, establish actual knowledge of the essential facts of a particular personal-injury claim.
Every protruding screw, exposed nail, loose plank, or unrepaired defect presents a foreseeable risk that a pedestrian—including a child, senior citizen, person with a disability, cyclist, or visitor—may trip, fall, suffer serious injury, and pursue a claim against the City. Prompt inspection and repair are important not only to protect public safety but also to prevent avoidable injuries, litigation, and potential municipal liability.
