SKETCHES OF COURT: Ramp on uneven sidewalk creates hazardous condition, building found fully liable
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Peter Sweeney listens as plaintiff’s attorney Gerard N. Misk (standing), of the law firm Ginsburg & Misk, conducts a direct examination of expert witness engineer Joel Schachter. Misk stands before a screen projection of an evidentiary photo of the subject entryway, in the premises liability trial Bailey-Keener v. Solil Management.
Tonya Bailey-Keener was exiting her Brooklyn Heights apartment building around 3 a.m. to walk her dog in March 2008. A makeshift ramp that had been in use for years bridged the difference in height between the front door and the sidewalk. Bailey-Keener claims that she was seriously injured when she stepped near the edge of the ramp, which straddled an uneven sidewalk seam and flipped over. She faults the building’s owners and management for negligence.
Schachter surmised from plaintiff’s photographs that the ramp was not up to code and that it straddled a height differential of more than 2 inches, which created the risk of ”an accident waiting to happen.” Defendant’s attorney Thomas R. Sofield (at right), trial counsel to the law offices of Margaret G. Klein & Assocs., disputed the measurements. Scofield countered that the extensive use of the ramp without incident by residents of the 131-unit, 13-story apartment building for more than 10 years was evidence that the premises were maintained in a reasonably safe condition. He further alleged that the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the accident.
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