$300,000 for woman who fell in lobby of Manhattan apartment building

A trip and fall on the upper west side building leads to a fractured pelvis

On April 25, 2016, our client went to visit a friend who lived on the upper west side of Manhattan. 

Upon leaving her friend’s apartment, our client took the elevator from the fifth floor to the lobby. When the elevator got to the lobby, she opened the elevator door and stopped to hold the door open for another woman who was entering the elevator.

The lobby floor where our client fell and fractured her pelvis

 While holding the elevator door open, our client was standing on top of a landing that was elevated six inches above the lobby floor.  When she let go of the elevator door, our client took a few steps towards the lobby of the building.  Unaware of the height difference between the landing she was standing on and the lobby floor, she fell over the six inch riser, landing on the left side of her body on the lobby floor. Schulman Blitz, LLP’s investigation revealed that the building’s lobby was in violation of the New York City building code, and that the building’s owners had been issued citations by the New York City Department of Buildings for these violations prior to our client’s accident.  The building’s lobby had many other code violations that the landlord did not repair, making it a dangerous condition for anyone who came through the building. 

After our client fell, an ambulance was called and she was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital’s emergency room where she was diagnosed with various fractured bones in her pelvis, including a displaced transverse fracture of the left inferior and superior pubic rami, a non-displaced fracture of the left sacral ala, a non-displaced fracture of the left anterior acetabulum, as well as a medial meniscus tear of her knee.

  Our client was admitted to Mt. Sinai Hospital for three days, then was transferred to a rehabilitation facility where she remained an inpatient for over a month. Once she was discharged to her home, she required at home healthcare aid and underwent a course of physical and occupational therapy. Justin Blitz, Esq. settled our client’s case for $300,000 shortly after depositions were held.