A Village of Great Neck Plaza resident has filed a lawsuit against the village and two local companies for allegedly neglecting to repair a village-owned sidewalk that she tripped on and sustained injuries, according to court documents.
Laura Owen said in the lawsuit she was walking on the village-owned sidewalk in front of 11 Grace Avenue on Sept. 23, 2012 when she tripped and fell and suffered “serious and protracted personal injuries, some of which are permanent in nature.”
The sidewalk, the lawsuit states, contained “dangerous, hazardous and traplike conditions, and were improperly designed, installed, inspected, controlled, maintained and/or repaired or improved” by the village. The lawsuit also claims the village failed to warn pedestrians of the hazardous condition of the sidewalk, despite having prior knowledge of its condition.
Owen is seeking to recover expenses related to “hospital and/or medical care, aid and treatment” and for the village to pay for any future medical costs resulting from a fall that took place on the sidewalk of 11 Grace Avenue, according to the lawsuit filed on Dec. 20, 2013.
The Village of Great Neck Plaza denies Owen’s allegations, according to court documents, and says her injuries were her own fault, and not that of the village.
“The plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages,” said attorney Angela Pensabene in court documents.
The village also claims that any defect in the sidewalk was “open and obvious and therefore should have been avoided by the plaintiff.”
Pensabene also said the village had no prior notice of the defect and “as such cannot be found responsible for plaintiff’s alleged accident.”
Pensabene asks the courts to dismiss the case.
The two sides are scheduled to meet in court on June 9 in front of Judge Robert Bruno.
Owen also lists United Capital Corp. and AFP Nine Corp., both of which have offices located at 9 Park Place in Great Neck, as owners of the sidewalk and is suing them as well.
Efforts to reach Owen, the Village of Great Neck Plaza, United Capital or AFP Nine Corp. for comment on the lawsuit were unavailing.
As a result of her injuries, Owen was forced to have surgery done and receive rehabilitative care, which have resulted in “large sums of out-of-pocket expenses for medical care, aid, attention and supplies,” according to the lawsuit.
She said the amount of money she’s lost as a result of the injury “exceeds the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts which would otherwise have jurisdiction.”
Owen appeared before and spoke to the Village of Great Neck Plaza on March 12, 2013, requesting the village pay for her medical expenses, the lawsuit states.
The village refused to pay Owen, the lawsuit states.
Reach reporter Anthony O’Reilly by e-mail at aoreilly@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516.307.1045 x203 and on Twitter @ ORiled_Up. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
