The law that applies to your claim
The property types here
High-rise residential and mixed-use downtown, multi-level parking structures serving the retail core and the courthouse, office campuses along Westchester Avenue and Bloomingdale Road, and older housing stock in the surrounding neighborhoods.
This page is not about falls
If you slipped on ice or a wet floor, that turns on notice — see our White Plains slip and fall page. The general framework for security, dogs and building defects is on our New York premises liability page. This page is about how those situations arise in this city.
A downtown of towers, garages and sidewalk sheds
White Plains has spent years under construction, and that changes the premises risk in a way most cities do not share. Sidewalk sheds and scaffolding run along occupied blocks for months. Pedestrians are routed into narrowed walkways and around hoisting zones. Temporary lighting replaces permanent lighting, and temporary walking surfaces replace pavement.
When someone is hurt in that environment the responsible party is often not the building owner at all — it is the contractor who erected the shed, the company that designed the pedestrian route, or whoever was supposed to light it.
Courthouse and retail garages
The multi-level garages serving the courthouse, the retail core and the office towers generate a steady stream of claims: unlit levels, standing water and oil on decks, damaged wheel stops and curbs, blind ramp corners, and stairwells that are the least maintained part of the structure.
Most are run by an operating company under agreement with the owner, sometimes with a separate maintenance contractor. Which of them owed the duty is decided by documents, not by the sign at the entrance.
Older housing stock carries its own obligations
Outside the redeveloped core, much of the surrounding housing predates current standards. Where children live in older buildings, lead paint and window guard requirements apply, and a landlord’s obligations there are specific rather than general.
Egress lighting, handrails on older stairs, and self-closing doors are the other recurring findings — and a violation on file with the building department is evidence the condition existed and was known.
If it happened on public property, the clock is 90 days
The Metro-North station and its approaches, the courthouse grounds, county buildings, public sidewalks and school property are all public. A claim generally requires a notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e.
In a downtown this dense, the boundary between private frontage and public sidewalk is frequently unclear from the ground. It has to be established immediately, because getting it wrong costs the claim.
How long you have to act
- Three years from the date of the accident for most negligence claims (CPLR §214).
- Two years for wrongful death (EPTL §5-4.1).
- 90 days to serve a notice of claim where a city, county, school district, transit authority or other public body is involved (General Municipal Law §50-e), with suit generally within one year and 90 days.
The 90-day rule is the one that quietly ends otherwise strong cases. If a public entity may be involved, that is the first thing to check — not the last.
What it costs
Nothing up front. These cases are handled on contingency: there is no fee unless we win, and the consultation is free. You will be told the percentage and how expenses are handled, in writing, before you sign anything.
Common questions
I was hurt walking under a sidewalk shed.
Responsibility usually sits with the contractor that erected it and the party that designed the pedestrian route, not only the building owner. Those permits and contracts are public or obtainable.
I fell in a courthouse garage.
That may be public property with a 90-day notice requirement. Establishing who owns and who operates the structure is the first step, and it is urgent.
My child was exposed to lead paint in our apartment.
Where children live in older housing, specific obligations apply to the landlord. Building department violation records for the address are the starting point.
