Sidewalk slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall claims are among the most frequent injury lawsuits in New York City, and § 7-210 directs most of them at abutting property owners rather than the City. A typical claim combines photographs of the defect, medical records, and evidence of how long the condition existed. Settlements and verdicts routinely reach five and six figures when fractures or surgery are involved. For owners, each visible defect on the frontage is effectively an open claim waiting for a plaintiff, which is why repair costs are small compared with litigation exposure.
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