{ "id": "case_nyc_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "version": 4, "jurisdiction": "us-ny-nyc", "domain": "torts.sidewalk", "title": "Vucetovic v Epsom Downs, Inc., 10 NY3d 517 (2008)", "valid_from": null, "valid_to": null, "temporal_notes": [], "topics": [ "tree_wells", "abutting_owner_liability", "sidewalk_defect" ], "status": "VERIFIED", "verification": { "verified_on": "2026-09-29", "methods": [ "Quoted passages compared word for word with the official reporter page (nycourts.gov/reporter, NY Law Reporting Bureau) as captured by a search engine on 2026-09-29; direct requests from this environment return HTTP 403.", "The page 521 passages also compared with their quotations in Tucker v City of New York, 2011 NY Slip Op 04365 (official reporter), and Landberg v City of New York, 2026 NY Slip Op 03433.", "Decision date (June 3, 2008) read from the official reporter header." ], "human_review_status": "reviewed", "reviewer": null }, "revisions": [ { "version": 2, "date": "2026-09-29", "summary": "Recorded the CourtListener opinion cluster; its case name and decision date match this record" }, { "version": 3, "date": "2026-09-30", "summary": "Narrowed editor_summary: the Court held only that 7-210 does not reach tree wells, not that owners are immune" }, { "version": 4, "date": "2026-10-25", "summary": "Reviewed for source and accuracy." } ], "name": "Vucetovic v Epsom Downs, Inc.", "citation": "10 NY3d 517", "parallel_citations": [ "2008 NY Slip Op 04901", "890 NE2d 191", "860 NYS2d 429" ], "court": "New York Court of Appeals", "court_level": "court_of_last_resort", "decided": "2008-06-03", "official_url": "http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_04901.htm", "courtlistener": { "cluster_id": 2042633, "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2042633/vucetovic-v-epsom-downs/" }, "editor_summary": "Held that a city-owned tree well is not part of the \"sidewalk\" under Administrative Code § 7-210, so the section does not make abutting owners liable for tree-well injuries; § 7-210 is strictly construed. The common-law exceptions (creating the defect, negligent repair, special use) still apply.", "passages": [ { "source": "src_nycourts_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "locator": "10 NY3d at 518-519", "text": "In this personal injury action, we conclude that a tree well is not part of the \"sidewalk\" for purposes of section 7-210 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, which imposes tort liability on property owners who fail to maintain city-owned sidewalks in a reasonably safe condition." }, { "source": "src_nycourts_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "locator": "10 NY3d at 521", "text": "section 7-210 does not impose civil liability on property owners for injuries that occur in city-owned tree wells" }, { "source": "src_nycourts_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "locator": "10 NY3d at 521", "text": "legislative enactments in derogation of common law, and especially those creating liability where none previously existed ... must be strictly construed" }, { "source": "src_nycourts_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "locator": "10 NY3d at 521-522", "text": "If the City Council desired to shift liability for accidents involving tree wells exclusively to abutting landowners in derogation of the common law, it needed to use specific and clear language to accomplish this goal." } ], "type": "case", "source_ids": [ "src_nycourts_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs" ], "relationship_ids": [ "rel_vucetovic_interprets_7-210", "rel_vucetovic_supports_tree_wells_excluded", "rel_vucetovic_limits_owner_liability", "rel_vucetovic_supports_strict_construction", "rel_vucetovic_cites_19-152" ], "url": "https://agents.newyorkeverydaylawreference.com/case/case_nyc_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "cite_as": { "id": "case_nyc_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "type": "case", "version": 4, "url": "https://agents.newyorkeverydaylawreference.com/case/case_nyc_vucetovic_v_epsom_downs", "content_hash": "sha256:11a9564fc7b0837bfaebeb2bf86d611525127a5a3d6eee7553061baec89ed0b0", "dataset_version": "2026.10.25", 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