Rapoport v. City of New York

In Rapoport v. City of New York (281 AD 33 [1st Dept 1952]), the court vacated the jury's verdict upon evidence that plaintiff's accident occurred less than ninety hours after the termination of the record-breaking blizzard of December 26, 1947, during which there fell 25.8 inches of snow and 2.67 inches of other precipitation. It was the greatest snowfall ever recorded in the history of the city's weather bureau, which began to function in the year 1870. During the ninety hours between the end of the snowfall and the time of plaintiff's accident, the temperature was above the freezing level for a total of only six hours. The testimony showed that during this period the sanitation department and the police department of the city had been used not only to cope with the problem of snow removal, but to aid with the resultant health and manifold safety problems. Based on the foregoing, the court held that the ninety-hour delay in clearing the snow from the location of plaintiff's accident was not unreasonable as a matter of law (id.). The Court vacated the jury's verdict upon evidence that plaintiff's accident occurred "less than ninety hours after the termination of the record-breaking blizzard of December 26, 1947, during which there fell 25.8 inches of snow and 2.67 inches of other precipitation. It was the greatest snowfall ever recorded in the history of the city's weather bureau, which began to function in the year 1870. During the ninety hours between the end of the snowfall and the time of plaintiff's accident, the temperature was above the freezing level for a total of only six hours. The testimony showed that during this period the sanitation department and the police department of the city had been used not only to cope with the problem of snow removal, but to aid with the resultant health and manifold safety problems." Based on the foregoing, the court held that the ninety-hour delay in clearing the snow from the location of plaintiff's accident was not unreasonable as a matter of law (id.)