A broken elevator forced 81-year-old Everet Goldberg, who resided in a Brooklyn apartment building, to get on to the apartment’s roof where he slipped on ice and suffered a fatal fall, the New York Post reports. According to the report, Goldberg was found unconscious and unresponsive on the roof of 3310 Avenue H in Flatlands the morning of Feb. 14. Neighbors told the Post that he had been carrying groceries across the roof because the elevator on his side of the building was not working.
One neighbor said those who live on the top floors of the building routinely had to take the elevator on the opposite side to the roof and then walk over to their side and come down. The snow on the roof that turned into ice, especially during this cold spell, has created treacherous conditions on the roof, neighbors said. We offer our deepest condolences to the family of Everet Goldberg for their tragic loss.
Long-Term Complaints About Elevator
In a note to tenants, the building’s management expressed condolences for Goldberg’s death noting that it was “most likely that he fell and died due to extreme cold temperatures outside,” the Post reports. The note also reminded residents not to go up to the roof. Sources told the Post that Goldberg parked his car outside the building and carried his groceries up a working elevator on the other side of the building. He then started to cross the roof to his end of the building with the intention of walking down the staircase and into his apartment.
A neighbor told the Post that there are no alarms that go off if someone tries to go onto to the roof. City building department records show no open violations at the building. But the property owners have been hit with more than 100 complaints, many of them related to the building’s elevator, since 1985, the Post reports. One tenant complained in January 2024 that the elevator is broken, on average, every five months and that he struggled to walk up the stairs because of his age and health issues. He also said it took the property owner months to fix it and it continued to break down repeatedly. It is not clear if Goldberg or another resident had made that complaint. The Post said the building’s owner could not be reached for comment.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
Liability for a slip-and-fall accident on ice in New York City depends on several factors, including where the fall occurred and whether negligence (carelessness) was involved. Property owners/managers, business operators and other parties may be held responsible if they fail to maintain safe walking conditions. In New York City, property owners/managers are legally required to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their properties within a reasonable timeframe after a snowfall.
The New York City Administrative Code §16-123 states that owners must remove snow and ice within four hours after the snowfall stops. Failure to comply may result in liability if someone is injured. Property owners/managers must also maintain common areas, such as parking lots and entryways, ensuring they are free from hazardous ice buildup. If a fall occurs due to untreated ice, the owner/manager may be held responsible for negligence (carelessness).
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you were injured in a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident as a result of someone else’s negligence (carelessness), please remember that you have rights. Some of the damages that victims of such accidents can claim include, but are not limited to, medical expenses, loss of wages and benefits, cost of hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, past and future pain and suffering, permanent injury, etc.
For over 54 years, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys with the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm have established a proven track record of helping injured victims. Our skilled attorneys can help you better understand your legal rights and options and will fight hard to recover compensation for you. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company, or their lawyers, investigators, or adjusters.
Our law firm recovered $1,700,000 for a woman who slipped and fell and received no hospital or medical treatment for one month after the accident. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. We also recovered $1,500,000 for a lady who was hurt by a bus, although there was only a 1 million dollar insurance policy and we got $500,000 above that insurance policy.
We also obtained $295,000 out of a $300,000 insurance policy in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases. Also, we got a $1,400,000 verdict in a motorcycle accident.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys‘ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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