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Decided on January 30, 2008
Supreme Court, Richmond County
Michael Santanello, Plaintiff,
against
City of New York, PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW
JERSEY, MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC., DIGIACOMO
CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION, S. DIGIACOMO & SON, INC.,
FOREST ELECTRIC CORP., CORP., MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE,
FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED and TISHMAN
TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, Defendants.







012263/02
Thomas P. Aliotta, J.
Upon the foregoing papers, the motions and cross motions for summary judgment and/or dismissal of the complaint and cross claims pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) and CPLR 3212 are decided as follows.
This action was commenced to recover damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained by plaintiff on January 11, 2002 while employed by defendant S. DiGiacomo & Son, Inc. At the time of the incident, plaintiff was performing renovation work at a construction site located on the second floor of the Merrill Lynch Building at 10 Teleport Drive, Staten Island, New York. According to plaintiff, he "stepped into an open floor hole" which he described as being the size of a single floor tile, i.e., some eight inches in width, one foot in length, and two feet deep. This hole was purportedly located five to ten feet away from a "tent" that plaintiff was constructing for plumbers and steamfitters who would be working on the concrete sub-floor located two feet below the level of the computer floor. According to plaintiff's deposition testimony, the renovation project required the removal [*2]of both large and small sections of the computer floor for certain periods of time in order to allow the electricians and plumbers to perform work "on the [concrete] floor underneath." After the work was completed, the removed sections of flooring were to be reinstalled. In sum and substance, plaintiff claims that each of the defendants was negligent in its ownership, maintenance, management, operation and/or control of the subject premises, and failed to provide him with a safe workplace in violation of Labor Law

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