Ortiz v. City of New York

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Yvonne Gonzalez, J.), entered on or about December 2, 2005, dismissing the complaint as against defendants City of New York and Samuel Diaz, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiffs opening statement failed to make out a prima facie case of negligence against the driver of the car involved in the alleged accident. Therefore, there could have been no finding of liability against the car’s owner, defendant Diaz, since any liability on his part would have been derivative of the driver’s (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 [1]). Accordingly, the court…