Eldoh v. Astoria Generating Co.

*604In the absence of a legal duty to indemnify, a contractual promise to indemnify should not be found unless it can be clearly implied from the language and purpose of the entire agreement and the surrounding facts and circumstances (see Altchek v DiGennaro, 214 AD2d 527, 528 [1995]). A contract assuming an obligation of indemnification must be strictly construed to avoid reading into it a duty which the parties did not intend to be assumed (id.). In Flores v Lower E. Side Serv. Ctr., Inc. (4 NY3d 363, 369-370 [2005]), the Court of Appeals held that “the common-law rule—which authorizes review…