Burke v. City of New York

Both the City of New York and the trustees in reorganization of a street railway have been held liable in damages to a pedestrian, who was injured when her foot caught in a hole in a city street alongside of the rail of a former street railway. The hole had existed several months.

The sole question involved is whether the trustees are required to indemnify the city in view of the statutory duty cast on the railway by section 178 of the Railroad Law or under a written contract between these parties, and because any negligence of the city was merely passive.

The trial court found that the city…