Opinion
December 1, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Lorraine Miller, J.).
Plaintiff claims that she slipped and fell on an extremely shiny and slippery black marble floor maintained by defendant. In opposition to the summary judgment motion, plaintiffs submit an expert's affidavit opining that the terrazzo-type floor was inherently slippery, and thereby required particular maintenance and procedures to keep it reasonably safe for pedestrian traffic.
It is well settled that absent proof of the reason for plaintiff's fall other than the "inherently slippery" condition of the floor, no cause of action for negligence can properly be maintained ( Murphy v. Conner, 84 N.Y.2d 969). Here, there was no evidence of any negligent conduct on the part of defendant.
Further, the expert's affidavit was insufficient to raise triable issues of fact. The expert's opinion should have been disregarded as conclusory inasmuch as it was based upon observations of the floor made over two years after the accident ( see, Santo v. Astor Ct. Owners Corp., 248 A.D.2d 267; Duffy v. Universal Maintenance Corp., 227 A.D.2d 238; Drillings v. Beth Israel Med. Ctr., 200 A.D.2d 381).
Concur — Lerner, P. J., Sullivan, Nardelli and Rubin, JJ.