Filing an action against New York City or one of its agencies or departments can be confusing at times. The consequences of filing a late claim or filling it with the wrong agency can permanently bar you from maintaining a meritorious personal injury case.

ACTIONS AGAINST CITY AGENCIES:

In order to begin an action against New York City or one of its agencies or departments, you must give it notice in writing. The City requires that you notify it of an injury or other claim within 90 days from the date of the occurrence. You must file a Notice of Claim against the Mayoral Agencies.  After you have notified the City of the claim and obtained a number, you must wait 30 days to allow the City time to review your claim and perhaps settle with you. After the waiting period, you may start an action in Court. However, the action must be started within one year and ninety days of the time of the loss, damage, or injury for the below agencies.

The following is a list of “Mayoral Agencies”:

City Of New York Mayoral Agencies

• Office of the Comptroller
• Office of the Mayor
• Fire Department/Emergency Medical Service
• Police Dept. (Including Housing/Transit)
• Sanitation Department
• Department of Buildings
• Department of Corrections
• Department of Finance (Sheriff's Office)
• Department of Environmental Protection
• Dept. of Parks and Recreation
• Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development (City-Owned Buildings, Not Projects)
• Dept. of Social Services/Human Resources Administration
• Department of General Services
• Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)
• Department of Transportation (Ferries, Highways, Parking Violations Bureau)
• New York City Community Colleges (2-Year Colleges)

ACTIONS AGAINST NON-MAYORAL AGENCIES:

For actions against the following Non-Mayoral agencies, you must file a Notice of Claim with the agency itself. If required, the agency will provide a Claim Number. 

The following is a list of “Non-Mayoral Agencies”:

• NYC Department of Education
• Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA)
• NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation
• MTA Bridges and Tunnels
• NYC Transit Authority (MABSTOA)
• NYC Housing Authority

NOTICE OF CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Under Section 50-e of the General Municipal Law, all tort notice of claims against the City of New York Mayoral Agencies should be filed with the City of New York Comptroller. A Notice of Claim should be filed in writing. The Notice of Claim must be notarized and served personally or by Certified Mail within 90 days from the date of the occurrence. 

WHAT IS A NOTICE OF CLAIM?

All tort claims against the City of New York must be in writing and filed through the Comptroller's Office Bureau of Law & Adjustment pursuant to Section 50-e of the General Municipal Law. Within 90 days from the date of the occurrence, the Notice of Claim must be notarized and served Personally or by Certified Mail. If a Notice of Claim is not timely filed, you may lose your right to sue the City. Once your claim is filed, the Comptroller's office with investigating it. The Comptroller's Office may settle the claim if its investigation of the facts and circumstances of the case. If the Comptroller's Office does not settle the claim, then we must commence a lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitation.

WHERE DO I FILE A NOTICE OF CLAIM?

If your action involves a mayoral agency, you must mail your notice of claim to the Comptroller of the City of New York. Below is the mailing address for the Comptroller:

The Comptroller of the City of New York Municipal Building Room 1225 1 Centre Street New York, NY 10007

LIST OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK MAYORAL AGENCIES:

• Office of the Comptroller
• Office of the Mayor
• Fire Department/Emergency Medical Service
• Police Dept. (Including Housing/Transit)
• Sanitation Department
• Department of Buildings
• Department of Corrections
• Department of Finance (Sheriff's Office)
• Department of Environmental Protection
• Dept. of Parks and Recreation
• Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development (City-owned buildings, not projects) 
• Dept. of Social Services/Human Resources Administration
• Department of General Services
• 14.Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)
• Department of Transportation (Ferries, Highways, Parking Violations Bureau)
• New York City Community Colleges (2-year colleges)

LIST OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK MAYORAL AGENCIES:

Notice of Claims against Non-Mayoral Agencies should be filed with the particular agency or authority and not with the Comptroller's Office. The following is the list of non-mayoral agencies along with their corresponding addresses: 

• N.Y.C. Department of Education
  52 Chambers Street, Room 320, B4, New York, New York 10007

• S.I.R.T.O.A
  60 Bay Street, 6th Floor, Staten Island, New York 10301

• N.Y.C. Health and Hospitals Corporation
  Office of Legal Affairs, Claims Division
  125 Worth Street, #527, New York, New York 10013

• M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels
  The Robert Moses Building, Randall's Island, New York 10035

• N.Y.C. Transit Authority (MABSTOA)
  130 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201
  (Claims to be filed in County of occurrence)

• N.Y.C. Housing Authority, Law Dept.
  250 Broadway, 9th Floor
  New York, New York, 10007

Local Law No. 82 of 1979 provides, in part:

“No Civil action shall be maintained against the City for damage to property or personal injury to person or death sustained in consequence of any street or sidewalk…being out of repair… unless it appears that written notice was actually given to the commissioner of transportation or any person or department authorized by the commissioner to receive such Notice (Department of Transportation, Canal Street Station, PO Box 465, New York, N.Y. 10013) or where there was the previous personal injury to person or property as a result of the existence of the defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition, and written notice thereof was given to a city agency, or there was written acknowledgment from the City of the defective condition…..and there was a failure to neglect within fifteen days after receipt of such notice to repair or remove the defect…..or the place otherwise made reasonably safe.

To support in filing an action against New York City or one of its agencies or departments. Call the government negligence lawyer in New York, Bryan J. Hutchinson, for a free consultation at (718) 671-0900.