$100,000 Verdict for Brain Injury After Falling Ice at The Plaza Condominium

In February 2017, Marina Datikashvili was leaving The Plaza Condominium in Manhattan when a piece of ice fell from the building above and struck her on the head. The accident occurred at one of the city's most recognizable addresses, a mixed-use condominium and hotel tower at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. The exit where Datikashvili was struck was an area open to residents, guests, and members of the public passing through.

The blow caused a traumatic brain injury. Datikashvili also sustained damage to her cervical spine. Both injury categories would be contested through years of litigation, from the filing of the complaint in Queens County Supreme Court in 2018 through a jury trial in 2021.

Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers took up Datikashvili's case against The Plaza Condominium. The firm's theory of liability rested on multiple overlapping failures by the property's owner and management: the accumulation of ice on or above the building's facade near a public exit was a foreseeable hazard in a New York winter, the property had a recognized duty to inspect for such conditions and to clear or secure them before someone was hurt, and the total absence of any warning left Datikashvili unable to protect herself. The claim categories that went before the jury included dangerous condition, failure to maintain, failure to warn, falling object, and negligent tort.

Discovery extended over several years. Before trial, the parties litigated a motion in limine that included disputes over audio recordings from investigator interviews with security personnel who had been on site around the time of the incident. The motion practice signaled that the defense intended to contest what the property's management knew about the overhead ice hazard and when.

Andrew Meier of Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers tried the case. He presented the jury with evidence that the condominium's management had both notice of the dangerous condition and the means to address it before Datikashvili was struck. The defense challenged both the liability theory and the scope of the plaintiff's claimed injuries.

The jury returned a $100,000 verdict for Datikashvili in 2021. TopVerdict, which publishes annual rankings of significant civil jury outcomes across New York, placed the result tied at number 44 on the Top 50 list for that year. No post-verdict reduction or appeal appears in the available public record.