Sketches of Court: City sued for failure to maintain Coney Island boardwalk
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Sylvia Ash listens as plaintiff’s attorney Jason Bernstein (standing), of counsel to the law firm Ferraro & Wyatt, PLLC, makes his opening statement to the jury in the negligence trial of Rukhlya Byal vs. City of New York.
In July 2005 the plaintiff, Byal, was walking her dog, a maltese named “Fluffy”, along the Brighton Beach boardwalk near Coney Island Avenue when, her attorney alleges, she tripped and subsequently suffered a broken ankle. Bernstein contends the injury was a result of negligence on the part of New York City in its failure to maintain that section of the boardwalk in reasonable condition to insure pedestrian protection from harm, and is suing the city on behalf of the retired home attendant for past and present pain and suffering. She sustained a trimalleolar fracture, rendering her ankle unstable after breaking all three malleoli of the ankle.
The defendant’s attorney, Daryl Leon of Corporation Counsel, is seated at right. The trial is scheduled to continue this week in Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term.
Brooklyn Boro
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