How to Sue a City or Public Agency in New York

The City of New York, its public hospitals, its housing authority and the transit agencies are legally separate. A Brooklyn sidewalk, a city bus, a public school and a state highway can each point to a different defendant, with different paperwork.

• City, county, town, village, fire district or school district

  First step Notice of claim within 90 days of the incident (GML 50-e)

  Lawsuit deadline Wait at least 30 days (40 if served on the Secretary of State); sue within 1 year and 90 days; wrongful death within 2 years of death (GML 50-i)

• New York City

  First step Same 90 days, filed with the Comptroller (eClaim, in person, or registered or certified mail)

  Lawsuit deadline Same as above

• NYC Health + Hospitals (public hospitals)

  First step Notice of claim within 90 days, served on HHC itself — not the City (Scantlebury, 2005)

  Lawsuit deadline 1 year and 90 days (Unconsolidated Laws 7401(2), quoted in Scantlebury)

• NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA)

  First step Notice under GML 50-e; the claim must be presented at least 30 days before suit

  Lawsuit deadline 1 year and 90 days (Public Housing Law 157)

• Metropolitan Transportation Authority

  First step Notice of claim under GML 50-e; claim presented at least 30 days before suit

  Lawsuit deadline Tort claims within 1 year and 90 days; wrongful death under separate provisions (Public Authorities Law 1276). MTA subsidiaries have their own sections.

• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

  First step Notice of claim at least 60 days before suit (Canela Espinal, 2023)

  Lawsuit deadline Within 1 year (Unconsolidated Laws 7107)

• State of New York (negligence claims in the Court of Claims)

  First step Claim, or a notice of intention, within 90 days of accrual (Court of Claims Act 10)

  Lawsuit deadline With a timely notice of intention, file and serve the negligence claim within 2 years. For wrongful death, the 90-day clock runs from appointment of the estate representative, but the claim must in any event be filed and served within 2 years of death

Claims against the City itself go to the Comptroller's office at One Centre Street. Claims against NYC Health + Hospitals must be served on that corporation instead.

The notice states who you are, the nature of the claim, the time, place and manner in which it arose, and the injuries or damage. Under General Municipal Law 50-e, it is generally due within 90 days after the claim arises.

Wrongful death. For a wrongful-death claim governed by GML 50-e, the 90 days run from the appointment of a representative of the estate, not from the date of death, and the lawsuit must be commenced within two years of death (GML 50-i). Against the State, the claim is due 90 days after the executor or administrator is appointed unless a timely notice of intention is served; in either event the claim must be filed and served within two years of death (Court of Claims Act 10).

Exceptions and late notice. Some claims are exempt from notice requirements, including qualifying childhood sexual-abuse claims and certain revived claims involving injuries in custody under GML 50-e and 50-i. Tolls and special statutes require individual review. For claims requiring notice, a court may allow a late notice under 50-e(5). It weighs whether the public entity learned the essential facts within the 90 days or a reasonable time after, and other circumstances, such as whether the claimant was a child, was mentally or physically incapacitated, or died. The extension cannot go beyond the deadline for starting the lawsuit.

A city, county, town, village, fire district or school district may demand an oral examination of the claimant under oath about how the incident happened and the injuries. The demand is generally due within 90 days of filing the notice (100 days after service through the Secretary of State), and compliance is ordinarily required before suit, subject to the timing exceptions in subdivision 5. If the examination is not conducted within 90 days after service of the demand, suit may begin, unless the claimant failed to appear or requested an adjournment beyond that period. The separate lawsuit deadline still matters (GML 50-h).

For municipalities and school districts, the lawsuit can be filed after at least 30 days have passed since the notice was served (40 days where it was served on the Secretary of State) without payment or adjustment, and generally must be commenced within one year and 90 days of the incident. Many public authorities use the same one-year-and-90-day period; the Port Authority uses one year, and claims against the State proceed in the Court of Claims.

A timely notice does not prove liability. The duty owed, the public function involved and any governmental immunity must also be assessed. Some defects carry an extra requirement. Many localities have laws under which they are not liable for certain street or sidewalk defects unless they received prior written notice of the condition and failed to fix it — General Municipal Law 50-e(4) refers to these laws.

In New York City, the owner of the property next to a sidewalk is generally responsible for maintaining it and is potentially liable for injuries caused by its defects (NYC Department of Transportation). The liability shift has an exception for qualifying one-, two- or three-family homes that are owner occupied in whole or part and used exclusively for residential purposes (Zak v City of New York, 2021). Do not assume every Brooklyn rowhouse is covered — see our premises liability page.