Slip and Fall Lawyer in Hollis, NY

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The Hollis LIRR Station

The station at 193rd Street and Woodhull Avenue serves the Long Island Rail Road, mostly the Hempstead Branch. Its stairs and platforms are maintained by the LIRR, part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Falls on worn stair treads, broken nosings, missing handrails, wet platforms and ice that was not cleared are among the claims we see from stations like this one.

A claim against the LIRR or MTA requires a written notice of claim served within 90 days of the fall, and the lawsuit deadline that follows is much shorter than the usual three years. If you fell at the station, the notice deadline is the most urgent thing about your case. Photograph the step or the spot on the platform, note the time, and keep your ticket or app receipt showing you were traveling.

Jamaica Avenue and Hillside Avenue

The commercial blocks are a mix of storefronts, restaurants and service businesses. In front of a commercial building, the property owner is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk under Administrative Code §7-210: cracked flags, broken cellar doors, raised grates and uneven curb cuts. Inside a store, the owner must keep floors reasonably safe, and you generally need to show the owner created the hazard or knew about it, or that it was there long enough to have been found. Store cameras often catch these falls; ask the store to keep the footage.

Residential Blocks

In front of an owner-occupied one-, two- or three-family house used only as a home, the homeowner is generally not responsible for the sidewalk, and the claim is against the City of New York. That requires a written notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e, and the City is usually liable only if it had prior written notice of the defect. A fall on the steps or walkway of a house you were visiting is a claim against the homeowner, usually paid by homeowner's insurance.

Rental Buildings

Landlords must keep the common areas of apartment buildings reasonably safe: lobby floors, interior stairs, handrails, lighting and exterior steps. A tenant or visitor who falls on a broken stair or in a dark hallway may have a claim against the landlord, especially if the condition had been reported. Keep copies of any complaints you made.

Stoops, Steps and Two-Family Houses

Many Hollis houses are two-family homes, with the owner upstairs and a tenant below, or the reverse. The sidewalk exemption for owner-occupied homes covers only the public sidewalk. The owner is still responsible as a landlord for the parts of the property the tenants use: the front stoop, the side path to a basement entrance, exterior stairs and their railings, and the lighting over them. A tenant who falls on a crumbling stoop, or a visitor who trips on a broken step leading to a rental unit, may have a claim against the owner, usually paid through the owner's homeowner's or landlord's policy. Tell us whether you rent, whether the owner lives there, and which door you were using; those three facts often decide who is responsible.

Your Own Share of Fault

For falls, New York uses pure comparative fault under CPLR §1411: your share of responsibility reduces the recovery but does not end it. The 2026 amendment that bars mostly-at-fault claimants applies only to motor-vehicle cases.

Getting Care and Making a Record

Queens Hospital Center is a few minutes west of Hollis, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center is a state-designated Level I trauma center. After treatment, write down exactly where you fell, take photographs, and collect witness names. For a station fall, report it to station staff or the LIRR; for a public sidewalk defect, a 311 complaint documents the condition. Hollis is in the NYPD's 103rd Precinct, but police are rarely involved in falls.

Deadlines at a Glance

• LIRR / MTA: notice of claim within 90 days; a shortened deadline to sue.
• City of New York: notice of claim within 90 days; suit within one year and 90 days.
• Private owners, stores and landlords: generally three years under CPLR §214.

Cases from Hollis are filed at Queens County Supreme Court, Civil Term in Jamaica.

Talk to Us

Calling costs nothing, and we are paid only if we recover money for you. Learn more about our slips, trips and falls practice, read the guide to sidewalk liability, or meet the attorneys and staff on our team page.

Davidov & Cohen Law, PLLC
185-22 Union Tpke, Suite 203
Fresh Meadows, NY 11366
(718) 328-8001

Nearby: car accidents in Hollis, construction accidents in Hollis and slip and fall injuries in Jamaica Estates.

Common questions

I slipped on ice on the LIRR platform at Hollis. Is it too late if it happened a month ago?

No, but the 90-day notice deadline is already running. A notice of claim should be prepared and served as soon as possible.

I tripped on a cellar door in front of a store on Jamaica Avenue. Who is responsible?

Usually the owner of the building, who is responsible for the sidewalk and anything set into it, like cellar doors and grates. The store's tenant may share responsibility depending on the lease.

Do I have to give a statement to the store's insurance company?

No. You can decline and speak with a lawyer first. Insurers use early statements to argue that the fall was your fault or that you were not seriously hurt.

This page is general information about New York law for people in Hollis, Queens. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Attorney Advertising.