Until three years ago a personal injury attorney knew that a trip and fail on a NYC sidewalk meant that a Big Apple map was needed.  Then the law changed, and the attorney needed to know who owned the adjacent building.  Now, a new wrinkle.  The adjoining landowner is responsible for the sidewalk, but the City remains responsible tree wells and trees.

Vucetovic v Epsom Downs, Inc. 2007 NY Slip Op 06577, Decided on September 6, 2007
Appellate Division, First Department, Buckley, J., J. "At issue on this appeal is whether tree wells are part of the "sidewalk" for purposes of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 7-210, which requires owners of real property to maintain abutting sidewalks in reasonably safe condition.

Title 19 of the Administrative Code, "Streets and Sidewalks," defines "sidewalk" as "that portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, but not including the curb, intended for the use of pedestrians" (Administrative Code § 19-101[d] [emphasis added]). Neither trees nor tree wells are "intended for the use of pedestrians," and therefore they are not part of the sidewalk.

Administrative Code § 18-104 entrusts the Department of Parks and Recreation with "exclusive jurisdiction" over "[t]he planting, care and cultivation of all trees and other forms of vegetation in streets." The "care" of the trees would necessarily entail the tree wells, which encompass soil and roots. Moreover, the statute makes evident that the trees are "in streets," and thus something separate and distinct from streets. The Department is to "employ the most improved methods for the protection and cultivation" of trees under its "exclusive care and cultivation" (Administrative Code § 18-105), which would include tree wells, which exist for the protection of trees. "