Hurt in the City?
Fight Back.
New York gives you three years to sue for most injuries — but a claim against the City or the MTA can be over in 90 days if you don't act. A connected NYC injury attorney can tell you exactly where your case stands, at no cost. Free case review. No fee unless you win.
How New York Actually Handles This
Three Years.
Sometimes Ninety Days.
New York gives most injury claims three years to get into court. But if the party you're suing is the City, the MTA, or another city agency, that window can shrink to a single notice deadline before you've even finished healing.
CPLR §214(5) gives most negligence-based injury claims — car accidents, slip and falls, construction accidents — three years from the date of injury to get filed. Miss it, and the case is gone no matter how strong it is.
New York follows pure comparative negligence under CPLR §1411 — even if you were partly responsible for what happened, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, not eliminated.
General Municipal Law §50-e requires a formal notice of claim within 90 days of an incident involving the City, NYPD, or the MTA — with suit generally required within a year and 90 days under §50-i.
"In New York, the clock doesn't wait for you to feel better. It starts the day it happens — sometimes with only 90 days to act."
Cases We Connect You On
Every Injury
Has Its Own Rulebook.
New York doesn't handle a construction fall the same way it handles a fender bender. Here's where the law changes depending on how you got hurt.
Car, Truck & Rideshare Accidents
New York's no-fault system covers your initial medical bills regardless of fault, but suing for pain and suffering requires meeting the "serious injury" threshold under Insurance Law §5102(d).
Slips, Trips & Falls
Fell on a City sidewalk? NYC Admin Code §7-210 generally puts the duty to maintain it on the adjacent property owner, not the City itself, with narrow exceptions for small owner-occupied homes.
Construction Site Accidents
Labor Law §240 imposes near-absolute liability on owners and contractors for elevation-related falls — one of the few injury claims where your own comparative fault usually doesn't reduce what you recover.
Medical Malpractice
Errors by a doctor, hospital, or provider run on a shorter clock: CPLR §214-a gives you two and a half years from the act or omission, not the standard three.
Wrongful Death
When negligence causes a death, EPTL §5-4.1 gives the estate's representative two years from the date of death to bring a claim on behalf of surviving family.
Claims Against the City or MTA
Injured on a bus, subway platform, or city property? A 90-day notice of claim under General Municipal Law §50-e is required before you can sue at all.
A Quick Gut Check
Signs You Shouldn't
Wait to Call.
You don't need paperwork sorted or fault figured out before reaching out. These are the moments that usually mean it's time to talk to someone.
You were hit by a car, truck, or cab
Between no-fault claims and the at-fault driver's insurer, it's easy to get lowballed without someone reviewing the numbers.
It happened on the City's property
Buses, subway platforms, public sidewalks, city buildings — these claims run on a 90-day notice clock, not three years.
You were hurt at a construction site
Scaffold Law claims move differently than ordinary negligence cases, and the protections are strong if they apply to you.
Something went wrong with your medical care
Malpractice claims carry their own two-and-a-half-year deadline and their own evidentiary standards.
You lost someone to another's negligence
A wrongful death claim belongs to the estate, brought on behalf of surviving family, and runs on a two-year clock.
An insurance company has already reached out
What you say to an adjuster early on can affect your claim later — it helps to have someone review it first.
What Actually Happens
From First Call
to Filed Claim.
Every case moves at its own pace, but the early steps look similar across most NYC injury claims.
Free Case Review
A connected NYC attorney hears what happened and tells you honestly whether you have a claim worth pursuing — no cost, no pressure.
Investigation & Evidence
Medical records, accident reports, and witness statements get gathered while they're still available — along with anything specific to your case type.
Insurance Negotiation
Most claims get negotiated directly with an insurer first. Having representation early tends to change how seriously an adjuster treats the claim.
Filing Suit, If Needed
If negotiation stalls, a lawsuit gets filed before the applicable deadline — three years for most claims, far sooner for anything involving the City or MTA.
Clients We've Helped
In Their Words
"I didn't know the City had a 90-day rule until I called. Glad I didn't spend that time trying to figure it out myself."
"The insurance company's first offer was insulting. Having someone negotiate on my behalf changed the outcome completely."
"Straightforward from the first call. I knew what my case actually involved instead of guessing from forums online."
Common Questions
What You Need to Know
Most negligence-based injury claims — car accidents, slip and falls, construction accidents — must be filed within three years of the injury under CPLR §214(5). Exceptions run shorter: medical malpractice generally has two and a half years under CPLR §214-a, wrongful death has two years under EPTL §5-4.1, and intentional torts like assault have just one year under CPLR §215. Claims against the City or MTA are far tighter still. A connected NYC attorney can pin down your exact deadline, free.
New York follows pure comparative negligence under CPLR §1411. Even if you were partly responsible for what happened, that doesn't bar your claim — your recovery is simply reduced by your percentage of fault, and the defendant carries the burden of proving that fault under CPLR §1412.
Under NYC Administrative Code §7-210, the duty to maintain a sidewalk generally falls on the property owner whose building abuts it, not the City itself, with limited exceptions for certain owner-occupied one-, two-, and three-family homes. Comparative negligence still applies. A connected attorney can identify the right defendant in your case.
Labor Law §240, New York's Scaffold Law, imposes near-absolute liability on property owners and contractors for elevation-related injuries when required safety equipment was missing or inadequate — a worker's own comparative negligence generally doesn't reduce recovery unless it was the sole proximate cause. Labor Law §241(6) covers other Industrial Code violations at construction sites, but those claims stay subject to ordinary comparative negligence under CPLR §1411.
New York's no-fault system pays up to $50,000 in basic economic loss — medical bills and a portion of lost wages — regardless of fault, under Insurance Law §5102(a). To sue for pain and suffering, your injury generally has to meet the "serious injury" threshold defined in Insurance Law §5102(d) and applied under §5104(a), which covers categories like fractures, significant disfigurement, and permanent or significant limitations of use. A connected attorney can tell you whether your injury likely qualifies.
General Municipal Law §50-e requires a formal notice of claim within 90 days of an incident involving the City of New York, NYPD, the MTA, or another city agency, before a lawsuit can even be filed. Under General Municipal Law §50-i, the lawsuit itself generally must be commenced within one year and 90 days — far shorter than the ordinary three-year window. Don't wait to find out if this applies to you.
EPTL §5-4.1 gives the personal representative of the deceased's estate two years from the date of death to bring a wrongful death claim on behalf of surviving family members. A connected attorney can walk your family through what this involves.
Don't Let the
Clock Run Out.
A free, no-obligation case review with a connected NYC personal injury attorney.