Cofrancesco v. Murino — 225 A.D.2d 648

Majority

p. 648

Richard Cofrancesco, Plaintiff, v Luciano Murino et al., Defendants. (Action No. 1.) Paulette Gabel et al., Appellants, v Thomas McClenon, Respondent, et al., Defendants. (Action No. 2.)

[639 NYS2d 471]

This appeal arises out of a four-vehicle accident which occurred on March 6, 1992, at the toll plaza of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Staten Island. The respondent, Thomas Mc-Clenon, testified that he had stopped his vehicle behind the appellants’ van, and that his vehicle struck the appellants’ van only after being struck by a third vehicle, which had been struck by the fourth vehicle. Although McClenon’s testimony was sufficient to establish a prima facie case that he was entitled to summary judgment (see, Koenig v Price, 200 AD2d 559 , 561), when it is viewed in the light most favorable to the appellants, the appellant Paulette Gabel’s deposition testimony that she felt two impacts after the initial impact from Mc-Clenon’s vehicle was sufficient to raise a triable issue of fact as

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to whether McClenon’s vehicle struck the. appellants’ van before the chain reaction collision.

The respondent’s remaining contention is without merit. Rosenblatt, J. P., Sullivan, Copertino, Santucci and Goldstein, JJ., concur.