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How Long Do You Have to Sue New York City for an Injury?
Ninety days. Not three years.
Before you can sue New York City, the MTA, a public hospital, a school district, or almost any public entity in New York, you must serve a sworn notice of claim within 90 days of when the claim arises.
General Municipal Law § 50-e sets that deadline, and courts enforce it strictly.
Miss it and a case with clear liability and catastrophic injuries is usually over, before a single fact is ever contested.
Nothing about a subway fall, a city bus collision, or a bad outcome at Bellevue announces that a three-month clock is running.
Most people find out when they finally call a lawyer, and by then the answer is either "we have three weeks" or "we are too late."
If a public entity may be involved in your injury, that is the first thing to establish. Call (888) 713-6653 for a free, confidential review.
At a Glance: New York's Notice of Claim Rules
- A sworn notice of claim is due within 90 days under General Municipal Law 50-e
- The lawsuit itself must be commenced within 1 year and 90 days under GML 50-i
- Wrongful death claims run 2 years from the death, with the 90-day notice measured from appointment of the estate representative
- Against New York City, the notice must state the damages claimed; against most other municipalities, it must not
- The entity can demand a sworn 50-h examination before you are allowed to sue
- Late notice is possible by court application, but it is discretionary and never guaranteed
What the Notice of Claim Has to Say
Serving on time is only half the requirement. A notice that omits what the statute demands can be treated as no notice at all, and the claim fails just the same.
GML § 50-e(2) requires the notice to be in writing, sworn to by or on behalf of the claimant, and to set out four things.[1]
- The name and post office address of each claimant, and of the attorney. Straightforward, and rarely the problem.
- The nature of the claim. What legal wrong is being asserted against the entity.
- The time when, the place where, and the manner in which the claim arose. This is where self-prepared notices fail. "I fell on a sidewalk in Brooklyn" does not locate a defect. The entity is entitled to enough detail to investigate the specific condition while it still exists.
- The items of damage or injuries claimed, so far as then practicable.
One drafting trap runs against every instinct you have. A notice against a municipal corporation other than a city of one million or more must not state the amount of damages claimed. New York City is over that threshold, so a notice against the City does state damages, while a notice against a smaller municipality that states an amount is defective. Getting that backwards is a real and avoidable error.
The location description deserves particular care in a sidewalk, roadway, or stairway case. A defect the City cannot find from your description is a defect the City will argue it was never given a fair chance to inspect.
Which Public Defendant Are You Actually Suing?
"The government" is not one defendant in New York. Each entity has its own service requirements and, in some cases, its own statute. Identifying the right one inside the 90 days is most of the work.
- The City of New York
- The MTA, Subway & City Buses
- NYC Health + Hospitals
- School Districts & NYCHA
- The State of New York
- Counties, Towns & Villages
Covers city roadways, city-owned property, parks, NYPD, FDNY, and Department of Sanitation vehicles, which is the one place a garbage truck crash becomes a 90-day claim instead of an ordinary three-year one. A fall in a park, a playground, or a municipal building runs through this same window, and our page on injuries on New York City property covers why the City's prior written notice defense does not reach most of it. The notice is served on the Comptroller, and because New York City exceeds one million in population, the notice must state the amount of damages claimed. Ninety days to serve, one year and 90 days to commence suit. Sidewalk cases are the recurring complication: under Administrative Code § 7-210 the abutting property owner is usually the correct defendant instead of the City, so naming the wrong one wastes the window.
Subway platform and stairway falls, bus collisions, Access-A-Ride injuries, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North incidents. Public Authorities Law § 1276 requires a notice of claim served on the authority in compliance with GML § 50-e, and requires the action to be commenced within one year and 90 days. The transit system is a family of related entities, and serving the wrong one is a live risk: the MTA, New York City Transit, MaBSTOA, and the Long Island Rail Road are distinct defendants with their own service requirements. Our page on subway, bus, and MTA injury claims covers how a transit case is built once the notice is served, including why a bus claim and a subway claim run on different insurance law.
Bellevue, Kings County, Elmhurst, Jacobi, Lincoln, Metropolitan, and the rest of the municipal hospital system. Malpractice at any of them is a claim against a public corporation, so the 90-day notice applies on top of the ordinary malpractice rules. Patients almost never realize the hospital that treated them is a public entity, and nothing in the discharge paperwork tells them. A birth injury or a missed diagnosis at a public hospital needs a notice of claim served long before the 30-month malpractice deadline is anywhere near expiring. We cover the medical version of this claim, including the 50-h examination and late-notice relief, on our page about suing a New York City public hospital for malpractice.
Injuries on school property, school bus collisions, negligent supervision claims, and falls in New York City Housing Authority buildings: broken stairs, dark stairwells, defective handrails, and elevator failures. Both categories carry the 90-day notice requirement. Education Law § 3813 adds its own notice rules for claims against school districts, and Public Housing Law § 157 adds a different set for NYCHA, including a 30-day waiting period after the claim is presented. Our page on suing the Housing Authority after an injury walks through that full sequence.
State highways and state property, SUNY facilities, state agencies, and state vehicles. Claims against the State go to the Court of Claims, which runs on its own statute rather than the General Municipal Law. Under Court of Claims Act § 10(3), a negligence claim must be filed within 90 days of accrual, unless a notice of intention to file a claim is served within those same 90 days, which extends the filing deadline to two years. Different court, different paperwork, same brutal three-month front end.
Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and every town and village in the state, plus county-run facilities and fire districts. The 90-day notice and the one-year-90-day suit deadline apply under GML § 50-e and § 50-i. Here the damages rule flips: a notice against a municipality under one million in population must not state the amount of damages, though the entity may later demand a supplemental claim setting out the total, which must be provided within 15 days of the request.
Where a private party and a public entity both contributed, both tracks run at once. A collision between a city bus and a private driver is a 90-day claim against the transit authority and a three-year claim against the driver, and only one of those forgives a slow start.
We ask one question before anything else: was any part of this the City, the MTA, or a public hospital. The answer changes the entire calendar. You have to take action fast. Public entity claims have strict deadlines. Miss the one that applies to your case, and you may lose your right to seek compensation.
The Second Deadline: One Year and 90 Days to Sue
The notice of claim is not the lawsuit. It is the condition that lets you file one.
GML § 50-i requires the action to be commenced within one year and 90 days after the event, and it also requires at least 30 days to have passed since the notice was served, with the entity having neglected or refused to pay.[2] Wrongful death actions against a municipality run two years from the date of death instead.
The Two Clocks on a Public-Entity Claim
Day 1 to Day 90: serve the sworn notice of claim on the correct entity, at the correct address, with the required contents.
Day 90 to Day 455: the entity investigates, may demand a 50-h examination, and may make an offer. The lawsuit must be commenced by one year and 90 days from the event.
Serving the notice does not extend the suit deadline, and negotiating with the entity does not either. The two clocks run independently, and both have to be met.
The compressed middle is the part people underestimate. Between the 50-h hearing, records collection, and the entity's own pace, one year and 90 days moves quickly for a case that needs experts.
The 50-h Hearing: Testifying Before You Can File
After the notice is served, the public entity can demand that you submit to a sworn examination under General Municipal Law § 50-h before any lawsuit is commenced. It is not optional, and refusing to appear can bar the action.
This is a real proceeding. A lawyer for the City or the transit authority questions you under oath about how the injury happened, what you were doing, what you saw, your medical history, and your injuries. It happens early, often before you have finished treating, and the transcript follows the case all the way to trial.
- It usually precedes discovery. The entity gets your sworn account before you have obtained a single record from it.
- Details matter more than they feel like they do. Distances, timing, and lighting described loosely at a 50-h hearing become impeachment material two years later.
- Preparation is the whole difference. An unprepared claimant at a 50-h hearing is the cheapest defense win a municipality gets.
- Your medical picture is often incomplete. Testifying about your condition while still being diagnosed invites arguments about injuries that had not surfaced yet.
What If the 90 Days Already Passed?
It is not automatically over, but the path narrows sharply.
GML § 50-e(5) lets a court permit a late notice of claim in its discretion. The central question is whether the public entity acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts within the 90 days or a reasonable time after, and whether the delay would substantially prejudice its ability to defend. An incident report generated by the entity itself, a police accident report, or hospital records the entity already holds can supply that knowledge.
Two hard limits apply. The application must be made before the statute of limitations for the underlying claim expires, and a court cannot extend beyond it. And a reasonable excuse for the delay carries real weight, though it is not by itself decisive.
These applications are won on how fast they are brought and how well the record is assembled. If the 90 days has run, the remaining time is worth more than the excuse.
New York Notice of Claim FAQ
- How long do I have to file a notice of claim in New York?
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Ninety days from when the claim arises, under General Municipal Law § 50-e. The notice must be in writing and sworn to, and it must be served on the correct public entity. In a wrongful death case the 90 days runs from the appointment of the estate's representative rather than from the date of death. The lawsuit itself must then be commenced within one year and 90 days under § 50-i.
- Do I need a notice of claim to sue the MTA or for a subway accident?
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Yes. Public Authorities Law § 1276 requires a notice of claim served in compliance with General Municipal Law § 50-e, and requires the action to be commenced within one year and 90 days. Subway falls, bus collisions, Access-A-Ride injuries, and commuter rail incidents all fall under it. Serving the correct entity matters, because the MTA, New York City Transit, and the commuter railroads are distinct defendants.
- What happens if I miss the 90-day deadline?
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You can apply to the court for permission to serve a late notice under GML § 50-e(5). The court weighs whether the public entity got actual knowledge of the essential facts within 90 days or a reasonable time after, whether the delay would substantially prejudice its defense, and whether there is a reasonable excuse. The application must be made before the statute of limitations on the underlying claim expires, and relief is discretionary rather than guaranteed.
- Does the 90-day rule apply to a fall on a New York City sidewalk?
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Often not, because the City usually is not the right defendant. NYC Administrative Code § 7-210 places responsibility for maintaining a sidewalk on the abutting property owner, which makes it an ordinary three-year negligence claim. The City remains liable, and the 90-day notice applies, where the abutting property is an owner-occupied one-, two-, or three-family home used exclusively as a residence, and for defects in the roadway or crosswalk itself.
- What is a 50-h hearing?
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A sworn examination the public entity is entitled to demand after the notice of claim and before any lawsuit is filed, under General Municipal Law § 50-h. A lawyer for the entity questions you under oath about the incident, your background, and your injuries. Failing to appear can bar the claim, and the transcript is used throughout the case, so it should never be treated as a formality.
- Is suing the State of New York the same as suing the City?
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No. Claims against the State go to the Court of Claims under the Court of Claims Act rather than the General Municipal Law. Under § 10(3), a negligence claim must be filed within 90 days of accrual, unless a notice of intention to file a claim is served within that same 90 days, which extends the deadline to file the claim to two years. Different court, different filings, and the same short front-end window.
Hurt by the City, the MTA, or a Public Hospital? The Clock Started That Day.
People injured by a public agency deserve the same accountability as anyone hurt by a private company, and a three-month filing rule nobody told them about should not be what decides it.
There is no fixing a missed notice of claim, and there is no cost to asking whether yours is still open. Those two facts together are the whole reason to call Lawsuit Legal today rather than next month.
We help subway and bus riders, patients treated at municipal hospitals, tenants in public housing, and families hurt on city property, with the legal help they need while the window is still open. Local to Lower Manhattan. Serving all of New York.
Call (888) 713-6653 for a free, confidential review of your claim against a New York public entity. You pay nothing unless we win.
Free Case Evaluation
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