The 90-Day Notice of Claim: Suing New York City and Public Entities Under GML 50-e

If you were injured because of the negligence of New York City, a city agency, or another public entity in New York, your case does not begin like an ordinary lawsuit. Before you can sue, the law requires you to serve a formal Notice of Claim: and in most cases you have only 90 days from the date of the incident to do it. This requirement, found in New York General Municipal Law § 50-e, is one of the most unforgiving deadlines in New York law. Miss it, and even a strong case can be dismissed before a judge ever hears the merits.

Our firm represents injured New Yorkers in claims against the City of New York, its agencies, and public authorities. Below, we explain exactly how GML § 50-e works, what the notice must contain, how the deadline is calculated, and what can be done if the 90-day window has already passed.

What Is a Notice of Claim Under GML § 50-e?

A Notice of Claim is a sworn written statement that puts the public entity on notice that you intend to hold it liable for your injuries. General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a) requires that in any tort case where a notice of claim is a condition precedent to suit against a public corporation, the notice must be served within 90 days after the claim arises.

The purpose is to give the municipality a prompt opportunity to investigate (to inspect the pothole, pull the maintenance records, interview the bus driver, or preserve surveillance footage) while the evidence is fresh. Because the statute is a condition precedent, serving a proper and timely notice is not optional. Without it, the courts generally lack the ability to hear your case at all.

Which Entities Require a Notice of Claim?

The 90-day notice requirement applies to tort claims against a wide range of public entities in New York, including:

• The City of New York and its agencies, the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Sanitation, Department of Transportation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and others
• The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
• NYC Health + Hospitals (the public hospital system), including medical malpractice claims
• The New York City Transit Authority and MTA, under Public Authorities Law § 1212, which incorporates the GML § 50-e notice procedure for personal injury claims
• School districts and the New York City Department of Education, subject to Education Law § 3813 and GML § 50-e
• Counties, towns, and villages throughout New York State

Each entity must be served separately. Serving the City of New York does not count as serving NYCHA or the Transit Authority, even if the facts overlap. Identifying every potentially responsible public entity (and serving each one correctly) is one of the most important tasks an attorney performs in the first days of these cases.

The Three Critical Deadlines

1. The 90-Day Notice of Claim: GML § 50-e(1)(a)

The notice must be served within 90 days after the claim arises. For most personal injury cases, that means 90 days from the date of the accident.

Worked example: Suppose you trip on a broken curb maintained by the City on March 1. Counting 90 days forward, your Notice of Claim must be served on or before May 30. If the 90th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday, service is timely if made on the next business day under General Construction Law § 25-a, but relying on that cushion is dangerous. Service should never be left to the final days.

Wrongful death exception: Under GML § 50-e(1)(a), in a wrongful death action the 90 days run from the appointment of a representative of the decedent's estate, not from the date of death. So if a loved one dies on June 1 and an administrator is appointed by the Surrogate's Court on August 15, the notice deadline runs 90 days from August 15.

2. The 50-h Hearing: GML § 50-h

After you serve a Notice of Claim, General Municipal Law § 50-h gives the municipality the right to demand a hearing (essentially a pre-lawsuit deposition) where you testify under oath about the incident and your injuries. The City routinely exercises this right. Two rules matter:

• The demand must be served within 90 days after the Notice of Claim is filed.
• You generally cannot file your lawsuit until the 50-h hearing has been held (or the municipality has failed to schedule it within the statutory period). Skipping a demanded 50-h hearing can result in dismissal of the case.

The 50-h hearing is not a formality. The City's attorneys use your testimony to lock in your version of events and to look for inconsistencies. We prepare every client thoroughly before this hearing.

3. The Statute of Limitations: GML § 50-i

Serving the Notice of Claim does not start your lawsuit. General Municipal Law § 50-i requires that the action itself be commenced within one year and 90 days after the event upon which the claim is based. It also requires the complaint to allege that the Notice of Claim was served, that at least 30 days have elapsed since service, and that the claim remains unresolved.

Worked example: An accident on March 1, 2025 produces two deadlines: the Notice of Claim must be served by approximately May 30, 2025, and the summons and complaint must be filed by approximately May 30, 2026 (one year and 90 days). Both deadlines are independent; satisfying one does not extend the other.

What the Notice of Claim Must Contain: GML § 50-e(2)

Section 50-e(2) requires the notice to be in writing, sworn to by or on behalf of the claimant, and to set forth:

1. The name and post-office address of each claimant and of the claimant's attorney, if any;
2. The nature of the claim (for example, negligent roadway maintenance, negligent operation of a city vehicle, premises liability, false arrest, medical malpractice);
3. The time when, the place where, and the manner in which the claim arose, described with enough precision that the entity can locate the site and investigate; and
4. The items of damage or injuries claimed, to the extent then practicable.

Precision in describing the location is a frequent battleground. A notice that says "a defective sidewalk on Broadway" may be attacked as fatally vague; a notice pinpointing "the sidewalk abutting 1234 Broadway, approximately 15 feet north of the northwest corner of West 100th Street, at the metal cellar door" gives the City what the statute demands. GML § 50-e(6) allows correction of good-faith mistakes or defects in the notice, but only where the public entity is not prejudiced; courts will not let a claimant use a correction to move the accident to an entirely different location or change the theory of the case.

How the Notice Must Be Served: GML § 50-e(3)

Service must be made on the person designated by law to accept service for the entity (for the City of New York, the Office of the Comptroller) by personal delivery or registered or certified mail. New York City also accepts electronic filing of notices of claim through the Comptroller's eClaim system. Under § 50-e(3)(c), if service is made in a technically defective manner but the entity demands a 50-h examination or otherwise treats the notice as valid, the defect may be cured. But again, no one should plan on curing defects; the safest course is strict compliance from the start.

Missed the 90 Days? Late Notice of Claim Petitions Under GML § 50-e(5)

All is not necessarily lost if the 90-day window has closed. GML § 50-e(5) permits a court, in its discretion, to grant leave to serve a late notice of claim: but the application must be made before the one-year-and-90-day statute of limitations in § 50-i expires. Courts weigh several factors, including:

• Whether the public entity acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim within 90 days or a reasonable time thereafter (for example, through a police accident report prepared by its own officers, an ambulance call report, or hospital records in a claim against a public hospital);
• Whether the claimant has a reasonable excuse for the delay, such as incapacitating injuries;
• Whether the claimant was an infant or under a mental or physical disability;
• Whether the delay substantially prejudiced the entity's ability to investigate and defend.

Worked example: A pedestrian is struck by a city vehicle on January 10 and hospitalized for months. No notice is served by the April 10 deadline. Because NYPD officers responded, prepared an accident report identifying the city vehicle and driver, and the City therefore had actual knowledge of the essential facts within 90 days, a petition for leave to serve a late notice filed in, say, September stands a strong chance; provided it is filed before the statute of limitations expires the following April. After that outer deadline, the court loses the power to grant relief for adult claimants.

Infancy tolling: For children, CPLR § 208 tolls the limitations period during infancy, which correspondingly extends the time within which a court may grant leave to file a late notice on a child's behalf. Parents should still act immediately, evidence disappears whether or not deadlines are tolled.

Common Scenarios Requiring a Notice of Claim

• Roadway, bike lane, and sidewalk defects: Potholes, broken curbs, and defective pavement cause serious injuries to pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of e-bikes and e-scooters. These claims often involve the additional "prior written notice" requirement of NYC Administrative Code § 7-201, making early investigation essential. If you were hurt riding on a defective city street, our New York e-scooter and e-bike accident lawyers handle both the municipal notice requirements and the injury claim itself.
• City vehicle accidents: Collisions involving sanitation trucks, buses, police vehicles, and other municipal vehicles.
• Premises claims: Injuries in public housing, city parks, schools, and municipal buildings.
• Public hospital malpractice: Claims against NYC Health + Hospitals facilities carry the same 90-day notice requirement, a trap for families who assume the ordinary malpractice limitations period applies.
• Police misconduct and false arrest: Certain state-law tort claims against the City and NYPD require timely notice as well.

Note that where a city vehicle's insurer or the Comptroller's office offers a quick, lowball resolution (or where a related private insurance claim is wrongfully denied while the municipal claim is pending), the two tracks must be coordinated carefully. Our experience as an insurance claim law firm means we handle both sides of that equation, including situations where an insurance company has denied an injury claim connected to the same incident.

Why Acting Within Days: Not Weeks: Matters

Ninety days sounds like plenty of time. It is not. Before a proper notice can be served, your attorney must identify the correct entity or entities, verify ownership and control of the accident location, photograph and measure the defect before the City repairs it, obtain police and ambulance records, and draft a notice precise enough to survive a motion to dismiss. Surveillance video from city buses and buildings is often overwritten within 30 days or less. The earlier we are retained, the stronger the case we can build.

You can contact the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin by phone at 212-233-1233 or by email at [email protected].