Gothamist: East Village is Still Electrified

Evangeline Custis

Sun, 14 Mar 2004 17:52:41 -0500

This is all very strange. I live in Massachusetts and suddenly, in the last 2 months or so, we're hearing on the news about several dogs being electricuted while walking on Boston sidewalks. Now I read about NYC having the same problems, only worse...you lost a human life. Why is this suddenly happening in both cities? This was unheard of before recently. Why just now and never before?

infant

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 11:06:11 -0500

hell yeah, liability accrues, in the form of... my fist... punching... con edison in the face and whatnot!!!

Linus

Fri, 12 Mar 2004 01:16:40 -0500

Hmmm, that's a thought. Anyone got any puppies? I have a spare power strip. Jake, get your camera ready...

dave

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 21:15:57 -0500

too bad they didn't have pictures of the poor doggies getting electrocuted so you could post them.

John

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 18:56:04 -0500

"Fatally electrocuted" is redundant. Electrocuted means executed by electricity. If you live, you were merely shocked, not electrocuted. But don't take the quibble to mean I have anything but love for Gothamist. You guys rock.

Linus

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 18:00:53 -0500

That won't be an easy lawsuit to win. The fact of a death or injury does not mean that liability automatically accrues; in order to maintain a proper claim, the party that did the alleged wrong must have notice of the dangerous condition, and enough time to remedy it. (I am not a lawyer, BTW, though I work with lawyers. This is not legal advice and has no particular meaning outside of it being my lightly-informed opinion.) If Con Ed knew about the electrical "spill," then they will be liable; if not, the case will be hard to win. Utilities are usually quite aggressive in defending suits. This is why there is so much action in reporting potholes, for example. If a pothole is not reported, then the City is not responsible for damages that arise from accidents that may take place because of the pothole, and so forth.

infant

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 17:07:53 -0500

did that woman's family ever sue the shit out of the city or what?

jamie

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 12:27:05 -0500

i live all the way out in nowhere Brooklyn and i don't know if our grates and cellar doors are electrified, but my dog always goes out of his way to avoid walking on them so perhaps he can sense the inherent danger.

Linus

Thu, 11 Mar 2004 11:14:35 -0500

Shoddy workmanship by public contractors in the East Village???? Wow, who knew. Would they be related to the guys who take 2.5 years to repair each escalator in the subways, by any chance?