UPPER EAST SIDE — Officials saw an uptick in lawsuits against the city for property damage and personal injury on the Upper East Side from 2013 to 2014, according to an analysis by Comptroller Scott Stringer's office.
While numbers went down citywide, neighborhood residents filed roughly 42 percent more claims related to motor vehicle accidents with city's sanitation department vehicles and 15 percent more lawsuits for injuries related to police force or misconduct, the report says.
Other lawsuits, like tree-limb injuries and sewer overflow complaints decreased, according to the findings.
The Comptroller's office tracks claims involving the NYPD, Department of Sanitation, Department of Transportation and Department of Education with its ClaimStat database.
Claims filed against the Department of Sanitation increased on the Upper East Side, from 31 in 2012 to 2013 to 44 claims within the past year.
These incidents are largely damage to property by garbage trucks, according to the report.
Across the city, property damage motor vehicle claims "soared" from 1,999 to 2,825, the Comptroller's office said, with the rise attributed to several possible explanations including above-average snowfall in the last year.
The Sanitation Department's collection trucks are outfitted with one-ton plows that cleared narrow streets during the harsh winter in January and February, agency representatives said.
The plows may account for the increase in property damage claims, according to DSNY spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins, but the agency has already taken steps to decrease the figures.
"The department has implemented defensive driving training classes to all employees with licenses to drive a city-owned vehicle," she said. "As the department begins a new snow season, sanitation workers have been retrained on snow fighting heavy duty equipment."
To reduce the number of injuries and fatalities, officials said the city received a grant award of up to $20 million to retrofit thousands of city vehicles with crash avoidance technology and other equipment.
The report also shows that the number of claims for injuries from alleged police force or misconduct only increased by one lawsuit on the Upper East Side, from 16 to 17.
Total claims against the police fell to 8,519 in fiscal year 2015 from 9,634 the year before.
Comptroller Stringer said the NYPD has made progress and is "an example for every city agency to follow." He suggested that the NYPD implement ClaimStat as part of its CompStat meetings, where each precinct's issues are addressed.
See the full report below.
