New York Court of Appeals
David L. Cohen, an Infant, by His Father, Alan Cohen, Appellant, Petitioner v. Pearl River Union Free…
November 18, 198051 N.Y.2d 256
Summary
The Court held that the amended 1976 version of General Municipal Law §50‑e (subd 5) makes the period for applying for leave to serve a late notice of claim coextensive with the statute of limitations for actions against a public corporation and therefore subject to the CPLR 208 toll for infancy. It further held that the amendment’s expanded time provisions apply retroactively, but only to claims whose right to apply had not expired when the amendment became effective. Accordingly, the Appellate Division’s order denying the application was reversed and the matter remanded for the lower court to exercise its discretion on the extension.