Joseph Worster, Respondent v. the Forty-Second Street and Grand Street Ferry Railroad Company, Appellant

Summary

The Court of Appeals held that a railroad company that has the right to lay tracks in a public street has an affirmative duty to lay them properly and keep them in repair, and is liable for injuries caused by a defect even without notice; the presumption of negligence arises from the existence of the defect and the injury, and the railroad bears the burden to prove absence of negligence. The court also held that contributory negligence of the city is no defense when the railroad's negligence is proven.