Justice Saliann Scarpulla
Plaintiffs Metro-North and the Metropolitan Transit Authority moved for summary judgment declaring that Empire City Subway (ECS), a telecommunications utility and franchise holder from for underground conduits, was responsible for repairing and maintaining certain vaults above plaintiffs’ railroads and must reimburse them for costs of repairs. A utility vault collapsed and an engineering firm identified and located all utility vaults. It was discovered 18 of the 30 vaults were similar in construction to the one that collapsed, and three of the 18 had ECS imprinted on their covers. Plaintiffs demanded ECS reimburse them for the cost of the emergency repairs and pay for repairing the remaining vaults. Plaintiffs argued ECS admitted ownership and maintenance responsibility for the vaults thus was obligated under its franchise agreement with to maintain the vaults. The court agreed, finding plaintiffs made a prima facie showing of entitlement to a declaratory judgment that ECS was responsible for repairing and maintaining the vaults. It noted ECS conceded it maintained the vaults’ interiors and testimony revealed the repairs were needed because of deterioration inside the vaults.