Lionel McCray, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Superintendent William Lee, Watch Commander Lt. Plimley, Sergeant Kutz, Defendants-Appellees* Plaintiff pro se, a New York State prisoner, appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Kenneth M. Karas, Judge, dismissing his action under 42 U.S.C. §1983 against correctional facility officials for failure to clear snow and ice from outdoor exercise yards for an entire winter, thereby allegedly violating plaintiff’s rights under the Eighth Amendment by (a) denying him physical exercise for four months, and (b) causing him to be injured in a slip-and-fall accident. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) on grounds of qualified immunity and failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted under the Eighth Amendment, and of mootness as to plaintiff’s requests for injunctive relief given his transfer to a different correctional facility. See McCray v. Lee, No. 16-CV-1730, 2018 WL 1620976 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2018). On appeal, plaintiff challenges these rulings and contends that defendants’ failure also violated a 1985 consent decree. We conclude that the district court erred in dismissing pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) the Eighth Amendment claims seeking damages for the denial of exercise, but we affirm the dismissal of the remaining Eighth Amendment claims. Affirmed in part, vacated and remanded in part. AMALYA KEARSE, C.J. Plaintiff pro se Lionel McCray, a New York State prisoner, appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Kenneth M. Karas, Judge, dismissing his claims brought under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and state law, alleging that the defendant officials at the correctional facility where he was previously incarcerated failed to clear snow and ice from outdoor exercise yards for an entire winter and thereby violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment by (a) denying him a meaningful opportunity for physical exercise for four months, and (b) causing him to be injured in a slip-and-fall accident. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss McCray’s second amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), principally ruling that McCray failed to state a claim under the Eighth Amendment; that if such a claim for damages were stated, defendants would be entitled to qualified immunity; and that requests for injunctive relief were moot because McCray had been transferred to a different correctional facility. The court also declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over McCray’s state-law claims. On appeal, McCray challenges these rulings and contends that defendants’ failure also violated a 1985 consent decree. We conclude that the district court erred in granting a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of McCray’s Eighth Amendment claims seeking damages for the denial of physical exercise; and as those claims are to be reinstated, we also reinstate McCray’s state-law claims. In all other respects, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND The second amended complaint in this action (hereinafter “Complaint” or “SAC”) alleged the following facts, which must be taken as true for purposes of considering a dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). A. The Events During part of 2013-2014, McCray was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility (“Green Haven”) in Stormville, New York. During that period, defendant William Lee was Green Haven’s Superintendent and was responsible for operations, management, policymaking, and correctional officer supervision; defendant William Plimley, who served as Facility Watch Commander, was an agent of Lee and was responsible for implementing policies adopted by Lee. (See SAC
2, 4.) Defendant Sergeant Kutz was an agent of Lee; his duties included inspection of the outdoor exercise yard available to McCray, and supervision of McCray’s physical activity. (See id. 12.) 1. The Denial of Physical Exercise For part of the winter of 2013-2014 (“Winter of 2014″ or “Winter”), McCray was on “keeplock” status. In that status, he was allowed out of his cell each day for one hour of exercise. Green Haven had several outdoor exercise yards and one indoor gymnasium. McCray was permitted to exercise only in an outdoor yard; access to the indoor gymnasium, which was sometimes used for special events, was restricted to inmates in other categories. (See SAC
