Dear homeowners,
A few days ago I was walking down the block when my foot caught the raised edge of a sunken sidewalk slab. I pitched forward and caught myself at the very last second. Baruch Hashem, I didn’t fall. But it really jolted me. My heart was pounding the rest of the way, and all I could think was: what if that had been an elderly man on his way to shul, or a mother pushing a stroller, or a child running ahead?
Since then I have been paying attention, and I see it quite often. Slabs that have cracked into pieces. Slabs that have sunk an inch or two below the next one. Slabs pushed up by tree roots so the edge sticks up just enough to catch a shoe. In daylight you might notice it. Now that it’s dark early, you won’t.
What many homeowners don’t realize is that the sidewalk in front of their home is their responsibility to maintain. It is not the township’s job and it is not the neighbor’s job. And if someone trips on a broken or uneven slab and gets hurt, the homeowner can be held responsible and could find himself facing a lawsuit. That is an expensive and painful lesson no one wants to learn after the fact, and far worse is knowing that someone was injured in front of your own house.
So I am asking every homeowner who reads this: please take two minutes and walk the sidewalk in front of your home. Look for cracks, sunken sections and raised edges. If a slab needs to be replaced, take care of it before the winter. If you are renting, let your landlord know.
Our sidewalks carry strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, children and older people. Some concrete now can prevent a terrible injury later.
Ty.
A Walker Who Now Watches Every Step
TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to us via Whatsapp or via email [email protected]
did you at least knock on the door to tell them to fix their own sidewalk instead of advertising on the scoop?
Some people dont like being confrontational. They are hoping the homeowner will see this post and do something about it.
One should ask their Ruv before fixing a sidewalk.
It may cause a loss of Parnassa for Frum personal injury lawyers.
Excellent argument – the best excuse I’ve ever heard!!!!!
I think both the thumbs up and down here are saying the same thing, just the thumbs ups realized it’s humor, and the thumbs downs didn’t.
I live in the Sunset area and there are many sidewalks there that are serious tripping hazards. I even approached some neighbors and told them about it, but they don’t seem to care. The only thing that will really help is when they get a letter from a law firm about a lawsuit for 500K.
Yes, and m’toch shelo lishma ba lishma (do it for people or even not to get sued, but either way, do it!)
Yes, very important. And along Madison Ave. I don’t know if it’s resident’s or state’s responsibility (state highway – Rt 9), but there are slabs that need serious repair. They’ve been slowly doing it, over the years, but a few are really bad.
And it’s not really enough to just smear some cement to take away the actual bump; when wheelchairs, bikes, scooters or even strollers go over it, it’s quite uncomfortable – although it is better than nothing to help prevent people from tripping.
Please smear the cement at least across the entire adjacent slab to make it gradual, or just replace it (best thing). TY.
This is the responsibility of the inspection department. Im not sure why in Lakewood these type of violations are ignored but in other towns the homeowner would get a summons and forced to repair it.
Also, when it snows, you’re required to shovel the sidewalk in front of your house within 24 daylight hours this did not happen on many sidewalks in Lakewood this past year
Here in Passaic, I wanted to have the broken sidewalk replaced and the city wouldn’t allow it, they said no new sidewalk permits are being given this time of year!
I don’t think that the homeowner is responsible here . I know that in NYC every homeowner or property owner is responsible to maintain a level, clean, sightly sidewalk ; But here I believe sidewalks are an easement to the public/township of which it’s part of the homeowners property & the homeowner is responsible to keep it clear and not overgrown, but concrete I believe is the township’s responsibility.