Craig D. Rosenbaum | December 5, 2025 | Premises Liability
Many people dream of ice skating in New York City. It might feel like something right out of a movie scene. However, an ice skating injury can quickly turn your dream activity into a nightmare. You could find yourself dealing with medical bills and intense pain.
If your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be able to recover compensation for your damages. Keep reading below to learn more about some of the most common parties who might be responsible for your ice skating injuries.
Who Is Responsible for Your NYC Ice Skating Injuries?
After an ice skating injury, you may be wondering who is going to pay your medical bills and other injury-related expenses. Several different parties could have liability for your injuries.
Those include:
- Ice rink owner or operator: The rink owner or operator may fail to maintain the ice in a safe condition or fail to enforce proper safety rules. For instance, if they allow overcrowding on the ice, you may be able to hold them responsible for your injuries.
- Service or maintenance provider: If the rink owner hires a service provider to maintain the ice or perform other services, they could be held liable in some cases.
- Skate manufacturer: Defective skates could cause serious injuries, and you may be able to hold the manufacturer liable for your injuries.
- New York City government: Some ice rinks in New York are public facilities, and you could hold the city liable for their negligence.
- Other skaters: Other skaters may act carelessly or recklessly while they are on the ice. If this type of behavior causes you an injury, you could hold that other skater responsible for your losses.
Before you can hold anyone financially responsible for your injuries, you will need to prove their liability.
Proving Negligence After an Ice Skating Injury
To recover compensation for your injuries, you will need to prove that someone else’s negligence caused your accident. Proving negligence requires proving the specific legal elements required by law.
Those are:
- Duty of care: You must show that the defendant owed you a legal duty to uphold a certain standard of behavior. For instance, an ice rink owner has a duty to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition.
- Breach of duty: The defendant failed to uphold the accepted standard of care. Imagine an ice rink owner knows that the ice has deep cuts and ridges, but they fail to maintain the ice and keep it in a smooth condition. They have likely breached their duty of care.
- Causation: You must be able to prove that your injuries were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s behavior.
- Damages: You will need to show that you have suffered some damages, or losses as a result of your accident. This could include medical bills, lost wages, or physical or emotional pain.
You must be able to prove all four of these elements to win your case. Failure to prove even one of these elements means that you likely will not be able to recover any compensation for your injuries.
You will need to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that your version of the facts must be more likely true than not, or, put another way, you should have just more than 50% of the evidence in your favor.
Damages Available to Ice Skating Injury Victims
Victims who are able to successfully prove someone else’s negligence are entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages. This means that you can recover compensation for your financial losses as well as your physical and emotional pain and trauma.
Some common damages resulting from ice skating accidents in NYC include:
- Medical bills and expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost benefits
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you identify all the damages that are available in your case.
Contact the New York City Premises Liability Lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers for Help Today
If you’ve been injured while skating, an experienced New York City premises liability attorney can help recover the compensation you deserve. Call our team at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation and let us protect your rights.
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – New York City Office
100 Wall St 24th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 514-5007
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – Bronx Office
1578 Williamsbridge Rd suite 3b
Bronx, NY 10461
(212) 514-5007
(917) 905-2339
Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers – Brooklyn Office
32 Court St #704
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 514-5007
(917) 920-7332
About The Author
Craig D. Rosenbaum is licensed to practice in New York. He is part of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association of Justice. Click here to view some of the amazing case results that Craig has successfully handled.
