A Manhattan jury tipped the scales on Tuesday, April 8, awarding a $6.45 million verdict to an Upper West Side salsa dancer who took a tumble outside Citarella, the gourmet grocer at 2135 Broadway and West 75th Street.
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Castillo, who asked to be identified only by her last name in an interview with the New York Post—which first reported the story on Friday—said, “It’s been a long, long, long process. My life has been at a standstill for 10-plus years.”
Back in 2014, Castillo suffered a slip-and-fall outside Citarella that initially left her with a dislocated knee, affecting her running, salsa dancing, and amateur bodybuilding hobbies. “My whole body turned,” Castillo recalled. “It literally turned my knee to the opposite side of my leg.”
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It was Labor Day weekend, and Castillo was gearing up for a beach trip with her mother, husband, and granddaughter. Her 5-year-old granddaughter cried, trying to will her up; however, Castillo said that in that moment, her leg felt like “rubber, like in a cartoon.”
“Of all the things that could have happened to me—and I slip on slimy, clear fish guts,” she noted. “But you know, I don’t teach how to avoid slime.” Castillo is a retired trainer for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, where she taught construction site workers how to avoid falls on the job.
In the emergency room, Castillo said the doctor was “shocked,” even asking to take a picture as their initial reaction. She said her injuries included a total knee dislocation and three ruptured ligaments. The accident—which a jury found Citarella at fault for—led to at least twelve operating room visits, during which she endured what she described as “surgeries from hell.”
Now, Castillo is unable to dance salsa with her husband, cook big family dinners, or even buy groceries by herself.
“I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” she said. “I feel like I have been in jail for 10 years.”
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Perhaps most surprising is that Castillo initially didn’t want to take legal action. But Citarella—a well-known NYC brand since opening in Upper Manhattan in 1912, before relocating operations to the Upper West Side and expanding—refused to share an accident report with her unless she hired a lawyer. She also said they declined to apologize for not keeping the sidewalk clean, a move that may have ultimately cost them the $6.45 million verdict.
“This Manhattan jury listened to all the evidence, and they spoke through their verdict, stating that it is not okay for a grocery store to take over a sidewalk for their business and profits without protecting pedestrians,” said attorney Sharon Scanlan of Jacoby & Meyers, Castillo’s lawyer. This concluded a 10-year legal battle in which Citarella attempted to partially blame Castillo’s lupus diagnosis for her injuries, but failed.
The grocer did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Castillo’s doctor said she may now have daily pain in her body and will never be able to move freely again.
When asked about her experience through all of this, Castillo responded, “It’s enlightening to think about how corporations treat the smaller people, or how corporations don’t have any heart, because there are some that really care.”
“I feel like people have lost heart in this country. We used to always take care of each other.”
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Good for Castillo!
Darn and they are the only really good store that never makes you feel bad when consuming. I hope they will be able to stay open. I think that is a bit much for a dancer. Specially considering the many other people that lose their entire life over other peoples fault or bad intentions. Like no one ever cares. Jee.
what a terrible response! this woman deserves every penny. “for a dancer”? I bet you are a part of a big corporation that abuses regular people too. You elitist prick.
Good for her. I live right near Cirarella and they still act like they own the sidewalk on West 75th St. It is quite often dirty, messy and smells froim fish
Glad she collected.
My wife slipped and fell in the subway in January 2019 (platform at 137th St and Broadway was being washed during rush hour, with no warning sign), fracturing her kneecap in three places. No lawyer was interested in the case (not enough potential damages, and the case would be delayed for years until the next mayoral election by city’s “ethical” attorneys — traditionally, these cases are cleared by the outgoing administration every 4 years). MTA was impossible to reach UNLESS we had a lawyer.
Our Massachusetts insurance covered most of the medical bills. But we had a “surprise billing” from one of the doctors who treated her, for $1500. NY’s surprise billing law had just gone into effect a few days before the accident, but Northwell hospital at 13th and 7th Ave (where her employer sent her) would not treat her unless she waived her rights to use it. Good example of a useless fake NYC law.
The only party that “gained” from the accident was NY State, which taxed the surprise billing with a 20% surcharge. My wife was laid up for months.
Moral: Don’t expect to be protected by any branch of NY government.
The useless waiver law is NY State, not NYC. Sorry.
Get Castillo’s attorney for your wife’s accident!
Good for Castillo and her attorneys! I stopped shopping at Citarella years ago after their fish prices unreasonably skyrocketed. Quality has suffered as well. Castillo has suffered for 10 solid years. I hope she doesn’t have to endure many more years of appeals.
Sort of like a non-union construction site. By averages much less safe, but usually retail only hurts workers.