By Priya Raman, Contributing Writer, Policy & RegulationPublished July 10, 2026
New York gives a person three years from the date of injury to sue for an ordinary personal injury claim, under Civil Practice Law and Rules section 214(5). Medical malpractice gets its own, shorter rule under CPLR 214-a: two years and six months from the act or omission, or from the end of continuous treatment for the same condition. If the defendant is a city, county, or other public corporation, a separate notice of claim has to reach that entity within 90 days under General Municipal Law 50-e, long before the three-year clock is anywhere close to running out. This page walks through where each number comes from. It is general information, not a substitute for advice from a New York attorney about your specific claim.
Quick answers
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in New York?
Three years from the date of the injury for most negligence-based claims, under CPLR 214(5). That three-year period covers car accidents, slip and falls, and most other injury claims against a private person or company.
How long do I have to sue for medical malpractice in New York?
Two years and six months from the act, omission, or the end of continuous treatment for the same condition, under CPLR 214-a. A narrow exception extends that to one year from discovery when a foreign object, not a fixation device or prosthetic, was left in the patient's body.
How soon do I have to notify a New York city or town before suing?
Ninety days from when the claim arises, under General Municipal Law 50-e. This notice of claim has to reach the public corporation before a lawsuit can be filed, and it runs on a far shorter clock than the three-year statute of limitations for the underlying injury claim.
Does the three-year New York period apply to property damage too?
Generally yes. CPLR 214 sets three years for both personal injury and injury to property, though certain claims, including some tied to asbestos, latent toxic exposure, and other categories, are carved out into separate sections with their own rules.
The three-year default under CPLR 214
CPLR 214(5) sets a three-year period for "an action to recover damages for a personal injury," subject to a list of carve-outs for claims that have their own separate statutes, medical malpractice among them. That three-year window is the general rule most New York injury claims fall under: car and pedestrian accidents, slip and falls, dog bites, and most other negligence claims against a private defendant. The same section of CPLR 214 also covers injury to property, running on the same three-year period, and a handful of other listed claims. The clock generally starts on the date the injury happened.
Medical malpractice: two and a half years, with one narrow exception
CPLR 214-a shortens the window considerably for claims against a medical, dental, or podiatric provider: "An action for medical, dental or podiatric malpractice must be commenced within two years and six months" of the act or omission that caused the injury, or of the end of a course of continuous treatment for the same condition if treatment continued afterward. New York carves out one exception. When the claim is based on a foreign object left inside the patient's body, the patient instead gets one year from the date of discovery, though the statute is specific that "foreign object" does not include a chemical compound, a fixation device, or a prosthetic aid or device left in place on purpose. That narrow exception is the only meaningful discovery-based extension the statute allows for malpractice; everything else runs from the act itself or the end of continuous treatment, not from when the harm was noticed.
Suing a city, county, or public corporation starts with a 90-day notice
General Municipal Law 50-e requires a notice of claim "within ninety days after the claim arises" for a tort claim against a public corporation, its officers, or its employees, with one adjustment for wrongful death claims, where the 90 days instead runs from when an estate representative is appointed. This notice requirement exists separately from, and well ahead of, the three-year statute of limitations under CPLR 214. A pedestrian injured by a defect in a city sidewalk has three years to sue the city under the general limitations period, but only 90 days to put the city on notice of the claim in the first place. Miss the 90-day notice window and the underlying three-year period stops mattering, because the claim against the public corporation is typically barred before the statute of limitations would have ever come into play.
Where the three-year period does not reach
| Claim type | Period | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary personal injury (accident, fall, negligence) | 3 years | CPLR 214(5) |
| Injury to property | 3 years | CPLR 214 |
| Medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice | 2 years, 6 months | CPLR 214-a |
| Malpractice, foreign object left in the body | 1 year from discovery | CPLR 214-a |
| Notice of claim against a city, county, or public corporation | 90 days | Gen. Mun. Law 50-e |
Worked example
A cyclist is hit by a car on a New York City street on July 10, 2026. Against the driver, the three-year deadline under CPLR 214(5) runs to July 10, 2029. But if the same crash happened because of a pothole the city failed to repair, the claim against the city runs on the 90-day notice clock under General Municipal Law 50-e instead, due around October 8, 2026, more than two and a half years before the driver's own deadline arrives. Treating both defendants as though they share one filing date is the mistake that costs a claim against the city most often, since the private driver's three-year cushion offers no protection once the shorter municipal notice window has already closed.
Need the exact business-day count?
Once the applicable New York period is set, this site's calendar tool converts any trigger date into a precise deadline, in either calendar days or court days.