Jonathan Fintzi, &c., et al.,
Respondents,
v.
New Jersey YMHA-YWHA Camps, &c.,
Appellant.
2001 NY Int. 144
MEMORANDUM:
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, and defendant's motion for summary judgment granted. The certified question should be answered in the negative.
Plaintiff Jonathan Fintzi, age 10, participated in a
relay race at a summer camp operated by defendant New Jersey
YMHA-YWHA. The race occurred on a grass field marked off by four
cones, and the field was wet due to morning humidity and fog.
We agree with the dissenters below that merely allowing
children to play on wet grass does not constitute negligent
supervision (see, Sauer v Hebrew Inst. of Long Is., 17 AD2d 245,
affd without opn , 13 NY2d 913). Organizers of sporting or
recreational events owe a duty to exercise only reasonable care
to protect participants "from injuries arising out of unassumed,
concealed, or unreasonably increased risks" (Benitez v New York
City Bd. of Educ., , 73 NY2d 650, 654). Here, there is no evidence
that the camp counselors increased the risk associated with the
naturally and obviously damp field. To hold defendant liable in
this situation would, as the dissenters observed, "so sterilize
camping * * * as to render it sedentary" (Sauer,