If you guess wrong on the deadline, your claim can be dismissed outright, even if the boiler exploded because the building owner ignored obvious danger and even if your prenatal records show ongoing complications.

Example: a pregnant tenant in a Manhattan apartment building is scalded by a boiler or water-heater failure. She goes to the ER, then spends months with OB visits, fetal monitoring, and treatment for burns and anxiety. By the time the baby is born, she is still dealing with symptoms and starts wondering whether she waited too long. The answer depends first on who owned or controlled the property.

For a private landlord, co-op, condo, hotel, or management company, New York's general negligence deadline is usually 3 years from the date of the explosion or fall under CPLR 214(5).

If the property was tied to a city agency or public authority, the deadline can be much shorter. A claim against the City of New York, NYCHA, or many other public entities usually requires a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e, and a lawsuit usually must start within 1 year and 90 days under GML § 50-i. Missing the 90-day notice is often fatal unless a court grants late notice.

Pregnancy does not extend the mother's deadline. The clock usually starts on the injury date, not when doctors finally connect later complications to the event.

You can still claim the cost of ER care, OB follow-up, fetal monitoring, specialist visits, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other medical treatment caused by the incident. If a child was later born with a separate injury, that may involve different timing rules than the mother's claim.

Key points:

• Private property: usually 3 years
• City/NYCHA/public entity: usually 90-day notice and 1 year 90 days to sue
• The owner's duty is to keep the premises reasonably safe and fix or warn about known hazards
• Medical records linking the explosion to pregnancy-related treatment matter immediately