$0 from the MTA is a real possibility if you miss the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline after a Manhattan bus crash. That is the hard part of New York law for claims against public entities: the rules are shorter, stricter, and different from an ordinary car-crash case.

To have any shot, you need proof right away of who owned the bus, when and where the crash happened, and why the delay occurred.

Save and gather:

• Bus number, route, and direction of travel - for example, an M14 SBS near Union Square is very different from a city truck claim.
• Crash report number, NYPD paperwork, ambulance records, and ER records.
• Photos or video of the bus, street, damage, and your injuries.
• Witness names and contact info.
• Your app records if you were driving for Uber, DoorDash, or Amazon Flex when it happened.
• Lost-income proof like 1099s, weekly earnings screenshots, and tax returns.
• Any proof explaining the late filing, such as hospitalization, surgery, sedation, or records showing the public authority already had timely notice through its own reports.

If the bus was run by New York City Transit Authority or MTA Bus Company, you usually must serve a Notice of Claim within 90 days and start the lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days. If you miss the 90 days, you can ask the court for permission to file a late Notice of Claim, but judges do not grant that automatically.

The court looks at whether the transit authority got actual notice of the essential facts, whether your delay was excusable, and whether the delay prejudiced its investigation. Surveillance gets overwritten, bus camera footage disappears, and driver memories fade fast.

If it was a city vehicle instead of an MTA bus, the notice usually goes through the New York City Comptroller, not the MTA. Serving the wrong entity can sink the claim too.