Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

Re: bursting pipe

Your question isn't clear whether you are the tenant or the landlord, if there was a written lease, where the pipe was, what type of pipe it was and what type of zoning the space (or building) is in. Assuming this was a commercial building and there wasn't a written lease the answer may depend on conversations, letters or notes that exist concerning the "agreement," even if it is oral, to determine if this was a "net" type lease or even net-net, or net-net-net lease arrangement. If it was, a tenant could find it difficult to establish liability on the part of the landlord. If it was not a net lease arrangement, then generally a landlord has a duty to maintain the interior systems of the premises. That may or may not include the pipe you are referring to since you did not describe it.