In Ruiz c. City of New York, plaintiff was injured when he was assaulted by other children at a public playground. The question was whether supervision of a playground was a “proprietary” function, for which the City could be held liable, of a “governmental” function, for which no liability could attach.

The court noted that the determination whether to provide security at the playground is exactly the discretionary type of resource-allocation function that is a governmental function and for which the city should be protected from liability absent a special relationship with the plaintiff. Because no special relationship existed, summary judgment was granted to the city dismissing the complaint.

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