DEATH HER OWN FAULT

City sez: Why didn’t architect ‘use

You walk New York City’s mean streets, you take your chances.

That’s the argument from city lawyers defending a lawsuit brought by the family of a prominent architect killed by falling debris from a Midtown building.

Erica Tishman died last year after rubble fell from 729 Seventh Ave. and struck her in the head. The building had several outstanding violations with the Department of Buildings, some of which her family’s lawyers say still hadn’t been addressed when the family sued the city and building owner in August for wrongful death and negligence.

The city Law Department tried to dodge liability in a new Manhattan Supreme Court filing by saying the city streets are known to be dangerous, so people on sidewalks should be prepared for the worst.

“Plaintiff(s) knew or should have known in the exercise of due/reasonable care of the risks and dangers incident to engaging in the activity alleged,” the city Law Department wrote — the “activity alleged” being walking on a sidewalk.

The Law Department went on:

“Plaintiff(s) voluntarily performed and engaged in the alleged activity and assumed the risk of the injuries and/or damages claimed. Plaintiff(s) failed to use all required, proper, appropriate and reasonable safety devices and/or equipment and failed to take all proper, appropriate and reasonable steps to assure his/her/their safety.”

In other words, the city is saying that by “voluntarily” walking down the sidewalk, Tishman assumed a risk of injury — including a risk that stonework might fall from a building not properly inspected by the city.

By writing that Tishman failed to have “reasonable safety devices and/or equipment” — a helmet? — the city offers up another reason she is at least partly responsible for her own death.

Benedict Morelli, attorney for the Tishman family, considered the arguments insensitive and disrespectful.

“Don’t give me boilerplate answers when you killed a woman!” he shouted.

“This is a very close-knit family. When they hear and see something like that, it’s insult to

Body (main photo) of Erica Tishman (inset) lies under sheet at Seventh Ave. and 49th St. in December after she was hit by debris falling from building (pointed out by Bravest, below). The city, in a stunning response to the family’s lawsuit, said the 60-year-old woman should’ve been more careful walking down the Midtown street. injury. It’s actually more than that because it’s insult to death. It absolutely does not give respect to the memory of Erica Tishman.”

Tishman, 60, was a married mother of three whose architecture firm designed the Trump Plaza Residences, one of two Trump-branded apartment buildings in Jersey City, among other buildings.

A graduate of the exclusive Riverdale Country School and both Harvard and Princeton, Tishman was married at The Plaza hotel to Steven Tishman, the head of mergers and acquisitions at the investment bank Houlihan Lokey.

The couple donated generously to the Education Alliance, a Lower East Side nonprofit.

The day of the accident,

Mayor de Tishman’s

“horrible.”

“My heart goes out to the family,” he said. “We need to know how that happened. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The city’s filing also includes cross claims blaming the building owner for the tragedy.

A Law Department spokesman said the document simply established potential legal arguments as the case proceeds.

“This was a truly tragic incident. We raise affirmative defenses in tort cases to preserve and protect the city’s interests. The parties can discuss these issues during the litigation as more facts develop. We can’t comment further on this pending case,” the spokesman said.

Blasio described final moments as