How to Complete and File the MTA G2 Form: Notice of Claim

To file an MTA Notice of Claim form, you must serve a sworn written notice on the correct MTA subsidiary within 90 days of the incident, using either the agency’s downloadable Personal Injury or Property Damage claim form or a notice that meets every requirement of New York General Municipal Law § 50-e.¹ Miss that 90-day window and, absent a court-ordered extension, you lose the right to sue.

The 90-Day Deadline

The 90 days run from the date you were injured or your property was damaged, not the date you discovered the injury, unless you were physically or mentally incapacitated. For wrongful death claims, the clock starts when a representative is appointed for the deceased person’s estate.¹

A court can grant leave to file a late notice, but approval is not automatic. The judge looks at whether the MTA or its insurer learned the essential facts within or reasonably close to the original 90 days, along with factors such as infancy, incapacity, reasonable reliance on settlement promises, or an honest mistake about which agency to name.¹ Even with that extension, you cannot push past the overall lawsuit deadline of one year and 90 days from the incident.²

Name the Right MTA Agency

The MTA is an umbrella over several operating agencies, and your notice has to name the one actually responsible. Filing against “the MTA” when the responsible party is New York City Transit, or vice versa, is one of the fastest ways to get a claim thrown out or stalled. The operating agencies are:

New York City Transit, which runs the subway and most city buses.
MTA Bus Company, which runs additional routes, mostly in areas formerly served by private operators.
Staten Island Railway.
Long Island Rail Road.
Metro-North Railroad.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels, which operates the regional toll crossings.

Your MetroCard history, your commuter rail ticket, station signage, and the markings on the bus itself usually tell you which agency was involved. When in doubt, naming the specific subsidiary rather than just “the MTA” is safer.

Which Form to Use

The MTA hosts two downloadable forms on its website. The Personal Injury Claim Form covers incidents involving New York City Transit (NYCTA), the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MaBSTOA), and the Staten Island Railway (SIRTOA).⁴ The Property Damage Claim Form is used for vehicle damage, damaged belongings, or other property losses tied to those same operations.⁵

If your claim is against the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, or MTA Bridges and Tunnels, the standard online forms may not apply. Prepare a Notice of Claim that meets the requirements of General Municipal Law § 50-e and serve it directly. Public Authorities Law § 1276 governs tort actions against the MTA itself, with slightly different procedural rules for subsidiary corporations.⁶

What the Form Must Contain

Whether you use the MTA’s form or draft your own, state law requires four categories of information:¹

Your full legal name, mailing address, and your attorney’s name and address if you have one.
The nature of the claim, in plain terms: a slip on a wet platform, a collision with an MTA bus, a falling ceiling tile.
The time, place, and manner. Give the exact date, approximate time, and specific location. “The northbound 4/5/6 platform at 86th Street station” is useful; “a subway station in Manhattan” is not. If a train or bus was involved, add the route, direction, or car number if you have it.
The injuries sustained or damages claimed, stated as specifically as you can at the time of filing. The statute requires detail “so far as then practicable,” so you don’t need a final medical bill, but more detail builds a stronger foundation.

The MTA’s Personal Injury Claim Form also asks for your MetroCard number, or a photo of the back of the card if the incident happened on a bus, so the agency can confirm you were aboard at the relevant time.⁴

Property Damage Documentation

Property damage claims require more supporting evidence upfront. The Property Damage Claim Form includes a checklist to attach:⁵

Photos and video of the damage, before and after any repairs.
A complete copy of the police report, not just the report number.
Repair estimates, actual repair invoices, and any itemized claim you submitted to your own insurer.
Vehicle registration and your full insurance policy, if a vehicle was involved.
Receipts for every out-of-pocket cost related to the damage.

If your files are too large to email, the MTA accepts links to cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive, and a YouTube link works for video.⁵ Gather this evidence quickly. Waiting weeks to photograph damage or chase down a police report only weakens the claim.

Signing: Notarization or Electronic Certification

A Notice of Claim must be sworn.¹ If you submit a paper version by mail or in person, that means signing before a notary public, who witnesses the signature, confirms your identity, and applies an official seal.⁷ Notaries are available at most banks, UPS stores, law offices, and some public libraries; New York caps the fee at $2 per notarial act.⁸

If you file electronically using the MTA’s email claim form, the form substitutes a written certification for the notarization. You declare that the information is true and acknowledge that false statements carry criminal and civil penalties.⁴ This tracks the language GML § 50-e requires for electronic notice of claim filings in cities with a population over one million.¹

How and Where to Submit

Email for NYCTA, MaBSTOA, and SIRTOA

The MTA’s Personal Injury and Property Damage claim forms are designed to be emailed to serviceclaims@nyct.com within 90 days of the incident.⁴ This route applies only to claims against New York City Transit, MaBSTOA, and the Staten Island Railway. If you prefer paper, the mailing address printed on the Personal Injury Claim Form is Department of Law — Claims, 130 Livingston Street, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

Mail or Personal Delivery for Other Agencies

For claims against the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, MTA Bridges and Tunnels, or the MTA itself, serve the Notice of Claim by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail to the person designated by law to receive legal process for that agency. Service by certified mail is complete the moment you deposit the properly addressed, postpaid envelope at the post office; you don’t have to wait for delivery.¹ Always request a return receipt. Certified mail with a return receipt runs roughly $10 to $11 through USPS on top of regular postage.

You may also serve the Notice of Claim on the New York Secretary of State as the MTA’s agent, which requires delivering duplicate copies to the Department of State in Albany along with a statutory fee.¹ Keep a photocopy of every page you send, the post office receipt, and the return receipt card when it comes back. Those records are your proof that you met the deadline if the agency later disputes it.

After You File: the 50-h Hearing and the Lawsuit Deadline

Once the agency has your notice, it has the right to demand an examination of you under oath before any lawsuit begins. This is a 50-h hearing, named for the section of General Municipal Law that authorizes it. A written demand sets the date, time, place, and examiner. You can bring your own attorney. An MTA attorney will question you about the incident, your injuries, and the damages you claimed, and a stenographer records every question and answer unless both sides agree otherwise.⁹ The agency may also require a physical examination by a physician of its choosing, with your own doctor present if you want one. Treat the hearing seriously; your sworn testimony can be used later in litigation.

If the claim is not resolved, you have one year and 90 days from the incident to file a lawsuit. Wrongful death actions get two years from the date of death. Before suing, at least 30 days must have passed since service of the Notice of Claim, and the agency must have neglected or refused to pay. The 50-h process does not stop the clock.²

Mistakes That Sink Claims

Most failed MTA claims don’t fail on the merits. They fail on paperwork. A few errors come up again and again:

Naming the wrong agency. Check which subsidiary operated the vehicle or facility.
Vague locations. Name the station, the platform direction, and roughly where on the platform or in the station the incident happened.
Missing the 90-day deadline. The deadline is not flexible without a court order, and courts are not generous when the MTA had no actual knowledge of the incident.
Forgetting notarization. A paper Notice of Claim that isn’t sworn is defective. The agency can return it, and if you don’t re-serve a corrected version within 10 days of getting it back, you may be out of time.¹
No proof of service. Regular mail leaves you with nothing. Use certified mail with a return receipt, or hand-deliver and get a stamped copy.

If the agency returns your notice for a service defect, that 10-day re-service window is tight. Getting the form, the agency name, the signature, and the delivery method right the first time is the whole job.

1
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-E – Notice of Claim
2
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-I – Presentation of Tort Claims Commencement of Actions
3
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Agencies and Departments
4
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Personal Injury Claim Form
5
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Property Damage Claim Form
6
New York Public Law. New York Public Authorities Law 1276 – Actions Against the Authority
7
New York State Unified Court System. Filing a Notice of Claim
8
New York State Senate. New York Executive Law 136 – Notarial Fees
9
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-H – Examination of Claims