Plaintiff appeals from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Francis M. Alessandro, J.), entered on or about May 25, 2005, which granted a motion by defendant to dismiss the complaint prior to any proof being taken at trial.

PER CURIAM:

Order (Francis M. Alessandro, J.), entered on or about May 25, 2005, reversed, without costs, motion denied, complaint reinstated, and matter remanded to Civil Court for further proceedings.

The pro se plaintiff allegedly sustained personal injuries when she fell while alighting from a City bus. The ensuing negligence action was dismissed on defendant's oral motion — via a short-form order providing no explanation or analysis — prior to any proof being taken at trial. Defendant's dismissal motion was predicated upon defense counsel's stated "opinion" that plaintiff's failure to produce a medical witness to testify necessarily precluded her from "prov[ing] damages in this case." Plaintiff now appeals, and we reverse.

The question of whether expert medical testimony is required to establish damages in a negligence case hinges on whether the issues presented are beyond the ken of the ordinary lay juror (see Razzaque v Krakow Taxi, Inc., 238 AD2d 161 [1997]). Inasmuch as the abbreviated "trial" record now before us does not permit meaningful appellate review of the issue, the court's peremptory order of dismissal may not stand. In directing a new trial, we express no view as to the admissibility of plaintiff's medical records, documents which, although timely submitted to defendant and available at trial, were not marked as exhibits or included in the record on appeal.

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.