New York & Brooklyn Saw-Mill & Lumber Co. v. City of Brooklyn
New York Supreme Court
Appeal from an order made at a Special Term sustaining a demurrer to a complaint, that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The plaintiff is the owner of lands adjacent to the Gfowanus canal, in the city of Brooklyn, which canal is a short inlet of Gfowa-nus bay lying in a cul de sao, and fronted upon either side by private property, except where it is crossed by the numerous streets of said city.
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Appeal from an order made at a Special Term sustaining a demurrer to a complaint, that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The plaintiff is the owner of lands adjacent to the Gfowanus canal, in the city of Brooklyn, which canal is a short inlet of Gfowa-nus bay lying in a cul de sao, and fronted upon either side by private property, except where it is crossed by the numerous streets of said city. It is not a source of any public revenue, nor is it a highway for any purpose other than those of the private dock-holders upon its sides. In 1866 an act (chap. 678,…
1Opinion of the Court
Gilbbet, J.:
The liability of a municipal corporation to a person who has sustained damages by reason of a negligent omission of the corporation to perform a ministerial duty imposed by law upon it, cannot be doubted. But we think the duty of repairing the docks of the Gowanus canal was not imposed on the city of Brooklyn, but on the common council of that city. Such is the language of the statute. (Laws 1871, chap. 839.) That is an independent statute and forms no part of the general distribution of powers or duties among the different branches of the city government. Nor *39is it averred that…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Lorillard v. . the Town of MonroeNew York Court of Appeals · 1854
- King v. City of BrooklynNew York Supreme Court · 1864