Richter v. Mayor of New York

It is not disputed that the assessment in suit, imposed by the trustees of the former village of Wakefield against the plaintiff’s property for the expense of constructing a sidewalk, was invalid, in fact; the controversy turns upon the question whether this assessment may properly be adjudged void in an equitable action, it being claimed by the defendant that the alleged lien is void upon its face, and hence that there is no room for the intervention of a court of equity.

The ground upon which the assessment is assailed by the complaint is that the sidewalk, for which the charge was imposed,…