Pell v. City of New York

The action, is to recover back from the city the amount of an assessment paid by the plaintiffs for paving Mangin street from Grand to Houston street, on the ground that the assessment was illegally laid. The plaintiffs paid the assessment after a threatened sale of their property. Such a payment is not regarded as voluntary, but the result of legal compulsion. Poth v. Mayor, 151 N. Y. 16. The assessment was confirmed August 7, 1892. The property had been previously assessed for paving the same street, and the expense thereof had been paid by the property owners. The Consolidation Act of 1882…