Curran v. City of New York

191 Misc. 229, 77 N.Y.S.2d 206, 1947 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3678
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 29, 1947
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 191 Misc. 229 (Curran v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curran v. City of New York, 191 Misc. 229, 77 N.Y.S.2d 206, 1947 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3678 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1947).

Opinion

Hill, J.

This is an action brought by plaintiff, a taxpayer, against the defendants praying for a judgment declaring invalid and setting aside (a) certain grants, given without consideration, of lands and easements by the City of Hew York to the United Hations for the headquarters site on the east side of Manhattan, (b) the allocation of funds by the board of estimate for the improvement, access to and widening of streets in the area surrounding the headquarter’s site, (c) the exemption from taxation of the site and (d) the temporary use by the United Hations of the Hew York City Building in Flushing Meadow Park as a meeting place for the General Assembly pursuant to a license from the Park Commissioner. All of the defendants, save Lie, move for an order dismissing the complaint upon the ground that it fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action pursuant to rule 106 of the Buies of Civil Practice. The defendant Lie, Secretary-General of the United Hations, appears specially, and moves for an order dismissing the complaint as against him on the ground that it appears upon the face thereof that this court has not jurisdiction of his person in that, sued as Secretary-General of the United Hations in respect of acts performed by him in his official capacity, he is immune from suit and the sendee of process, under subdivision (b) of section 2 and subdivision (b) of section 7 of the International Organizations Immunities Act of December 29, 1945 (59 U. S. Stat. 669, 672 [U. S. Code, tit. 22, § 288a, subd. b; § 288d, subd. b], as implemented by Executive Order Ho. 9698, dated Feb. .19,1946 [Code of Fed. Be'g., 1946 Supp., tit. 3, p. 102]).

[231]*231Upon the return of the motion the United States attorney for the eastern district of New York, acting under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States, submitted his petition, bringing to the attention of the court "the suggestion of the Department of State, that the rights of immunity be granted to the United Nations; annexed to the petition is a photostat of a letter written under date of November 6, 1947, by the Under-Secretary of State to the Attorney General of the United States, stating that the Department of State allows, recognizes and certifies the immunity of the United Nations and of Lie as its Secretary-General. The petition prays that the claim of immunity requested of and allowed by the Department of State be given full force and effect and that the United Nations and Lie, as its Secretary-General, be declared immune from the jurisdiction and process of the court and that service of process upon Lie, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, be vacated and the complaint dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

The act of the State Department in suggesting that the United Nations and Lie, its Secretary-Genéral, are immune from process is predicated upon articles 104 and 105 of the Charter of the United Nations, subdivision (b) of section 2 and subdivision (b) of section 7 of the International Organizations Immunities Act of December 29, 1945, and Executive Order No. 9698 of February 19, 1946, which order made the terms of the act of December 29, 1945, applicable to the United Nations and its officials.

The Department of State, the political branch of our Government, having, without any reservation or qualification whatsoever, recognized and certified the immunity of the United Nations and the defendant Lie to judicial process, there is no longer any question for independent determination by this court. (Matter of United States of Mexico v. Schmuck, 294 N. Y. 265, reaffg. on reargument 293 N. Y. 264.)

The judicial branch of our Government follows the political branch in dealing with sovereign immunity • and will not embarrass the latter by assuming an antagonistic jurisdiction. (United States v. Lee, 106 U. S. 196, 209.) Neither will the judicial branch embarrass the executive arm of the Government (Ex Parte Republic of Peru, 318 U. S. 578, 588).

The case at bar demonstrates the wisdom of the rule that such determination by the State Department is final and controlling. The complaint herein raises delicate questions pertaining to the foreign policy of the United States and to its internal processes incident thereto, To be allowed to raise such issues in a court [232]*232of this country can serve hut to embarrass the United States in the conduct of its relations with the other nations of the world. (Matter of Baiz, 135 U. S. 403; United States v. Pink, 315 U. S. 203, 223; United States v. Belmont, 301 U. S. 324; Wulfsohn v. Russian Socialist Fed. Soviet Republic, 234 N. Y. 372, 376.)

It follows that the court is bound to accord recognition to and uphold the suggestion of immunity presented by the Department of State, through the United States attorney for the eastern district of New York.

This brings us to a consideration of the motion made by the City of New York.

The complaint, containing two causes of action, attacks the grants of lands and easements by the city to United Nations, with respect to its headquarters site, the exemption from taxation and allocation of funds for the improvement of the ‘surrounding area and the city’s license to the United Nations for the use of the New York City building at Flushing Meadow Park as a temporary meeting place for the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The material facts deemed admitted, for the purposes of this motion, arez: Prior to December 13, 1946, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., acquired, an option to purchase most of the land on the east side of Manhattan between 42d and 48th Streets and east from First Avenue to the East River. This he offered to give to the United Nations for use as a headquarters site upon certain express conditions. In these conditions Mr. Rockefeller stipulated that the City of New York must agree to convey to the United Nations its title to the particular streets in the area, to acquire and convey to the United Nations certain properties not included in his option in order to round out the site and to give to the United Nations all rights to bulkheads and piers along the river frontage on the East River between 42d and 48th Streets.

At a meeting of the board of estimate on December 13, 1946, the board adopted a resolution agreeing to meet the conditions contained in Mr. Rockefeller’s offer to the United Nations. On February 27, 1947, the New York State Legislature enacted chapters 23, 24 and 25 of the Laws of 1947.

Chapter 23 amended the Administrative Code of the City of New York and declared that as a matter of legislative determination the public purpose would be served and the interests of the State and the City of New York promoted by the ceding and granting to the United Nations of the land to be used as the headquarters site, and, among other things, authorized the City of New York to cede to the United Nations, with or without con[233]*233sideration, any interest which the city had or should acquire, including wharf property or land in the bed of closed or discontinued streets.

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Bluebook (online)
191 Misc. 229, 77 N.Y.S.2d 206, 1947 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curran-v-city-of-new-york-nysupct-1947.