Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Brennan

30 Abb. N. Cas. 260, 24 N.Y.S. 784
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 15, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 30 Abb. N. Cas. 260 (Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Brennan) 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
Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Brennan, 30 Abb. N. Cas. 260, 24 N.Y.S. 784 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1893).

Opinion

Michael H. Cardozo, Referee.

Prior to April 15, 1881, the trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral were the owners of the block of land in the City of New York, bounded westerly by Madison avenue, easterly by Fourth (or Park) avenue, northerly by Fifty-first street, and southerly by Fiftieth street. One J. Augustus Page contracted to buy from the trustees" this block of land, and in his contract of sale agreed that the westerly half of the block should be restricted as therein provided. By deed bear[262]*262ing date April 15, 1881, dhe trustees conveyed to Henry Villard, with the consent of said Page, that portion of the block which fronts on Madison avenue, being two-hundred feet and ten inches in front on said avenue, and one hundred and twenty-five feet in depth on Fiftieth and Fifty-first streets.

In this deed the following covenant, pursuant to the terms of said contract, was inserted :

“ And the said party of the second part, for himself, his heirs, executors and administrators, and assigns, doth hereby covenant, promise and agree to and with the said parties of the first part, their successors and assigns, that neither he nor any of his heirs or assigns, shall at any ' future time or times, erect or build or permit or cause to be erected or built, any stable, factory, machine-shop, brewery, distillery, slaughter-house, carpenter or smith’s shop, or structure or erection for the purpose of any kind of manufacturing, or for .any trade, business or employment which shall be dangerous or noxious or constitute a nuisance upon any part of the above described premises. And the said party of the second part,' for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, doth hereby further covenant, promise and agree to and with the parties of the first part, their successors and assigns, that no building or buildings other than first-class stone or brick-front dwelling-houses or French apartment-houses, shall be erected upon any part of the above described premises. It being understood and agreed that the foregoing covenants on the part of the party of the second part, shall run with the land and bind all successive* owners and their heirs and assigns.”

The trustees thereafter conveyed all the rest of the block to said Page, and the westerly half of the block was likewise, in accordance with the terms of said contract, restricted by the same covenant as is found in the above-mentioned deed from said trustees to Villard. By deed dated December 2, 1881, Page conveyed to Villard two [263]*263lots, each twenty-five feet in width, on the northerly side of Fiftieth street, beginning one hundred and fifty feet easterly from the point formed by the intersection of the northerly line of Fiftieth street, and the easterly line of Madison avenue. By deed dated June 23, 1881, Page conveyed to Henry Villard two lots beginning at a point on the northerly line of -Fiftieth street, distant one hundred and twenty-five feet easterly from the northeasterly corner of Madison avenue and Fiftieth street; running thence northerly and parallel with Madison avenue, to the southerly line of Fifty-first street, being twenty-five feet in front on Fiftieth street and twenty-five feet in front on Fifty-first street, and about two hundred feet and ten inches in depth. By deed dated October 21, 1881, Page conveyed to Artemus H. Holmes two lots beginning one hundred and seventy-five feet easterly from the northeasterly corner formed by the intersection of the easterly line of Madison avenue and Fiftieth street, running through to the southerly side of Fifty-first street, and being twenty-five feet in width on each street.

The foregoing deeds from Page to Villard and to Holmes were all made subject to the restrictions and covenants expressed in the deed from the trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to J. Augustus Page, dated April 15, 1881, and recorded in the office of the register of the City and County of New York, in Liber 1586 of Conveyances, page 413. By deed dated January 10, 1882, Page com veyed to Robert Goelet and Ogden Goelet, the two lots of land on the southerly side of Fifty-first street beginning two hundred feet easterly of Madison avenue, each lot being twenty-five feet in width in front, by one hundred, feet and five inches in depth on each side. This deed contained the following covenant, viz.: “ The said parties of the second part, for themselves their heirs, executors and administrators and assigns, do hereby covenant, promise and agree to and with the said parties of the first part, their heirs and assigns, that neither they nor any of their [264]*264heirs or assigns, shall at any future time or times, erect or build or permit or cause to be erected or built, any stable, machine-shop, brewery, distillery, slaughter-house, or smith’s shop, upon said premises ; it being understood and agreed that the foregoing covenants on the part of the parties of the second part shall run with the land and bind all successive owners thereof, and their heirs and assigns.”

By deed dated December 16, 1882, Page conveyed to Rosanna Spaulding two lots on the north side of Fiftieth street, beginning two hundred feet easterly of Madison avenue, each twenty-five feet in width and one hundred feet in depth. By deed dated March 1, 1883, Page conveyed to Abraham Benson all the rest of the block conveyed to him by the trustees, consisting of the entire front on Fourth avenue, and one hundred and fifty feet in depth on each street. The deeds from Page to Spaulding and from Page to Benson both contain the same covenant that is found in the. deed from Page to Goelet of January 10, 1882. After the deed from Page to Spaulding was made two apartment-houses were erected on the land therein described, and by sundry mesne conveyances the plaintiff, thereafter and on August 3, 1891, became the owner thereof. By deed dated February 21, 1884, one Robert C. Hine became the owner of the Fourth avenue front theretofore conveyed by Page to Abraham Benson, and Page (Benson’s grantor) having died, a release was obtained by Hine from the widow and sole legatee and devisee of Page, as to the covenant against nuisances found in the deed from Page to Benson. Thereafter, the defendant, by sundry mesne conveyances, became the owner of the land on Fourth avenue, and in none of the subsequent conveyances was any reference made to the covenant found in the deed from Page to Benson. In the beginning of the month of May, 1892, the defendant filed plans in the department of buildings in the City of New York for the erection of six buildings there[265]*265•on, to be used as private stables ; three of them to front on Fiftieth street and three to front on Fifty-first street, and each to be twenty-five feet in width.

This action was brought by the plaintiff to restrain the use by the defendant of this property as stables, for the reason, as it claims, that such use is in violation of the •covenant contained in the deed from Page to Benson. The notice of pendency of action was filed in the county clerk’s office in and for the City and County of New York on June 22, 1892, and this action was commenced on or about that day.

The. plaintiff claims that it has a right in equity to enforce the covenant found in the deed from Page to Benson, and that the release from Page’s widow and sole legatee and devisee to Hine (Benson’s successor in title) was wholly inoperative, for the reason that such covenant was not alone for the benefit of Page, but likewise for the ■benefit of Page’s other grantees in the block, of whom the plaintiff’s predecessor in title, Spaulding, was one.

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Bluebook (online)
30 Abb. N. Cas. 260, 24 N.Y.S. 784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/equitable-life-assurance-society-v-brennan-nysupct-1893.