Neiman v. Butler

19 N.Y.S. 403, 46 N.Y. St. Rep. 928
CourtNew York Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJune 6, 1892
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 19 N.Y.S. 403 (Neiman v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Neiman v. Butler, 19 N.Y.S. 403, 46 N.Y. St. Rep. 928 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1892).

Opinion

Bookstaveb, J.

Plaintiffs brought this action to procure a judgment enjoining and restraining the defendant -from using a portion of the buildings known as Nos. 242, 244, and 246 East 122d street for a purpose offensive and ■obnoxious to plaintiffs, and to restrain a violation of a covenant in the lease. The action was tried at an equity term of this court, and a judgment rendered for the defendant. Plaintiffs appeal from the findings and conclusions of law alone, without printing any testimony; hence the only question that can arise ■on this appeal is whether the findings of fact sustain the conclusions of law. It may be conceded, as appellants contend, that it is well settled that, where the appeal is from a judgment rendered on the report of a referee or the findings of a judge, the exceptions appearing in the proposed case serve as a notice to the respondent of an intention to raise the question of legal error, and puts -on him (the respondent) the responsibility of adding by amendment any omitted evidence on the question to be raised. Halpin v. Insurance Co., 118 N. Y. 171, 23 N. E. Rep. 482; Brayton v. Sherman, 119 N. Y. 623, 23 N. E. Rep. 471; Healy v. Clark, 120 N. Y. 642, 24 N. E. Rep. 316. But this rule •cannot apply where no case is made, and none of the evidence is printed, and where the appellant in his brief expressly states that the appeal is taken from the findings and conclusions of law alone, on the theory that the findings of fact do not sustain the conclusions of law, and that on these findings the court was bound as a matter of law to find a judgment in favor of appellants; in such a case it must be taken as conceded by the appellant that the testimony warranted the findings. The learned judge who tried this case found that on the 24th July, 1890, at the city of New York, the defendant, as owner of the real estate known as Nos. 242,- 244, and 246 East 122d street; executed and delivered the indenture of lease or agreement under seal mentioned in the complaint to the plaintiff Morris Neiman; that the lease in question was signed and executed by the plaintiff Neiman with full knowledge on his part that -the defendant had built and was then using a blacksmith’s forge, and had [404]*404paint and varnish in the cellar of the premises; that he knew at the time he-executed this lease that the defendant occupied the first story of the buildings-in question as a carriage depository, and that painting and varnishing were being done there in the prosecution of defendant’s business; that the defendant signed and executed the lease understanding that he was to continue the-business as then carried on by him, but in case of his leasing it to other persons or corporations the condition should apply to them only; that the plaintiff Morris Heim an entered upon the occupancy of the demised premises on or about the 1st November, 1890, and continued to occupy the same until the-formation of the copartnership between.him and his coplaintiffs on or about-the 1st day of January, 1891, and that he then transferred to such firm his interest in the lease, and that the plaintiffs had continued to occupy the premises under the lease, and pay the rent therefor to the defendant, since the ■formation of the copartnership, carrying on the business of manufacturing knitted worsted goods made of woolen yarn; that such lease contained the-following covenant: “It is further agreed bet-ween the parties hereto, as a. part and parcel of the consideration hereof, that the party of the first part (landlord) will not let or rent that portion of the premises Nos. 242, 244, and 246 East 122d street, New York city, not let to the party of the second partasaforesaid, to any person, persons, or corporation for any business of a noxious or offensive character, or deemed extrahazardous, or for any business that may be extrahazardous to the party of the second part, (tenant,) and thattheparty of the first part (landlord) will not permit the same to be used for atiy business that is hazardous, during the term hereby demised. ” Thatthe plaintiffs in their business used worsted goods of delicate tint and texture, and employed a considerable number of workmen and girls; that, before such lease was executed, the defendant was occupying certain premises on Second avenue near 122d street for the repair and manufacture of carriages, and since-the execution of the lease the defendant had used and continued to use the-portion of the premises not demised to Morris Neiman for the repair of carriages, in which business he occasionally used a blacksmith’s forge placed in the basement of the premises, also hammers and a sledge, a swage, and paints and varnish, in the repair of carriages, and that the hammers were about one pound in weight. The court also found that with the knowledge- and consent of the defendant, and for the purpose of his business of repairing carriages, hammering was done in the basement; that the maintenance and use of the blacksmith’s forge, and the repair of carriages on the premises-occupied by the defendants, and the use of varnish and paint therein, were-hazardous in the sense only that the presence of fire, paint, and varnish, '- whether on the premises described in the complaint or elsewhere, may be so considered; and that the use of paint and varnish in the premises in which the blacksmith’s forge was operated was hazardous on account of fire, in the sense above stated only; and that the use of paint and varnish in the premises in which the blacksmith’s forge was operated was offensive and obnoxious to plaintiffs and their servants, but not more so than the use of paint and varnish in the same-premises may be offensive and obnoxious to persons other than plaintiffs or their servants. He also found that neither Morris Neiman nor the plaintiffs ever entered into any express agreement with the defendant to allow him to use any portion of the realty for the repair of carriages, orto operate or maintain a blacksmith’s forge therein. But he found that no smoke, with noxious and offensive odors, and no other material dangerous to the health or comfort of plaintiffs or their servants, came from defendant’s blacksmith’s forge to the plaintiffs’ premises, and that it did not cause smoke or dust to arise therefrom so as to cause any injury to plaintiffs’ stock of worsted goods, and that such smoke and dust had not spoiled or damaged any of their goods, and that, the plaintiffs had not suffered any damage by the use of the blacksmith’s, forge in question by the defendant as he used it.

[405]*405These findings, all of which must be taken as having been substantiated by evidence, make it clear that the defendant did not violate the first part of the covenant above recited, by letting the premises to any person, persons, or corporation for any business of any character, as he has continued in the occupation of the same just as he bad been doing at the time the lease was made and the covenant entered into; so that the only question arising is whether the latter part of the covenant, in which the defendant undertook not to permit the premises to be used for any business which was hazardous during the term, has been violated in such a way as to authorize the granting of an injunction to prevent its further violation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 N.Y.S. 403, 46 N.Y. St. Rep. 928, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neiman-v-butler-nyctcompl-1892.