Robia Holding Corp. v. Walker

230 A.D. 666, 246 N.Y.S. 210, 1930 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8714
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedNovember 21, 1930
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 230 A.D. 666 (Robia Holding Corp. v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robia Holding Corp. v. Walker, 230 A.D. 666, 246 N.Y.S. 210, 1930 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8714 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinions

Sherman, J.

This is a taxpayer’s action, seeking judgment that the municipal legislation authorizing the construction of the Triborough bridge over the Harlem river and East river, between the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx and Queens, and the vehicular tunnel under New York bay connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn and Richmond, as Well as the “ Mid-Manhattan ” vehicular tunnel between the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens be declared void, and that their construction be restrained. The ground of this attack upon the local legislation providing for such improvements is that the city of New York is without power to collect tolls from the use of such improvements and, therefore, may not issue corporate securities out of the proceeds of which such improvements are to be constructed, because of the limitation in the city’s charter forbidding the issuance of such securities, except where the improvement is to be revenue producing. If these proposed improvements be not revenue producing, they may not now be constructed at all. Manifestly, the only way to make them self-supporting is by charging a toll for their use. Upon motion, the complaint was dismissed as insufficient at Special Term, and this appeal tests the correctness of that determination.

Under chapter 466 of the Laws of 1901, as amended by chapter 615 of the Laws of 1916, the Greater New York Charter, section 47, gave to the board of aldermen the power to provide for the building of bridges and tunnels, and for such purposes to create loans and authorize the issue of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, limited by the provisions of section 169 of that act, as amended by chapter 615 of the Laws of 1916, which prescribes that such improvements, for which corporate stock or serial bonds may be issued, shall be revenue producing.

By the adoption of the home rule amendments to the Constitution (Art. 12, as amd. in 1923) and the enactment of the City Home Rule Law (Laws of 1924, chap. 363, § 11, as amd. by Laws of 1928, chaps. 668, 670, and Laws of 1929, chap. 646), the powers of the city have been widened, so that the municipal legislative body has the power to adopt and amend local laws in relation to the property, affairs or government of the city, including the transaction of its business, the incurring of its obligations, the acquisition, care, management and use of its streets and property, and in other respects.

Under the limitations of section 169 of the Greater New York Charter, bridges and tunnels can be constructed out of the proceeds derived from the sale of municipal securities, and they must be [668]*668“ revenue-producing ” as defined in subdivision 9 of said section, which likewise enacts that the proposed improvement at the time of authorization of the expenditure shall be determined by the board of estimate and apportionment to have a substantial present or prospective earning power.”

' When the board of estimate and apportionment authorized on March 15, 1929, an appropriation of S3,000,000 for the preparation of plans for, and construction of, the Triborough bridge, it expressly determined that improvement to have a substantial present or prospective earning power, and the ordinance of the board of aldermen approving the expenditure likewise so found. This initial resolution of the board of estimate and apportionment also contains the determination by the board that the proposed improvements are to be constructed as “ revenue-producing.” Local Laws No. 3 and No. 8 of 1929 were thereupon passed by the municipal assembly and provide for the fixing of tolls for the use of the bridge and the two vehicular tunnels, out of the proceeds of which a sinking fund is to be erected to meet the payment of interest upon, and amortization and retirement of, such corporate stock or serial bonds as may be issued from time to time to pay for the construction and equipment of these improvements. All of these improvements are so tied together in the resolutions and acts of the municipal authorities that they are alike affected by "this suit. No one project may survive as valid if the others be declared illegal. All must meet the same fate. If these resolutions and acts have received legislative ratification, though in different enactments, their validity, of course, becomes, unquestionable.

Local Law No. 3 of 1929, passed March 26, 1929, and approved by the mayor on April 3, 1929, was filed on April 5, 1929, in the office of the Secretary of State, as required by section 22

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re the Estate of Rademaker
166 Misc. 201 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1938)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 A.D. 666, 246 N.Y.S. 210, 1930 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robia-holding-corp-v-walker-nyappdiv-1930.