Robinson v. New Yorkk, Westchester & Boston Railway Co.

55 Misc. 516, 105 N.Y.S. 897
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 15, 1907
StatusPublished

This text of 55 Misc. 516 (Robinson v. New Yorkk, Westchester & Boston Railway Co.) 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
Robinson v. New Yorkk, Westchester & Boston Railway Co., 55 Misc. 516, 105 N.Y.S. 897 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1907).

Opinion

Dayton, J.

The plaintiff, a minority stockholder of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company, moves to continue pendente lite a temporary injunction restraining the board of estimate from granting an application of the New York & Portchester Railroad Company to so alter its route, or any part thereof, in the city of New York as to coincide with the route of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company, as prescribed in the franchise granted to said company by the board of aldermen, approved August 2, 1904; and also restraining the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company (hereinafter referred to as Westchester Company), its officers, directors and agents, until the hearing and determination of this motion, from consenting or contracting or agreeing in any manner to consent to said change of route, and from assigning or conveying or contracting to assign or convey unto said New York & Portchester Railroad Company (hereinafter described as Portchester Company) the right to use the road of said Westchester Company or any of its property, real or personal, contracts or choses in action. Plaintiff is a bona fide holder of $330,000 par value of the capital stock of the Westchester Company, as is evidenced by voting trust certificates under a voting trust agreement dated about December 8, 1904, the stock standing on the books of' the railway company in the names of voting trustees, the entire equitable interest being-in the holders of the voting trust certificates, except the right to vote such stock, which is lodged in the voting trustees for a period not to exceed five years from the date of the voting-trust agreement. Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of himself and other stockholders similarly situated, and the relief demanded in the complaint is a perpetual injunction restraining-the commission of the above described acts on the ground that the board of estimate has no power to give to the Portchester Company the franchise previously given to the Westchester Company by the board of aldermen, which is still in full force and effect; and on the further ground that the proposed assent to this action of the board of estimate on behalf of the Westchester Company and the proposed transfer by the Westchester Company to the Portchester [518]*518Company of its construction work, real estate and rights of way is without consideration, and is fraudulent and inequitable and in disregard of the rights of the minority stockholders. The substantially incontrovertible facts considered upon this motion seem to me to be as follows: The Westchester Company was organized in 1872 under the General Railroad Law of 1850 to build a railroad from Port Morris, on the Harlem river, to Portchester, in Westchester county (with certain branches not necessary to be herein referred to) ; the Portchester Company was organized in or about the year 1901 under the General Railroad Law of 1900 to build a railroad from a point on the Harlem river, in the city of New York, to Portchester. The route of each company was substantially parallel in the city of New York. The Westchester Company filed in the office of the county clerk its maps and profiles showing its route in the city of New York. The board of aldermen, on July 26, 1904, adopted an ordinance, which was approved by the mayor August 2, 1904, granting to the Westchester Company, its successors and assigns, a franchise to construct and operate a four-track railroad within the city of New York over the route as defined in said maps. By the terms of this ordinance the Westchester Company was required to pay to the city $8,000 per year for the first ten years, and $16,000 per year during the next fifteen years, and also to expend at least $1,000,000 for construction within the city of New York, exclusive of moneys expended for rights of way, within two years from the date of the signing of the ordinance. These terms have been complied with. The Westchester Company, up to August 2, 1906, had expended upwards of $1,077,000 for construction, consisting of grading, embankments, bridges, abutments, culverts, ducts, cutting and filling, etc. Of the total line within the city about 13,000 out of about 23,000 feet are completed. Nearly all the bridges have been erected and requisite material to complete the construction of the road within the city of New York has been bought, paid for and delivered ready to be put in place. In addition to this the Westchester Company has expended about $700,000 for the purchase of real estate and rights of way within the city [519]*519boundaries, and about $1,650,000 for construction work and purchase of real estate in Westchester county. The Portchester Company obtained a franchise from the board of estimate and apportionment May 31, 1906, upon a route substantially parallel with that of’the Westchester Company; but has done no construction work in the city of Kew York. Permission was secured in 1904 by the Westchester Company to increase its capital stock from $1,000,000 to $20,-000,000, and an issue of $20,000,000 first mortgage bonds was authorized. Thereupon a contract was entered into with Charles H. Smith for the building' of the main line, which contract was subsequently assigned to the County Contract Company, a corporation organized for the purpose of building and equipping the road. Shortly thereafter, by an agreement between the firm of Dick & Robinson, bankers, of which plaintiff was a member, and the Contract Company, said firm organized a syndicate for the purchase of $15,-000,000 of the bonds and $4,500,000 of the stock of the Westchester Company in order to provide funds to build the road. Subsequently, the syndicate managers (Dick & Robinson), having procured an underwriting satisfactory to the Westchester Company to an amount sufficient to secure at least $6,000,000 in cash, bonds to the amount of $14,000,000, par value, and voting trust certificates to the amount of $6,000,000 were deposited, together with a copy of the contract between the Contract Company and the syndicate and a copy of the agreement of underwriting with the Knickerbocker Trust Company. There was actually paid in on this underwriting about $4,500,000 upon the understanding that for each subscription of $900 the subscriber should receive a first mortgage bond of $1,000 par value and $300 par value of the stock of the Westchester Company. In October, 1906, the Contract Company became indebted to the Trust Company of America (of which the defendant Thorne was president) in the sum of $200,000, and also to the Union Trust Company of Providence, R. I. (of which the defendant Perry was president) in the sum of $100,000. These two defendants were then and were at the commencement of this action directors in the Westchester Company, and Mr. [520]*520Perry was and. had been, since June, 1905, chairman of its executive committee. Messrs. Perry and Thorne, on behalf of their respective trust companies, demanded payment of these loans, but on October 10, 1906, offered the Contract Company that they would replace unsatisfactory underwriting to an amount between nine and tén million dollars to> furnish funds " in order to complete your company’s contract of construction,” for which they were to have voting trust certificates for all the stock of the Westchester Company in which the Contract Company was interested, amounting to not less than $11,396,000, such delivery to be subject only to the voting trust agreement and otherwise to be free and! clear of any lien or claim.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
55 Misc. 516, 105 N.Y.S. 897, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-new-yorkk-westchester-boston-railway-co-nysupct-1907.