An Act relative to Improvements, touching the laying out of Streets and Roads in the City of New-York, and for other purposes.

Passed April 3, 1807.

I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That Governeur Morris, Simeon De Witt, and John Rutherford, be, and they are hereby appointed Commissioners of streets and roads in the City of New-York, for the purpose of performing the several acts and duties hereinafter prescribed

II. And be it further enacted, That in case of the death, resignation, or refusal to act of any of the said Commissioners, it shall and may be lawful for the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, in Common Council convened, as often as such event shall happen, to appoint and commission a suitable person in the place of such Commissioner so dying, resigning, or refusing to act, who shall have all the power and authority vested in a Commissioner by this act: Provided, That such person, so to be appointed by the Common Council, shall be a citizen of the United States, and shall not, be a proprietor of, nor interested in any land in either of the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth wards of the said City of New-York.

III. And be it further enacted, That the powers and duties hereby given to the said Commissioners, shall be exercised and discharged by the said Commissioners within four years from the passing of this act, and not after.

IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Commissioners, or any two of them, and they shall have and possess exclusive power to lay out streets, roads, and public squares, of such width, extent, and direction, as to them shall seem most conducive to public good, and to shut up, or direct to be shut up, any streets or parts thereof which have been heretofore laid out, and not accepted by the Common Council of the said City, within that part of the said City of New-York to the northward of a line commencing at the wharf of George Clinton, on Hudson River, thence running through Fitzroy-road, Greenwich-lane and Art-street, to the Bowery-road; thence down the Bowery-road, to North-street; thence through North-street, in its present direction, to the East River: and no square or plot of ground, made by the intersection of any streets, to be laid out by the said Commissioners, shall ever, after the streets around the same shall be opened, be or remain divided by any public or open lane, alley, street or thoroughfare. And it shall be the duty of the said Commissioners to lay out the leading streets and great avenues, by them to be laid out, of a width not less than sixty feet, and in general to lay out said streets, roads, and public squares, of such ample width as they may deem sufficient to secure a free and abundant circulation of air among said streets and public squares when the same shall be built upon; and said Commissioners shall not, in any case, layout any street of less than fifty feet in width.

V. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Commissioners, and for all persons acting under their authority, to enter, in the day time, into and upon any lands, tenements or hereditaments which they shall deem necessary to be surveyed, used or converted for the laying out, opening, and forming of any street or road as aforesaid; and that the said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall cause three similar maps of such streets and roads, so to be laid out by them as aforesaid, and of the shores bounding the lands by them surveyed, to be made upon an extensive scale, accompanied with such field notes and elucidatory remarks as the nature of the subject may require; which maps, accompanied by such field notes and remarks, shall be attested to by the said Commissioners, or any two of them, before any person authorized to take acknowledgements of deeds and conveyances, and be filed, one in the office of the Secretary of State, to remain of record; one other to be filed in the office of the Clerk of the City and County of New-York, to remain of record; and the other of said maps to belong to the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New-York; and that the said Commissioners shall erect suitable and durable monuments at the most conspicuous angles, or those which shall be the most eligible for that purpose, and upon the shores of the North and East Rivers, to be noted on said maps; and that the said Commissioners shall take the elevations of the several intersections or squares above high-water mark, within the boundaries aforesaid, or so many of them as they may think sufficient, and shall delineate them, together with all such hills, valleys, inlets and streams as may be necessary on the said maps, so as to render the same explicit and intelligible.

VI. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for either of the said Commissioners, during the time he shall be in office, directly or indirectly, to purchase or contract for any lands, tenements or hereditaments in that part of the City of New-York to be laid out and regulated as aforesaid; and that every deed, contract or conveyance contrary to the intent hereof shall be utterly void.

VII. And be it further enacted, That before the said Commissioners enter upon the duties of their appointment, they shall severally take and subscribe an oath before the Mayor or Recorder of the City of New-York, faithfully and impartially to execute the duties of their said appointment.

VIII. And be it further enacted, That the plans and surveys of the said Commissioners, or any two of them, in respect to the laying out of streets and roads within the boundaries aforesaid, and the maps of the same, so to be made by them, or any two of them, as aforesaid, shall be final and conclusive, as well in respect to the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, as in respect to the owners and the occupants of lands, tenements, and hereditaments within the boundaries aforesaid, and in respect to all other persons whomsoever.

IX. And be it further enacted, That whenever the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New-York, shall be desirous, or require, as hereafter mentioned, to open any streets, roads or public squares, so to be laid out as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, to agree with the owner or owners of such lands, tenements or hereditaments as will be required for that purpose, for and about a reasonable compensation to be made to him, her, or them, for such lands, tenements, or hereditaments; and in case of disagreement, or in case such owner or owners shall be feme covert, under age, non compos mentis, or out of the City of New-York, that then it shall be lawful for the Justices of the Supreme Court of this State, or any one of them, upon the application of either party, to nominate and appoint three discreet and disinterested persons, being citizens of said State, Commissioners to view the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and to estimate the damage such owner or owners will respectively suffer, by relinquishing the lands so required of them for the purposes aforesaid; and also in cases where the benefit exceeds the value of the land required, to estimate the said benefit, after deducting the value of said land, and to report thereupon to the said Court without delay; and upon the coming in of such report, signed by the said last mentioned persons, or any two of them, and the confirmation thereof by the said Court, the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, shall proceed to, and assess the same upon all the property intended to be benefited thereby, in the manner directed in and of the eleventh section of the act, entitled, “An act for regulating the buildings, streets, wharves, and slips in the City of New-York,” passed the 3d of April, 1801; which assessment shall be binding and conclusive, and be collected in the manner therein prescribed, for the use of, and paid to those persons in whose favour the report for compensation may be made (first deducting the sum or sums for which they are assessed, for defraying the expense of opening of said street, with lawful interest from the confirmation of the same) in full compensation for such lands, tenements, and hereditaments aforesaid; and upon such assessment being completed, the said Mayor, Aldermen, and the Commonalty of the City of New-York, shall be, and become seized in fee, of all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and thereupon the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, shall be, and become seized in fee of all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and thereupon the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, or any person acting under their authority, may immediately take possession of the same, without any suit or proceeding at law for that purpose, in trust: Nevertheless, That the same be kept open for a public street, road or public squares, for ever; and whenever so many proprietors of lands, fronting on any street, delineated on said map, as aforesaid, as together own three-fourth parts of the front of said lands, shall, by petition, require or desire said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty to open any such street, or any part thereof, the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty shall take such measures as aforesaid, for opening the same: Provided, That said, Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty may permit any building, which shall be in part, or in whole, included within the limits of any such street, to remain unremoved for such time as they shall think proper: Provided also, That if any building shall be in whole or in part erected within the limits of any such street, road, or public square, laid out as aforesaid, after the maps herein mentioned shall be made and filed, it shall be lawful for the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, to give evidence thereof before the Commissioners, who shall assess the damages; and that it shall not be lawful for the Commissioners to allow any sum or compensation whatsoever for any building or buildings that may be built, placed or erected, in part or in whole on said streets, roads, or public squares, after the said maps shall be made and filed.

X. And be it further enacted, That whenever any of the proprietors of any such lands, tenements, hereditaments, and premises, shall be infants, non compos mentis, or absent from the City of New-York, the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, may pay the sums mentioned in such report, that would be coming to such proprietors respectively, into the said Supreme Court, to be secured, disposed of, and improved, as the said Court shall direct; and such payment shall be equally valid and effectual, as if made to the proprietors themselves, if they had been present, of full age and compos mentis.

XI. And be it further enacted, That all the monies which the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty expend, or become bound to expend in consequence of the provisions of this act, shall be estimated and assessed among all the owners or occupants of all houses and lots of ground intended to be benefited thereby, in the manner directed in and by the eleventh section of the act, entitled, “An act for regulating the buildings, streets, wharves, and slips in the City of New-York,” passed the 3d day of April 1801; which estimates and assessments shall be binding and conclusive, and be collected in the manner therein prescribed; and the said Mayor, Alderman, and Commonalty, may direct the sums, reported by the aforesaid Commissioners, to be due from the owner or owners of land benefited as aforesaid, to be charged against them respectively in the said assessment: Provided however, That nothing herein contained shall authorize any further sum, in addition to the sum mentioned in the said report, to be assessed upon said owner or owners, except their due proportion of the expenses of removing any buildings and improvements upon the said streets, roads, or public squares, and the costs and expenses incurred by the said Mayor, Alderman, and Commonalty, in prosecuting, any suit or suits for the purposes aforesaid.

XII. And be it further enacted, That each of the said Commissioners shall be entitled to receive the sum of not more than four dollars, (besides all reasonable expenses for maps, field notes, monuments, chain bearers, and assistants) for each day they shall respectively be actually employed in the duties hereby assigned to them, the same to be paid by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, and assessed as aforesaid; and that the powers of the said Commissioners shall cease when they shall have completed the maps aforesaid, with the field books and remarks aforesaid, and delivered, attested to, and filed the same respectively as aforesaid; and that in case of the death of one of the said Commissioners, the survivors shall have power to proceed in the execution of this act, until a successor of the deceased shall be appointed.

XIII. And be it further enacted, That this act shall be considered, adjudged, and taken to be a public act, and be liberally expounded and construed to advance the ends thereof.

XIV. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall be sued for any thing done in pursuance of this act, it shall be lawful for such person to plead the general issue, and to give this act and the special matter of defense in evidence under such plea.

XV. And whereas for the purpose of duly regulating and constructing slips and basons, and for running out wharves and piers, it is essential that the right to the land under water, below low-water mark should be vested in the Corporation of the City of New-York;

Be it therefore enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the Commissioners of the Land-office, and they are hereby directed to issue letters patent, granting to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, and their successors for ever, all the right and title of the people of this State, to the lands covered with water, along the easterly shore of the North or Hudson’s River, contiguous to, and adjoining the lands of the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, within the said City of New-York, at, and from low-water mark, and running four hundred feet into the said river from Bestaver’s killetje or river, to the distance of four miles to the north, along the easterly shore of the said North or Hudson’s River; and also all the land covered with water, along the westerly shore of the East River or Sound, contiguous to, and adjoining the lands of the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, at and from the low-water mark, and extending four hundred feet into the said river or sound, from the north side of Corlear’s Hook, at the northerly boundary of the lands covered with water, whereof the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty are now seized, to the distance of two miles to the north, along the westerly shore of the said East River or Sound: Provided always, That the proprietor or proprietors of the lands adjacent, shall have the pre-emptive right in all grants made by the Corporation of the said City, of any lands under water, granted to the said Corporation by this act.