Aknin v. Phillips, 75 Civ. 3231.

• Decision Date: 07 November 1975
• Docket Number: No. 75 Civ. 3231.,75 Civ. 3231.
• Citation: 404 F. Supp. 1150
• Parties: Charles AKNIN and Aknin Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. Arthur PHILLIPS, Jr., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

404 F. Supp. 1150

Charles AKNIN and Aknin Corporation, Plaintiffs, v. Arthur PHILLIPS, Jr., et al., Defendants.

No. 75 Civ. 3231.

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

November 7, 1975.

Butler, Jablow, & Geller, by Stanley Geller, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Zimmer, Fishbach, Hertan & Haberman, by Louis C. Fieland and George Kossoy, New York City, for defendant Sideman.

MEMORANDUM

BRIEANT, District Judge.

By their complaint, filed July 1, 1975. plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief and also money damages. Their first pleaded claim "arises under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and §§ 1983 and 1985 of Title 42, U.S.C." The second claim is pendent, pleaded in reliance upon the Constitution of the State of New York and various New York statutes.

Plaintiff Charles Aknin is President, and together with his wife, shareholder of plaintiff Aknin Corporation, a New York corporation. Defendants Phillips, Gianunzio, Nataro, Natches, De D'Bramo, Mustich, Lifrieri and Forte are officials of the Village of Mamaroneck, Westchester County, New York. Defendants Michael Roth and Edith Sideman are not sued in any official capacity, and Edith Sideman has none, being a housewife and resident of the Village of Mamaroneck. We are told that Roth holds a state office as Chairman of the Liquor Authority, although the complaint does not so allege.

By motion fully submitted on October 22, 1975, defendant Edith Sideman has moved for an order dismissing the complaint as to her pursuant to Rule 12 for failure to state a claim or alternatively, for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, F.R.Civ.P.

The complaint, affidavit of plaintiff read in opposition to this motion and filed papers show that plaintiff operated a highly respected French Restaurant, known for many years as "Charles V," located in a converted residence at 5121 East Post Road in the Village of Mamaroneck, that being a through or main artery. Early in 1974, the restaurant closed because of the gasoline shortage, and plaintiffs converted their premises to a "discotheque" which was opened for business in April, 1974 under the name "Zazou." We are told without contradiction that Zazou was an immediate financial success, that because of the nature of the entertainment furnished there, it earned profits at the rate of $175,000.00 per year and attracted a clientele, the majority of whom are said to be "black and hispanic."

Implicit in ¶ 3, et seq. of Mr. Aknin's affidavit is the fact that the discotheque was in full operation in the early hours of the morning. Although located in an area zoned for commercial use, it lies on the borderline of a residential area in which defendant Sideman lives. Plaintiff tells us that some of the residents of the neighboring residential area backing up to this principal highway in Mamaroneck "took offense at the operation of the discotheque in their neighborhood, and they were particularly troubled by some of the activities of the customers of the discotheque when, in the early hours of the morning, the latter left that establishment." Since we assume that in the early hours of the morning in Mamaroneck, New York the good burghers are sleeping, and readying themselves for their contest with the Penn Central commuter trains on the following day, we assume that this resentment was a natural and reasonable outgrowth of the noise and related activities of the revelers attending the discotheque, and that their ethnicity is of no particular relevance.

The complaint alleges that the defendants, together with those ubiquitous malefactors John Doe, Richard Roe and Thomas Hoe, conspired with each other, and with the Village fathers to take action to "close down plaintiff's discotheque and otherwise deprive plaintiff of rights, privileges and immunities secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States;" (Complaint, ¶ 4), that is, to cause the gathering at early hours, of large numbers of noisy and disruptive persons who would be expected to affect the neighborhood tranquility.

It was suggested at the oral argument of this motion, and is taken as true, that defendant Sideman and others approached the Village officials and protested the operations of the discotheque. They did this openly. They held, or caused the Village officials to hold public meetings at which they demanded to know what the officials were doing about the discotheque.

Initially, it appeared that customers of the discotheque were blocking the private driveways of neighbors, and otherwise violating local parking ordinances. Plaintiff Aknin says he leased the A & P Supermarket parking lot for use after store hours, so that this admitted violation would be abated, and thereafter, the defendant Sideman and others signed a petition addressed to the landlord, asking that the landlord (whose local supermarket seeks neighborhood patronage), not assist the operation of the discotheque by permitting it to use the off-street parking facilities in the evening. As might be expected, the A & P heeded its customers.

Thereafter, it appeared the conspirators induced officials of the New York State Department of Labor, not sued here, to serve a notice of violation of the Labor Law in respect of fire exits, of which Zazou had an admittedly insufficient number. That Department posted a violation, allowing 30 days for the installation of...