Cangemi v. Town of E. Hampton
| Decision Date | 15 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | 12-CV-3989(JS)(SIL) |
| Citation | 374 F.Supp.3d 227 |
| Parties | Thomas CANGEMI, Jodi Cangemi, Mariann Coleman, Francis J. DeVito, Lynn R. DeVito, Leon Kircik, Elizabeth Kircik, Carol C. Lang, Terry S. Bienstock, Daniel Livingston, Victoria Livingston, Robin Racanelli, James E. Ritterhoff, Thelma Weinberg Trustee of the Thelma Weinberg Revocable Living Trust, and Gale H. Ritterhoff, Plaintiffs, v. The TOWN OF EAST HAMPTON, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
For Plaintiffs: Jonathan Halsby Sinnreich, Esq., Timothy F. Hill, Esq., Sinnreich Kosakoff & Messina LLP, 267 Carleton Avenue, Suite 301, Central Islip, New York 11722
For Defendant: Steven C. Stern, Esq., Anthony F. Cardoso, Esq., Chelsea Ella Weisbord, Esq., Kevin Levine, Esq., Mark A. Radi, Esq., Sokoloff Stern LLP, 179 Westbury Avenue, Carle Place, New York 11514
In 2012, Plaintiffs, who own waterfront property in Montauk, New York, commenced this action against several parties, including Defendant the Town of East Hampton (the "Town" or "Defendant"). After motion practice, the Town became the sole defendant. The parties proceeded to trial and the jury found the Town liable for private nuisance and trespass. Before the Court is the Town's motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 or, in the alternative, a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59. Plaintiffs have not moved for any post-trial relief.
For the following reasons, Defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law is GRANTED.
The Court assumes familiarity with the background of the case and will only discuss the evidence at trial necessary to its analysis. Briefly, Plaintiffs own beachfront homes in Montauk, New York, next to two jetties. The jetties, which were originally built in 1926 to maintain the inlet near Plaintiffs' properties, have allegedly stopped the flow of sand to Plaintiffs' beaches and caused them to erode. Plaintiffs seek monetary and equitable relief.
Plaintiffs commenced this action in June 2012 against the United States of America (the "United States"); the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the "Army Corps"); Colonel John R. Boule, Commander of the New York District of the Army Corps, individually and in his official capacity ("Boule"); the Town; William J. Wilkinson, Supervisor of the Town, individually and in his official capacity ("Wilkinson"); the County of Suffolk (the "County"); the State of New York ("the State"); Joe Martens, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") ("Martens"); and Cesar A. Perales, Secretary of the New York State Department of State ("Perales"). (Compl., D.E. 1.) Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint in September 2012. (Am. Compl., D.E. 18.)
The Town and Wilkinson (collectively, the "Town Defendants) filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, (Town Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 13), the State, Martens, and Perales (collectively, "the State Defendants") separately moved to dismiss, (State Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 32).1 This Court granted the State Defendants' motion in its entirety, removing them from the case, and granted the Town Defendants' motion to the extent that it granted their request to dismiss several claims against them and dismissed the claims against Wilkinson. Cangemi v. United States, 939 F.Supp.2d 188 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) (Mar. 2013 Order, D.E. 43) (" Cangemi I").
The United States, the Army Corps, and Boule (collectively, the "Federal Defendants") moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. (Fed. Mot. to Dismiss, D.E. 71.) The Court granted the motion in part and denied it in part. Cangemi v. United States, 2016 WL 915173 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 7, 2016) (Mar. 2016 Order, D.E. 95) (" Cangemi II"). Upon reconsideration, the Court granted the Federal Defendants' motion in its entirety and terminated all Defendants except the Town. Cangemi v. United States, 2017 WL 1274060 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2017) (Mar. 2017 Order, D.E. 134) (" Cangemi III"). Cangemi III also denied the Town's motion for summary judgment.
The parties presented the case to a jury from June 4 to June 29, 2018.2
The Town made Rule 50 arguments at the close of Plaintiffs' case and the close of its case, and the Court reserved decision. (Trial Tr. 2507, 2700.)
The jury found for the Plaintiffs on private nuisance and trespass and for the Town on public nuisance. It awarded $ 355,961.27 in compensatory damages to Plaintiffs. (Verdict Sheet, D.E. 201, at 1-11.) The Town now moves for judgment as a matter of law or, alternatively, a new trial.
If a party believes that "a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis" to find for its adversary on a particular issue, it may move for judgment as a matter of law during trial under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a) and renew the motion after trial under Rule 50(b). FED. R. CIV. P. 50(a)-(b). In an order determining a Rule 50(b) motion, the district court may: "(1) allow judgment on the verdict, if the jury returned a verdict; (2) order a new trial; or (3) direct the entry of judgment as a matter of law." FED. R. CIV. P. 50(b).
The district court may only grant a Rule 50(b) motion when " ‘there exists such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or the evidence in favor of the movant is so overwhelming that reasonable and fair-minded [persons] could not arrive at a verdict against [it].’ " Protostorm, LLC v. Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Krauss, LLP, No. 08-CV-0931, 2015 WL 3605143, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. June 5, 2015) (quoting Kinneary v. City of N.Y., 601 F.3d 151, 155 (2d Cir. 2010) ) (alterations in original). In other words, judgment as a matter of law is appropriate only when " ‘a reasonable juror would have been compelled to accept the view of the moving party.’ " Id. at *1 (quoting This is Me, Inc. v. Taylor, 157 F.3d 139, 142 (2d Cir. 1998) ). "When considering the evidence associated with a Rule 50(b) motion, the trial court may not weigh evidence, assess credibility, or substitute its opinion of the facts for that of the jury," Rosioreanu v. City of New York, 526 F. App'x 118, 119 (2d Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), and must view the evidence "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party," Houston v. Cotter, No. 07-CV-3256, 2016 WL 1253391, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2016) (internal quotation marks omitted).
The Court considers whether the evidence established the two claims on which the jury found liability: private nuisance and trespass.
As this Court charged the jury, private nuisance requires "(1) an interference substantial in nature, (2) intentional in origin, (3) unreasonable in character, (4) with a person's property right to use and enjoy land, (5) caused by another's conduct in acting or failure to act." Copart Indus., Inc. v. Consol. Edison of N.Y., Inc., 41 N.Y.2d 564, 570, 394 N.Y.S.2d 169, 173, 362 N.E.2d 968, 971 (1977) ; see also New York Pattern Jury Instructions 3:16. The Court finds that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Plaintiffs suffered a substantial interference with their right to use and enjoy their land, and that it was caused in part by the jetties, or, at the very least, exacerbated by them. However, the Court agrees with the Town that no reasonable juror could have found that the Town intentionally interfered with that right, or that the injury was caused by the Town's conduct in acting or failing to act.3 As will be discussed, the causation and intent elements of private nuisance are impacted by the Town's lack of control over the jetties.
The parties are exceedingly familiar with the history of the jetties, first built by a private businessman with a federal permit in 1926 to facilitate Montauk's economy and growth. The documentary evidence at trial demonstrates that in 1939, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army recommended the adoption of a federal project for Lake Montauk Harbor to continue and expand the jetties. (See Letter from the Sec'y of War, June 1939, Defs.' Tr. Ex. A-1, D.E. 210-1.) That report concluded that "[r]epair of the jetties and dredging of the basin and entrance channel [were] justified at the expense of the Federal Government in the interest of safety and convenience to navigation and in view of other general benefits." (D.E. 210-1 at ECF p. 6.) The jetties and the Lake Montauk Harbor inlet were subsequently made a Federal Navigation Project ("FNP") by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945. (See Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945, Defs.' Tr. Ex. H-1, D.E. 210-2.) This Act "adopted and authorized [the project] in the interest of national security and stabilization of employment." (D.E. 210-2 at ECF p. 4.) FNPs are subject to the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 ( 33 U.S.C. § 401 etseq. ), which essentially gives the Federal Government and the Army Corps exclusive control over navigable waters of the United States.
In 1962, the Town granted the federal government an "absolute and indefeasible easement in the body of water known as Lake Montauk Harbor and in the shores and bed thereof as may be necessary to insure its permanent dedication to the uses and purposes of a public navigable waterway." (See"Correction Deed", 1962, Pls.' Tr. Ex. 10, D.E. 210-22, at ECF p. 2.) The Deed recognized that the federal government was "about to enter upon the improvement of Lake Montauk Harbor ... [including] the extension shoreward of the west jetty." (Correction Deed at ECF p. 2.) It conveyed "the lands and lands under water together with the structures thereon to the United States for the purpose of conveying to the said United States all rights and easements." (Correction Deed at ECF pp. 2-3....
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