CITY SCH. DIST., MECHANICVILLE v. Cohen

• Decision Date: 05 August 1954
• Citation: 206 Misc. 1
• Parties: City School District of City of Mechanicville, Petitioner,<BR>v.<BR>Eva Cohen, Respondent.
• Court: New York District Court

206 Misc. 1

City School District of City of Mechanicville, Petitioner,

v.Eva Cohen, Respondent.

SHERMAN, J.

August 5, 1954.

James G. Heffernan for petitioner.

Bernard Cohen and Leonard Cohen for respondent appearing specially.

SHERMAN, J.

The city school district of the City of Mechanicville instituted summary proceedings and requested an order directing that petitioner be permitted to enter immediately upon certain real property to be taken in condemnation by the petitioner. The petitioner appeared by James G. Heffernan, Esq. The respondent, Eva Cohen, appeared specially by Bernard Cohen, Esq. and by Leonard Cohen, Esq. of counsel and moved for a dismissal of the petition upon the ground that petition did not allege an exemption in petitioner's behalf from the rent and eviction regulations of the State Housing Rent Commission pursuant to subdivision 1 of section 9 and on the further ground that petitioner has not complied with any of the aforesaid rent and eviction regulations of the State Housing Rent Commission.

Briefly the facts are that petitioner is a school district duly organized and existing pursuant to the laws of the State of New York; that certain property sought to be condemned is adjacent to lands owned by the city school district of the City of Mechanicville; and that it is proposed that an additional public school building will be erected adjacent to the premises to be so acquired and the property so acquired will be used in connection with school purposes.

It appears that the owner of the premises has vacated the same but that respondent, Eva Cohen, is a tenant in occupancy of a residential apartment of the said premises.

The petitioner served a written notice to quit on the tenant on the 31st day of March, 1954. It is stated that actual construction will begin as soon as the tenant has vacated the premises.

It appears that the interest of the respondent in the said real property sought to be acquired is that of a tenant paying the sum of $25 monthly for the rental of the apartment.

The proceeding was duly authorized and directed by the board of education of petitioner and it further appears that all the proper preliminary steps have been taken herein. The petitioner states that public interest requires that the building occupied by the respondent be razed before the beginning of the school term in 1954. The special appearance in behalf of the respondent is confined solely to an objection based upon the fact that the petitioner does not...