Cohen v. Town of Morristown
| Decision Date | 22 March 1937 |
| Citation | 190 A. 851 |
| Parties | COHEN v. TOWN OF MORRISTOWN et al. |
| Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
Action at law by Minnie Cohen against the Town of Morristown and another. On defendants' motion to strike complaint.
Motion denied as to count 1 and granted as to counts 2 and 3 of the complaint.
Nathaniel C. Toms, of Morristown, for defendant Town of Morristown King & Vogt and Robert H. Schenck, all of Morristown, for defendant Board of Education.
Morris Cohen, of Morristown, for plaintiff.
LAWRENCE, Supreme Court Commissioner.
Defendants, separately, move to strike the complaint filed in this suit on the ground that it does not state a cause of action against either of them, involving as it does a municipality and a public corporate body.
The factual narrative in the complaint appears to be that on August 28, 1934, the Town of Morristown was the owner of certain property adjoining Mills street, known as Lacey Field and used as a part of the town's park system, which field is adjacent to Memorial Field, the property of the defendant Board of Education; that the only method of ingress and egress to and from Lacey Field from Mills street at the time was by means of a certain culvert, bridge, or walk; that in order to enter Memorial Field from Mills street it was necessary to first enter Lacey Field by walking over the culvert, bridge, or walk; that the latter was constructed by the Park Department of the Town, or its agents, servants, and employees, in order to cover an open drain or stream running from the easterly side of Mills street bridge to the playground known as Lacey Field; that in constructing the culvert, bridge, or walk, it was the duty of the town to provide adequate guard rails or barriers at the end of the culvert, bridge, or walk in order to protect persons lawfully using the premises, and to provide adequate and sufficient lighting facilities for such use after dark, especially at such times as public affairs or events were being conducted by the town for the amusement, entertainment, or benefit of its citizens and residents.
In constructing the culvert or bridge, it is alleged, the town failed to erect or provide adequate guard rails or barriers at the end thereof or proper lighting facilities, thereby perpetrating an act of wrongdoing on its part detrimental to plaintiff, with the result that on the evening of the day stated, while walking from Mills street over the culvert or bridge in question in order to get to Lacey Field and to cross to Memorial Field, where a public spectacle and concert was being held by the town, or under its direction by its servants or employees, she fell from the edge of the culvert or bridge into the stream running thereunder and was in jured. It is further alleged that the culvert or bridge was and had been since its construction openly, notoriously, and commonly used by the townspeople as an entrance to Lacey and Memorial Fields from Mills street, and was intended when constructed to be so used. The foregoing is...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Chatman v. Hall
...exempted injuries arising from the use of streets and public ways. N.J.S.A. 18:5-30 (R.S., since repealed); Cohen v. Morristown, 15 N.J.Misc. 288, 190 A. 851 (Sup.Ct.1937); Hammond v. County of Monmouth, 117 N.J.L. 11, 186 A. 452 (Sup.Ct.1936). In doing so, the Legislature recognized the sp......
-
Fahey v. Jersey City
...(public street); Selph v. Morristown, 16 N.J.Misc. 19, 195 A. 862 (Sup.Ct.1938) (pedestrian walk); Cohen v. Town of Morristown, 15 N.J.Misc. 288, 190 A. 851 (Sup.Ct.1937) (foot bridge); Hammond v. County of Monmouth, 117 N.J.L. 11, 186 A. 452 (Sup.Ct.1936) (culvert); Satink v. Holland Towns......
-
Thompson v. Board of Ed., City of Millville, A--304
...cases wherein its provisions have been the subject matter of its application, viz.: Allas v. Rumson, supra; Cohen v. Town of Morristown, 190 A. 851, 15 N.J.Misc. 288 (Sup.Ct.1937); Selph v. Town of Morristown, 195 A. 862, 16 N.J.Misc. 19 (Sup.Ct.1938); Falcone v. Board of Education, of Newa......
-
Satink v. Holland Tp.
...injury to the plaintiff. The court held that this allegation constituted a charge of active wrongdoing. In the case of Cohen v. Morristown, 190 A. 851, 15 N.J.Misc. 288, plaintiff alleged that the defendant, a municipality, constructed a culvert or bridge without providing guard rails or li......