People ex rel. Linton v. Brooklyn Heights R. Co.

• Decision Date: 07 October 1902
• Citation: 64 N.E. 788,172 N.Y. 90
• Parties: PEOPLE ex rel. LINTON v. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS R. CO.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

172 N.Y. 90

64 N.E. 788

PEOPLE ex rel. LINTON

v.BROOKLYN HEIGHTS R. CO.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Oct. 7, 1902.

Appeal from supreme court, appellate division, Second department.

Application by the people, on the relation of Edward F. Linton, for a writ of mandamus to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company. From an order of the appellate division reversing an order of the special term (75 N. Y. Supp. 202) directing the issuance of a peremptory writ pursuant to a verdict of the jury, the relator appeals. Affirmed.

A short time prior to April 1, 1900, two companies owned all of the elevated railroads in Brooklyn, but at that date defendant acquired by lease possession and control of all such elevated roads, and has since operated them. Defendant's elevated railroad system extends from the termini at the Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway Ferry to the terminus at Cypress Hills, a system of two main lines, one from Brooklyn Bridge and one from Broadway Ferry, converging at East New York, and thence proceeding by single road easterly to Cypress Hills; and also of a third subsidiary line connecting Fulton Ferry and the Brooklyn Bridge, and extending thence easterly on Broadway to East New York, and thence to Cypress Hills, known as the ‘Lexington Avenue Route’; making three lines westerly of East New York, all connected with the one line between East New York and Cypress Hills. August 15th following, defendant purchased a lot of land extending from Broadway to Fulton street at East New York, and constructed thereon a junction depot and a track system connecting the elevated road on Broadway with that on Fulton street, where previously these two railroads were about 200 feet apart, so that each passenger wishing to transfer at East New York from the elevated road on Fulton street to that on Broadway, and vice versa, had been required to descend the stairs, cross the block, ascend the stairs of the other road, and pay an additional fare. After such construction passengers were allowed to transfer from one road to the other without descending to the street, and without extra fare, and certain through trains were run without change of cars and without extra fare from one road to the other at East New York. In addition to the elevated railroads on Broadway and Fulton street, defendant operates a double-track street surface railroad running directly underneath these elevated roads,-one from the Broadway Ferry to East New York, and another from the Fulton Ferry to East New York, and thence, still continuing underneath the elevated road, easterly to Cypress Hills. After the construction of the union depot at East New York, surface railroad track connections were also made similar to those of the elevated roads, where-by the surface cars of defendant ran upon the grounds of the union depot, and passengers were given free transfer from the elevated roads to the surface roads, and vice versa, though the union depot in all directions. Among the other changes in the service made by defendant was the substitution of a belt line elevated service during certain hours between the bridge and East New York, the operation of which defendant claims necessarily prevented the company from operating all of the trains on the Lexington avenue route between the bridge and East New York as through trains, or on the Broadway road between Broadway Ferry and Cypress Hills, so that a person taking a belt line train was compelled to change cars at East New York to the elevated or surface lines for the purpose of continuing easterly toward Cypress Hills. During the hours when the belt line service was in operation the system was a single-car service on a 20 minutes headway on the elevated road between Cypress Hills and the union station, and increased service on the surface lines between the same points, to which transfers were made without extra charge; but during ‘rush hours'-from 5 to 10 a. m. and 4 to 8 p. m.-the belt line service was not employed, and defendant ran through elevated trains to Cypress Hills, as before, except on holidays, when there were no through trains, and on Sundays, when there were none, except in the summer, and then but a few hours. Relator complained of defendant's refusal to run through trains to Cypress Hills during all hours as theretofore, and petitioned the court for a writ of mandamus. An alternative writ was issued, came on for trial, and resulted in a submission to the jury of a single question: ‘Does public necessity or convenience require that the defendant operate its elevated road system from and between the termini at the Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway Ferry and the terminus at Cypress Hills in the manner the same was operated prior to the 1st day of April, 1900?’ The jury answered the question in the affirmative, and a writ of mandamus was issued by the special term, in which this finding was incorporated and defendant commanded to operate its system as it did prior to April 1, 1900. The appellate division reversed the order of the special term and the plaintiff appeals to this court.Stephen C. Baldwin and Benjamir N. Cardozo, for appellant.

Charles A. Collin and William F. Sheehan, for respondent.

PARKER, C. J. (after stating the facts).

We agree with the appellate division that the court had no power to grant a mandamus in this proceeding. The railroad law (Laws 1890, c. 565) confers upon the board of directors of every railroad corporation the power ‘to regulate the time and manner in which passengers and property shall be transported, and the compensation to be paid therefor’ (section 4, subd. 8), and further provides that ‘every railroad corporation shall start and run its cars for the transportation of possengers and property at regular times, to be fixed by public notice, and shall furnish sufficient accommodations for the transportation of all passengers and property which shall be offered for transportation at the place of starting, within a reasonable time previously thereto, and at...