People of State of New York Rosevale Realty Co v. Kleinert

Decision Date08 June 1925
Docket NumberNo. 350,350
PartiesPEOPLE OF STATE OF NEW YORK ex rel. ROSEVALE REALTY CO., Inc., v. KLEINERT, Superintendent of Bureau of Buildings, et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Messrs. Benjamin Reass and Hugo Hirsh, both of New York City, for plaintiff in error.

Mr. Joseph P. Reilly, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for defendant in error Kleinert.

Messrs. James Marshall and J. George Silberstein, both of New York City, for defendant in error Midwood Manor Ass'n and another.

Mr. Justice SANFORD delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Rosevale Realty Company, the relator herein, filed its petition in the Supreme Court of New York for a peremptory mandamus directing Kleinert, as Superintendent of the Bureau of Buildings, to approve its plans for an apartment house and grant it a permit to erect the same. On final hearing the Supreme Court entered an order denying this petition. This was affirmed by the Appellate Division and by the Court of Appeals. 206 App. Div. 712, 200 N. Y. S. 942; 207 App. Div. 828, 201 N. Y. S. 935; 237 N. Y. 580, 143 N. E. 750. The record was remitted to the Supreme Court, to which this writ of error was directed. Hodges v. Snyder, 261 U. S. 600, 601, 43 S. Ct. 435, 67 L. Ed. 819.

By an Act amending the charter of Greater New York the Board of Estimate and Apportionment was given power to regulate the height and bulk of buildings thereafter erected, the area of courts and other open spaces, and the location of buildings designed for specific uses; to divide the city into districts for such purposes; and to change such districts from time to time, after public notice and hearing. New York Laws, 1916, c. 497, p. 1320. In July, 1916, the Board adopted a 'Building Zone Resolution,' or ordinance, dividing the city into various classes of use, height, and area districts.1 In the several classes of area districts, which were designated A, B, C, etc., the required open spaces on each lot were progressively increased and the available building space correspondingly decreased. This Resolution also provided that the Board might from time to time change the districts, either on its own motion or on petition.

In the Spring of 1922 the relator acquired a plot of ground in the Borough of Brooklyn, then in a C area district. It was also in a residential section known as Midwood Manor, in which, under private restrictive covenants contained in the deeds, no buildings except detached dwelling houses could be erected before January 1, 1923. Disregarding these restrictive covenants, the relator procured plans for a 40-family apartment house, conforming as to open spaces, etc., to the requirements of a C area district. It filed these plans with the Superintendent of the Bureau of Buildings on September 1, 1922, for the purpose of having them approved and obtaining a building permit.2 The Superintendent on the same day issued a temporary permit for the necessary installation of footings and foundations; but on the next day revoked this temporary permit, because of a petition that had been forwarded by other owners of property in Midwood Manor to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, to place this locality within an E area district. On October 20, 1922, the Board, after a public hearing, amended the Zoning Resolution of 1916 by changing this locality, including the relator's plot, from a C to an E area district. On the following day the Superintendent refused approval of the relator's plans because the proposed building was contrary to the regulations of the Zoning Resolution applicable to an E area district.

On January 25, 1923, the relator filed the present petition for peremptory mandamus against the Superintendent.3 In this petition the relator did not challenge in any way the constitutionality of the substantive provisions of the Zoning Resolution, either in reference to E area districts or otherwise, but did allege, in general terms, that the amendment of October 20, 1922, deprived it of its property in violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. In other words, it merely challenged the constitutionality of the transfer of its property...

To continue reading

Request your trial
21 cases
  • U.S. v. Byers
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • 24 d2 Julho d2 1984
    ...v. Louisville & N. R.R., 406 U.S. 320, 324-325, 92 S.Ct. 1562, 1565, 32 L.Ed.2d 95, 100 (1972); New York v. Kleinert, 268 U.S. 646, 651, 45 S.Ct. 618, 619, 69 L.Ed. 1135, 1137 (1925); May v. United States, 84 U.S.App.D.C. 233, 328, 175 F.2d 994, 999, cert. denied, 338 U.S. 830, 70 S.Ct. 58,......
  • People of the State of New York Cohn v. Graves
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 1 d1 Março d1 1937
    ...are properly presented. Bolln v. Nebraska, 176 U.S. 83, 20 S.Ct. 287, 44 L.Ed. 382; People of State of New York ex rel. Rosevale Realty Co. v. Kleinert, 268 U.S. 646, 45 S.Ct. 618, 69 L.Ed. 1135; Saltonstall v. Saltonstall, 276 U.S. 260, 48 S.Ct. 225, 72 L.Ed. Affirmed. Mr. Justice BUTLER (......
  • Jones v. City of Opelika Bowden v. City of Fort Smith, Ark Jobin v. State of Arizona 966
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 8 d1 Junho d1 1942
    ...advance.' 9 Cf. Seaboard Air Line Ry. v. Watson, 287 U.S. 86, 53 S.Ct. 32, 77 L.Ed. 180, 86 A.L.R. 174; People of State of New York v. Kleinert, 268 U.S. 646, 45 S.Ct. 618, 69 L.Ed. 1135; Dewey v. Des Moines, 173 U.S. 193, 19 S.Ct. 379, 43 L.Ed. 665, and Clark v. Paul Gray, Inc., 306 U.S. 5......
  • Mazer v. Stein
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • 8 d1 Março d1 1954
    ...& G.T.R. Co. v. Wellman, 143 U.S. 339, 345, 12 S.Ct. 400, 402, 36 L.Ed. 176; People of the State of New York ex rel. Rosevale Realty Co. v. Kleinert, 268 U.S. 646, 651, 45 S.Ct. 618, 619, 69 L.Ed. 1135; C.I.O. v. McAdory, 325 U.S. 472, 475, 65 S.Ct. 1395, 1397, 89 L.Ed. 1741. The fact that ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT