Appleby v. City of New York

Background

A group of private waterfront landowners bought water lots and paid money and taxes to the city and state under deeds that promised wharfage and other rights. Later, New York passed Acts in 1857 and 1871 that restricted filling and required spacing between piers. The city dredged the water over the plaintiffs’ lots and used it as slips and mooring places, and a federal order by the Secretary of War fixed a bulkhead line and allowed pier extensions on piles. The state courts applied the Acts against the owners and limited their rights, and the owners challenged that decision in this Court.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the deeds gave the owners full property rights and whether later state laws, as enforced, impaired those contracts. The Court examined New York decisions and concluded that these deeds, made for money and to promote harbor use, conveyed fee simple ownership and wharfage rights and gave up the State’s public control (jus publicum) over that water. The Court held the city and State could not use the Acts to nullify those rights, and that the Secretary of War’s order did not restore the city’s power to override the deeds. The Court therefore reversed the state judgment and found dredging and exclusive mooring by the city violated the owners’ rights.

Real world impact

The ruling protects private owners from city dredging and permanent exclusive mooring over their lots. Owners may fill or build piers consistent with the federal bulkhead order. The city cannot reclaim those rights except by formally condemning them and paying compensation. The case was reversed and sent back for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.