DEP Environmental Protection Invoices, 1999-2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

NYC Environmental Law Fax:212-788-1619 Dec 27 2000 16:46 P.10

General City Law §20(2) is and ownership of the city. Therefore, any reliance by the parties upon

misplaced. absence of a While previous cases have found impermissible alienation of parkland even in the §20(2). conveyance of a city's rights in the property, such cases are not based upon NY General City Law

Rather, they are based upon the common law Public Trust Doctrine which, as noted above, has not been

extended to lands beneath the surface of a park. In Ackerman, it was determined that use of park property for

municipal purposes not related to the park constituted impermissible alienation. The decision of the court is

expressly based upon the Public Trust Doctrine. 104 A.D. at 941. The same is true in Stephenson. 43 A.D.2d

at 897. In neither case is General City Law §20(2) even referenced in the court's decision. In In re Central

Parkway, the Schenectady County Supreme Court found that detaching property from a park for conversion

into a highway constituted improper alienation. The court, however, based its decision squarely on the

Public Trust Doctrine by stating "(t)he municipality holds the property in trust for the use of the public, and

cannot use or permit its use for purposes other than those for which it was dedicated or acquired or

appropriated. In re Central Parkway 140 Misc.2d at 729. The court did discuss NY General City Law §20(2)

but only as it relates to NY General City Law §20(7). The court held that the discontinuance language

contained in NY General City Law §20(7) does not apply to parklands and that the sale or conveyance of

parks is governed solely by General City Law §20(2). 140 Misc. at 729. The court's discussion of NY

General City Law §20(2) was unrelated to its holding that the Public Trust Doctrine prohibits the transfer of

parkland to another municipal use. IS

Because neither the Public Trust Doctrine nor NY General City Law §20(2) apply when a municipality

undertakes to install public works facilities beneath parklands, prior approval from the State Legislature need

not be obtained.

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