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 The Greater New York 
 Charter. 
 
 ^ Of THl ^ 
 
 [UKIVBRSITT] 
 
 Submitted to the Legislature of the State of New York, 
 
 on February 20, J 897, by the Commission 
 
 appointed pursuant to Chapter 488 
 
 of the Laws of 1896. 
 

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• Of THIS ^, 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Report of Commission, 
 
 PAGE SEC. 
 
 i 
 
 THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Boundaries, Boroughs, Powers, Rights and Obligations of 
 THE City, - - . . * 
 
 1 1 
 
 Legislative Department, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Franchises and Grants of Land Under Water: 
 Title 1, Franchises, ... 
 
 2, Grants of land under water, 
 
 9 17 
 
 34 71 
 37 83 
 
 The Executive, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 40 94 
 
 The Mayor, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 47 115 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Department of Finance: 
 
 Title 1, The Comptroller, . . . . . 
 
 2, Bonds and obligations of the city, 
 
 3, The Chamberlain, - - - - • - 
 
 4, The Sinking Fund, . - . . 
 
 5, Appropriations and the Board of Estimate and 
 
 Apportionment, - . . - - 
 
 6, Levying Taxes, - - r » - 
 
 57 
 
 149 
 
 68 
 
 169 
 
 82 
 
 194 
 
 86 
 
 202 
 
 97 
 
 226 
 
 118 
 
 247 
 
185 
 
 382 
 
 187 
 
 390 
 
 190 
 
 400 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS — CONTINUED. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE SEC. 
 
 Law Department, - - - - - - - 130 255 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Police Department, --..-_ i26 270 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Borough Officers, Local Boards and Local Improvements : 
 Title 1, Borough Officers, - - 
 
 2, Local Boards, - - - . . 
 
 3, Local Improvements, - _ _ , 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Public Improvements : 
 
 Title 1, Board of Public Improvements, - - - 192 410 
 
 2, Map or plan of The City of New York ; map of 
 
 sewer system and sewer districts, 
 
 3, General provisions relating to Departments, 
 
 4, Department of Water Supply, - - . 
 
 5, Department of Highways, - - - - 
 
 6, Department of Street Cleaning, 
 
 7, Department of Sewers, . . . . 
 
 8, Department of Public Buildings, Lighting and 
 
 Supplies, - - - . . 
 
 9, Department of Bridges, - - - 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Department of Parks: 
 
 Title 1, Parks of the City, - - - - - 283 607 
 
 2, The Art Commission, . - - - 295 633 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Department of Buildings, ------ 299 644 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Department of Pubuc Charities, - - . - 807 668 
 
 205 
 
 410 
 
 212 
 
 450 
 
 217 
 
 468 
 
 244 
 
 523 
 
 248 
 
 533 
 
 268 
 
 555 
 
 268 
 
 572 
 
 379 
 
 594 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS — CONTINUED. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Department of Correction, 
 
 PAGE SEC. 
 
 324 694 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Fire Department : 
 
 Title 1, Organization, duties and powers of officers and 
 men, -.-... 
 
 2, Fires and their extinction, - - - - 
 
 3, Prevention of fires, explosives and combustible 
 
 materials, ..... 
 
 4, Fire Marshals and investigation of origin of fire, 
 
 5, Relief Fund and Pensions, . - . - 
 
 6, Taxes upon foreign insurance companies. 
 
 337 
 
 720 
 
 848 
 
 748 
 
 851 
 
 760 
 
 365 
 
 779 
 
 370 
 
 789 
 
 378 
 
 798 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Docks, Piers, jHarbor, Port and Waters : 
 
 Title 1, Department of Docks and Ferries, 
 
 2, Piers, slips and wharfage, 
 
 3, General provisions, - 
 
 389 
 
 816 
 
 406 
 
 844 
 
 420 
 
 876 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Taxes and Assessments : 
 
 Title 1, Department of Taxes and Assessments ; powers 
 
 and duties, ..... 423 884 
 
 2, Assessments for local improvements other than 
 
 those confirmed by a court of record, - - 448 942 
 
 3, Vacating and modifying assessments for local im- 
 
 provements other than those confirmed by a 
 
 court of record, .... 454 959 
 
 4, Opening streets and parks, - - - . 457 970 
 
 5, Sales of lands for taxes and assessments and water 
 
 rates, 487 1017 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Department of Education : 
 
 Title 1, Public schools and their management, 
 
 2, The College of The City of New York, 
 
 3, The Normal College, 
 
 4, General Provisions, - - - 
 
 504 1055 
 
 541 1127 
 
 544 1139 
 
 547 1161 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS — CONTINUED. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Department of Health: 
 
 Title 1, Power and duties of the department, its offices 
 
 and administration, - - - . 553 1157 
 
 3, Marriages, births and deaths, - - - 587 1236 
 
 3, Duties of Physicians and others, - - 590 1247 
 
 4, Legal proceedings and punishment for disobedi- 
 
 ence of orders and ordinances, - - 592 1257 
 
 5, Reimbursement of expenses, ... 600 1275 
 
 6, Abatement by suit, - - . _ 607 1287 
 
 7, Tenement and lodging houses, - - - 616 1304 
 
 8, Pension fund, . ^ - - . 686 1331 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Inferior Local Courts: 
 
 Title 1, The City Court of New York, - - - 640 1345 
 
 2, The Municipal Court of The City of New York, 640 1350 
 
 3, Inferior Courts of criminal jurisdiction, - - 659 1390 
 
 4, The Marshals, ----- 673 1424 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Acquisition of lands and interests therein for public 
 purposes. 
 
 674 1435 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 General Statutes: 
 
 Title 1, The Streets, - 
 
 2, Amusements, - . - 
 
 3, Birds, - - - - - 
 
 4, Commercial paper during epidemic, 
 
 5, Pharmacists and druggists, 
 
 6, Board of City Record, - 
 
 7, General Provisions. - 
 
 8, Coroners, - » .... 
 
 685 
 
 1454 
 
 691 
 
 1472 
 
 699 
 
 1493 
 
 700 
 
 1499 
 
 702 
 
 1510 
 
 707 
 
 1536 
 
 713 
 
 1533 
 
 727 
 
 1570 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS — CONTINUED. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 "^4^ OP THl*^ 
 
 I7IRSIT71 
 
 PAGE SEC. 
 
 Provisions relating to Counties and repeal provisions: 
 
 Title 1, Provisions relating to counties, - - - 729 1577 
 
 2, Repeal provisions, ... - 738 1608 
 
 APPENDIX, 745 
 
REPORT 
 
 Accompanying the Proposed Greater 
 New York Charter. 
 
 THriVBHSlTT] 
 
 To the Legislature : ^^^^^TPOTl' 
 
 The Commission appointed pursuant to the provisions 
 of Chapter 488 of the Laws gf 1896 to prepare a charter 
 for Greater New York, and to submit, in connection 
 therewith, such supplementary bills as might appear to 
 be necessary to carry into effect the legislative intent 
 as declared by the law under which they were ap- 
 pointed, respectfully submits herewith : 
 
 1. A charter for Greater New York. 
 
 2. An Act to provide for Boards of Super- 
 visors in counties wholly within the limits of a 
 city, but not comprising the whole of such city, 
 and defining the powers and duties thereof. 
 
 3. An Act relating to the election of city oflScers 
 of the City of New York as constituted by the 
 Greater New York Charter, at the general elec- 
 tion to be held in November in the year 1897, 
 and for the canvass and return of the votes 
 thereof and the determination of persons elected 
 thereat.* 
 
 4. Certain amendments to Chapter 909 of the 
 Laws of 1896, ktiown as the Election Law, which 
 appear to be necessary in connection with the 
 
elections to be held in 1897 and thereafter, 
 within the territory to be consolidated into 
 Greater New York. 
 
 5. An Act to provide for the election of Su- 
 pervisors in the several wards of the Borough 
 of Queens in the City of New York, to be mem- 
 bers of the Board of Supervisors of the County 
 of Queens. 
 
 6. An Act in relation to the City Court of 
 the City of New York and for the accommoda- 
 tion thereof, and authorizing the fitting up and 
 equipping of certain parts of the City Hall in 
 the City of New York. 
 
 7. A proposed constitutional amendment to 
 authorize the Municipal Assembly or other 
 legislative body of a city to discharge for 
 counties wholly included within the limits of 
 such city the duties at present devolved by 
 the Constitution upon Boards of Supervisors 
 throughout the State. 
 
 8. A proposed constitutional amendment for- 
 bidding counties wholly included within the 
 limits of a city to become indebted. 
 
 9. A proposed constitutional amendment 
 authorizing laws to be passed providing in 
 municipal elections for minority or propor- 
 tionate representation. 
 
 Necessity for Sncli Snpplementaxry 
 Legislation. 
 
 Before speakiug of the charter itself, it appears to be 
 proper to explain the necessity for the supplementary 
 legislation suggested, and to state the reasons that 
 
have prompted the Commission to submit the proposed 
 constitutional amendments. 
 
 The Legislature will recall that his Excellency, 
 Governor Morton, in approving the bill under which 
 the Commission has been serving, called especial at- 
 tention to the possibility, as an incidental result of 
 consolidation, of the resuscitation in the Counties of 
 New York and Kings of separate and independent 
 Boards of Supervisors, and of the possible continuance 
 in Eichmond County of a Board of Supervisors not- 
 withstanding the inclusion of that County within the 
 limits of the enlarged city. This question, thus prom- 
 inently brought to their attention, naturally has re- 
 ceived from the Commission the most careful consid- 
 eration. The members of the Commission are of one 
 mind in believing that the creation of Greater New 
 York would be an almost unmixed misfortune, if it were 
 to result in paralleling the city government throughout 
 the territory of the consolidated city with a separate 
 and independent county government in the three coun- 
 ties of New York, Kings and Richmond. The State 
 Constitution deals effectually with such a situation 
 when a city and a county are literally coterminous ; 
 and probably no one will dispute that the spirit of the 
 Constitution, as expressed in the provision dealing 
 with that case, equally demands that the functions of 
 the Board of Supervisors in the various counties in- 
 cluded within the consolidated City of New York 
 should be discharged by the legislative body of the 
 city, precisely as such functions are now discharged 
 for New York County by the Board of Alder- 
 men of the City of New York, and for Kings County 
 by the Common Council of Brooklyn. On the other 
 hand, it is not clear that the letter of the Constitu- 
 
 m 
 
tion, by reason of its failure to provide in terms for 
 the precise case of a city that should include within its 
 boundaries the whole of more than one county, might 
 not lead to serious embarrassment. Accordingly, the 
 Commission urges as a material part of the plan for 
 the creation of Greater New York the passage of the 
 Act defining the powers and duties of Boards of 
 Supervisors in counties wholly within the limits of a 
 city, but not comprising the whole of such city. 
 The Act provides : 
 
 1. That in such counties the Boards of Su- 
 pervisors shall consist of the members of the 
 Municipal Assembly, to be elected as such, and 
 also as Supervisors, by the people of the 
 county. 
 
 2. That such Boards of Supervisors may act 
 as County Cauvassers, aud shall have the power 
 conferred by the Constitution upon Supervisors 
 of sub-dividing the counties into Assembly 
 districts. 
 
 3. That such Boards of Supervisors shall 
 have no other powers of local legislation or ad- 
 ministration, and shall have no power to create 
 debt. 
 
 4. All other Boards of Supervisors within 
 such counties are abolished from and after Jan- 
 uary 1st, 1898. 
 
 The powers of local legislation and administration 
 heretofore generally possessed by Boards of Super- 
 visors can, in the opinion of the Commission, be vested 
 by the Legislature of the State in the Municipal As- 
 
 IV 
 
sembly and administrative departments of Greater 
 New York, and the Charter so provides. 
 
 This Act, it is believed, keeps strictly within the 
 provisions of the Constitution, and, should it become 
 a law, will obviate tbe apprehended embarrassments of 
 the situation so far as an enactment that is dependent 
 upon the legislative will can do so. With the passage 
 of this Act the Commission believes that consolidation 
 can be safely carried into eflfect. It also believes that 
 the Constitution of the State should be amended in 
 order to put an end, definitely and permanently, to all 
 danger of conflict between city and county govern- 
 ment in a city including within its limits one or 
 more counties, precisely as the Constitution already 
 puts an end to such conflict in the case of a city 
 that is coterminous with a county. The Commis- 
 sion, therefore, respectfully urges upon the Legislature 
 that it take the necessary action to bring before the 
 people of the State, in due course, the amendment to 
 the Constitution that has been prepared to deal with 
 this subject, and also the amendment to prevent such 
 counties from incurring debt. 
 
 Elections in the Greater City for the Vear 
 
 1897. 
 
 According to the law under which the Commission is 
 serving, Greater New York is to be constituted on the 
 1st of January, 1898. It will, therefore, be necessary 
 to hold an election for the oflicers of the enlarged city 
 in the autumn of this year in the three counties of 
 New York, Kings and Richmond and in that portion of 
 Queens County that is to be embraced within the City 
 of New York. In its temporary aspect this situa- 
 
tion necessitates the passage of the Act re- 
 lating to the election of city oflficers of 
 the City of New York as constituted by 
 the Greater New York Charter at the general election 
 to be held in November in the year 1897, and for the 
 canvass and return of the votes thereof, and the de- 
 termination of persons elected thereat. Inasmuch as 
 this election for city officers will be carried on in four 
 diflferent counties, it appears to be necessary also to 
 amend the general election law so as to provide for the 
 city election of 1897, and also for subsequent elections 
 to be conducted under the same conditions. It is be- 
 lieved that the amendments herewith submitted to 
 Chapter 909 of the Laws of 1896, known as the Elec- 
 tion Law, deal adequately with that phase of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Act Concerning Ulection of Supervisors. 
 
 By the provisions of the Greater New York Charter 
 the towns in that part of Queens County consolidated 
 into the city, and Long Island City, become wards 
 of the City of New York, The Act to provide for 
 the election of Supervisors therein, and providing 
 that such Supervisors shall be members of the Board 
 of Supervisors of the County of Queens, is thus made 
 necessary. 
 
 It will be manifest t^ the Legislature that all of the 
 foregoing Acts, in substance and effect, must be 
 adopted in connection with the charter for Greater 
 New York, if consolidation is to be effected on the Ist 
 of January, 1898, without unspeakable confusion. 
 
 n 
 
Act Concerning the City Court. 
 
 An Act in relation to the City Court of the City of 
 New York, and for the accommodation thereof, and 
 authorizing the fitting up and equipping of certain parts 
 of the City Hall of the City of New York, though less 
 fundamental in importance, is no less desirable from 
 the point of view of public convenience if the charter 
 submitted by the Commission is to be adopted. 'J'he 
 charter provides for a Municipal Assembly consist- 
 ing of two Houses, and also for a Board of Public 
 Improvements which is to have very important func- 
 tions in relation to all the public work of the munici- 
 pality. The Act submitted by the Commission is in- 
 tended to provide quarters for the City Court of New 
 York outside of the City Hall, and to authorize the 
 present government of the City to provide suitable 
 quarters in the City Hall for both Houses of the Mu- 
 nicipal Assembly and for the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments. The Commission, therefore, urges the passage 
 of this bill, also, in connection with the charter for 
 Greater New York, in the interest of public conven- 
 ience. 
 
 Minority Representation. 
 
 The purpose of the second proposed constitutional 
 amendment is to invest the Legislature with authority 
 to permit minority or proportionate representation in 
 municipal elections. It is a source of sincere regret to 
 the majority of the Commission that under the Consti- 
 tution of the State, as it now stands, it has appeared to 
 be impossible to provide for minority or proportionate 
 representation in the charter of Greater New York, 
 without making a vital part of the charter depend 
 
upon a provision of uncertain constitutionality. 
 Such representation is equally desirable whether the 
 basis of division in municipal elections be political or 
 non-political. So far, both in the history of Great 
 Britain and of this country, the complete exclusion of 
 politics from municipal elections has been found im- 
 possible. Many hope that in the future it may not be 
 so. But if such expectations be realized, some basis 
 of division on local issues will still exist repre- 
 senting differences of opinion, and it is im- 
 portant, whatever such differences may be, that 
 the minority shall be represented. The Com- 
 mission would have provided for the election of some 
 members of the Municipal Assembly at large and for a 
 gradual retirement of the members of one or both 
 Houses, if it could have done so with the assurance that 
 in every year the minority, whatever that might be, 
 would have secured under all circumstances just repre- 
 sentation. But, in Greater New York, where the 
 political division of the citizens is so one-sided, elec- 
 tions wholly at large for the Municipal Assembly 
 would be likely to mean, in most years, the absolute 
 extinction of the minority. Partial elections at large 
 in ordinary years could only tend to decrease the mi- 
 nority's just and proportionate weight. A method of 
 election that should make it impossible ever to change 
 the membership of the Assembly at one time, would 
 be apt to give the control of the Municipal Assembly 
 of the city to the majority, happen what would. In 
 the meanwhile it has seemed to the Commission of 
 the utmost consequence to the public welfare that 
 the minority, however composed, should be repre- 
 sented in the Municipal Assembly at all times, even 
 if it cannot hope often to secure control. The Com- 
 
 ym 
 
mission has, therefore, arranged in both Houses of 
 the Municipal Assembly for a system of representation 
 by districts that will secure always a certain representa- 
 tion for the minority. The distribution and political 
 habits of the people of the city are likely, in the judg- 
 ment of the majority of the Commission, often to make 
 this representation less than it ought of right to be ; 
 and the Commission therefore urges as strongly as 
 possible that the amendment to the State Constitution 
 to permit minority or proportionate representation in 
 municipal elections be placed promptly in the way 
 of adoption. It does this, also, the more readily, be- 
 cause it believes, quite apart from the special condi- 
 tions prevailing in Greater New York, that minority or 
 proportionate representation is in the interest of good 
 city government. Such representation tends to empha- 
 size the fact that, in the administration of a city, the 
 common interests of the citizenship of the place are 
 more fundamental than party divisions ; while, in the 
 meanwhile, it tends to preserve the interest of the 
 minority in the effort to secure good city government 
 by encouraging them to feel that their efforts are not 
 useless. 
 
 Tho Proposed Charter. 
 
 In approaching the discussion of the charter here- 
 with submitted, it is proper for the Commission to re- 
 mind the Legislature that the task imposed upon them, 
 at once delicate and onerous as any task could be, has 
 also been very definite and precise in its nature. The 
 Commission has not been charged with the duty of 
 preparing a city charter at large ; but, on the 
 contrary, with the duty of preparing a charter 
 that should unite into one city three existing cities. 
 
each living, to a considerable extent, under local 
 laws and each with diiferent charters ; and that should 
 also bring into the enlarged city a considerable area, 
 besides, of territory still remaining under town and 
 village government. The different communities thus to 
 be consolidated into one are located upon three dif- 
 ferent islands and upon the main land, and thus they 
 are divided geographically into natural subdivisions 
 almost as distinct as the historic antecedents that have 
 marked their life. Nevertheless, they are, in substance 
 and in fact, a single community, in that they are all 
 alike the outgrowth of the commercial and industrial 
 life of the historic City of New York. 
 
 To have adopted for such a city what may be de- 
 scribed as a skeleton charter, would have been to have 
 left to the local legislature the framing of ordinances 
 that should be the fundamental law for all the vast 
 interests thus to be consolidated into a single govern- 
 ment. In connection with the Building Department, 
 the Commission has done this, partly because it was 
 clearly impossible to extend the building laws of the 
 present City of New York over territory presenting 
 such widely different conditions, and partly because the 
 Commission were unwilling to venture upon original 
 legislation as to a subject at once so intricate, 
 so technical, and yet so important. Moreover, few 
 subjects afford, it is believed, a more appropriate 
 field for local regulation. The charter, therefore, pro- 
 vides that the existing building laws shall stand in all 
 parts of the consolidated territory until superseded by 
 a municipal building code, and the Municipal Assem- 
 bly of the City of New York is given authority to 
 employ experts in the preparation of such a code. 
 
 But, as to most subjects, it appeared to the Commis- 
 
sioners to be wise, in defining the powers and duties of 
 tlie enlarged municipality, to avail as far as possible, 
 and wherever it was applicable, of the legislation already 
 upon the statute book in relation to one or the other 
 of the cities to be consolidated into Greater New 
 York. This decision has made the charter more 
 bulky than it otherwise would have been ; but the Leg- 
 islature and the community may rest assured, that, for 
 the most part, the powers and duties devolved upon the 
 various departments of Greater New York are those 
 which have heretofore been devolved upon such de- 
 partments in one or the other of the cities consolidated 
 by the charter. The Commission has ventured upon 
 very little original legislation touching the powers 
 of any department, unless with the general ap- 
 proval of those most competent to speak in 
 relation thereto. In case of doubt as to any point, 
 the Commission generally has assumed that the 
 existing law was the result of past experience and 
 ought to be maintained. Where the local laws have 
 differed, in matters financial and relating to property, the 
 law of New York has generally been given the preference ; 
 in matters indifferent, the best law, in the opinion of 
 the Commission, obtaining in any of the three cities 
 has been maintained ; and where immediate uniformity 
 has been impracticable without great local irritation, if 
 absence of uniformity could be tolerated without dis- 
 loyalty to consolidation, as in the case of the Depart- 
 ment of Education, the Commission has done the 
 best it could, and has not hesitated to leave to 
 time the adjustment of points of detail as to which 
 there has been dispute. No other course seemed to be 
 practicable under a mandate to unite living organisms, 
 like cities, into a new and common life. 
 
 XI 
 
Legislative Department. 
 
 When the commission came to consider the legisla- 
 tive department for the greater city, diverse and con- 
 flicting views and plans were urged for adoption. 
 
 The general judgment was that a Municipal Leg- 
 islative Assembly was not only necessary, but indis- 
 pensable. But as to the constitution, size and powers o 
 such an assembly conflicting views were also presented 
 and urged. Some advised the constitution of the Mu- 
 nicipal Assembly substantially upon the model of the 
 English system, where an elective Municipal Council, 
 usually elected from wards or subdivisions, is invested 
 with the exercise, without restraint, of all the powers 
 which parliament grants or the law gives to the munici- 
 pal corporation. It elects the mayor from its own 
 members, and appoints all its officers. Through 
 standing committees it controls without exception all 
 the administrative departments. 
 
 Others strenuously urged that American polity and 
 experience are against the adoption of the English 
 plan en hloc, and that the powers of the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly ought to be limited in number and 
 extent, and the exercise of the powers conferred be 
 subjected to appropriate and effective charter limita- 
 tions, analogous in principle and purpose to the restric- 
 tions which the American constitutions impose upon 
 the State legislatures. 
 
 Tlie Charter Scheme of the Municipal 
 Assembly. 
 
 This general plan commended itself to the Commis- 
 sion, and is embodied in the charter which it now sub- 
 mits to the legislature. 
 
 xn 
 
The Commission found that the municipal history of 
 New York afforded on almost every subject useful and 
 instructive lessons, of w^hich it has studiously availed 
 itself. For example, the body known as the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment had worked well and given 
 general satisfaction. The Commission has retained it, 
 and enlarged rather than lessened its powers. So the 
 principle of investing the Mayor with large powers and 
 consequent direct responsibility to the people had also 
 worked well, and his authority has been increased rather 
 than diminished. His term of office is four years, and 
 he is made ineligible for re-election without an inter- 
 vening term. 
 
 The Commission has, however, converted the present 
 Board of Aldermen into a Municipal Assembly, consist- 
 ing of two houses ; an upper house of 29 members, 
 elected from large council districts, containing an aver- 
 age population of more than 350,000, and a lower house, 
 consisting of 60 members, one elected from each assembly 
 district, also a large area, containing an average popu- 
 lation of 50,000. The term of office of members of the 
 upper house is four years, and of the lower house two 
 years. 
 
 Each ex-Mayor, under the proposed charter, is ex 
 offi.cio, entitled to a seat in the Council, with the right 
 to participate in its discussions ; and each administra- 
 tive head of a department to a seat in the lower House, 
 with a like privilege. 
 
 It may be objected that the size of the Municipal 
 Assembly is unnecessarily large. This objection, 
 when it is considered that upon the adoption 
 of the charter New York will in size and population 
 become the second city of the world, is not well 
 founded. Experience shows that it is more difficult 
 
 xm 
 
 >^ Of THX^^. 
 
 fUSI7BRSIT7l 
 
to corrupt, to mislead, and to form pernicious com- 
 binations in large than in small legislative bodies. It 
 is not nearly as large as the average legislative bodies 
 in this country dealing with people less numerous 
 and subjects not more important. The experience of 
 other countries is almost uniform to this eflfect. The 
 present Common Council of the City of London 
 consists of 232 members ; County Council of London is 
 composed of 238 members ; the Common Council of 
 Manchester, 104 ; of Glasgow, 78 ; of Liverpool, 64 ; 
 of Paris, 80; of Berlin, 126 ; and of Vienna, 138. 
 
 The charter has been constructed upon the principle 
 that it is expedient to give to the city all the powers 
 necessary to conduct its own affairs. The Commission 
 has accordingly conferred upon the Muncipal Assembly 
 legislative authority over all the usual subjects of 
 municipal jurisdiction. The extent and variety of its 
 powers, as well as its size, mark the Commission's 
 sense of its dignity and importance. 
 
 With a view of self-development, the Commission 
 has intrusted the new city with power to establish ferries ; 
 to build bridges over and tunnels under all waters within 
 its domain ; to build docks and improve the harbor 
 of the entire city ; to construct parks, school-houses 
 and public buildings ; to open streets and extend 
 them ; to provide water ; and also the means of secur- 
 ing easy, cheap and rapid communication by ferry and 
 railways between all parts of the great metropolis. 
 The city, as the Commission has constituted it, has 
 within itself all the elements and powers of normal 
 growth and development, making it unnecessary to 
 have habitual recourse, as hitherto, to the legislature 
 of the State for additional powers — a serious evil, and, 
 in the past, the source of much abuse. These powers — 
 
 XI? 
 
great, varied, and even complex, as they necessarily 
 are — will, when scrutinized, be seen to be no greater 
 than the city requires and to be always legislative 
 in their character. They are such as the municipalities 
 of England and of Europe, as well as of this country, 
 constantly exercise. 
 
 This does not mean that under the proposed charter 
 the city can change the structure of its own govern- 
 ment. Whatever powers it will have it will receive as a 
 grant from the State to enjoy in the form that they 
 are given, and the State alone can modify the grant. 
 Neither does it mean that the city can do what it will 
 in every possible direction. It is tied up in many 
 ways by old laws that are continued, because they 
 have been justified by experience. But it does 
 mean that the city is believed to be equipped with 
 power to decide for itself what it will do within the 
 well-recognized range of ordinary municipal activity. 
 
 But, while the charter thus confers upon the Munici- 
 pal Assembly powers adequate to the present wants 
 and to the future development of the city, it interposes, 
 in accordance with established American polity, 
 a variety of checks and safeguards against their 
 abuse, similar in their nature and purpose to the 
 constitutional limitations upon the Congress of the 
 United States and the legislatures of the several States. 
 No people can enjoy a large degree of liberty and the 
 necessary powers of government in which that liberty 
 consists, without such powers being liable to abuse. It 
 is the duty of the legislator not to withhold the neces- 
 sary power, but sedulously to safeguard its exercise. 
 To provide such safeguards has been the subject 
 of anxious consideration on the part of the Com- 
 mission. The legislative experience of New York 
 
 XV 
 
and other cities, and of the several States — indeed, of 
 all popular bodies — shows that a main source of abuse 
 is hasty or ill-advised action, especially as respects the 
 power to dispose of franchises and those powers which 
 involve the raising and expenditure of money, the crea- 
 tion of debt and the consequent levy of taxes and the 
 placing of other financial burdens upon the people. 
 
 It is a marked feature of the charter now pre- 
 sented that it differentiates the powers relating 
 to franchises, the creation of debt, the expenditures 
 of money, the laying of taxes and assessments — 
 these being the only powers liable to serious 
 abuse — from the ordinary powers of the munici- 
 pality embracing the countless subjects requiring 
 municipal regulation. The former class of powers the 
 Commission has protected against abuse by special and 
 appropriate safeguards — safeguards which are in some 
 respects unique, and which will in its judgment 
 prove eflfective. Thus, as to franchises and their dis- 
 position, the charter proposes a radical change of the 
 highest importance and value. The streets of the city 
 belong of right to the whole people. Their use for the 
 public benefit and their control in the public interest 
 ought never to be permanently parted with in favor of 
 any private interests whatever. The charter, therefore, 
 declares that they are inalienable, and that no rights 
 therein shall hereafter be granted by the Municipal 
 Assembly except upon the approval of the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment, and then only for limited 
 periods, and upon provision being made for periodical 
 revaluations. 
 
 Hereafter, therefore, no disposition of franchises, 
 even for such limited periods, can be made by the 
 Municipal Assembly without the concurrent action 
 
 XVI 
 
of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. 
 This Board is a body conservative in its nature and 
 familiar with the extent of the city's debt, with its 
 revenues, with its wants, and with the amount that 
 can be reasonably raised by taxation ; and under the 
 charter no considerable debt can be incurred by the 
 Municipal Assembly without the sanction of this 
 Board. When the Municipal Assembly and the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment concur in sanctioning 
 any work which involves the expenditure of large sums 
 of money, the charter further interposes for the public 
 protection the Mayor's power of veto. It is the judg- 
 ment of the Commission that the power of creating 
 debt, especially debt payable in the distant future, the 
 power of disposing of franchises, and the levying of 
 taxes and assessments should have this triple safeguard. 
 Any expenditure that can pass these successive ordeals 
 is probably deserving ; and, if it cannot pass them, in 
 view of the publicity with which the proposed expendi- 
 ture will thus necessarily be attended, the presumption 
 is strong that it ought to fail. 
 
 Similar protective principles are applied to the water 
 front and waters constituting the harbor of New York. 
 The charter recognizes the harbor as the parent of 
 the city's present greatness and of her commercial 
 supremacy now and in the future. The charter pro- 
 posed gives to the city, subject to vested private 
 rights, which have been carefully protected, the 
 control of the entire water front, and of lands under 
 water everywhere within the city, so far as necessary 
 to secure and develop the commerce, foreign and 
 domestic, of the city, and provides that its rights in and 
 to its wharves, docks and other adjuncts of commerce, 
 and all property held or acquired for that ^purpose, 
 
 XVII 
 
shall be and remain inalienable, and be disposed of 
 only by way of lease for limited periods upon periodical 
 re-valuations. 
 
 The Municipal Assembly, through its representatives, 
 is the organ of the people in the various Boroughs and 
 in every part of the city. It is made its duty to see 
 that the laws and ordinances of the city are faithfully 
 observed by all departments and officers. To this end, 
 the Commission has given the Municipal Assembly, by 
 joint resolution, the power to make inquest into, and 
 within the carefully defined limitations of the charter 
 exercise supervision over, all the departments and officers 
 of the city, a most useful and necessary function, oper- 
 ating as a salutary check on secret abuses, mal -adminis- 
 tration, and oppressive and illegal exercise of authority. 
 
 Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 In respect of the large and costly range of public 
 works comprised in the general term " local or public 
 improvements " the Charter provides in one respect a 
 different and more appropriate but equally effective 
 check. It creates a Board of Public Improvements, 
 referred to below, which has jurisdiction over the 
 bridges, streets, avenues, the water and sewer systems, 
 and the like, of the city. It is clear that such works 
 ought to be primarily determined by expert authority, 
 so that they may be developed upon a fixed plan and 
 designed and constructed in accordance with the 
 highest attainable scientific skill. The Charter there- 
 fore provides in general that the initiative in such im- 
 provements shall be taken by the Board of Public Im- 
 provements, requiring, however, that works of great 
 paagnitude and cost shall have also the approval of 
 
 xvni 
 
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and of a 
 three-fourtlis vote of the people's representatives in the 
 Municipal Assembly, with a veto power in the Mayor, 
 and with power in five-sixths of all of the Municipal 
 Assembly to override the Mayor's veto. 
 
 These proyisions, requiring respectively the sanction 
 of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and of 
 the Board of Public Improvements and the sanction of 
 the Municipal Assembly, and subjecting the ordinances 
 of the Municipal Assembly relating to them to the 
 veto power of the Mayor unless overridden by a five- 
 sixths vote, will, in the judgment of the Commission, 
 while giving the city the necessary power of develop- 
 ment, render it substantially safe from serious abuse. 
 
 The essential features of the Board of Public Im- 
 provements are (1) a President of the Board with power 
 to enforce harmonious action upon all the Departments 
 represented in the Board that do public work ; (2) the 
 responsibility of each Department represented in it for 
 the work to be done by the Department ; (3) the in- 
 itiative in matters relating to public improvements, 
 which, in general, is lodged therein. The Board of Pub- 
 lic Improvements proposed in the charter consists of the 
 President of the Board to be appointed by the Mayor, 
 of the Commissioners of the six departments having 
 charge of the six great branches of public work in the 
 city, also to be appointed by the Mayor, and ex-ojicio of 
 the Mayor, the Comptroller, the Corporation Counsel, 
 and the President of the Borough. The Mayor, the 
 Comptroller, and the Corporation Counsel have 
 been added to the Board of Public Improvements in 
 order to devolve upon that body not only the functions 
 that are given to the corresponding Board in the City 
 of St. Louis, where experience has demonstrated its value 
 
 xrx 
 
and efficiency, but also the functions that have been com- 
 mitted in New York heretofore to the Board of Street 
 Openings. The presence of these great officers of the 
 city, however, upon the Board of Public Improvements 
 can hardly fail to be an advantage to the Board when 
 acting upon the important questions that arise in con- 
 nection with all public work that is carried on upon a 
 large scale. 
 
 The other member of the Board of Public Im- 
 provements in the proposed charter is the President 
 of each Borough. For administrative purposes, the 
 city has been divided into the five subdivisions into 
 which the territory of the city divides itself by follow- 
 ing natural lines, and these are called, in the proposed 
 charter. Boroughs. These Boroughs are named Man- 
 hattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond. 
 To those familiar with the territory the names are suf- 
 ficiently descriptive. The President of a Borough is 
 an officer elected by the people of a Borough (1) to take 
 the initiative in connection with all local improvements 
 that are to be paid for by assessment for benefits ; and 
 (2) to represent the Borough on the Board of Public 
 Improvements. In the latter Board, the President of 
 the Borough has a vote as to all questions affecting his 
 own borough. The Board of Public Improvements thus 
 consists of eleven members. This Board is one of the 
 chief constructive provisions of the charter, and has 
 been carefully thought out in its constitution and 
 powers. It is large enough to bring together men 
 of different outlook and different ways of thinking, so 
 as to secure intelligent and thorough discussion. It 
 has in its membership the heads of the departments 
 that must carry on all city work, and can therefore 
 command the advice and the technical information of 
 
the experts in all of these departments. The city at 
 large is represented by its two great elective oflBcers, 
 the Mayor and the Comptroller, who will bring to the 
 deliberations of the Board the general point of view, 
 while every locality is ensured a hearing and a voice by 
 the presence on the Board of the President of the 
 Borough. Finally, the Corporation Counsel is a mem- 
 ber of the Board to advise it upon all legal questions 
 that may arise. The Commission is sanguine that this 
 feature of the charter will justify itself as thoroughly 
 as the Board of Estimate and Apportionment has 
 justified itself during the past twenty years. 
 
 Such protective provisions, in respect of the debt 
 creating and borrowing powers of the City, are neither 
 anomalous nor unnecessary. The cost of public im- 
 provements in the municipalities of this country, per- 
 manent in their nature and too great to be borne out 
 of current taxation, is generally met by the issue of 
 bonds or other evidences of indebtedness payable 
 in 20 or 30 years, or other long periods of time. 
 
 Safeguards against Excessive Indebtedness. 
 
 The temptation to create present debt and to throw 
 the burdens of it on the future is very great, and it 
 is universally recognized that such power must be con- 
 ferred under necessary limitations ; the common limita- 
 tions in this country being a constitutional restriction 
 on the total aggregate indebtedness that may be created, 
 (which is generally much smaller than the ten per cent, 
 limitation in the Constitution of New York), and often 
 the sanction also of a popular vote. Even these 
 have not always proved effectual against the creation 
 of improvident or extravagant indebtedness. In England 
 
 ZZI 
 
 
municipalities must submit to the Home Office or other 
 central authority in London for examination and sanc- 
 tion every project which requires the like borrowing of 
 money. This check on ill-advised improvements works 
 well in that country, although it is a check which is 
 extrinsic to the municipality, and one that is imposed 
 upon the power of the electors and of the municipality 
 itself. On a similar principle, and for the same 
 purposes, we have devised and imposed checks 
 upon the debt-creating power of the Greater City 
 by requiring the sanction, respectively, of the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment and of the Board of 
 Public Improvements, and by subjecting ordinances 
 creatiDg a debt to the Mayor's power of veto. The 
 Constitutional limitation in this State is too large 
 to be, in itself, an adequate restriction, and the local 
 conditions in the Greater City are not such as to 
 make it appropriate, in many instances, at least, 
 to submit to the people of the whole city the ques- 
 tion whether a given improvement, for example, 
 an additional bridge over the East Biver, or 
 other like improvement, should be constructed or 
 made. It seems to the Commission that the checks 
 and safeguards contained in the charter against the 
 creation of improvident or excessive indebtedness are 
 specially appropriate to the circumstances and condi- 
 tions of the Greater City, giving it freedom of action 
 to initiate aU needful permanent and expensive im- 
 provements, provided they have the approval of the 
 Boards above mentioned and the sanction of the Mayor. 
 
 YYTT 
 
Assumption of Indebtedness. 
 
 The Commission has provided as a necessary result 
 of consolidation, for the assumption by the enlarged 
 city of all the valid debts of every locality. This ap- 
 peared to it to be mandatory by the terms of the law 
 under which it is acting. As the city inherits all of 
 the powers, franchises, rights and property of the munic- 
 ipal and public corporations to be consolidated, it must 
 necessarily assume their just obligations and liabilities. 
 It would be impossible to secure a uniform rate of taxa- 
 tion throughout the territory of Greater New York, 
 within a generation, by any other course. It would be 
 impossible, in any real sense, to unify the city if in the 
 matter of taxation all parts of it were to be treated on 
 a different basis, as distinct entities ; and it is not to be 
 forgotten that anything that helps any part of the city 
 after consolidation takes place, tends to relieve the 
 burden of taxation in every other part. 
 
 Careful provision is made in the Charter to secure 
 equality of valuations and of taxation throughout the 
 entire City and in its every part. 
 
 Police Department. 
 
 In organizing the Police Department the Commis- 
 sion encountered a subject upon which it was found 
 that unanimity was impossible. Two different systems 
 of police organization were in existence in the cities to 
 be consolidated. In New York there was a Police 
 Board of four members, and this Board was charged 
 with the duties of a Board of Elections. At the head 
 of the Police Department in Brooklyn was a single 
 Commissioner, the Board of Elections being a distinct 
 
 XXIII 
 
and independent organization consisting of four 
 members. 
 
 The Police Chapter as finally adopted contains these 
 provisions : (1) All applicants for admission to the 
 force must pass a civil service examination, and new 
 members must be selected from those candidates who 
 are graded highest by the Civil Service Commission 
 after such examination. (2) Promotions from the 
 lower to the higher grades must be made on grounds 
 of seniority, of merit and of excellence, as shown by 
 competitive examinations. (3) " No promotion, ex- 
 cept in case of a vacancy in the office of Chief of 
 Police, shall be made unless the same is recommended 
 by the Chief of Police in writing, stating his reasons 
 for such recommendation." (4) To prevent a dead- 
 lock, " in case of the rejection of any recommenda- 
 tion for promotion the Chief of Police shall submit 
 another name within three days, and shall continue so 
 to do until such vacancy is filled." (5) The action of 
 the Board upon these recommendations is by a ma- 
 jority vote. (6) The Chief of Police may be retired 
 and thus removed from office by the unanimous vote 
 of four Commissioners, or by a majority vote ap- 
 proved by the Mayor. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the Police Department 
 under the new charter is organized upon principles 
 quite difi'erent from anything that has heretofore pre- 
 vailed either in New York or Brooklyn. 
 
 Consolidation of Police Forces. 
 
 The charter provides for the consolidation into a 
 single force of all the police forces of the tenitory to 
 be consolidated, and also of all the Park police and of 
 
 XXIV 
 
the police of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. 
 The advantages to be gained by such a consolidation 
 of police forces are apparent. Some objection has 
 been made that the duties of the Park police are so 
 different from those of the regular police as to make 
 consolidation of the force in their case unwise. The 
 Commission, in this respect, has acted upon the plan 
 that has worked well in connection with the Sanitary 
 Squad, a body of police assigned to duty under the 
 orders of the Health Department. That is to say, 
 while the parks will be policed by members of the 
 police force assigned to duty therein, such members, 
 while so assigned, will be subject to the orders of the 
 Park Commissioners as fully as the Park police now. 
 By this arrangement the Commission thinks that it 
 has secured in police matters, even as regards the 
 Parks, the advantages of both systems. 
 
 Salaries in Police and Fire Departments. 
 
 Another aspect of the financial problem has pre- 
 sented itself, to the great perplexity of the Commis- 
 sion, in connection with the salaries of the uniformed 
 forces of the Police and Fire Departments. It is cer- 
 tainly just that when men are liable to duty, either as 
 policemen or firemen, in any part of the great city, 
 they should receive the same rate of pay. On the 
 other hand, the question whether the pay ought to be 
 immediately unified has seemed to the Commission a 
 somewhat different one. In amalgamating into a 
 single force the police forces of the various cities to be 
 consolidated, and also the park police of the various 
 cities and the bridge police, it is clear that amalgama- 
 tion in anything more than a nominal sense must be a 
 
 XXV 
 
matter of time. The police forces so to be consolidated 
 are likely for a time to continue to serve, for the most 
 part, where they now are, and under conditions that 
 hare hitherto prevailed. In the meanwhile, it has 
 seemed to the Commission a real hardship to Greater 
 New York, before it has realized any of the benefits of 
 consolidation, immediately to fix the salaries of the 
 police and fire forces all over the consolidated territory 
 at the high figures that now prevail in the present city 
 of New York, which are based very largely, it is to be 
 presumed, upon the greater cost of living on Manhattan 
 Island. It has seemed to the Commission, therefore, 
 that it is, on the whole, just to all concerned to place 
 the members of the various police and fire forces to be 
 consolidated with the present New York police and 
 fire forces, in a position to secure at once a yearly 
 increase of pay, and entire uniformity of pay within three 
 years. It is proper to point out that the park police 
 of the present city of New York are dealt with by the 
 Commission in precisely the same way as the other 
 police forces to be consolidated into the police force of 
 the greater city. In the meanwhile, provision has been 
 made for the initial appointment to the police and fire 
 forces of Greater New York, after January Ist, 1898, at 
 a salary of $800 instead of $1,000, the minimum rate of 
 pay at the present time in the City of New York. 
 
 Protection of Looal Interests. 
 
 Manifestly one of the most difficult problems that the 
 Commission has had to meet has been to determine to 
 what extent and how the interests of the different locali- 
 ties in the great city could be adequately provided for 
 ■without exposing the city, on the one hand, to grave 
 
 XXVI 
 
financial danger by reason of extravagant demands of 
 suburban localities, and without depriving these locali- 
 ties, on the other hand, of the advantages reasonably to 
 be expected from consolidation. The Commission is of 
 opinion that the President of each Borough, sitting as 
 he does in the Board of Public Improvements, will be 
 an important factor in the successful working out of 
 the problem. 
 
 The Boards of Local Improvements consist of the 
 President of the Borough and of the members of the 
 Municipal Assembly residing within any given Sena- 
 torial District, the Senatorial District having been 
 chosen as the unit for the consideration of improve- 
 ments to be paid for by assessment for benefits. These 
 Local Boards give the neighborhood, as such, a voice 
 by which it can speak in relation to matters of local 
 concern, and especially as to what are technically 
 known as local improvements ; that is to say, improve- 
 ments to be paid for by assessment for benefits. 
 
 The procedure in regard to improvements to be paid 
 for by assessment for benefits has been settled after 
 public hearings and full discussion and deliberate con- 
 sideration. The locality has the opportunity to ex- 
 press its wishes in the matter through its Local 
 Board, presided over by the President of the Borough. 
 The judgment of the Board of Public Improvements, 
 on which the city at large, as well as each locality, is 
 represented, is relied upon to protect the public inter- 
 est, and to prevent the credit of the city from being 
 placed at the service of speculators and contractors. 
 In the scheme adopted, local improvements are to be 
 aided by the credit and means of the city, and the city 
 cannot wholly surrender the control thereof. The 
 procedure adopted is simple, and involves no delay 
 
 xxvn 
 
other than that which is essential for the thorough 
 investigation by the Board of Public Improvements of 
 each proposition. 
 
 Care has been taken to protect all maps that have 
 finally been adopted for any part of the city, from ill- 
 considered change. The duty of mapping parts of the 
 city that are not yet mapped has been devolved upon 
 the President of the Board of Public Improvements in 
 connection with the Commissioner of Sewers. This 
 arrangement has been chosen because it was deemed 
 undesirable to build up special machinery in each 
 borough for this purpose. Again, it was held to be 
 essential that the oflBcer originally making the maps 
 should be in a position to command the complete 
 co-operation of the Department of Sewers, inas- 
 much as the drainage system adopted is, 
 to a considerable extent, the determining factor 
 as to the lines and grades of streets and high- 
 ways. On the other hand, the President of the 
 Borough as a member of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments, will be associated with this work only less 
 closely than if he had it directly in his own charge. It 
 is possible that the President of the Board of Public 
 Improvements may improperly disregard the views of 
 the locality ; but so it is possible that a headstrong 
 President of a Borough might do the same thing. In 
 the meanwhile, such action is not to be anticipated in 
 either case. It is rather to be assumed that, in a board 
 composed as the Board of Public Improvements will 
 be composed, every new section of the city will be 
 mapped sagaciously and in the public interest. The 
 Board of Public Improvements and also the Municipal 
 Assembly, with the approval of the Mayor, are given 
 power to call for the completion of any map by a date 
 
 XX vm 
 
to be fixed, so as to put an end to unreasonable 
 delay. 
 
 By these provisions the Commission thinks it has 
 met successfully and equitably the requirements of the 
 problem to be dealt with. It has been impossible for 
 the Commission to accept the proposition that was so 
 strongly urged from one locality, that every borough 
 should elect its own Commissioner of Public Works, 
 who should have control over and be responsible for 
 public work of all kind within the limits of the 
 Borough. Whatever may be the advantages of this 
 proposition, it is not consolidation ; it is rather disin- 
 tegration. Such a plan would make the greater city 
 furnish the money to each locality for whatever work 
 it wanted to do, and would leave the locality free 
 handed to do it in its own way. It would deprive all 
 parts of the city of anything like unity of develop- 
 ment, and would, in effect, destroy whatever ad- 
 vantage is to be expected from consolidation in 
 the direction of ski] led oversight and control. The 
 Commission has been obliged to assume it as a 
 fundamental proposition from which it has departed in 
 no instance that the control of all public work of every 
 kind should proceed from the centre, and that it should 
 be executed by the agents of the city as distinguished 
 from the agents of the locality. 
 
 The scheme in the charter whereby the city aids 
 with its credit and money the making of local improve- 
 ments by issuing its bonds and raising, in the first 
 instance, the amount needful for such works, and 
 relying for reimbursement upon afterwards collecting 
 assessments for benefits, is a provision of extreme 
 liberality on the part of the city towards the localities. 
 Such a power was regarded by some of the members 
 
 XXIX 
 
of the Commission as liable to lead to excessive in- 
 debtedness on tbe part of the city, and they urged that 
 no such improvements be made unless one- third, or 
 some other proportion, of the cost should be raised in 
 advance by the property interested. The Commission 
 decided upon the scheme outlined whereby the en- 
 larged city will extend its aid, but under the safeguards 
 provided in the Charter. 
 
 In dealing with interests so comprehensive and so 
 important as those that are affected by the proposition 
 to consolidate into a single city the three cities and 
 the other territory that are to become a part of 
 Greater New York, it is not surprising that opinion in 
 the Commission, as well as outside of it, should have 
 been sharply divided upon some points. Notwith- 
 standing these divisions of opinion, the Commission 
 are at one in recommending to the Legislature the 
 adoption of the charter as submitted. 
 
 Concluding Observations. 
 
 The Commission, as it has studied the problem com- 
 mitted to it for solution, has become more and more sen- 
 sible of the gravity of it. It appears to the Commission 
 inevitable that there should be more or less inconven- 
 ience and possibly some confusion for a time, resulting 
 from the substitution of a new government for so many 
 other and different forms of administration throughout 
 the consolidated territory. Village governments, town 
 governments, city governments and county governments 
 are alike called upon .to give place to a city government 
 to come into being on a fixed date. There are no 
 ofl&cers in existence competent to make a budget for 
 the enlarged city, nor to lay a tax for its benefit, as 
 
such, in advance of its constitution. The Commission 
 has provided that the different parts of the territory 
 to be consolidated shall raise their tax for 1898 pre- 
 cisely as though consolidation were not to take place ; 
 and the Charter equips the enlarged City with authority 
 to make good deficiencies and to readjust in 1899 any 
 inequality of contribution that may be incident to the 
 abnormal condition prevailing in 1898. But, while the 
 Commission is aware that some confusion may be in- 
 evitable in connection with a reorganization of govern- 
 ment so far-reaching, it is nevertheless prepared to 
 say, without dissent on the part of any member, that it 
 believes consolidation can safely be undertaken under 
 the provisions of the proposed Charter and the special 
 Acts supplemental thereto. 
 
 The Commission does not assume that it has been 
 able to anticipate every contingency, nor, with all 
 its care, that it has been able altogether to avoid 
 omissions, repetitions and mistakes ; but it does be- 
 lieve, after everything has been said, that the Charter 
 contains a system of government for the consolidated 
 city that may safely be put into operation with the as- 
 surance that it will quickly adjust itself to the city's 
 needs. 
 
 The Commission is glad to be able to add that its 
 study of the problem has left it more firmly con- 
 vinced than ever that the large and permanent interests 
 of all the communities involved will be advanced by 
 uniting them in the City of New York. Consolidation 
 cannot do otherwise than facilitate the spread of popu- 
 lation. To the extent that it does this, it will increase 
 the number of citizens who can own their own homes 
 and will multiply still more largely the number of those 
 who can hope to do so. In the long run, the government 
 
 XXXI 
 
of the city and tbe government of the State must both 
 be benefited by such a result. 
 
 Manhattan Island is to-day the business centre 
 of a Greater New York of not less than three 
 millions of people. There are those now living 
 who may see it the business centre of a popula- 
 tion twice as large. In the meanwhile, by unit- 
 ing into one city the settlements (within the city 
 limits) that line the shores of the Sound, the East 
 River and the Bay, so far as they are included in the 
 State of New York, the City of New York secures an 
 opportunity to command the development of commer- 
 cial facilities throughout the length and breadth of its 
 magnificent water front, which probably could not be 
 had in any other way. 
 
 The Commissioners unite in recommending the 
 Greater New York Charter to the favorable considera- 
 tion of the legislature. 
 
 B. F. Tracy President 
 W. L. Strong Mayor 
 F. W. WuRSTEB Mayor 
 P. J. Gleason Mayor 
 John F, Dillon 
 Wm. C. DeWitt 
 Thos. F. Gilroy 
 Silas B. Ddtcher 
 Seth Low 
 Harrison S. Moore 
 Stewart L. Woodford 
 Campbell W. Adams 
 
 State Engineer and Siu'veyor 
 T. E. Hancock Attorney-General 
 Geo. M. Pinney Jr. Secretary. 
 Dated New York, February 18th, 1897. 
 
 XXXII 
 
[UiriVBRSIITl 
 
 THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER. 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 To unite into one municipality under the cor- 
 porate name of The City of New York, the 
 various communities lying in and about New 
 York Harbor, including the City and County 
 of New York, the City of Brooklyn and the 
 County of Kings, the County of Richmond, 
 and part of the County of Queens, and to 
 provide for the government thereof. 
 
 T/ie people of the State of New York, represented in Senate 
 and Assembly, do enact as follows : 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BOUNDARIES, BOROUGHS, POWERS, RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS 
 
 OF THE CITY. 
 
 The City of New York ; corporations consolidated; territory ; 
 short title of this Act. 
 
 Section 1. All the municipal and public corporations 
 and parts of municipal and public corporations, including 
 cities, villages, towns and school districts, but not including 
 counties, within the following territory, to wit : The County 
 of Kings, the County of Richmond, the city of Long Island 
 City, the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, and that 
 part of the town of Hempstead, in the County of Queens* 
 
 1 
 
which is westerly of a straight line drawn from the southeast. 
 erly point of the town of Flushing through the middle of the 
 channel between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island, in the 
 County of Queens, to the Atlantic Ocean, are hereby annexed 
 to, united and consolidated with the municipal corporation 
 known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City 
 of New York, to be hereafter called "The City of New 
 York;" and the boundaries, jurisdictions and powers of the said 
 City of New York herein constituted, are for all purposes of 
 local administration and government, hereby declared to be 
 co-extensive with the territory above described ; and the said 
 City of New York is hereby declared to be the successor corpora- 
 tion in law and in fact of all the municipal and public corpora- 
 tions united and consolidated as aforesaid with all their lawful 
 rights and powers and subject to all their lawful obligations 
 without diminution or enlargement except as herein otherwise 
 specially provided ; and all of the duties and powers of the 
 several municipal and public corporations united and consoli- 
 dated as aforesaid into The City of New York are hereby de- 
 volved upon the Municipal Assembly of said City of New York 
 so far as the same are applicable to said City and not herein 
 otherwise specially provided, to be exercised in accordance with 
 the provisions of this Act. 
 
 This Act may be cited by the short title of "The 
 Greater New York Charter." 
 
 Division into Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 2. The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, is hereby divided into five Boroughs to be designated 
 respectively: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and 
 Richmond ; the boundaries whereof shall be as follows : 
 
 First. The Borough of Manhattan shall consist of all that 
 portion of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, known 
 as Manhattan Island, Nuttin or Governor's Island, Bedloe's 
 Island, Bucking or Ellis Island, the Oyster Islands, and also 
 Blackwell's Island, Randall's Island and Ward's Island in the 
 East or Harlem Rivers. 
 
Second. The Borough of The Bronx shall consist of all that 
 portion of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, lying 
 northerly or easterly of the Borough of Manhattan, between the 
 Hudson River and the East River or Long Island Sound, 
 including the several islands belonging to the Municipal Cor- 
 poration heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, not included in the Borough 
 of Manhattan. 
 
 Third. The Borough of Brooklyn shall consist of that portion 
 of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, hitherto known 
 as the City of Brooklyn. 
 
 Fourth. The Borough of Queens shall consist of that portion 
 of Queens County included in The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 Fifth. The Borough of Richmond shall consist of the territory 
 known as Richmond County. 
 
 Name ; poivers and rights of the corporation; seal. 
 
 Sec. 3. The name of the corporation constituted by this 
 Act shall be ''The City of New York," and the same shall 
 by that name, be a body politic and corporate in fact andi 
 in law with power to contract and to be contracted with, to sue 
 and be sued, to have a common seal and to have perpetual suc- 
 cession, with all of the rights, properties, interests, claims, 
 demands, grants, powers, privileges and jurisdictions held by 
 the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York, and held by each of the municipal and public corporations 
 or parts thereof, other than counties, by this Act united and 
 consolidated with the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, except so far as 
 modified or repealed by the provisions of this Act. 
 
 Local Government ; Municipal Assembly ; liabilities of corporations 
 consolidated. 
 
 Sec. 4. For all purposes the local administration and gov- 
 ernment of the people and property within the territory hereby 
 
 3 
 
comprised within The City of New York shall be in and be exer- 
 cised by the corporation aforesaid ; and the Municipal Assembly, 
 as in this Act constituted, subject to the conditions and provis- 
 ions of this Act, shall exercise all the powers vested in 
 the corporation of The City of New York by this Act or other- 
 wise, save as in this Act is otherwise specially provided. AH 
 valid and lawful charges and liabilities now existing against any 
 of the municipal or public corporations, or parts thereof, which 
 by this Act are made part of the corporation of The City of New 
 York, including the County of Kings and the County of Rich- 
 mond, or which may hereafter arise or accrue against such 
 municipal and public corporations or parts thereof, including 
 the said Counties of Kings and Richmond, which but for this 
 Act would be valid and lawful charges or liabilities against the 
 same, shall be deemed and taken to be like charges against or 
 liabilities of the said City of New York, and shall accordingly be 
 defrayed and answered unto by it to the same extent, and no 
 further, than the said several constituent corporations would have 
 been bound if this Act had not been passed. All bonds, stocks, 
 contracts and obligations of the said municipal and public cor- 
 porations, including the County of Kings and the County of 
 Richmond, and such proportion of the debt of the County of 
 Queens and of the Town of Hempstead as shall be ascertained 
 as hereinafter prescribed, which now exist as legal obligations, 
 shall be deemed like obligations of The City of New York, 
 and all such obligations as are authorized or required to be here- 
 after issued or entered into, shall be issued or entered into by 
 and in the name of the corporation of The City of New York. 
 
 Laws relating to the creation and payment of debts to remain in 
 force ; common debt ; taxation. 
 
 Sec. 5. All laws, or parts of laws, heretofore passed 
 creating any debt or debts of the municipal and public corporations 
 united and consolidated as aforesaid, or for the payment of 
 such debts, or respecting the same, as well as every such law 
 respecting the debts of the corporation known as the Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, shall 
 remain in full force and effect, except that the same shall be 
 
 4 
 
carried out by the corporation hereby constituted, to wit : The City 
 of New York, and under such name and in such form and 
 manner as may be suitable to the administration of said corpora- 
 tion ; and all the pledges, taxes, assessments, sinking funds, 
 and other revenues and securities provided by law for the pay- 
 ment of the debts of the municipal and public corporations 
 aforesaid, shall be in good faith enforced, maintained and carried 
 out by the corporation of The City of New York. All the valid 
 debts of the municipal and public corporations mentioned in 
 the first section of this Act, including the County of Kings 
 and the County of Richmond and the proportion of the debt 
 of the County of Queens and of the Town of Hempstead 
 aforesaid, and the valid debts of the towns, incorporated 
 villages, and school districts herein united and consolidated with 
 the corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of the City of New York into The City of New 
 York, as well as the debts of the latter corporation, shall be 
 the common debt of The City of New York, as hereby consti- 
 tuted. So far as resort to taxation is authorized or nec- 
 essary to pay such debts, such taxation shall extend equally 
 throughout the territory of the corporation herein consti- 
 tuted, except that all assessments for benefits, heretofore 
 laid or provided to be laid for the payment of any portion 
 of such debts, or to reimburse any of the said municipal 
 and public corporations which created such debt, in respect 
 thereof, shall be preserved and enforced, it being the intent 
 hereof that the obligations and liability of The City of New York, 
 as the successor of municipalities and public corporations consol- 
 idated into it, shall be the same as, and not otherwise or greater 
 than, the respective obligations and liabilities of the several 
 constituent corporations, and that The City of New York shall 
 succeed to all of their rights as well as to their obligations and 
 liabilities in respect thereof, except as herein otherwise specially 
 provided. 
 
 Effect where only a part of a Corporation is annexed. 
 
 Sec. 6. Where part only of the territory of a municipal or 
 public corporation is embraced by this Act within the limits of 
 
 5 
 
The City of New York, as herein constituted, the respective 
 rights, duties and HabiUties of the said City and of the municipal 
 or public corporations part of whose territory is so annexed to the 
 said City, shall be as in this Act provided. If any case shall arise 
 for which this Act does not make provision, or full and ade- 
 quate provision arising out of such annexation, or out of the 
 consolidation herein provided for, the Municipal Assembly may 
 by ordinance make provision for such case, or for its equitable 
 determination, so far as concerns The City of New York. 
 
 Same subject. Creation of debt. 
 
 Sec. 7. No municipal or public corporation, part of whose 
 territory is annexed to The City of New York, shall hereafter 
 create any debt which shall bind property within The City of 
 New York, nor shall such municipal or public corporation levy 
 any tax or assessment upon property within The City of New 
 York, as herein constituted. 
 
 Transfer of property; Counties not to become indebted. 
 
 Sec. 8. In consideration of the foregoing provisions where- 
 by The City of New York, as hereby constituted, assumes 
 as aforesaid the valid debts, obligations and liabilities of 
 the municipal and public corporations including the counties, 
 towns, incorporated villages and school districts as afore- 
 said, and to carry out the scheme and purpose of this Act, 
 all of the public buildings, institutions, public parks, water 
 works and property of every character and description, 
 whether of a public or private nature, heretofore owned and con- 
 trolled by any of the said municipal and public corporations or 
 parts thereof, hereby consolidated into The City of New York, 
 including any and all such property owned by the County of 
 New York, the County of Kings, and the County of Richmond, 
 wherever situated, and by the County of Queens situated in that 
 portion thereof, which is included within the limits of The City 
 of New York, as constituted by this Act, and all the right, title 
 and interest of the said municipal and public corporations and 
 counties as aforesaid, or any of them, in and to such property, 
 are hereby vested in The City of New' York and divested out of 
 
 6 
 
the said corporations and counties, and the poM er of said muni- 
 cipal and public corporations and of the said counties 
 of New York, Kings and Richmond to become indebted, 
 shall cease upon the consummation and taking effect of the 
 consolidation herein provided for. There is excepted from the 
 provisions of this section the court house and county buildings 
 in the County of Queens situated within the limits of The City 
 of New York, as hereby constituted. 
 
 Former funds ; payable to The City of New York. 
 
 Sec. 9. All funds and moneys which, on the first day of 
 January, 1898, shall be held by or be payable to the Receiver 
 of Taxes or to the County Treasurer of the County of Rich- 
 mond, or to any officer of any of the municipal and public 
 corporations, or parts of municipal and public corporations, 
 hereby consolidated with the corporation heretofore known 
 as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York, as well as all funds and moneys then held by or 
 payable to any officer of said last named corporation, shall 
 be deemed to be held by and be payable to the corporation 
 of The City of New York, constituted by this Act, solely as 
 the funds and moneys of said corporation, and upon the 
 day aforesaid shall be delivered to the officer of said corpora- 
 tion entitled by this Act to hold and control the same. 
 
 Expenses of the City for the year 1898. 
 
 Sec. 10. In the year 1897 it shall be the duty of the proper 
 authorities of the various municipal and public corporations con- 
 solidated by this Act into The City of New York, to prepare a 
 jbudget for the year 1898, as required by existing law, and to 
 levy taxes for the year 1898 in 1897, as required by existing law, 
 as though such municipal and public corporations were not 
 to be consolidated into The City of New York ; and in so far 
 as such taxes shall remain uncollected on the first day of 
 January, 1898, they shall become valid liens due to the Cor- 
 poration by this Act constituted, and shall be collected by 
 it through the appropriate officers of The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted, pursuant in all respects to the 
 
 7 
 
laws under which said taxes were levied and were to be 
 collected. On and after January first, 1898, the funds received 
 by the Chamberlain of The City of New York, under this 
 Act, and the proceeds of revenue bonds issued in anticipa- 
 tion of the taxes for 1898 in the City of New York, as consti- 
 tuted prior to the passage of this Act, and the proceeds of the 
 tax levy therein of 1898, may be used for the expenses of The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this Act, in such manner 
 as the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for that year may 
 determine ; and it shall be the duty of the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment to apportion the said funds to the various 
 city departments as created by this Act, so that such funds 
 shall be used as nearly as may be, for the objects for which they 
 were raised. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment, dur- 
 ing the year 1898, shall have power to direct the issue of rev- 
 enue bonds of The City of New York, to be redeemed out of the 
 tax to be paid in 1899, for such purposes and in such amounts as 
 may be necessary to provide for the efficient conduct of the city 
 in all its departments, during 1898, provided that the sums so 
 raised in 1898 shall be subject to be raised by taxation upon 
 the various Boroughs on the basis elsewhere provided in this Act. 
 
 Expense of public schools for the year 1898. 
 
 Sec. 11. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 shall, out of the residue of the various funds raised for 
 the support of the public schools of the different parts of the 
 city during the year 1898, constitute from and after July first, 
 1898, the Special School Fund and the General School Fund for 
 the year 1898, so that the schools of the city may begin in the 
 autumn of 1898 to be conducted upon the basis of this division of 
 funds, and in general, upon the system hereinafter prescribed in 
 this Act. Up to July first, 1898, the school money shall be 
 spent as raised, for all school purposes, by the various School 
 Boards respectively. It shall be the duty of the Board of Edu- 
 cation as constituted under this Act, to make all appointments 
 therein provided for, and to adopt the necessary by-laws at such 
 time and in such manner, that the new system for the administra- 
 tion of the public schools of the city as provided by this Act, shall 
 go into full effect on July first, 1898. 
 
 8 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Legislative poxver ; where vested. 
 
 Sec. 17. The legislative power of The City of New York 
 shall be vested in two houses to be known, respectively, as the 
 Council and Board of Aldermen to be together styled "The 
 Municipal Assembly of The City of New York." 
 
 Council; number of ; president ; quorum; salaries. 
 
 Sec. 18. The Council shall consist of twenty-nine members, 
 one of whom shall be its President. The President shall be chosen 
 on a general ticket by the qualified voters of the City, at the same 
 time and for the same term as herein prescribed for the Mayor. He 
 shall be known as the President of the Council, and shall, 
 except as herein provided, possess all the rights, privileges 
 and powers, and perform the duties .now conferred or imposed 
 by law upon the President of the Board of Aldermen of the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York. 
 A majority of all the members elected to the Council shall con- 
 stitute a quorum. The salary of the President of the Council shall 
 be five thousand dollars a year. The salary of the other members 
 of the Council shall be one thousand five hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Council, hoxv chosen ; Council Districts. 
 
 Sec. 19. The remaining twenty-eight members of the Coun- 
 cil shall be chosen at the same election in the manner following: 
 
 The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, is hereby 
 divided into ten Council Districts bounded and described as 
 follows, to wit : 
 
 9 
 
First. All that part of the City of New York, as hereto- 
 fore constituted, comprising the present First, Second, Fourth, 
 Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth, Fourteenth and Sixteenth 
 Assembly Districts. 
 
 Second. All that part of the City of New York, as here- 
 tofore constituted, comprising the present Third, Fifth, Seventh, 
 Ninth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty- 
 fifth and Twenty-seventh Assembly Districts. 
 
 Third. All that part of the City of New York, as hereto- 
 fore constituted, comprising the present Eighteenth, Twentieth, 
 Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, 
 Thirtieth, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Assembly Districts. 
 
 Fourth. All that part of the City of New York, as here- 
 tofore constituted, comprising the present Nineteenth, Twenty- 
 first, Twenty-third, Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first Assembly 
 Districts, and that part of the Thirty-fourth Assembly District 
 lying south of the Harlem River. 
 
 Fifth. All that part of the City of New York, as heretofore 
 constituted, comprising that part of the present Thirty-fourth 
 Assembly District lying north and east of the Harlem River and 
 the whole of the Thirty-fifth Assembly District, together with 
 the district known as the Annexed District of said City, being 
 all that part of the City of New York lying north and east of 
 the Harlem River. 
 
 Sixth. All that part of the former City of Brooklyn, com- 
 prising the present Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, 
 Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty- 
 twenty-fifth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Wards of said 
 City. 
 
 Seventh. All that part of the former City of Brooklyn, com- 
 prising the present Seventh, Ninth, Twentieth, Twenty- 
 second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty- 
 ninth and Thirty-second Wards of said City. 
 
 Eighth. All that part of the former City of Brooklyn, com- 
 prising the present First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, 
 
 10 
 
Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first 
 Wards of said City. 
 
 Ninth. That part of Queens County included in The City 
 of New York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Tenth. The County of Richmond. 
 
 From each of the first eight of the said Council Districts 
 there shall be elected three members of the Council. 
 
 From that part of the County of Queens included within The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this Act, comprising the 
 Ninth of said Council Districts, there shall be elected two 
 members of the Council : one of said members shall be elected 
 from those parts of said County heretofore known as Long Island 
 City and the town of Newtown ; and the other of said members 
 shall r-o elected from those parts of said County heretofore known 
 as the towns of Jamaica and Flushing and that part of the town 
 of Hempstead included within The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 From the County of Richmond, comprising the Tenth of the 
 said Council Districts, there shall be elected two members of 
 the Council. 
 
 Term, of office of members of the Council. 
 
 Sec. 20. The term of office of each member of the Council 
 shall commence on the first Monday of January, after his elec- 
 tion, and shall continue for four years thereafter, and until his 
 successor shall be elected and has qualified. The President and 
 members of the Council shall be elected at the general election 
 in the year 1897, and every four years thereafter. 
 
 Mayor ^ an ex-officio raeniber of the Council. 
 
 Sec. 21. Every ex-Mayor of The City of New York, as con- 
 stituted by this Act, shall, so long as he remains a resident of said 
 city, be entitled to a seat in the Council and to participate in 
 its discussions, but he shall not be entitled to a vote. 
 
 11 
 
Time of meeting of Council. 
 
 Sec. 22. The first meeting of said Council in each year shall 
 be held on the first Monday of January, at noon. 
 
 When President of Council to act as Mayor ; powers ; temporary 
 Chairman of Council. 
 
 Sec. 23. Whenever there shall be a vacancy in the office of 
 Mayor, or whenever by reason of sickness or absence from the city 
 the Mayor shall be prevented from attending to the duties of his 
 office, the President of the Council shall act as Mayor, and pos- 
 sess all the rights and powers of Mayor during such disability or 
 absence. In case of a vacancy he shall so act until noon of the first 
 Monday of January succeeding the election at which the Mayor's 
 successor shall be chosen ; and at the next general election, 
 at which Municipal officers shall be elected, which shall take 
 place more than thirty days after the occurrence of a vacancy 
 in the office of Mayor, a successor shall be chosen, who shall 
 hold for the unexpired term. It shall not be lawful for the 
 President of the Council, when acting as Mayor in conse- 
 quence of the sickness or absence from the city of the 
 Mayor, to exercise any power of appointment to or removal 
 from office, unless such sickness or absence of the Mayor shall 
 have continued ten days ; or to sign, approve or disapprove any 
 ordinance or resolution, unless such sickness or absence shall 
 have continued at least nine days. The Council shall elect a 
 vice-chairman to preside over the meetings, who shall possess the 
 powers and perform the duties of the President of the Council, 
 when said President is sick, absent or under suspension, or while 
 the President of the Council is acting as Mayor, or when a va- 
 cancy occurs in said office, and who shall, during such time, 
 be a member of every board of which the President of said 
 Council is a member by virtue of his office. 
 
 Board of Aldermen, how constituted; tertn of office; vacancies, 
 how filled; salary. 
 
 Sec. 24. The Board of Aldermen shall be elected at the 
 general election in the year 1897, and every two years 
 thereafter, and shall consist of one member elected from 
 
 12 
 
each of the Assembly districts within the territory of The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this Act, or as such 
 Assembly districts may hereafter be changed by law; pro- 
 vided, however, that in the County of Queens, until otherwise 
 provided by law, one member of said Board of Aldermen shall 
 be elected from those parts of said County heretofore known as 
 Long Island City and the town of Newtown ; and one member 
 shall be elected from those parts of said County heretofore known 
 as the towns of Jamaica and Flushing and that part of the town 
 of Hempstead included within The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted ; and provided, further, that one member of the 
 Board of Aldermen shall be elected from those parts of the first 
 and second Assembly Districts of Westchester County, in- 
 cluded in the Borough of The Bronx. The term of office of each 
 Alderman shall commence on the first Monday of January, 
 after his election, and shall continue for two years thereafter and 
 until his successor shall be elected and has qualified. Any va- 
 cancy which may occur in the Council or the Board of Aldermen 
 shall be filled by election, by either of said bodies respectively, by 
 a majority of all the members elected thereto ; and the person so 
 elected to fill any such vacancy shall serve for the unexpired 
 portion of the term. The salary of members of the Board of 
 Aldermen shall be one thousand dollars a year. 
 
 Board of A Idermen ; quorum . 
 
 Sec. 25. A majority of all the members elected to the Board 
 of Aldermen shall constitute a quorum. Each head of an 
 administrative department of the city shall be entitled to a 
 seat in said Board, and shall whenever practicable attend the 
 meetings of the Board, and shall have the right to participate 
 in its discussions, but shall not have the right to vote. If an 
 administrative department is composed of more than one 
 member, the president or presiding officer of such department 
 shall be entitled to such seat. 
 
 Id.; hotv president elected and removed. 
 
 Sec. 26. The Board of Aldermen shall, at its first meet- 
 ing, which shall b^ at noon on the first Monday of Januarv 
 
 13 
 
after each Aldermanic election, by the affirmative vote of 
 a majority of those present and constituting a quorum, 
 choose a President from its own members, by a call of the names 
 of the members of the Board, upon which call each member 
 shall announce his choice, and when once chosen, such Presi- 
 dent can be removed before the expiration of his term as Alder- 
 man, when his term as President shall expire, only by a vote 
 taken by a call of ayes and noes, of four-fifths of all the mem- 
 bers elected to the Board. 
 
 Council and Board of Aldermen; Sergeant-at-Arms ; rules; 
 journal ; sittifigs ; expulsion of members. 
 
 Sec. 27. The Council and the Board of Aldermen may 
 each elect a Sergeant-at-Arms and such assistants as are 
 needful to the orderly conduct of their meetings, provided, 
 however, that no expenditures for salaries of such Sergeant-at- 
 Arms and such assistants shall exceed the amount appro- 
 priated therefor in the annual budget. Each of said bodies shall 
 determine the rules of its own proceedings; shall each be 
 the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own 
 members, subject, however, to review by certiorari of any 
 court of competent jurisdiction; shall each keep a journal of its 
 proceedings ; shall each sit with open doors ; shall each have 
 authority to compel the attendance of absent members, 
 and to punish its members for disorderly behaviour; and to 
 expel any member with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the 
 members elected to such body. Every member so expelled shall 
 thereby forfeit all his rights and powers, subject, however, to 
 judicial review on certiorari. 
 
 City clerk ; appoiyitment , term, duties ; papers certified by him to 
 be evidence. 
 
 Sec. 28. The Council shall, at the first meeting, appoint a 
 Clerk, who shall perform such duties as may be prescribed for 
 him. The clerk so appointed shall also be the City Clerk, and 
 hold his office for six years, and until his successor shall be 
 appointed and have qualified, unless removed for cause. The 
 
 14 
 
City Clerk shall have charge of all the papers and documents 
 of the city, except such as are by law committed to the keeping 
 of the several departments or of other ofificers, and shall keep 
 the record of the proceedings of the Municipal Assembly. He 
 shall engross all the ordinances of the Municipal Assembly in a 
 book to be provided for that purpose, with proper indices, 
 which book shall be deemed a public record of such ordinances, 
 and each ordinance shall be attested by said Clerk. Copies of 
 all papers duly filed in his ofifice, and transcripts thereof, and of 
 the records of proceedings of the Municipal Assembly, and 
 copies of the laws and ordinances of said city, certified by him 
 under the corporate seal, shall be evidence in all courts and 
 places of the matters therein contained. Said clerk shall appoint 
 a Clerk for the Board of Aldermen, who, apart from his service 
 during the meetings pf said Board of Aldermen, shall be in all 
 things subject to his direction and control. Said clerk may be 
 removed on charges by a two-thirds vote of all the members of 
 the Council, subject, however, to judicial review on certiorari. 
 
 City Clerk ; proceedings of Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 29. Immediately after the adjournment of each meet- 
 ing of the Municipal Assembly, it shall be the duty of the 
 clerk to prepare a brief abstract, omitting all technical and 
 formal details, of all resolutions and ordinances introduced or 
 passed, and of all recommendations of committees, and of all 
 final proceedings, as well as full copies of all messages from the 
 Mayor and all reports of departments or ofificers. He shall at 
 once transmit the same to the person appointed to supervise the 
 publication of the City Record to be published therein. 
 
 Certain ordinances and resolutions, how passed and approved ; ayes 
 and noes published. 
 
 Sec. 30. No ordinance or resolution providing for or con- 
 templating the alienation or disposition of any property of 
 the City, the granting of a franchise, terminating the lease of any 
 property or franchise belonging to the City, or the making of 
 any specific improvement, or the appropriati^^^Qr;-?e^^nditure 
 
 15 
 
 
of public moneys, or authorizing the incurring of any expense, 
 or the taxing or assessing of property in the City, shall pass the 
 Council or Board of Aldermen at the same session at which it is 
 first offered, unless by unanimous consent ; and the same shall 
 not be finally passed or adopted by the Municipal Assembly 
 until at least five days after such abstract of its provisions 
 shall have been published, as provided in section 29. No 
 such ordinance or -resolution shall be approved by the 
 Mayor until three days after such abstract shall have been 
 so published after its passage ; but if an abstract of any 
 resolution or ordinance shall have been once published after 
 its introduction, it shall not thereafter be necessary to publish 
 the same again, but only to refer to the date and page of the 
 former in the City Record, and to state the amendments, if any, 
 made thereto. In all cases the ayes and noes upon the final pas- 
 sage of such resolution or ordinance shall be taken, recorded 
 and published. 
 
 Records open for inspection ; other duties of clerk ; sickness. 
 
 Sec. 31. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to keep 
 open for inspection at all reasonable times, the records and 
 minutes of the proceedings of the Municipal Assembly. He shall 
 keep the seal of the city, and his signature shall be necessary to 
 all leases by the city of its property, and to all grants and other 
 documents, as under existing laws. In the absence of said 
 Clerk by sickness or otherwise, his first Deputy shall be vested 
 with and possessed of all the rights and powers, and be charged 
 with all the duties by this section or by law or ordinance im- 
 posed upon said Clerk. 
 
 Id.; records and papers delivered to and kept by the clerk; clerks 
 in Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 32. All the muniments, records, patents, deeds, 
 minutes, writings and papers belonging to the Mayor, Alder- 
 men and Commonalty of the City of New York, now in the 
 custody of the Clerk of the Board of Aldermen thereof, shall be 
 delivered to and be kept by the City Clerk. The City Clerk 
 shall be the :rustodian of all like muniments, records, patents, 
 
 16 
 
deeds, minutes, writings, and other papers belonging to any of the 
 municipal and public corporations by this Act united and con- 
 solidated into The City of New York, and shall have power to 
 appoint a clerk in each of the Boroughs constituted by this 
 Act, who shall have charge of the same, subject to the 
 direction and control of said City Clerk, and of the Municipal 
 Assembly. 
 
 Id.; salary and deputies. 
 
 Sec. 33. The salary of the City Clerk shall be seven thou- 
 sand dollars a year, and he may appoint such Deputies or 
 clerks as are necessary to the discharge of his duties, provided 
 that the aggregate salaries of such deputies and clerks, including 
 the salary of the City Clerk, shall not exceed in any one year 
 he sum appropriated therefor in the annual budget. 
 
 Licenses to auctioneers. 
 
 Sec. 34. The City Clerk shall have authority to grant 
 licenses to any person engaged in and carrying on the business 
 and occupation of auctioneer, or desiring to be so engaged, on 
 such person filing a- bond, approved by him, with two good 
 sureties in the penal sum of two thousand dollars. The Presi- 
 dent of the Council, on complaint of any person having been 
 defrauded by any auctioneer, or by the clerk, agent or assignee 
 of such auctioneer, doing business in said city, is authorized and 
 directed to take testimony under oath relating thereto ; and if 
 the charge shall, in his opinion, be sustained, he shall revoke 
 the license granted to him and direct the bonds to be forfeited. 
 
 Municipal Assembly ; journal ; ayes and noes. 
 
 Sec. 35. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
 and the ayes and noes of the members on any question shall, at 
 the desire of any two members, be taken and entered therein. 
 The ayes and noes shall be called and recorded on the final 
 passage of any ordinance. 
 
 Id.; no member eligible to any city office. 
 
 Sec. 36. No member of the Municipal Assembly shall 
 during the term for which he is elected, be eligible or be 
 
 17 
 
appointed to any other office under the city,, nor shall any 
 member of said Assembly, while such, be a contractor with or 
 an employee of the city, or of either branch of the said Assem- 
 bly in any capacity whatever. 
 
 Id.; meetings. 
 
 Sec. 87. The stated and occasional meetings of the Munici- 
 pal Assembly and its proceedings and business shall be regulated 
 by its own resolutions and rules, provided, however, that at 
 least one stated meeting shall be held each month, except, 
 in the discretion of the Municipal Assembly, in August and Sep- 
 tember. The Mayor may at any time call a special meeting of 
 the Municipal Assembly. He shall call such meeting when a 
 requisition for that purpose, signed by nine members of the 
 Board of Aldermen and three members of the Council, has been 
 presented to him. Three days before any special meeting of 
 the Municipal Assembly is held, notice of the time of the 
 intended meeting and of the business proposed to be transacted, 
 signed by the Mayor, shall be published in the City Record, 
 and the City Clerk shall cause a copy of such notice to be left 
 or sent by post at the usual place of abode or of business of 
 each member of the Municipal Assembly ; but want of service 
 of a notice upon any member shall not affect the validity of a 
 meeting. No business shall be transacted at a special meeting 
 other than that specified in the notice relating thereto. 
 
 Id.; style of ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 38. The style of ordinances shall be: ^'■Be it ordained 
 by the Municipal Assembly of the City of New York, as follows ".• 
 
 Id.; vote required to pass ordinances and resolutions. 
 
 Sec. 39. Every legislative act of the Municipal Assembly 
 shall be by ordinance or resolution. No ordinance or resolution 
 shall be passed except by a vote of a majority of all the mem- 
 bers elected to each house. In case any ordinance or resolution 
 involves the expenditure of money, the creation of a debt, 
 or the grant of a franchise, the votes of three-fourths of all the 
 
 18 
 
members elected to each house shall be necessary to its passage. 
 No money shall be expended for any celebration, procession, 
 funeral ceremony, reception, or entertainment of any kind or 
 on any occasion, unless by the votes of four-fifths of all the 
 members elected to each house. 
 
 No additional allowance beyond the legal claim which shall 
 exist under any contract with the corporation, or with any 
 department or officer thereof, or for any services on its account 
 or in its employment, shall ever be passed by the Municipal 
 Assembly, except by the unanimous vote of both houses 
 thereof; and in all cases the provisions of any such contract 
 shall determine the amount of any claim thereunder or in con- 
 nection therewith, against the said corporation, or the value of 
 any such services. 
 
 Mayor s veto. 
 
 Sec. 40. Every ordinance or resolution shall, before it 
 takes effect, be presented, duly certified, to the Mayor for 
 his approval. The Mayor shall return such ordinance or resolu- 
 tion to the house in which it originated, within ten days after 
 receiving it, or at the next meeting of the house after the expira- 
 tion of said ten days, unless such ordinance or resolution be one 
 of those mentioned in section 30 of this Act, in which case the 
 Mayor shall return said ordinance or resolution to the house in 
 which it originated within ten days after the abstract of its 
 provisions or a reference thereto shall have been published in 
 the City Record as provided in said section 30, or at the next 
 meeting of the house after the expiration of said ten days. If 
 he approve it, he shall sign it. If he disapprove it, he shall 
 specify his objections thereto in writing. If he do not return 
 it with such disapproval within the time above specified, it 
 shall take effect as if he had approved it. In case of disap- 
 proval, the objections of the Mayor shall be entered at large on 
 the journal of the house, and the house shall, after ten days, and 
 within fifteen days after such ordinance or resolution shall have 
 been returned to it, proceed to reconsider and vote upon the same. 
 If the same shall, on reconsideration, be again passed by the 
 votes of at least two-thirds of all the members elected to each 
 
 19 
 
house, it shall take effect ; provided that in case the ordinance 
 or resolution involves the expenditure of money, the creation 
 of a debt, the laying of an assessment, or the grant of a 
 franchise it shall require a vote of five-sixths of all the members 
 of each house to pass it over the Mayor's veto. If the ordi- 
 nance or resolution shall fail to receive upon the first vote upon 
 such reconsideration such number of afhrmative votes in either 
 house, it shall be deemed finally lost. In all cases the vote shall 
 be taken by ayes and noes, and the names of the persons voting 
 for or against its passage on such reconsideration shall be entered 
 in the journal of the house. In case an ordinance or resolution 
 shall embrace more than one distinct subject, the Mayor may 
 approve the provisions relating to one or more subjects, and 
 disapprove the others. In such case those he shall approve 
 shall become effective, and those which he shall not approve 
 shall be reconsidered by the house, and shall only become 
 effective if again passed, as above provided. 
 
 Ordinances to remain in force. 
 
 Sec. 41. The ordinances now in force respectively in the 
 City of New York, the City of Brooklyn, Long Island City, and 
 the other municipal and public corporations and parts thereof 
 hereby consolidated with the City of New York, are, so far as 
 the same are not inconsistent with this Act, hereby continued in 
 full force and effect within the former limits of said respective 
 cities and municipal and public corporations, or parts thereof, 
 subject to modification, amendment or repeal by the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly of The City of New York. Such ordinances 
 may be enforced by and in the name of " The City of New 
 York." 
 
 Power to acquire additional water works. 
 
 Sec. 42. The Municipal Assembly is authorized, m accord- 
 ance with the provisions of this Act, to construct, establish 
 and maintain, or to acquire by purchase or condemnation and 
 maintain in all parts of the city, additional water works to sup- 
 ply the city or any part thereof and its inhabitants with water, 
 and to provide for the distribution and sale to the inhabitants of 
 
 20 
 
the city of such water, and fix the terms thereof, and acquire 
 and hold property, real and personal, within and beyond the 
 limits of the city for said purposes. The Municipal Assembly 
 may pass appropriate ordinances, not inconsistent with law, with 
 this Act or with any vested rights of existing companies or cor- 
 porations, to enforce the provisions of this section and to carry 
 out its purposes. 
 
 Id.: to restrict height of buildings. 
 
 Sec. 43. The Municipal Assembly is authorized by or- 
 dinance to regulate and restrict the height of buildings to be 
 hereafter erected in the city. When any ordinance on that 
 subject is introduced, the Municipal Assembly shall provide 
 for public hearings in reference thereto, before it or before 
 appropriate committees; and no ordinance restricting the 
 height of buildings shall be passed unless it is approved before- 
 hand by the Board of Public Improvements by a resolution or 
 vote of a majority of all of the members of such Board entered 
 on its minutes or record, and unless it shall be passed by a 
 majority of all the members elected to each house of the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly, the vote being taken by ayes and noes. 
 
 Power to appoint special committees. 
 
 Sec. 44. The Municipal Assembly shall have power and it 
 shall be its duty to see to the faithful execution of the laws and 
 ordinances of the city; and the Municipal Assembly may, by 
 joint resolution, appoint from time to time a special committee 
 to inquire whether the laws and ordinances of the city relat- 
 ing to any subject or to any department of the city govern- 
 ment are being faithfully observed, and the duties of the 
 officers of such department or of any officer of the city are be- 
 ing faithfully discharged, also to examine and report whether 
 there are any unnecessary, inefficient or unfit employees, any 
 excessive salaries or compensations paid, and generally in re- 
 spect of any and all matters which will conduce to the orderly 
 and economical administration of the affairs of the city govern- 
 ment or any department thereof. Such committee shall have 
 access to the books and records of the city or of any depart- 
 ment or officer thereof. 
 
 21 
 
Franchises for street railways ; ferries. 
 
 Sec. 45. The Municipal Assembly is authorized to grant 
 from time to time to any corporation thereunto duly authorized, 
 the franchise or right to construct and operate railways in, upon, 
 over, under, and along streets, avenues, parkways or highways of 
 the city, but no such grant shall be made except upon the limita- 
 tions and conditions of this Act elsewhere provided in respect 
 of the grant by the Municipal Assembly of franchises and 
 rights in the streets, avenues, parkways and highways of Sth 
 city. And further, to the end that cheap, easy and convenient 
 intercourse may be had between all parts of the city, the 
 City of New York, as hereby constituted, shall have full and ex- 
 clusive power to establish, and full power to enjoy by leasing 
 the same or otherwise, and to maintain and regulate ferries 
 over all streams and waterways within or adjoining the limits of 
 the said city. The Municipal Assembly may pass appropriate 
 ordinances not inconsistent with law or with this Act, or with 
 the vested rights of existing companies or corporations, to 
 enforce the provisions of this section and to carry out its 
 purposes. Nothing in this Act contained is intended to repeal 
 or affect the provisions of the Rapid Transit Acts applicable to 
 the corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of the City of New York, or any municipality 
 herein united therewith or territory embraced therein, or to 
 repeal or affect the existing general laws of the State in 
 respect to street surface railroads. 
 
 Municipal Assembly ; powers and duties of former boards. 
 
 Sec. 46. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, all the 
 powers and duties conferred or charged upon the Common 
 Council of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City 
 of New York, or the Board of Aldermen thereof, or upon the 
 Common Council of the City of Brooklyn or of Long Island 
 City, or upon any Board, body or officer of any of the muni- 
 cipal and public corporations or parts thereof, hereby consoli- 
 dated with the City of New York, as heretofore known and bound- 
 ed, shall be exercised and performed by the Municipal Assembly 
 
 22 
 
of Th« City of New York, as hereby constituted, subject, never- 
 theless, to the power of approval or disapproval by the Mayor 
 of said city as provided in this Act. 
 
 Id. : police, health, park, fire and building regulations. 
 
 Sec. 47. The Municipal Assembly shall have power to 
 make, establish, alter, modify, amend and repeal all ordinances, 
 rules, police, health, park, fire and building regulations, 
 not contrary to the laws of the State, or the United States, as 
 they may deem necessary to carry into effect the powers con- 
 ferred upon The City of New York by this Act, or by any other 
 law of the State, or by grant ; and such as it may deem neces- 
 sary and proper for the good government, order and protection 
 of persons and property, and for the preservation of the public 
 health, peace and prosperity of said City, and its inhabitants, 
 except so far as the legislative power respectingthe Health, Police, 
 Park, Fire and Building Departments shall be conferred upon 
 said Departments respectively by the provisions of this Act, and 
 except that any modification of the existing rules, regulations 
 and ordinances affecting any of the departments and all 
 ordinances to be passed to govern the Board of Public 
 Improvements or any of the Departments thereof, must origin- 
 ate with the Department concerned, or with said Board, and 
 must be adopted or rejected by the Municipal Assembly with- 
 out amendment. 
 
 Id.; further powers ; bonds for specified public improvements. 
 
 Sec. 48. The Municipal Assembly shall have power to 
 provide by ordinance for the acquisition, construction, or estab- 
 lishment of markets ; for the acquisition and construction of parks, 
 parkways, boulevards and driveways ; for the building of bridges, 
 and the establishment of ferries over, and of tunnels under 
 any stream or waterway within or adjoining the limits of 
 the city; for the building of docks, wharves, or piers, and 
 for acquiring land by purchase or condemnation for said purpo- 
 ses ; for acquiring, or constructing public buildings, including 
 school houses and sites therefor for the use of the city ; for the 
 
 23 
 
repaying of streets ; and for any of the foregoing purposes, may 
 create loans and authorize the issue of bonds, or other evidences 
 of indebtedness, to pay for the same, payable at such times, and 
 in such manner, and at such rates of interest as it may by 
 ordinance prescribe ; but no bonds or other evidences of 
 indebtedness shall be issued under the authority of this sec- 
 tion, unless the proposition for creating such debt, shall first 
 be approved by a resolution or vote of a majority of all of 
 the members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
 entered on the minutes or record of such Board ; and provided 
 further, that in the case of the issue of bonds or other evidences 
 of indebtedness for the repaving of streets, the vote of the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment must be unanimous. 
 
 Id.; make ordinances and regulations for certain purposes. 
 
 Sec. 49. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Mu- 
 nicipal Assembly shall have power within said City to make, 
 establish, publish and modify, amend or repeal ordinances, rules, 
 regulations and by-laws not inconsistent with this Act, or with 
 the Constitution or the laws of the United States, or of this 
 State, for the following purposes : 
 
 1. In relation to the inspection and sealing of weights 
 and measures, and the keeping in use of proper weights 
 and measures by vendors ; and may by ordinance regulate 
 the duties and fees or salary of the inspectors of weights 
 and measures and of the sealers of weights and measures, 
 and may impose such penalties for using weights and 
 measures and scale-beams which shall not have been 
 inspected and sealed in conformity to the ordinances, 
 and to provide for the appointment of such inspectors 
 and sealers by the Mayor as to them shall seem proper. 
 They may assign a particular district of the said City for 
 each of said inspectors and likewise for each of the sealers 
 of weights and measures, and may confine them in the 
 performance of their duties to such districts respectively. 
 
 2. In relation to the inspection, weighing and meas- 
 uring of fire-wood, coal, hay and straw and the cartage 
 of the same. 
 
 24 
 
3. To regulate the use of streets, highways, roads» 
 public places and sidewalks by foot passengers, animals, 
 vehicles, cars, motors and locomotives, and to prevent en- 
 croachments upon and obstructions to the same, and to 
 authorize and require their removal by the proper depart- 
 ment ; but they shall have no power to authorize the plac- 
 ing or continuing of any encroachment or obstruction 
 upon any street or sidewalk, except the temporary occu- 
 pation thereof, during the erection or repairing of a build- 
 ing on a lot opposite the same, nor shall they permit the 
 erection of booths and stands within stoop lines, except 
 for the sale of newspapers, periodicals, fruits and soda 
 water, and with the consent in such cases of the owner of 
 the premises. 
 
 4. To regulate by general ordinance, the opening of 
 street surfaces for purposes authorized by law, subject 
 to such restrictions as have already been prescribed by 
 statute. 
 
 5. To regulate the numbering of the houses and lots 
 in the streets and avenues and the naming of the streets, 
 avenues and public places; but it shall not be lawful to 
 number or re-number any houses or to change the name 
 of any street, avenue or public place, save between the 
 first day of December of any year and the first day of 
 May next ensuing. 
 
 6. To regulate and prevent the throwing or depos- 
 iting of ashes, offal, dirt or garbage in the streets and 
 subject to the other provisions of this Act to regulate 
 the cleaning of the streets, avenues, sidewalks and gut- 
 ters and removing of ice and snow from them. 
 
 7. To regulate the use of the streets and sidewalks, 
 for signs, sign-posts, awnings, awning posts, horse 
 troughs, urinals, telegraph posts and other purposes. 
 
 8. To provide for and regulate street pavements, 
 cross-walks, curb-stones, gutter stones, sidewalks and to 
 provide for regulating, grading, flagging, curbing, gutter- 
 
 25 
 
ing, and subject to the provisions of this Act, lighting 
 streets, roads, places and avenues. 
 
 9. To regulate public cries, advertising noises, steam 
 whistles and ringing bells in the streets. 
 
 10. In relation to street vagrants, beggars and men- 
 dicants. 
 
 11. In relation to the use of guns, pistols, fire-arms, 
 fire-crackers, fire-works and detonating works of all de- 
 scription within the City. 
 
 12. In relation to intoxication, fighting and quarrel- 
 ing in the streets. 
 
 13. In relation to places of public amusement. 
 
 14. In relation to exhibiting banners, placards, or 
 flags in or across the streets, or from houses or other 
 buildings. 
 
 15. In relation to the erection, maintenance and re- 
 pair of public fountains for the use of man and animals, 
 at convenient points along the streets and avenues and 
 publiclplaces. 
 
 16. .;". In relation to the exhibition of advertisements 
 or hand-bills along the streets, avenues or public places. 
 
 17. In relation to the construction, repair and use 
 of vaults, cisterns, areas, hydrants, sewers and pumps. 
 
 18. In relation to partition fences and walls. 
 
 19. In relation to the construction, repair, care and 
 use of markets. 
 
 20. In relation to the licensing and business of pub- 
 lic cartmen, truckmen, hackmen, cabmen, expressmen, 
 cardrivers and boatmen, pawn-brokers, junk dealers, 
 keepers of intelligence offices, dealers in second-hand 
 articles, hawkers, peddlers, vendors and the keeping 
 of dogs, menageries, circuses, common shows and scalp- 
 ers in coal freights, bone boiling, fat rendering and 
 
 26 
 
other noxious businesses, and to fixing the license, if 
 any, therefor. All licenses created therefor shall be 
 according to an established form, and shall be regularly 
 numbered and duly registered, as shall be prescribed 
 by the Municipal Assembly, provided however, that 
 all laws heretofore passed in respect to the avo- 
 cations above named within the City, shall remain in 
 full force and effect, to the exclusion of any power 
 granted by this provision so far as their terms shall re- 
 quire. 
 
 21. The Municipal Assembly shall also fix the an- 
 nual license fee, not exceeding the sum of twenty dollars, 
 for each street or horse car daily operated or used in that 
 portion of the City heretofore known as the City of 
 Brooklyn. Every railroad company operating or using 
 such cars, shall, on or before the first day of June in each 
 year, certify to the City Clerk the average number of cars 
 daily operated and used by said company, which certifi- 
 cate shall be verified by the oath of one of the managing 
 officers of said company, and every such railroad com- 
 pany shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, 
 pay to the Chamberlain of The City of New York, 
 the license fees so established for the average number of 
 cars so operated and used by said company. The said 
 license fees shall be taken in full satisfaction for the use 
 of the streets or avenues, but the same shall not release 
 said company from any obligations required by law to 
 keep such streets and avenues or any part thereof, in 
 repair, which said obligations and the contracts, laws or 
 ordinances, creating and enforcing the same, are hereby 
 continued in full force and operation. But nothing in 
 this subdivision contained shall be construed to release 
 any railroad company in The City of New York, as con- 
 stituted by this Act, from any duty or obligation existing 
 at the time this Act takes effect by virtue of any law, 
 ordinance or contract. 
 
 22. To the more effectual suppression of vice or im 
 
 27 
 
morality, and the preserving of peace and good order in 
 said City. 
 
 23. For the licensing and otherwise regulating the 
 use of dirt carts. 
 
 24. For the preservation and protection of all or any 
 of the works connected with the supplying of the City 
 of New York with pure and wholesome water. 
 
 25. To regulate the fees for searches and certificates, 
 to be charged by the collector of assessments and 
 arrears. 
 
 26. To make such regulations in reference to the 
 running of stages, omnibuses, trucks and cars as may be 
 necessary for the convenient use and the accommodation 
 of the streets, piers, wharves and stations, and whenever 
 in shipping or receiving goods, wares or other merchan- 
 dise at any of the shipping lines, by steamboat, canal- 
 boat, sailing vessels, railroad, or from or to any ware- 
 house during the specified hours for receipt or delivery of 
 freight, a truckman is unreasonably detained over thirty 
 minutes by reason of said steamboat, canal-boat, sailing 
 vessel, railroad company or warehouse not employing 
 sufificient help for prompt receipt or delivery of freight, 
 or by reason of the failure to use all of the facilities at 
 their disposal for the prompt receipt and delivery of 
 freight, to regulate the amount said truckman shall be 
 entitled to be paid, which amount shall not be less than 
 the sum of one dollar per hour for every hour which he 
 is so unreasonably detained, which amount shall be paid 
 to said truckman by the company, corporation or person 
 causing such delay. 
 
 27. To regulate the rates of fare to be taken by 
 owners or drivers of hackney coaches or carriages ; such 
 owners shall pay an annual license fee to be determined 
 by the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 28. The Municipal Assembly may authorize the es- 
 
 28 
 
tablishment, operation or extension of any right for the 
 running of omnibuses or stages, and may terminate or 
 alter such authority comformably to the statutes appli- 
 cable thereto. 
 
 29. To regulate swimming and bathing in the waters 
 of, or bounding the City, and to establish and maintain 
 in the City such public baths and public comfort stations 
 as they may deem necessary, and to establish suitable 
 rules and regulations for the management of the same. 
 
 30. To prohibit and suppress all gaming-houses and 
 places for gaming in the said City. 
 
 31. To enlarge or extend from time to time the 
 limits of the fire districts of the City, and to establish 
 additional fire districts, and from time to time to extend 
 the same. 
 
 Id.; foregoing enumeration of powers not restrictive : general power. 
 
 Sec. 50. The foregoing or other enumeration of powers in 
 this Act shall not be held to limit the legislative power of the 
 Municipal Assembly which, in addition thereto, may exercise all 
 of the powers vested in The City of New York by this Act, or 
 otherwise, by proper ordinances, rules, regulations and by-laws 
 not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, or with the con- 
 stitution or laws of the United States or of this State; 
 and, subject to such limitations, may from time to time ordain 
 and pass all such ordinances, rules, regulations and by-laws 
 as to the said Municipal Assembly may seem meet for the 
 good rule and government of the City, and to carry out 
 the purposes and provisions of this Act or of other laws rela- 
 ting to the said City, and may provide for the enforcement 
 of the same by such fines, penalties, forfeitures and impris- 
 onment as may by ordinance or by-law be prescribed. 
 
 Id.; licenses to second-hand dealers ; penalty for violating ordi- 
 nance. 
 
 Sec. 51. Every dealer in second-hand articles and scalper 
 in coal freights shall pay for a license a sum to be determined 
 
 29 
 
by the Municipal Assembly, not exceeding five hundred dollars. 
 Dealers in second-hand articles and scalpers in coal freights may 
 be required to give security to the City with one or more suffi- 
 cient surety or sureties, in a sum not exceeding ten thousand dol- 
 lars conditioned for the observance of the ordinances of the 
 Municipal Assembly. No greater penalty than one hundred 
 dollars shall be imposed by an ordinance as the penalty of the 
 violation of any ordinance by any dealer in second-hand articles 
 or scalper in coal freights. 
 
 Id.; designating common jails. 
 
 Sec. 52. The Municipal Assembly may, by ordinance from 
 time to time, by a vote of two-thirds of the members of each 
 house, and the approval of the Mayor, designate any building 
 or buildings within the City to be the common jails of said City 
 for all the purposes for which common jails may by law be used, 
 and such building or buildings so designated, shall be such com- 
 mon jails until changed by a like ordinance by the Municipal 
 Assembly. 
 
 Id.; assignment of places for holding courts of general and special 
 sessions and magistrates' or police courts. 
 
 Sec. 53. The Municipal Assembly, by resolution or ordi- 
 nance, by a vote of not less than two-thirds of all the members 
 elected to each house, may assign such place in said City as may 
 to it seem most conducive to the public convenience, for the 
 holding of the courts of General and Special Sessions, and upon 
 the application of the Board of City Magistrates, may designate 
 additional places for the holding of magistrates' or police courts 
 and jail delivery to be held in and for the City; notice of any 
 change of the places of holding such courts shall, before the same 
 takes effect, be published in the City Record and the corporation 
 newspapers, for a period of not less than four weeks. Said pub- 
 lication shall be made under the direction of the City Clerk. 
 
 Id.; assignment of places for holding Municipal Courts. 
 
 Sec. 54. The Municipal Assembly may assign the places 
 where the several Municipal Courts shall be held, within their 
 respective districts, except as otherwise provided by law. 
 
 30 
 
Id.; security to be required from certain officers. 
 
 Sec. 55. It shall be the duty of the Municipal Assembly 
 where no provision has been made by law in respect thereto, to 
 provide for the accountability of all officers and other persons, 
 save as herein otherwise provided, to whom the receipt or ex- 
 penditure of the funds of the city shall be entrusted, by re- 
 quiring from them sufficient security for the performance of 
 their duties of trust, which security shall be annually renewed ; 
 but the security first taken shall remain in force until new se- 
 curity shall be given. 
 
 Id.; prescribe salaries of officers. 
 
 Sec. 56. The salaries of all officers whose offices may be 
 created by the Municipal Assembly for the purpose of giving 
 effect to the provisions of this Act, shall, subject to the other 
 provisions of this Act, be prescribed by ordinance or resolu- 
 tion. The Municipal Assembly shall have power, upon the 
 recommendation of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
 to fix the salary of any officer or person whose compensation is 
 paid out of the city treasury, irrespective of the amount fixed 
 by this Act, except that no change shall be made in the salary 
 of an elected officer or head of a department during the term 
 for which he was elected or appointed. 
 
 Id.; publication of code of ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 57. The ordinances of the Municipal Assembly shall, 
 as far as practicable, be reduced to a code and published. 
 
 Id.; Commissioners of Deeds ; appointment, oath, term; clerk there- 
 for. 
 
 Sec. 58. The Board of Aldermen is hereby authorized and 
 is empowered to appoint Commissioners of Deeds from time to 
 time, who shall hold their offices for two years from the date of 
 their appointment ; such appointment shall not require the 
 concurrence of the Council nor the approval of the Mayor, and 
 hereafter, at the time of subscribing or filing the oath of office, 
 the City Clerk shall collect from each person appointed a Com- 
 
 31 
 
missioner of Deeds the sum of five dollars, and he shall not 
 administer or file said oath unless said fee has been paid. All 
 fees collected by the City Clerk under and by virtue of this Act, 
 except as hereinafter provided, shall be accounted for and paid 
 over monthly into the treasury of the city. 
 
 The City Clerk shall appoint an officer, to be known as 
 Commissioner of Deeds Clerk, whose duties shall be to enter 
 the names of Commissioners of Deeds appointed, in^;a book 
 kept for that purpose, make out certificates of appointment 
 and to discharge such other duties as the City Clerk may des- 
 ignate. Said Commissioner of Deeds Clerk shall receive a 
 salary at the rate of twelve hundred dollars per annum, payable 
 monthly. 
 
 Any person hereafter appointed to the office of Commis- 
 sioner of Deeds in and for The City of New York by the Board 
 of Aldermen, before entering upon the discharge of the duties 
 of said office and within thirty days after such appointment, 
 shall take and subscribe before the Commissioner of Deeds 
 Clerk, in the office of the City Clerk, the following oath of 
 office : That the applicant is a citizen of the United States and 
 of the State of New York, and a resident of The City of New 
 York ; that he will support the Constitution of the United 
 States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and 
 faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Commissioner of 
 Deeds. AnyjCommissioner of Deeds who may remove from 
 the City of New York during his term of office is hereby re- 
 quired to notify the City Clerk of such removal. 
 
 The term of office of every Commissioner of Deeds who, 
 on the first day of May, 1898, shall be holding over after a 
 term of two years, shall then cease. 
 
 Municipal Assembly; Trustees of public property. 
 
 Sec. 59. The Municipal Assembly and the several mem- 
 bers thereof and all officers and employees of the City are 
 hereby declared Trustees of the property, funds and effects 
 of said city respectively, so far as such property, funds 
 and effects are or may be committed to their management 
 or control, and every person residing in said city, when 
 
 32 
 
authorized to pay taxes therein, and who shall pay taxes therein 
 is hereby declared to be a cestui que trust in respect to the said 
 property, funds and effects, respectively; and any co-trustees, 
 or any cestui que trust, shall be entitled, as against said trustees, 
 and in regard to said property, funds and effects, to all the 
 rights and privileges provided by law for any co-trustee, or 
 cestui que trust to prosecute and maintain any action to prevent 
 waste and injury to any property, funds and estate held in 
 trust. Such trustees are hereby made subject to all the duties and 
 responsibilities imposed by law on trustees, and such duties and 
 responsibilities may be enforced by the City or by any co-trustee 
 or cestui que trust aforesaid. 
 
 Municipal Assembly; violations of law by members of: 
 
 Sec. 60. Any member of the Municipal Assembly who 
 shall knowingly and wilfully disregard any provision of law ap- 
 plicable to the members of said Assembly, or who shall vote for 
 any contract in violation of law or any appropriation unauthor- 
 ized by law or in excess of the amount authorized by law, or 
 for any illegal or injurious disposition of corporate property, 
 rights or franchises, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and liable 
 to the punishment and penalties prescribed therefor; and 
 every member voting in favor thereof shall be individually liable 
 to refund the amount to the city at the suit of any citizen and 
 taxpayer. 
 
 38 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FRANCHISES AND GRANTS OF LAND UNDER WATER. 
 
 Title 1. Franchises. 
 
 2. Grants of Land Under Water. 
 
 Title 1. 
 
 franchises. 
 
 Inalienable rights of the City to its properties. 
 
 Section 71. The rights of the city in and to its waterfront, 
 ferries, wharf property, land under water, public landings, 
 wharves, docks streets, avenues, parks, and all other public 
 places are hereby declared to be inalienable. 
 
 Franchises to be granted by ordinance. 
 
 Sec. 72. Every grant of or relating to a franchise of any 
 character to any person or corporation must, unless otherwise 
 provided in this Act, be by ordinance. 
 
 Limits and conditions to grants of franchises. 
 
 Sec. 73. After the approval of this Act no franchise or right 
 to use the streets, avenues, parkways or highways of the city 
 shall be granted by the Municipal Assembly to any person or cor- 
 poration for a longer period than twenty-five years, but such grant 
 may at the option of the city provide for giving to the grantee the 
 right on a fair revaluation or revaluations to renewals not exceed- 
 ing in the aggregate twenty-five years. Such grant, and any con- 
 tract in pursuance thereof, may provide that upon the termination 
 of the franchise or right granted by the Municipal Assembly the 
 plant, as well as the property of the grantee in the streets, 
 avenues, parkways and highways with its appurtenances, shall 
 
 34 . 
 
thereupon be and become the property of the city without 
 further or other compensation to the grantee ; or such grant and 
 contract may provide that upon such termination there shall be 
 a fair valuation of the plant and property which shall be and 
 become the property of the city on the termination of the grant 
 on paying the grantee^such valuation. If by virtue of the grant 
 or contract the plant and property are to become the city's, 
 without money payment therefor, the city shall have the option 
 either to take and operate the said property on its own account, 
 or to renew the said grant for not exceeding twenty years upon a 
 fair revaluation, or to lease the same to others for a term not exceed- 
 ing twenty years. If the original grant shall provide that the city 
 shall make payment for the plant and property, such payment shall 
 be at a fair valuation of the same as property excluding any 
 value derived from the franchise ; and if the city shall make pay- 
 ment for such plant and property it shall in that event operate the 
 plant and property on its own account for at least five years, after 
 which it may determine either to continue such operation on its 
 own account, or to lease the said plant and property and the 
 right to use the streets and public places in connection therewith 
 for limited periods, in the same or similar manner as it leases its 
 ferries and docks. Every grant shall make adequate provision, 
 by way of forfeiture of the grant or otherwise, to secure efficiency 
 of public service at reasonable rates, and the maintenance of the 
 property in good condition throughout the full term of the grant. 
 The grant or contract shall also specify the mode of determining 
 the valuations and revaluations therein provided for. 
 
 Proceedings prior to grant of franchise. 
 
 Sec. 74. Before any grant of the franchise or right to use 
 any street, avenue, parkway or highway shall be made, the pro- 
 posed specific grant embodied in the form of an ordinance with 
 all of the terms and conditions, including the provisions as to rates, 
 fares and charges, shall be published at least twenty days in the 
 City Record and at least twice in two daily newspapers published 
 in the city to be designated by the Mayor at the expense of the 
 proposed grantee. Such ordinance shall on its introduction and 
 first reading be referred by the Municipal Assembly to the Board 
 
 35 
 
of Estimate and Apportionment, who shall make inquiry as to 
 the money value of the franchise or privilege proposed to be 
 granted and the adequacy of the compensation proposed to be paid 
 therefor, and no grant thereof by the Municipal Assembly shall 
 be made except on terms approved by vote or resolution of the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment, entered on the minutes 
 or record of such Board, and every ordinance containing or mak- 
 ing such grant shall require the concurrence of three-fourths of 
 all the members elected to each branch of the Municipal Assem- 
 bly as shown by the ayes and noes there recorded and the ap- 
 proval of the Mayor, and thirty days at least shall intervene 
 between the introduction and final passage of any such ordi- 
 nance. It shall require a vote of five-sixths of all the members 
 elected to each branch of the Municipal Assembly to pass such 
 ordinance over the Mayor's veto. This Act shall apply to any 
 renewal or extension of the grant or leasing of the property to 
 the same grantee or to others. 
 
 Municipal Assembly to pass ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 75. The Municipal Assembly may from time to time 
 pass appropriate ordinances, not inconsistent with the Constitu- 
 tion and Laws of the State, to carry the provisions of this 
 title into effect, but shall not part with the right and duty at all 
 times to exercise in the interest of the public, full municipal sup- 
 erintendence, regulation and control in respect of all matters 
 connected with such grant, and not inconsistent with the terms 
 thereof. 
 
 City may dispose of buildings not required for public use. 
 
 Sec. 76. Nothing in this title contained shall prevent the city 
 from disposing of any building or parcel of land no longer needed 
 for public use, provided such disposition shall be approved by 
 the Sinking Fund Commissioners, and shall be at public sale, and 
 be provided for by ordinance. 
 
 Acts not applicable to grants under this title. 
 
 Sec. 77. Section 93 of chapter 565 of the laws of 1890 and 
 any Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, shall have 
 no application to grants made under and pursuant to this title. 
 
 36 
 
Title 2. 
 
 grants of lands and franchises to city in aid of 
 commerce. 
 
 Grants of lands under water. 
 
 Sec. 83. To the end that The City of New York, as herein 
 constituted, may be enabled to make needful provisions for the 
 navigation, intercourse and commerce of the city and adequately to 
 develop and secure the same now and in the future, the said city 
 shall have the control as herein and in this Act provided, of the 
 water front of the entire city, subject, however, to the rights of 
 private owners of property, and also power to establish, construct, 
 acquire, own, maintain and enjoy all ferries, pubhc wharves, docks, 
 piers, bulkheads, basins, slips, streets, approaches and spaces, 
 and all other public structures, adjuncts and facilities neces- 
 sary or proper for the navigation, intercourse and commerce, 
 foreign and domestic, of the city. To these ends, in addition 
 to all other grants, there is hereby granted in fee to the 
 said City of New York, as herein constituted, in all the 
 public streams, rivers, sounds, bays and waters of all descriptions 
 at any and all places within said city or adjoining the limits of 
 said city as herein constituted, all and singular the property, 
 estate, right, title and interest of the people of the State of 
 New York, in, to, of, and concerning such lands and soil 
 covered by water, as are embraced within the projected 
 boundary lines of any street intersecting the shore line, and 
 which street is in public use or which may be hereafter 
 opened for public use, extending from high water mark out into 
 said streams, rivers, sounds, bays and waters so far (any limits in 
 existing grants to the contrary) as the said city shall now or at 
 any time hereafter in the opinion of its Municipal Assembly, 
 or Department of Docks and Ferries require the same for ferries, 
 public wharves, docks, piers, bulkheads, basins, slips, or other 
 public structures, adjuncts and facilities for navigation and com- 
 merce, including the right for such purposes to reclaim such lands 
 from said waters, and including also all riparian rights, and all 
 rents, issues and profits of the premises herein granted. The 
 
 37 
 
Commissioners of the Land Office shall from time to time, convey 
 or patent the lands herein granted to the city for said purposes 
 as and whenever required by the Board of Docks. 
 
 Property and franchises inalienable. 
 
 Sec. 84. The property, franchises and rights hereby granted 
 and the works and structures hereby authorized are not the sub- 
 ject of sale but shall be held by the city in perpetuity. But this 
 shall not prevent the city from leasing the same for limited peri- 
 ods of time, in the same manner as it leases other like property. 
 
 Private rights protected. 
 
 Sec. 85. This grant shall not impair or affect any existing 
 valid private rights, or the existing riparian rights of owners of 
 private property, or the lawful rights of private owners of docks, 
 piers and other structures in the said city or any part thereof. 
 
 Patenting of lands under water by Commissioners of the Land Office. 
 
 Sec, 86. After the approval of this Act no patent of soil or 
 land under water within The City of New York, as herein consti- 
 tuted, shall be made except to the City of New York or to the 
 riparian proprietor. If the Board of Docks with the approval of 
 ^ they^ M ^ mioipal Agiaombly by ordinan ee, shall project a plan or 
 
 ft^it^c^ plans for the construction of docks between street intersections 
 // as aforesaid, and desire a grant of land under water for that pur- 
 
 pose, they shall make application therefor to the Commissioners 
 of the Land Ofifice who thereupon shall give notice to the ripar- 
 ian proprietor before taking action in the matter and shall make 
 such grant to the city for the purposes specified in section 83. 
 Such grant, however, shall be subject to all the rights of the 
 riparian proprietor, and before the city shall construct such public 
 wharves or other structures in front of the land of such riparian pro- 
 prietor, the city shall make just compensation to such proprietor 
 for the value of all the riparian rights. If the Commissioners 
 shall make a grant to the riparian proprietor it shall be con- 
 fined to soil or land under water in front of the land of such 
 
 38 
 
riparian proprietor. If application be made to the Commission- 
 ers of the Land Ofifice by the riparian proprietor for a grant of 
 soil or land under water within The City of New York, as herein 
 constituted, said Commissioners shall give notice thereof to the 
 Board of Docks of the city, which shall examine into such 
 application and determine whether the granting of the same 
 will conflict with the rights of the city under this Act or be other- 
 wise injurious to the public interests of the said city, and shall 
 report their conclusions to said Commissioners who shall insert 
 such terms and conditions in the grant recommended by the 
 Board of Docks as will protect the public interests of the city in 
 respect to navigation and commerce. The validity of any such 
 grant or patent may be judicially determined in an action brought 
 by and in the name of the city. 
 
 Power of Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 87. The Municipal Assembly may from time to time 
 pass appropriate ordinances to carry the provisions hereof into 
 effect, not inconsistent with law or this Act. 
 
 Repealing provision . 
 
 Sec. 88. All Acts and parts of Acts, so far as the ^ame 
 are inconsistent with this-Aet are hereby repealed. [p^i^a^t. 
 
 J 
 
 81) 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 Mayor : Executive power in and election of: salary. 
 
 Sec. 94. The executive power of The City of New York, as 
 constituted by this Act, shall be vested in the Mayor and the 
 ofificers of the departments. The Mayor shall be the [chief 
 executive officer of the City ; he shall be elected at the general 
 election in the year 1897, and every four years thereafter, and 
 shall hold his office for the term of four years commencing at 
 noon on the first day of January after his election. He shall be 
 ineligible for the next term after the termination of his office. 
 The salary of the Mayor shall be fifteen thousand dollars a year. 
 
 Mayor s power of removal. 
 
 Sec. 95. At any time within six months after the com- 
 mencement of his term of office the Mayor, elected for a full 
 term, may, whenever in his judgment the public interests shall 
 so require, remove from office any public officer holding office 
 by appointment from the Mayor, except members of Boards of 
 Education and School Boards, and except also judicial officers for 
 whose removal other provision is made by the constitution. 
 After the expiration of said period of six months, any such 
 public officer may be removed by the Mayor for cause upon 
 charges preferred and after opportunity to be heard, subject, 
 however, before such removal shall take effect to the approval of 
 the Governor expressed in writing. 
 
 Administrative Departments. 
 
 Sec. 96. There shall be the following administrative de- 
 partments in said City: 
 
 40 
 
Department of Finance 
 Law Department. 
 Police Department. 
 
 Represented in the Board of Public Improvements : 
 
 1. Department of Water Supply. 
 
 2. Department of Highways. 
 
 3. Department of Street Cleaning. 
 
 4. Department of Sewers. 
 
 5. Department of Public Buildings, Lighting and 
 Supplies. 
 
 6. Department of Bridges. 
 
 Department of Parks. 
 Department of Buildings. 
 Department of Public Charities. 
 Department of Correction. 
 Fire Department. 
 Department of Docks and Ferries. 
 Department of Taxes and Assessments. 
 Department of Education. 
 Department of Health. 
 
 Department of Finance ; Comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 97. The head of the Department of Finance shall be 
 called the Comptroller of The City of New York. He shall be 
 elected at the general election in the year 1897, and every four 
 years thereafter, and shall hold his office for the term of four 
 years, commencing at noon on the first day of January after his 
 election. 
 
 41 
 
The Comptroller may be removed from office by the Gov- 
 ernor in the same manner as sheriffs, except that the Governor 
 may direct the inquiry required by law, to be conducted by the 
 Attorney General, and after charges have been received by the 
 Governor, he may, pending the investigation, suspend the 
 Comptroller for a period not exceeding thirty days. In case 
 of a vacancy in the office of Comptroller, it shall be filled 
 by the Mayor, and the person appointed to fill such va- 
 cancy shall hold office until noon of the first day of January 
 succeeding the election at which a successor shall be elected. 
 At the next general election at which municipal officers shall be 
 elected, which shall take place more than thirty days after the oc- 
 currence of a vacancy in the office of Comptroller, a successor 
 shall be chosen who shall hold office for the remainder of the 
 unexpired term. 
 
 Law Department ; Corporation Counsel. 
 
 Sec. 98. The head of the Law Department shall be called 
 the Corporation Counsel, and shall, unless sooner removed, 
 hold his office for four years and until his successor shall be ap- 
 pointed and has qualified. 
 
 Police Department ; Police Board. 
 
 Sec. 99. The head of the Police Department shall be called 
 the Police Board. Said Board shall consist of four members to 
 be known as Police Commissioners of The City of New York 
 who shall, unless sooner removed, respectively hold their offices 
 for four years and until their successors shall respectively be 
 appointed and have qualified, except that the Commissioners 
 first appointed shall, unless sooner removed, hold office for one, 
 two, three and four years respectively, as designated by the 
 Mayor. 
 
 Board of Public Improvements and Departments represented therein. 
 
 Sec. 100. The head of the Board of Public Improvements 
 shall be the President of said Board. He shall be appointed by 
 
 42 
 
the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, hold his office for 
 six years and until his successor shall be appointed and has 
 qualified. 
 
 1. The head of the Department of Water Supply 
 shall be called the Commissioner of Water Supply. He 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner 
 removed, hold his office for six years and until his sue 
 cessor shall be appointed and has qualified. 
 
 2. The head of the Department of Highways shall 
 be called the Commissioner of Highways. He shall be 
 appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, 
 hold his office for six years and until his successor shall 
 be appointed and has qualified. 
 
 3. The head of the Department of Street Cleaning 
 shall be called the Commissioner of Street Cleaning. He 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner 
 removed, hold his office for six years and until his suc- 
 cessor shall be appointed and has qualified. 
 
 4. The head of the Department of Sewers shall be 
 called the Commissioner of Sewers. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, hold his 
 office for six years and until his successor shall be appointed 
 and has qualified, 
 
 5. The head of the Department of Public Buildings, 
 Lighting, and Supplies shall be called the Commissioner 
 of Public Buildings, Lighting, and Supplies. He shall be 
 appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, 
 hold his office for six years and until his successor shall 
 be appointed and has qualified. 
 
 6. The head of the Department of Bridges shall be 
 called the Commissioner of Bridges. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, hold his 
 office for six years and until his successor shall be appointed 
 and has qualified. 
 
 43 
 
Department of Parks ; Park Board. 
 
 Sec. 101. The head of the Department of Parks shall 
 be called the Park Board. Said Board shall consist of three 
 members who shall be known as Commissioners of Parks. 
 They shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner 
 removed, respectively hold their offices for six years and until 
 their successors shall respectively be appointed and have quali- 
 fied, except that the Commissioners first appointed shall, unless 
 sooner removed, hold office for two, four and six years, respec- 
 tively, as designated by the Mayor. 
 
 Departme7it of Buildings. 
 
 Sec. 102. The head of the Department of Buildings shall be 
 called the Board of Buildings. Said Board shall consist of 
 three members to be known as Commissioners of Buildings. 
 They shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner 
 removed, hold their respective offices for the term of six years, 
 and until their successors shall respectively be appointed and 
 . have qualified, except that the Commissioners first appointed 
 shall^ unless sooner removed, hold office for two, four and six 
 years respectively, as designated by the Mayor. 
 
 Department of Public Charities ; Board of Public Charities. 
 
 Sec. 103. The head of the Department of Public Charities 
 shall be called the Board of Public Charities. Said Board shall 
 consist of three members to be known as Commissioners of Public 
 Charities of The City of New York. They shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor and shall, unless sooner removed, respectively hold 
 their offices for six years, and until their successors shall respec- 
 tively be appointed and have qualified, except that the Com- 
 missioners first appointed shall, unless sooner removed, hold 
 office for two, four and six years, respectively, as designated by 
 the Mayor. 
 
 Departmetit of Correction ; Commissioner of. 
 
 Sec. 104. The head of the Department of Correction shall 
 be called The Commissioner of Correction. He shall be 
 
 44 
 
(TJII7BESITT] 
 
 appointed by the Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, hold 
 his office for six years, and until his successor shall be appointed 
 and has qualified. 
 
 Fire Department ; the Fire Commissioner . 
 
 Sec. 105. The head of the Fire Department shall be called 
 The Fire Commissioner. He shall be appointed by the 
 Mayor, and shall, unless sooner removed, hold office for six 
 years, and until his successor shall be appointed and has 
 qualified. 
 
 Department of Docks and Ferries : Board of Docks. 
 
 Sec. 106. The head of the Department of Docks and Fer- 
 ries shall be called the Board of Docks. Said Board shall 
 consist of three members, who shall be known as Commissioners 
 of Docks; and who shall, unless sooner removed, hold their 
 respective offices for six years, and until their successors shall 
 respectively be appointed and have qualified, except that the 
 Commissioners first appointed shall, unless sooner removed, 
 hold office for two, four and six years, respectively, as desig- 
 nated by the Mayor. 
 
 Department of Taxes and Assessments ; Board of Taxes and 
 Assessments. 
 
 Sec. 107. The head of the Department of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments shall be called the Board of Taxes and Assessments. 
 Said board shall consist of a President, who shall be so desig- 
 nated in his appointment, and four other members, one of whom 
 at least shall be a person learned in the law, who shall be called 
 Commissioners of Taxes and Assessments. The President, 
 unless sooner removed, shall hold his office for the term of six 
 years, and until his successor shall be appointed and has qualified. 
 The other Commissioners shall, unless sooner removed, hold 
 their respective offices for the term of four years. The Com- 
 missioners first appointed under this Act shall, unless sooner 
 removed, hold office by designation of the Mayor for terms of 
 one, two, three and four years respectively. The Commissioners 
 
 45 
 
thereafter appointed shall, unless sooner removed, hold office 
 for the term of four years, and until their successors shall respec- 
 tively be appointed and have qualified. 
 
 Department of Education. 
 
 Sec. 108. The head of the Department of Education 
 shall be called the Board of Education. Said Board shall consist 
 of nineteen members, and shall be composed as follows ; of the 
 Chairman of the School Board of the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and The Bronx, and ten other members elected by said 
 School Board ; of the Chairman of the School Board of the 
 Borough of Brooklyn and five other members elected by said 
 School Board ; and of the Chairman of the School Boards 
 of the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, respectively. The 
 members of said Board of Education shall hold ofifice for one 
 year, and until their successors shall respectively be chosen 
 and have qualified. 
 
 Department of Health; Board of Health. 
 
 Sec. 109. The head of the Department of Health shall be 
 called the Board of Health. Said Board shall consist of the 
 President of the Police Board, the Health Ofificer of the Port, 
 aud three officers appointed by the Mayor, to be called Health 
 Commissioners, two of whom shall have been practicing physi 
 cians for not less than ten years preceding their respective appoint- 
 ments. The Health Commissioner, who is not a physician, shall 
 be the President of the Board and shall be so designated in his 
 appointment. The Health Commissioners shall, unless sooner 
 removed, respectively hold their offices for six years and until 
 their successors shall respectively be appointed and have quali- 
 fied, except that the Commissioners first appointed shall, unless 
 sooner removed, hold office for two, four and six years 
 respectively, as designated by the Mayor. 
 
 46 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MAYOR. 
 
 Mayor : Duties of 
 
 Section. 115. It shall be the duty of the Mayor: 
 
 1. To communicate to the Municipal Assembly, 
 at least once in each year, a general statement of the 
 finances, government, and improvements of the City. 
 
 2. To recommend to the Municipal Assembly all 
 such measures as he shall deem expedient. 
 
 3. To keep himself informed of the doings of the 
 several departments. 
 
 4. To be vigilant and active in causing the ordi- 
 nances of the City, and laws of the State to be executed 
 and enforced, and for that purpose he may call together 
 for consultation and co-operation any or all of the heads 
 of departments. 
 
 5. And generally to perform all such duties as may 
 be prescribed for him by this Act, the city ordinances 
 and the laws of the State. 
 
 Id. a magistrate. 
 
 Sec. 116. The Mayor is a magistrate. . 
 Id. may appoint clerks, etc. 
 
 Sec. 117. The Mayor may appoint such clerks and sub- 
 ordinates as he may require to aid him in the discharge of his 
 official duties, and shall render to the Municipal Assembly, 
 every three months, an account of the expenses and receipts of 
 his office, and therein shall state, in detail, the amounts paid 
 and agreed to be paid by him, for salaries to such clerks and 
 
 47 
 
subordinates respectively, and the general nature of their duties, 
 which account and report shall be published in the City 
 Record. The aggregate expenses incurred by him for such 
 purposes shall not exceed, in any one year, the sum appropri- 
 ated therefor. 
 
 Id. to appoint lieads of departments. Terms of latter. 
 
 Sec. 118. The Mayor shall appoint the heads of depart- 
 ments and all Commissioners, except as otherwise provided 
 in this Act. He shall also appoint all members of any 
 Board or Commission authorized to superintend the erection 
 or repair of any building belonging to or to be paid for by 
 the city, whether named in any law or appointed by 
 any local authority, and also a Commissioner of Jurors 
 for the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, Inspec- 
 tors of Weights and Measures, and as many Sealers of 
 Weights and Measures as may by ordinance be prescribed, and 
 also the members of any other local board and all other officers 
 not elected by the people, whose appointment is not excepted 
 or otherwise provided for. Every head of department and 
 person in this section named, shall, subject to the power 
 of removal herein provided, hold his office for such term 
 as is provided by this Act, or otherwise, and in each 
 case until a person is duly appointed, and has qualified, in 
 his place. The terms of office of all such heads of departments 
 and persons, shall, as to those first appointed, commence at noon 
 on the first day of January 1898, and thereafter at noon on the 
 first day of January in the year in which the terms of office 
 of their predecessors expire, except that any person who shall be 
 appointed in pursuance of this section to fill any vacancy shall 
 hold his office for the unexpired term of his predecessor. 
 
 Id. to appoint Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 Sec. 119. The Mayor shall appoint and remove at pleasure 
 two persons who shall be Commissioners of Accounts. It shall 
 be their duty, once in three months, to make an examination of 
 the receipts and disbursements in the offices of the Comptroller 
 and Chamberlain, in connection with those of all the depart- 
 
 48 
 
ments and officers making returns thereto, and report to the 
 Mayor a detailed and classified statement of the financial con- 
 dition of the city as shown by such examinations. They shall 
 also make such special examinations of the accounts and meth- 
 ods of the departments and offices of the City and of the 
 Counties of New York, Richmond and Kings, as the Mayor may 
 from time to time direct, and such other examinations as the 
 said Commissioners may deem for the best interests of the 
 city, and report to the Mayor and the Municipal Assembly 
 the results thereof. For the purpose of ascertaining facts 
 in connection with these examinations they shall have full power 
 to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths and 
 to examine such persons as they may deem necessary. Such 
 Commissioners shall each be paid the sum of five thousand 
 dollars a year. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 and the Municipal Assembly shall annually appropriate a sum 
 sufficient to pay the salaries of said Commissioners, and in 
 the discretion of said Board and Municipal Assembly a sum 
 sufficient to enable them to employ the necessary assistance to 
 carry out the provisions of this Act. 
 
 Id. Proclamation as to holding Courts in case of Pestilence, etc. 
 
 Sec. 120. The Mayor, or, in case of his absence, or other dis- 
 ability, the President of the Council, by proclamation, may direct 
 that the next ensuing term of any Court, other than the Court of 
 Appeals, appointed to be held in that City shall be held in any 
 building within The City of New York, other than the building 
 where the same is regularly to be held, if, in his opinion, war, pesti- 
 lence, or other public calamity, or the danger thereof, or the de- 
 struction or injury of the building, or the want of suitable accom- 
 modation, renders it necessary that some other place be selected. 
 The proclamation must be published in two or more daily news- 
 papers, published in The City of New York. 
 
 Id. Police Power as to pawnbrokers. 
 
 Sec. 121. The Mayor shall possess the power conferred upon 
 the Chief, Deputy Chiefs, Inspectors and Captains of Police by 
 section 317 of this Act. 
 
 4» 
 
Id, Removal by Governor. 
 
 Sec. 122. The Mayor may be removed from office by the 
 Governor in the same manner as Sheriffs, except that the Gov- 
 ernor may direct the inquiry provided by law to be conducted 
 by the Attorney General ; and after the charges have been re- 
 ceived by the Governor, he may, pending the investigation, sus- 
 pend the Mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days. 
 
 Municipal Civil Service : Mayor to appoint Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 123. The Mayor shall appoint three or more 
 suitable persons as Commissioners to prescribe and amend, 
 subject to his approval, and to enforce regulations for appoint- 
 ments to, and promotions in, the civil service thereof, and for 
 classifications and examinations therein, and for the registration 
 and selection of laborers for employment therein, in pursuance 
 of the Constitution of this State. Said Commissioners shall 
 receive no compensation. 
 
 Regulations. 
 
 Sec. 124. Such regulations shall, among other things, provide 
 
 1. For the classification of the offices, places and em- 
 ployments in the Civil Service of the said city. 
 
 2. For examinations, wherever practicable, to ascer- 
 tain the fitness of applicants for appointment to the Civil 
 Service of said city. 
 
 All examinations shall be public. No question in any 
 examination under the rules established as aforesaid shall 
 relate to political or religious opinions or affiliations, and 
 no appointment or selection to or removal from an office 
 or employment within the scope of the rules established 
 as aforesaid, shall be in any manner affected or influenced 
 by such opinions or affiliations. Such examinations shall 
 be practical in their character, and shall relate to those 
 matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fit- 
 ness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the 
 position to which they seek to be appointed. Such exam- 
 
 50 
 
inations, save in the case of applicants for employment 
 as laborers, shall be open, competitive examinations, ex- 
 cept where, after due efforts by previous public advertise- 
 ment or other effort in case of extraordinary emergency, 
 competition is found not to be practicable. The exam- 
 ination of applicants for employment as laborers shall relate 
 to their capacity for labor, their habits as to industry and 
 sobriety, and the number of persons dependent upon them 
 for support. 
 
 3. For the filling of vacancies in the offices, places and 
 employments in the public service which are subject to 
 competitive examination by selection from among those 
 graded highest as the result of such examination, provided, 
 however, that soldiers and sailors honorably discharged 
 from the army and navy of the United States in the late 
 civil war, who are citizens and residents of this State, 
 shall be entitled to preference in appointment and promo- 
 tion from any list from which an appointment or promo- 
 tion is to be made, without regard to their standing on 
 such list. 
 
 4. For a period of probation before an appointment 
 or employment is made permanent. 
 
 5. For promotions in oiBce on the basis of ascertained 
 merit and seniority in service, and upon such examination 
 as may be for the good of the public service. 
 
 Authority and duty of Cofnmissioners. 
 
 Sec. 125. The persons so appointed or employed shall be 
 known as Municipal Civil Service Commissioners, and within 
 the amount appropriated therefor, they shall have authority to 
 employ a Secretary, Examiners, and such other subordinates 
 as may be necessary. It shall be the duty of such persons 
 to make reports from time to time to the State Civil Service 
 Commission, whenever said Commission may request, of the 
 manner in which the Civil Service law, and the rules and 
 regulations thereunder, have been and are administered, and 
 
 61 
 
the results of their administration in such city, and of such other 
 matters as said Commission may require, and annually on or 
 before the tenth day of January to make such a report to said 
 Commission ; and it shall be the duty of said State Commission 
 in its annual report to set out either these reports, or a sufificient 
 abstract or summary thereof, to give full and clear information 
 as to their contents. 
 
 It shall be the duty of all persons in the ofificial service of 
 said city to conform to and comply with said regulations, and 
 any modifications thereof made pursuant to the authority of this 
 section or said rules, and to aid and facilitate in all reasonable 
 and proper ways the enforcement of said regulations and rules 
 and any modifications thereof, and the holding of all examina- 
 tions which may be required under the authority of this section 
 or said rules. Until the appointment of a Municipal Civil Ser- 
 vice Commission under this Act in said city, the Municipal Civil 
 Service Commissioners now in existence in any part of the terri- 
 tory of said city shall continue in ofifice, and the civil service 
 rules now in force therein shall continue to be in force until the 
 adoption of new rules hereunder. The authority by this section 
 conferred shall not be so exercised as to take from any police- 
 man or fireman any right or benefit now conferred by law or 
 by this Act, or existing under any lawful regulation of the de- 
 partment in which he serves. Proper provision shall be made 
 in the annual budget for all the expenses of the Municipal Civil 
 Service Commissioners. 
 
 Warrants for payment of salary ; when not to be issued. 
 
 Sec. 126. Any officer of said city whose duty it is to sign or 
 countersign warrants, shall not draw, sign or issue, or authorize 
 the drawing, signing or issuing of any warrant on the Chamberlain 
 or other disbursing officer of the city for the payment of salary 
 to any person in its service whose appointment has not been 
 made in pursuance of this chapter and the rules in force there- 
 under, provided, however, that this section shall not apply to 
 persons now in office who are by this Act continued in office, or 
 transferred in service. 
 
 52 
 
Veterans. 
 
 Sec. 1 27. All veterans either of the Army or Navy or the Vol- 
 unteer Fire Departments, now in the service of either of the munic- 
 ipal and public corporations hereby consolidated, who are now 
 entitled by law to serve during good behavior, or who cannot under 
 existing law be removed except for cause, shall, so far as is consist- 
 ent with economy and with the needs and requirements of the 
 service, be retained in like positions and under the same condi- 
 tions by the corporation constituted by this Act, to serve under 
 such titles and in such way as the head of the appropriate de- 
 partment or the Mayor may direct. 
 
 Bureau of Municipal Statistics. 
 
 Sec. 128. There shall be a Bureau of Municipal Statistics 
 of The City of New York, for the purpose of collecting, keep- 
 ing and publishing, as hereinafter or otherwise provided by law, 
 such statistical data relating to the City, as shall be deemed of 
 utility or interest to the City Government or its citizens. 
 
 Bureau. How Constituted. 
 
 Sec. 129. The Bureau of Municipal Statistics shall consist of 
 a Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics, of a Municipal 
 Statistical Commission, and of such assistants to the Chief of 
 the Bureau, as may be found necessary for properly carrying on 
 the work of the Bureau. 
 
 Chief of Bureau to be appointed by the Mayor. 
 
 Sec. 130. The Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor for a term of four years, and 
 shall, unless sooner removed, hold office until his successor shall be 
 appointed and have duly qualified. He shall be ex-officio a mem- 
 ber and the Chairman of the Municipal Statistical Commission. 
 
 Municipal Statistical Commission. How Constituted. 
 
 Sec. 131. The Municipal Statistical Commission shall con- 
 sist of not less than three, nor more than six members, exclusive 
 of the Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics. Such mem- 
 
 53 
 
bers shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall be residents of 
 the City. They shall be appointed with special reference to 
 their qualifications to give expert advice upon statistical sub- 
 jects. Their term of office shall be six years; but the members 
 of the Commission first appointed shall by lot divide themselves 
 into three classes, so that one third shall retire at the end of two 
 years, one third at the end of four years, and one third at the 
 end of six years. The successors to such original Commissioners 
 shall be appointed for the term of six years. 
 
 Meetings of Commission. Quorum. 
 
 Sec 132. The Municipal Statistical Commission shall meet 
 at such times as may be convenient, but at least once in each 
 month. A majority of the Commission shall constitute a quorum 
 for the transaction of business. 
 
 Place of Meeting. 
 
 Sec. 133. It shall be the duty of the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment to provide suitable offices, furniture, and appli- 
 ances for the use of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics. 
 
 Compensatio7i of Chief of Bureau and his Assistants, and of the 
 Commission. 
 
 Sec. 134. The Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics 
 shall receive an annual salary of $3,500. He shall appoint his 
 assistants, and shall fix their salaries with the approval of the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The members of the 
 Municipal Statistical Commission shall receive no compensation. 
 
 Powers and Duties of the Commission. 
 
 Sec. 135. The Municipal Statistical Commission shall make 
 such rules and by-laws as may be necessary for the regulation of 
 the Bureau of Municipal Statistics not in conflict with this Act, 
 or with any law of this State or of the United States, and 
 shall direct the general work of the Bureau of Municipal Statis- 
 tics. The Commission shall devise and carry out plans for the 
 
 54 
 
collection and publication by the Bureau of Municipal Statistics 
 of such statistical data relating to The City of New York as it 
 may deem advisable to publish. The head of each Department 
 of the City shall, upon a request from the Commission made 
 through the Mayor, and approved by him, transmit to the 
 Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics for use by the 
 Commission, upon such blanks as may be provided, or in such 
 other manner as may be deemed convenient by the Commission, 
 such statistical data relating to the work of such Department as 
 the Commission may call for. 
 
 Powers and Duties of Chief of Bureau. 
 
 Sec. 136. The Chief of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics 
 shall have charge of the execution of the plans outlined by the 
 Statistical Commission, and shall, under the direction of the 
 Commission, attend to the collection, tabulation and publica- 
 tion of reports directed to be published by the Commission. 
 
 Publication of Statistics. 
 
 Sec. 137. The Bureau of Municipal Statistics shall publish 
 annually, with the approval of the Board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portionment, a volume to be known as the " Municipal Statis- 
 tics of The City of New York for the year ." In this 
 volume the Statistical Commission shall publish, in so far as it 
 may deem advisable, the results attending the work of the vari- 
 ous departments of the City Government for the preceding cal- 
 endar year, and such other statistical information and facts re- 
 lating to The City of New York or its inhabitants as it may 
 deem of general public interest. Such publication shall contain 
 statistics relating to births, marriages, deaths ; to the sanitary 
 condition of the City ; to the supervision of the water supply, 
 parks, streets, pavements, sewers, and buildings of the City ; to 
 the occurrence of fires ; to the administration of Charities and 
 Corrections ; to the administration of the Police Department ; to 
 the Judiciary and its various departments and branches; to 
 crime; to the business and proceedings of the Criminal Courts 
 and ofificers of the City ; to the operation of the license laws ; 
 
 66 
 
to the children attending school and to the public schools, to 
 the work of the Department of Education, and to the popula- 
 tion of the City of school age ; to franchises granted to corpor 
 ations, and whether they shall have been put in use or not ; to 
 municipal revenues and expenditures; to the administration of 
 the various City departments having charge of the expenditure 
 of City moneys; to the administration of the Tax Department, 
 and to the wealth and indebtedness of the City ; and also a 
 general statement of the Legislative enactments relating to the 
 government of The City of New York. 
 
 Limitation of expense of maintainin'^ the Bureau of Municipal Statistics. 
 
 Sec. 138. The expenses of such publications, and all other 
 expenses of the Bureau of Municipal Statistics, shall be included 
 in the annual budget. The total expense of maintaining the 
 Bureau of Municipal Statistics, including salaries, shall not ex- 
 ceed in any one year the sum of ten thousand dollars, unless 
 otherwise provided by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment and the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 56 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE. 
 
 Title 1. The Comptroller. 
 
 Title 2. The Bonds and Obligations of the City. 
 
 Title 3. The Chamberlain. 
 
 Title 4. The Sinking Funds. 
 
 Title 5. Appropriations and the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment. 
 
 Title 6. Levying Taxes. 
 
 Title 1. 
 
 THE COMPTROLLER. 
 
 General duties : Settlement of claims. Assent to certain contracts 
 required. Election. Salary. 
 
 Sec. 149. The finance department shall have control of the 
 fiscal concerns of the corporation. All accounts rendered to or 
 kept in the other departments shall be subject to the inspection 
 and revision of the officers of this department. It shall pre- 
 scribe the forms of keeping and rendering all city accounts, and, 
 except as herein otherwise provided, the manner in which all 
 salaries shall be drawn, and the mode by which all creditors, 
 officers and employees of the corporation shall be paid. All pay- 
 ments by or on behalf of the corporation, except as otherwise 
 specially provided, shall be made through the proper disbursing 
 officer of the department of finance, on vouchers to be filed in 
 said department, by means of warrants drawn on the Chamber- 
 lain by the Comptroller, and countersigned by the Mayor. The 
 
 57 
 
Comptroller may require any person presenting for settlement an 
 account or claim for any cause whatever, against the corpora- 
 *-ion, to be sworn before him touching such account or claim, 
 and when so sworn, to answer orally as to any facts relative to 
 the justness of such account or claim. Wilfull false swearing be- 
 fore him is perjury, and punishable as such. He shall settle and 
 adjust all claims in favor of or against the corporation, and all 
 accounts in which the corporation is concerned as debtor or 
 creditor; but in adjusting and settling such claims, he shall, as 
 far as practicable, be governed by the rules of law and principles 
 of equity which prevail in courts of justice. The power hereby 
 given to settle and adjust such claims shall not be construed to 
 give such settlement and adjustment the binding effect of a 
 judgment or decree, nor to authorize the Comptroller to dispute 
 the amount of any salary established by or under the authority 
 of any officer or department authorized to establish the same, 
 nor to question the due performance of his duties by such officer, 
 except when necessary to prevent fraud. The Comptroller shall 
 not reduce the rate of interest upon any taxes or assessments be- 
 low the amount fixed by law. No contract hereafter made, the 
 expense of the execution of which is not by law or ordinance, 
 in whole or in part, to be paid by assessments upon the property 
 benefited, shall be binding or of any force, unless the Comptrol- 
 ler shall indorse thereon his certificate that there remains unex- 
 pended and unapplied, as herein provided, a balance of the ap- 
 propriation or fund applicable thereto, sufficient to pay the 
 estimated expense of executing such contract, as certified by 
 the officer making the same. But this provision shall not ap- 
 ply to work done, or supplies furnished, not involving the 
 expenditure of more than one thousand dollars, unless 
 the same is required by law to be done by contract at public 
 letting. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to make 
 such indorsement upon every such contract so presented to 
 him, if there remains unapplied and unexpended such amount 
 so specified by the officer making the contract, and to thereafter 
 hold and retain such sum to pay the expense incurred until the 
 said contract shall be fully performed. And such indorsement 
 
 58 
 
shall be sufficient evidence of such appropriation or fund 
 in any action. The Comptroller shall furnish to each head 
 of departrnent, weekly, a statement of the unexpended balances 
 of the appropriation for his department. Wages and salaries, 
 except as otherwise provided in this Act, may be paid upon 
 pay-rolls, upon which each person named thereon shall separately 
 receipt for the amount paid to such person, and in every case 
 of payment upon a pay-roll, the warrant for the aggregate 
 amount of wages and salaries included therein may be made 
 payable to the superintendent, foreman or other officer designa- 
 ted for the purpose. The Comptroller shall enter into, upon 
 behalf of The City of New York, any lease authorized by the 
 Commissioners of the sinking fund of property leased to the city. 
 The assent of the Comptroller shall be necessary to all agree- 
 ments hereafter entered into by any city officer or department 
 for the acquisition by purchase of any real estate or easement 
 therein, when such an agreement involves an obligation to pay 
 or an expenditure of any money on behalf of the city, and in 
 any proceedings that may hereafter be had to acquire real 
 estate or hereditaments for or on behalf of the corporation of 
 The City of New York, before an award shall be confirmed, 
 imposing an obligation upon the city^to pay any moneys, the 
 Comptroller shall have thirty days' notice in writing, stating 
 before whom and at what time such proceeding will take place. 
 The Comptroller of The City of New York shall be elected and 
 shall hold office as provided in this Act, and he shall receive 
 an annual salary of ten thousand dollars. 
 
 To appoint Deputy Comptroller . 
 
 Sec. 150. The Comptroller shall appoint, and for cause to be 
 stated in writing and published in the City Record, at pleasure 
 remove, a Deputy Comptroller. The said Deputy Comptroller 
 shall, in addition to his other powers, possess every power and 
 perform all and every duty belonging to the office of Comptroller, 
 whenever the said Comptroller shall, for reasons to be stated 
 to the Mayor in writing by due written authority, and during 
 a period of time not extending beyond three months, nor 
 beyond his term of office, and to be specified in such authority, 
 
 59 
 
designate and authorize the said Deputy Comptroller to pos- 
 sess the power and perform the duty aforesaid, and such designa- 
 tion and authority shall be duly filed in and remain of record in 
 the Department of Finance and in the Mayor's ofifice. The said 
 Deputy Comptroller shall possess the like authority in case of 
 the disability of the Comptroller, upon the like designation of 
 the Mayor, which shall be filed and remain of record as afore- 
 said ; but such authority, derived from a designation from the 
 Comptroller or the Mayor, may at any time be terminated in 
 the same manner as it was created. 
 
 Bureaus of the Finance Department. 
 
 Sec. 151. There shall be five bureaus in this Department. 
 
 1. A bureau for the collection of revenue accruing 
 from rents and interests on bonds and mortgages, and 
 revenue arising from the use or sale of property belong- 
 ing to or managed by the city, and the management of the 
 markets, the stalls or stands in which shall be rented on 
 permits, to be issued by the Comptroller, all of such per- 
 mits heretofore or to be hereafter issued to be revocable 
 by the Comptroller for good and sufificient cause, and not 
 otherwise, which shall be known as the Bureau for the 
 Collection of City Revenue and of Markets. The chief 
 officer of such bureau shall be called the Collector of 
 City Revenue and the Superintendent of Markets. 
 
 2. A bureau for the collection of taxes, the chief 
 officer of which shall be called, the Receiver of Taxes. 
 He shall receive a salary at the rate of five thousand 
 dollars per annum. 
 
 3. A bureau for the collection of assessments, and 
 of such taxes, assessments and water rents as are in arrears, 
 the chief officer of which shall be called the Collector of 
 Assessments and Arrears. He shall receive a salary at 
 the rate of four thousand dollars per annum. 
 
 4. An auditing bureau, which under the supervision 
 of the Comptroller shall audit, revise and settle all ac- 
 
 60 
 
counts in which the city is concerned, as debtor or 
 creditor, and the chief officers whereof shall be called 
 Auditors of Accounts, to be appointed or removed, as 
 shall be also deputy auditors, at the pleasure of the 
 Comptroller. The number of said Auditors and Deputy 
 Auditors,as well as their salaries,shall be such as the Comp- 
 troller shall from time to time fix and determine. During 
 the absence of either or any or all of said auditors of 
 accounts, from illness or other cause, said deputy audi- 
 tors or any or either of them shall, when and to the 
 extent he or they may be authorized so to do in 
 writing by the Comptroller, perform the duties and 
 exercise the powers of either or of any or of all of the 
 said auditors of accounts. The said auditing bureau 
 shall keep an account of each claim for and against the 
 corporation, and of the sums allowed upon each, and 
 certify the same to the Comptroller, with the reasons for 
 the allowance. The Comptroller may detail any of such 
 Auditors and Deputy Auditors as he may deem proper to 
 the borough hall of the Borough of Brooklyn, to the 
 borough hall of the Borough of The Bronx, to the 
 borough hall of the Borough of Queens, and to the 
 borough hall of the Borough of Richmond, in addition to 
 such as may be in the chief office of the Comptroller in 
 the Borough of Manhattan. All such accounts arising 
 from local improvements within the Borough of Brooklyn 
 may be audited, revised and settled by the Auditor or 
 the Auditors of Accounts so detailed as aforesaid by 
 the Comptroller in the borough hall of the Borough 
 of Brooklyn. All such accounts arising from local im- 
 provements within the Borough of Queens may be 
 audited, revised and settled by the Auditor or Auditors 
 of Accounts so detailed as aforesaid by the Comptroller 
 in the borough hall of the Borough of Queens. All 
 such accounts arising from local improvements within the 
 Borough of Richmond may be audited, revised and settled 
 by the Auditor or Auditors of Accounts so detailed as 
 aforesaid by the Comptroller in the borough hall of the 
 
 61 
 
Borough of Richmond. And all such accounts arising 
 from local improvements within the Boroughs of Manhat- 
 tan and The Bronx may be audited, revised and settled by 
 any of the Auditors of Accounts in the chief office of the 
 Comptroller in the Borough of Manhattan, or, so far as 
 the Borough of The Bronx is concerned, in the office to 
 be located in the borough hall of the Borough of The 
 Bronx, and the Auditors of Accounts may have such 
 clerks and assistants, examiners, engineers, inspectors and 
 employees as the Comptroller may deem necessary and 
 proper, to be appointed by the Comptroller. The num- 
 ber of said appointees, and their salaries, shall be fixed 
 and determined from time to time by the Comptroller. 
 
 5. A bureau for the reception and safe keeping of 
 all moneys paid into the Treasury of the City, and for 
 the payment of money on warrants drawn by the Comp- 
 troller and countersigned by the Mayor, the chief officer 
 of which shall be called the Chamberlain. 
 
 Appointment and bond of Receiver of taxes and Collector of assess- 
 ments and arrears. 
 
 Sec. 152. The Comptroller shall appoint the Receiver of taxes 
 and the Collector of assessments and arrears. The Receiver of 
 taxes and the Collector of assessments and arrears before entering 
 upon the duties of their offices shall each enter into a bond to 
 the City of New York to be approved by the Chamberlain and 
 Comptroller in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, 
 which bond shall be conditioned for |the faithful performance 
 of the duties of the office by the officer giving such bond. 
 Every such bond shall be a lien on all the real estate held 
 jointly and severally by the said Receiver or the said Collector 
 executing the same, as the case may be, or any surety 
 thereto within any of the counties embraced in the City of 
 New York at the time of the filing thereof, unless there be named 
 and described in or on any such bond, real estate in one or more 
 of such counties equal in value to the amount of said bond and 
 owned by a surety, in which case the said bond shall be 'a 
 
 62 
 
lien on such real estate so described and upon all the real 
 estate of the said Receiver or Collector as the case may 
 be, and no other, and shall continue to be such lien until 
 the condition together with all costs and charges which may 
 accrue by the prosecution thereof shall be fully satisfied, not to 
 exceed however the period of ten years after the expiration of 
 the term of the officer who has given such bond, unless an action 
 thereon has been commenced and shall then be pending. 
 
 Renewal of Bond. 
 
 Sec. 153. If at any time during the continuance in ofifice of 
 the said Receiver of taxes or of any of the Deputy Receivers 
 of taxes or of the Collector of assessments and arrears or 
 of any of the Deputy Collectors of assessments and arrears 
 the Comptroller shall deem any surety of them or either 
 of them to be insufficient, he may require the said Re- 
 ceiver or any Deputy Receiver, or Collector or any Deputy Col- 
 lector to enter into a new bond to be approved in like man- 
 ner as herein prescribed, within such time as said Comptroller 
 may direct, not being less than ten days after requiring 
 such new bond to be given ; and in case of the neglect 
 or refusal of any such officer to furnish such bond within 
 the time so directed, the Comptroller may declare his office 
 vacant. 
 
 Accounts of Receiver and Collector and their Deputies to be examined. 
 
 Sec. 154. Upon the expiration of the term of office of the Re- 
 ceiver of Taxes or of any Deputy Receiver or of the Collector of 
 Assessments and Arrears or of any Deputy Collector, and within 
 one year thereafter, it shall be the duty of the Comptroller to exam- 
 ine the accounts of such Receiver or Collector or Deputy, and if 
 found correct to cause a certificate to that effect to be filed with 
 the bond of such officer, and such certificate so filed shall be a 
 full discharge and satisfaction of the conditions of such bond 
 and the lien or liens thereby created. And if at any time dur- 
 ing his continuance in office any such Receiver, Collector, or 
 Deputy Receiver, or Deputy Collector shall execute and file with 
 the Comptroller a new bond in the sam2 form and penalty and 
 
 63 
 
approved as provided in section 152, it shall be the duty of the 
 Comptroller to examine and adjust the accounts of such Receiver 
 or Collector or Deputy, to the date of such filing, and, if found 
 correct, to cause a certificate to that effect to be filed with the 
 bond or bonds previously filed by such officer, and such cer- 
 tificate so filed shall be the full discharge and satisfaction of the 
 condition of such prior bond or bonds and of the lien or liens 
 thereby created. 
 
 Receiver of Taxes and Collector of Assessments and Arrears ; where 
 to keep offices. 
 
 Sec, 155, The Receiver of Taxes and the Collector of Assess- 
 ments and Arrears shall each have his chief office in the Borough 
 of Manhattan at such places as shall be, from time to time, by 
 ordinance of the Municipal Assembly designated for that purpose. 
 Each of them shall also have an office in the Borough of Brook- 
 lyn, in the Borough of The Bronx, in the Borough of Queens and 
 in the Borough of Richmond, at such places in said Boroughs as 
 shall be designated by the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Receivers of Taxes and Collector of Assessments and Arrears may 
 appoint Deputies. 
 
 Sec, 156. The Receiver of Taxes and the Collector of Assess- 
 ments and Arrears may each appoint the requisite number of Dep- 
 uty Tax Receivers and of Deputy Collectors of assessments and 
 arrears respectively. Each of them shall take from each Deputy so 
 appointed by him a bond, in such penal sum and with such sureties 
 as may be approved by him and by the Comptroller and Cham- 
 berlain, which bond shall run to the Receiver or the Collector, as 
 the case may be, the City of New York and to whom it may 
 concern, and shall be conditioned for the faithful performance of 
 the duties of such Deputy, The Receiver of Taxes, and his sure- 
 ties, shall be liable for the acts and defaults of the Deputy Receiv- 
 ers so appointed and the Collector of assessments and arrears, and 
 his sureties, shall be liable for the acts and defaults of the Deputy 
 Collectors. Each bond taken in pursuance of the provisions of 
 this section shall be filed with the Comptroller, Each Deputy 
 
 64 
 
Receiver of taxes shall have all the powers and be subject to all 
 the duties of the Receiver of taxes in respect to the collection 
 and receipt of taxes, and each Deputy Collector of assessments 
 and arrears shall have all the powers and be subject to all the 
 duties of the Collector of assessments and arrears in respect to the 
 collection of assessments and arrears. The Deputy Receiver of 
 taxes and Deputy Collectors of assessments and arrears shall receive 
 annual salaries to be fixed by the Comptroller in his discretion, 
 within the limits of the appropriation made therefor. 
 
 Where Taxes, Assessments and Arrears due and payable. 
 
 Sec. 157. Taxes, assessments and arrears due upon property 
 within the Borough of Manhattan, shall be payable and receiv- 
 able at the main offices of the Receiver of taxes and of the Collector 
 of assessments and arrears respectively, in said Borough. Taxes, 
 assessments and arrears due upon property situated in every 
 other Borough shall be payable at the offices of said Receiver of 
 taxes or Collector of assessments and arrears respectively, in 
 the Borough in which said property is situated. 
 
 Bond of Receiver and Collector to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 158. The bonds given by the Receiver of Taxes and 
 the Collector of assessments and arrears as hereinbefore pro- 
 vided shall be filed and remain in the ofifice of the Comptroller, 
 and true copies thereof, certified by the Comptroller, shall be 
 filed in the office of the Clerk of each of the Counties wholly or 
 partly embraced within the City of New York and shall be pub- 
 lic records. In case a certificate of the adjustment of the accounts 
 of any Receiver or Collector be made as hereinbefore provided, 
 a true copy thereof, certified by the Comptroller, shall be filed 
 in each of the offices in which a copy of the bond of said Re- 
 ceiver or Collector shall have been filed. 
 
 Assessment lists to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 159. There shall be kept in the office of the Comptroller 
 a full and complete record, in detail, of all lists of assessments 
 confirmed, whether by the Supreme Court, or the Board of 
 
 65 
 
Revision or the Board of Assessors, with the date of confirma- 
 tion and the date of entry under such record, which record shall 
 be open to inspection during office hours, and the same shall 
 be received as presumptive evidence of the facts therein contained. 
 An assessment shall become a lien upon thejreal estate affected 
 thereby, immediately upon its entry in the said record. If any 
 such assessment list affects property situated in any Borough, 
 other than the Borough of Manhattan, a copy of such list shall 
 forthwith be transmitted to and filed in the office of the Collector 
 of assessments and arrears in the Borough in which is situated 
 the property so affected. 
 
 Comptroller to appoint clerks and assistants. 
 
 Sec. 160. The Comptroller shall appoint as many clerks and 
 assistants to the Receiver of Taxes and the Collector of Assess- 
 ments and Arrears as may be necessary, and shall designate the 
 Boroughs in which they shall respectively perform their duties, 
 and shall, within the limits of the appropriation therefor, fix 
 their salaries. 
 
 Publicatioti of Financial Statement. 
 
 Sec. 161. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to 
 publish in the City Record and corporation newspapers, two 
 months before the election of municipal officers, a full and 
 detailed statement of the receipts and the expenditures of 
 the corporation during the two years ending on the first day of 
 the month in which said publication is made, and the cash 
 balance or surplus; and in every such statement the different 
 sources of city revenue, and the amount received from each, the 
 several appropriations made, the objects for which the same 
 were made, and the amount of moneys expended under each, 
 the money borrowed on the credit of the corporation, the au- 
 thority under which each loan was made, and the terms on 
 which the same was obtained, shall be clearly and particularly 
 specified. 
 
 Application of certain moneys. 
 
 Sec. 162. It shall be lawful for the Comptroller to apply 
 
 66 
 
the moneys accruing for interest on the sales of lands in said city 
 for unpaid taxes, assessments and Croton water rents, or so much 
 thereof as shall be required, to the account or fund desig- 
 nated '* lands purchased for taxes and assessments," such moneys 
 to be used for purchases by the corporation at such sales. 
 
 Dedication of certain lands for markets. 
 
 Sec. 163. The lands in the ninth ward of that part of the 
 corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of the City of New York, bounded on the 
 north by Bloomfield street, on the south by Gansevoort 
 street, on the east by West street and Tenth avenue, and on the 
 west by Thirteenth avenue, being a portion of the lands hereto- 
 fore set apart by law for use as a market-place, are hereby dedi- 
 cated to market purposes, and shall be used and occupied as 
 such in the manner that may be designated and prescribed by 
 the commissioners of the sinking fund, who shall have full power 
 and authority in respect thereto. Said commissioners of the 
 sinking fund may, in their discretion, lease said lands to be 
 used for public market purposes for such term of years, with 
 such covenants, and for such annual rental, as in their judg- 
 ment shall be for the best interests of the city, or may prepare 
 the same for use as a public market. The block of ground in 
 said ward bounded on the north by Little Twelfth street, on the 
 south by Gansevoort street, on the east by Washington street, 
 and on the west by West street and Tenth avenue, is hereby 
 declared to be a public market-place, and subject to the pro- 
 visions of section 205 of this Act, shall be kept for the 
 exclusive use of farmers and market gardeners. The Department 
 of Finance shall have sole charge and control of said public 
 market-place and of the wagons employed in the business of 
 selling farm and garden produce in said city, and shall have 
 power to make suitable regulations concerning fees, the hours 
 during which the said business shall be conducted, and the 
 general management of the same. 
 
 67 
 
Title 2. 
 
 THE BONDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE CITY. 
 
 Corporate stock of The City of New York. How issued. Pro" 
 visions as to bonded indebtedness. 
 
 Sec. 169. All bonds issued by The City of New York on and 
 after January 1st, 1898, in pursuance of laws already passed or 
 which may hereafter be passed, or in pursuance of the provisions 
 of this Act, excepting assessment bonds and revenue bonds, 
 shall be known as "Corporate Stock of The City of New York." 
 For the redemption and payment of said corporate stock and the 
 interest thereon, the faith and credit of The City of New York shall 
 be and is hereby pledged. Such corporate stock shall be in 
 such form as may be designated by the Comptroller, and shall 
 be signed by the said Comptroller and the Mayor of The City of 
 New York, and sealed with the common seal of The City of 
 New York, and attested by the City Clerk. Such corporate 
 stock shall be in coupon form in sums not less than five hun- 
 dred dollars each share, or shall be registered, and shall be con- 
 ditioned to be paid in gold coin, or in the legal currency of the 
 United States, at the option of the Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund, and shall be made redeemable at a period 
 of not less than ten, nor more than fifty years from the 
 date thereof ; provided, however, that such stock when issued 
 to provide for the supply of water shall always be issued 
 in the manner provided by section 10 of Article VIII, of 
 the Constitution of the State of New York. Such corpor- 
 ate stock and all assessment bonds and revenue bonds, 
 as well as all bonds hereafter to be issued by The City of 
 New York by virtue of this Act or of any other Act, whether 
 general or special, shall be free and exempt from all taxation, 
 except for state purposes. The interest on such corporate stock 
 and on all other bonds of the corporation, except revenue bonds, 
 shall not exceed four per centum per annum, and shall be made 
 payable quarterly, or semi-annually, in The City of New York, 
 or at such other place as may be fixed by the said Comptroller at 
 
 68 
 
the time of issue of said stock or bonds ; provided, however, that 
 the interest on revenue bonds, issued in anticipation of the 
 collection of taxes may be made payable at the date of the 
 maturity thereof. 
 
 Corporate Stock of The City of New York issued in pur- 
 suance of laws already passed or which may be hereafter passed, 
 or in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, shall be, unless 
 otherwise provided by this Act, issued by the Comptroller 
 only to the extent to which he may be thereunto authorized 
 by resolution of the Municipal Assembly and the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment adopted by vote as provided for 
 in this Act; provided, however, that wherever by existing 
 provisions of law, or by the provisions of this Act, the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund may be specifically author- 
 ized to provide for the issue of stocks or bonds, said authoriza- 
 tion of the Comptroller shall be made by said Commissioners 
 instead of the said Municipal Assembly and said Board of Esti- 
 mate and Apportionment, and provided, further, that whenever 
 the amount of stocks or bonds required to be issued in pursuance 
 of any law for any one purpose in any year shall not exceed the 
 sum of one hundred thousand dollars, the Comptroller may issue 
 such bonds when thereunto authorized by the vote of a majority 
 of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. 
 
 Issue of Stock or Bonds by The City of New York to take the place 
 of bonds authorized to be issued by laws enacted prior to Janu- 
 ary 1st, 1898. 
 
 Sec. 170. Whenever, and to the extent to which, it may be 
 lawful for the municipal or public corporations or parts thereof, 
 including the Counties of Kings and Richmond, which by this 
 Act are made part of the corporation of The City of New York, 
 to issue for public purposes bonds pursuant to laws enacted prior 
 to January 1st, 1898, it shall be lawful for The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted, to issue corporate stock as herein 
 provided for the same purposes; provided, however, that the 
 amount so to be issued shall not in any one case exceed the 
 balance remaining unissued of the amount limited to be issued 
 pursuant to the authority of said laws. In similar instances 
 
 69 
 
assessment bonds and revenue bonds of The City of New York, 
 as hereby constituted, may likewise be so issued, subject to the 
 same limitations as to the amount thereof. 
 
 Bonds to be issued in sums of ten dollars or any multiple thereof. 
 
 Sec. 171. Whenever it shall be lawful to issue any bonds 
 of The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, the same, 
 when issued in registered form, may be issued in denominations 
 of ten dollars or any multiple thereof. Preference shall, as far 
 as practicable, and without pecuniary disadvantage to the said 
 City of New York, be given to applicants for the smallest amounts 
 and smallest denominations of said bonds in issuing the same. 
 
 Registration of stocks and bonds. 
 
 Sec. 172. All stocks and bonds heretofore lawfully issued by any 
 of the municipal or public corporations or parts thereof, which 
 have heretofore been annexed to or consolidated with the corpora- 
 tion known as the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City 
 of New York, or which by this Act are made part of the corpor- 
 ation of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, including 
 the Counties of Kings and Richmond, for the payment of the 
 principal and interest of which the City of New York is liable, 
 may be registered and must be recorded by the owners 
 thereof in the Comptroller's office in said City, and shall be 
 transferable at the pleasure of the holder, either in person or by 
 attorney, only upon the books of the corporation in said office, 
 and subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the 
 Comptroller may prescribe ; such registry and transfer to be 
 endorsed thereon by the Comptroller. Whenever such stocks or 
 bonds have been issued in coupon form, and whenever hereafter 
 corporate stock of The City of New York may be so issued, it 
 shall be the privilege of the holders thereof at any time, subject 
 to such rules and regulations to convert the same into registered 
 stock or bonds, and the Comptroller is hereby authorized to issue 
 registered stock or bonds therefor in the manner and form in 
 which the same would have been conditioned if originally issued 
 in registered form. The interest on all such stocks and bonds 
 when so registered shall, as the same becomes due and payable, 
 
 70 
 
be paid in like manner as upon other registered stock and bonds 
 of The City of New York; and whenever any such stocks or 
 bonds have coupons attached, the Comptroller shall, upon 
 registration thereof, have authority to detach all coupons 
 therefrom, and shall thereupon endorse the fact of such registra- 
 tion, with a reference to this section. 
 
 Fund for street and park openings. 
 
 Sec. 173. The fund heretofore established and accumulated 
 in the treasury of the corporation known as the Mayor, Alder- 
 men and Commonalty of the City of New York, entitled the 
 "Fund for Street and Park Openings," shall be continued in the 
 corporation of The City of New York, as hereby constituted. 
 The said fund for street and park openings shall consist of : 
 
 1. Whatever cash balance in said fund may upon Janu- 
 any 1st, 1898, be on deposit in the treasury of the cor- 
 poration known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Common- 
 alty of the City of New York. 
 
 2. Whatever cash balances there may be on January 
 1st, 1898, in the treasuries or standing to the credit of 
 the several municipal or public corporations or parts 
 thereof which by this Act are made part of the corpora- 
 tion of The City of New York, and which said cash bal- 
 ances may be applicable to the payment of damages 
 awarded by the Commissioners of Estimate and Assess- 
 ment in reports heretofore confirmed or hereafter to 
 be confirmed in proceedings taken to open any street, 
 road, avenue, boulevard, public square or place, park or 
 park-way, or to acquire title to land required for any 
 bridge, tunnel or approach thereto, and all the costs and 
 expenses of such proceedings heretofore or hereafter taxed. 
 
 3. Such sums as may be raised by taxation in The 
 City of New York, and the proceeds of such bonds as may 
 be issued as by this Act provided to meet the expense, in 
 whole or in part, of any of the objects and purposes in 
 the preceding subdivision of this section specified. 
 
 71 
 
4. All moneys hereafter collected by The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted, for or on account of assess- 
 ments made and confirm.ed and hereafter to be made and 
 confirmed for opening any street, road, avenue, boulevard, 
 public square or place, park or parkway, or for acquiring 
 title to land required for any bridge, tunnel or approach 
 thereto, wholly or partly within the limits of the several 
 municipal or public corporations or parts thereof, which by 
 this Act, are made part of the corporation of The City of 
 New York. 
 
 Damages, etc., to be paid from said fund. 
 
 Sec. 174. From the said fund for street and park openings, 
 and not otherwise, shall be paid all damages awarded by the 
 Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment in reports hereafter 
 or heretofore confirmed in proceedings taken to open any street, 
 road, avenue, boulevard, public square or place, park or park- 
 way, or to acquire title to land required for any bridge, tunnel, 
 or approach thereto in The City of New York, as hereby consti- 
 tuted, and all the costs and expenses of such proceedings 
 heretofore or hereafter taxed. The person or persons to whom 
 awards shall be made in such proceedings, wherein reports are 
 or have been confirmed, and the person or persons in whose 
 favor costs and expenses may be or have been taxed, shall not 
 have an action at law against The City of New York for such 
 awards, costs or expenses, but may require the officers of said 
 City to raise, as hereafter provided, the money necessary to 
 enable the Comptroller to pay such awards, costs and expenses 
 from the said fund, and thereafter compel the payment of such 
 damages, costs and expenses from such fund. Whenever the 
 amount of the damages awarded in any report, together with 
 the costs of the Commissioners and the charges and expenses, 
 shall exceed the balance remaining in said fund after deducting 
 all outstanding claims against said balance, the Comptroller is 
 authorized to raise by the issue and sale of revenue bonds such 
 amounts as shall be necessary to pay such damages, costs and 
 expenses; provided, however, that in each and every case in 
 which by virtue of any existing statute or any statute hereaftei 
 
 72 
 
enacted, or by virtue of any act or resolution heretofore or here- 
 after adopted by any Board or body pursuant to any statute, the 
 whole or any portion of the awards made in any proceeding, 
 and of the costs and expenses thereof, are payable out of the 
 fund for street and park openings and are not to be assessed 
 upon the property benefited, but are to be borne and paid by 
 The City of New York, the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment may, in its discretion, by a majority vote, direct that the 
 amount so to be borne and paid by said City of New York shall 
 be raised by the issue and sale of corporate stock of The City of 
 New York, and the Comptroller shall thereupon issue and sell 
 said stock at such times and in such amounts as may be neces- 
 sary, and shall pay the proceeds thereof into said fund for street 
 and park openings. 
 
 Replenishment of said fund. 
 
 Sec, 175. The Corporation Counsel shall furnish to the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment in each year, at the time 
 of making the estimate for the ensuing year, a list of all reports 
 confirmed for the twelve preceding months with a statement 
 of the amount of awards and costs taxed in each proceed- 
 ing. The Comptroller shall at the same time furnish to the said 
 Board, statements of the amount of such awards and costs already 
 paid, and of the amounts due for awards and costs payable from 
 the said fund and still unpaid, and of the amounts of revenue 
 bonds then outstanding, issued in pursuance of the last preceding 
 section, and of the balance in the treasury to the credit of the said 
 fund. The Municipal Assembly and the said Board shall thereupon 
 include in the annual budget for the ensuing year a sum suffic- 
 ient, with such balance, to pay all claims for the awards and 
 costs in all proceedings in which reports shall have been prior to 
 that time confirmed, and which awards shall not then have been 
 paid, and also a sum sufficient to pay and discharge the revenue 
 bonds then outstanding and issued in pursuance of the last pre- 
 ceding section. 
 
 Payment of assessments imposed upon The City of New York. 
 
 Sec. 176. It shall be the duty of and lawful for the Comp- 
 
 73 . , v':'.:--;"^:;f <:.,., 
 
 -SITTl 
 
troller when thereto authorized by the Municipal Assembly and 
 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to issue such 
 amounts of the corporate stock of The City of New York 
 as shall be necessary to provide the funds to enable said 
 Comptroller to pay any and all assessments and expenses 
 imposed, or that may hereafter be imposed upon The City 
 of New York, by reason of the laying out, opening, regulat- 
 ing and grading or improving any and all streets, roads, 
 avenues, public parks, squares or places, and out of the proceeds 
 of said stock to pay such assessments and expenses. 
 
 Disposition of moneys received from certain assessments. 
 
 Sec. 177. The moneys collected upon the assessments laid 
 by the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment, appointed 
 in pursuance of sections 670 to 678 inclusive of Chapter 410 
 of the Laws of 1882, as amended, shall be applied toward 
 the payment of the fund or stock authorized by Section 140 of 
 Chapter 410 of the Laws of 1882, or to the payment of said 
 awards and expenses, if received before the issue of said fund 
 or stock. 
 
 Expenses relating to the water supply : How to he met. 
 
 Sec. 178. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller, and he is 
 hereby authorized and directed when thereto authorized by the 
 Municipal Assembly and the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment, on requisition of the Commissioner of Water Supply, to 
 raise, from time to time, on the issue of corporate stock of 
 The City of New York, amounts of money sufficient to 
 pay the sums which may be necessary from time to time 
 to be paid for the acquisition of any real estate, or for the 
 extinguishment of any right, title, or interest therein to be 
 acquired or extinguished under the provisions of the laws 
 relating to the supply of water to the city, together with 
 all expenses necessarily incurred in surveying, locating and 
 acquiring title to such real estate, or extinguishing claim 
 for damages thereto ; and also all such sums as, from time 
 to time, may be found necessary for the construction of aque 
 ducts, reservoirs, dams, sluices, canals and appurtenances; and 
 
 74 
 
all such payments shall be made by the Comptroller on the certifi- 
 cate of the Commissioner of Water Supply ; provided, however, 
 that the amount so raised shall not in any one year exceed the 
 limitations which, by law, may be or may have been imposed as 
 to the amount of expenditure to be made therefor. 
 
 Bonds for drains. 
 
 Sec. 179. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller, when 
 thereto authorized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
 to issue assessment bonds in behalf of The City of New York, to 
 an amount sufficient to raise the sum necessary to pay any damages 
 that may from time to time be awarded to the owners of lands for 
 the right of way required for drains and for the expense of plans 
 and surveys and the fees of commissioners. The proceeds of 
 such bonds shall be paid into the Street Improvement Fund, 
 from which fund payments as aforesaid shall be made, and 
 assessments collected on account thereof shall be paid into 
 said Street Improvement Fund. 
 
 Expenses of the Department of Docks and Ferries : How met. 
 
 Sec. 180. The Comptroller shall, from time to time, when 
 directed by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, issue corpor- 
 ate stock of The City of New York for the purpose of raising 
 the money necessary to carry out the provisions of Title 1 of 
 chapter XVI of this Act, relating to the Department of Docks and 
 Ferries, its powers and duties. Not more than three million dol- 
 lars of such stock shall be issued in any one year; provided, how- 
 ever, that there may also be issued an additional amount of such 
 stock, equal to the balance remaining unissued of the amount of 
 Dock Bonds authorized to be issued by the provisions of chapter 
 246 of the Laws of 1896. The moneys received from sales of such 
 stocks shall be deposited in the treasury of the city and shall 
 be drawn out and paid by the Comptroller of said city for 
 the several objects and purposes provided in said title, relating 
 to the said department, its powers and duties, upon the requisi- 
 tion of the Board of Docks countersigned by the Commissioners 
 of the Sinking Fund. The expenses and compensation of said 
 
 75 
 
Board, its rents, the compensation of its appointees, the 
 purchase money and damages awarded upon the acquisition 
 of private property, the payments under the contracts author- 
 ized in said title and for work performed under the same, and 
 all other expenses and disbursements necessarily incurred in 
 carrying out the said provisions of said title in keeping, main- 
 taining, repairing, building and rebuilding the wharves belong- 
 ing to the said corporation, in dredging and cleaning slips, shall 
 be paid out of said moneys in the manner above provided. 
 
 Assessment bonds. 
 
 Sec. 181. It shall be lawful for the Comptroller, when 
 authorized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 to issue assessment bonds, at not less than par, for such 
 periods as said Comptroller may determine, not exceeding ten 
 years, and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding four per 
 cent, per annum, to provide the means necessary to pay all 
 expenses incurred or to be incurred on account of regulating 
 and paving streets, building sewers, and all other work ordered 
 to be done by contract, by virtue of ordinances which may be 
 hereafter passed by the Municipal Assembly of The City of New 
 York, the expense whereof is to be collected by assessment 
 from the property benefited by said work or works, or on 
 account of any local improvement or other public work hereto- 
 fore made or performed, or that shall hereafter be made or per- 
 formed under and by virtue of the authority of any law in all 
 cases in which the said expense is to be paid in whole or in part 
 by assessment upon the property benefited. No moneys shall be 
 paid out of the proceeds of said bonds on account of any contract 
 hereinbefore referred to, until a copy of said contract has been 
 filed with the Comptroller of said city by the head of the depart- 
 ment or board having such work in charge, and also a certifi- 
 cate in writing from the head of such department or Board, 
 stating that a payment is due, and the amount of such payment. 
 On work contracted for subsequent to May seventh, eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-two, or hereafter contracted for, no interest 
 shall be charged on the monthly or other intermediate payments 
 
 76 
 
to any contractor, and thirty per centum, and no more, shall 
 be reserved from the amount or value of work specified and 
 certified from time to time to the Comptroller of said city, 
 by the proper ofificer, to have been done by any contractor ; and 
 such reserved thirty per centum shall be paid to such contractor 
 on or before the expiration of thirty days from the completion 
 and acceptance of the work. 
 
 The fund heretofore created by the corporation known as the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, 
 known as the "Street Improvement Fund," shall be continued, 
 and into such fund shall be paid the proceeds of the sale of 
 assessment bonds as by this section authorized, and of such bonds 
 as may by other provisions of law be authorized to be issued for 
 similar purposes within the territory of The City of New York, 
 as hereby constituted, and for the payment of the expense of 
 which the said City may in the first instance become liable, as 
 well as the cash balances of assessments already collected, or to 
 be hereafter collected, on account of similar contracts duly entered 
 into by the proper authorities of the several municipal or public 
 corporations, or parts thereof, which by this Act are consolidated 
 with the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York. 
 
 Proposals for bonds and stock hereafter issued or purchased. 
 
 Sec. 182. Whenever any bonds or stocks shall be hereafter 
 issued, other than revenue bonds, or such bonds and stocks as may 
 be purchased for investment by the Commissioners of the Sink- 
 ing Fund, the Comptroller shall invite proposals therefor by pub- 
 lic advertisement, for not less than ten days, and shall award 
 the same to the highest bidder or bidders therefor ; provided that 
 no proposals for bonds or stocks shall be accepted for less than 
 the par value of the same ; and said proposals shall be only pub- 
 licly opened by the Comptroller, in the presence of the Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund, or such of them as shall attend. 
 Every bidder, as a condition precedent to the reception or con- 
 sideration of his proposal, shall deposit with the Comptroller a 
 certified check, drawn to the order of said Comptroller upon 
 one of the state or national banks of the said city, or a sum of 
 
 77 
 
money; such check or money to accompany the proposal to an 
 amount to be fixed by the Comptroller not exceeding two and one 
 half per centum of the amount of the proposal. Within three days 
 after the decision as to who is or are the highest bidder or bidders, 
 the Comptroller shall return all deposits made to the persons mak- 
 ing the same, except the deposit made by the highest bidder or bid- 
 ders, and if the said highest bidder or bidders shall refuse or neglect, 
 within five days after service of written notice of the award to 
 him or them, to pay to the City Chamberlain the amount of the 
 stocks or bonds awarded to him or them at their par value, to- 
 gether with the premium thereon, less the amount deposited by 
 him or them, the amount or amounts of deposit thus made 
 shall be forfeited to and retained by said city as liquidated 
 damages for such neglect or refusal, and shall thereafter be paid 
 into the sinking fund of The City of New York for the redemp- 
 tion of the city debt. 
 
 Expenses of restoring street pavements ; how met. 
 
 Sec. 183. The moneys which the Comptroller is authorized 
 to pay pursuant to the provisions of section 525 of this Act 
 shall be obtained by him from time to time, as may be necessary, 
 by the sale of assessment bonds as provided by section 181 of this 
 Act. The money collected pursuant to the provisions of said 
 section 525 shall be set apart, when collected, as a trust fund, 
 and applied to the redemption of the principal and interest of 
 said bonds. 
 
 Redemption of certain bonds payable from collection of assessments. 
 
 Sec. 184. If at any time hereafter the amount in the treas- 
 ury of the city derived from collections of assessments shall be 
 insufficient to meet and pay, when they become due and pay- 
 able, any bonds issued by The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted, or any bonds heretofore issued by any of the munici- 
 pal or public corporations or parts thereof hereby consolidated 
 into The City of New York, for expenditures incurred on 
 public improvements, payable in whole or in part from assess- 
 ments, then it shall be lawful for the Comptroller, when 
 
 7S 
 
hereto authorized by the Municipal Assembly and the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment, to issue corporate stock of The 
 City of New York for an amount sufficient to pay the bonds so 
 falling due as aforesaid ; or the Comptroller may in his discretion, 
 for such purpose, issue assessment bonds in the manner provided 
 by section 181 of this Act. 
 
 Deficiencies in collections of arrears of assessments ; how met. 
 
 Sec. 185. The Comptroller is hereby authorized to issue 
 from time to time assessment bonds in the manner provided by 
 section 181 of this Act, to provide such amounts as may be 
 required to meet the deficiencies caused by delay in collecting 
 arrears of assessments ; the aggregate amount so issued not to 
 exceed at any time the aggregate amount of said arrears then 
 outstanding. 
 
 Bonds for State Taxes. 
 
 Sec. 186. For the purpose of enabling The City of New 
 York to make payment of the quota of state taxes which may be 
 imposed upon, and chargeable to, the said City and the Coun- 
 ties wholly comprised therein, and the part of Queens County 
 included in said City, at the same time or times that other 
 counties of this state are or may be required to make pay- 
 ment by law, the Comptroller is hereby authorized and required, 
 unless the money for the payment of the same shall have been 
 otherwise provided, to issue revenue bonds for such amounts as 
 may from time to time become necessary to meet such quota of 
 the state taxes, and from the proceeds thereof, to pay to the 
 State Treasurer the amount of taxes which the Comptroller of 
 the State shall have apportioned according to law, and which 
 may be required to be paid in pursuance of such apportionment 
 to the State by The City of New York and said counties and 
 said part of Queens County, at such times. 
 
 Revenue bonds ; special funds. 
 
 m 
 
 Sec. 187. The Comptroller is authorized to borrow, from 
 time to time, on the credit of the corporation, in anticipation of 
 its revenues, and not to exceed in amount the amount of such 
 revenues, such sums as may be necessary to meet expenditures 
 
 79 
 
under the appropriations for each current year. Such amounts 
 shall be obtained by the issue of revenue bonds, which shall be 
 redeemed out of the proceeds of the tax levy in anticipation 
 of the collection of which such bonds were issued. 
 
 Whenever the Comptroller may be authorized by the provis- 
 ions of this Act, or by laws heretofore or hereafter enacted, to 
 issue revenue bonds for purposes other than to meet expen- 
 ditures under the appropriations for each current year, such 
 revenue bonds shall be redeemed out of the tax levy for 
 the year next succeeding the year of their issue, and the neces- 
 sary appropriation therefor shall be made by the Municipal 
 Assembly and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment in the 
 budget for such year. Such last mentioned bonds may be 
 designated and known as " Special Revenue Bonds". 
 
 Cash balances of Special Funds in the treasuries or to 
 the credit of the several municipal or public corporations or 
 parts thereof, including the counties of Kings and Richmond, 
 hereby consolidated with the Mayor, Aldermen and Common- 
 alty of the City of New York shall be transferred by the Comp- 
 troller to like Special Funds of The City of New York where 
 such exist ; and such Special Funds shall thereupon be liable for 
 payments which would otherwise have been made out of the 
 funds so transferred. Where no similar funds exist in the 
 treasury or to the credit of The City of New York, such Special 
 Fund shall be, so far as practicable, administered in the same 
 manner as they would have been administered, if this Act had not 
 been passed. Whenever, within two years after the passage of 
 this Act, it shall appear that the charges and liabilities of any 
 such Special Fund exceed the available assets thereof, it shall be 
 lawful for the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, upon 
 the written request of the Comptroller, to authorize the issue of 
 revenue bonds or assessment bonds or corporate stock of The 
 City of New York, for the purpose of supplying such deficiency. 
 
 Special Revenue Bonds. 
 
 Sec. 188. The Comptroller is authorized to issue special 
 revenue bonds to provide the means necessary to make payments 
 for the following purposes : 
 
 80 
 
1. The expenses necessarily incurred in condemning unsafe 
 buildings as provided by section 511 of Chapter 410 of the Laws 
 of 1882. 
 
 2. Amounts audited by the Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment pursuant to section 231 of this Act. 
 
 3. Such amounts as may be necessary to pay judgments 
 recovered against the corporation. 
 
 4. The amount appropriated in pursuance of section 236 
 of this Act in those cases in which the appropriations are 
 made after the final passage of the annual appropriation and the 
 certification to the Municipal Assembly of the amount to be 
 raised. 
 
 5. The amount necessary to defray the expense of supply- 
 ing water meters as authorized by section 475 of this Act. 
 
 6. To provide for deficiencies in the fund for street and 
 park openings as provided in section 174 of this Act. 
 
 7. To provide for the payment of claims, charges, expenses and 
 appropriations which have been or may be hereafter by law specifi- 
 cally imposed upon The City of New York, as hereby constituted, 
 and the several counties wholly included within its limits by the 
 Legislature, and for which no other provision for payment has 
 been made. 
 
 8. To provide for the payment of expenses authorized by 
 the concurrent vote of all the members of the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment upon a joint resolution requesting such 
 authorization, adopted by the affirmative vote of three-fourths of 
 all the members elected to each branch of the Municipal Assem- 
 bly of New York City ; provided, however, that the amount 
 thus issued shall not in any one year exceed two hundred and 
 fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 9. To meet and pay the expenses incurred pursuant to the 
 provisions of sections 1177 and 1178 of this Act. 
 
 81 
 
Title 3. 
 the chamberlain. 
 
 How appointed. Bond. 
 
 Sec. 194. The Chamberlain shall be appointed in the 
 same manner as heads of departments, and shall hold his office 
 for four years, unless sooner removed, as herein provided. He 
 shall, within ten days after receiving notice of his appoint- 
 ment and before he enters upon his office, give a bond to the 
 people of the State of New York in the sum of three hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, with not less than four sufficient sureties to be 
 approved by the Comptroller, conditioned that he will faithfully 
 discharge the duties of his office and all trusts imposed on him by 
 law in virtue of his office. Such bond shall be deemed to extend 
 to the faithful execution of the duties of the office until a 
 new appointment shall be made and confirmed, and the person 
 so appointed enters upon the performance of his duties. In case 
 of any official misconduct or default on the part of such Chamber- 
 lain, or his subordinates, an action upon such bond may be begun 
 and prosecuted to judgment by the Attorney General, or by the 
 City, which shall, after first paying therefrom the expenses of the 
 litigation, cause the proceeds of such judgment to be distributed 
 as shall be lawful and equitable among the persons and objects 
 injured or defrauded by such official misconduct or default of said 
 Chamberlain, or any of his subordinates. 
 
 Duties. Accounts of to he examined by Commissioners of Accounts. 
 
 Sec. 195. Said Chamberlain shall exhibit to the Municipal 
 Assembly, at its first meeting in the month succeeding that in 
 which he enters upon the execution of his office, an exact state- 
 ment of the balance in the treasury to the credit of the city, with 
 a summary of the receipts and payments of the treasury during 
 the preceding year, and since the last preceding report required 
 by law, if more than a year shall have elapsed since such report 
 He shall receive all moneys which shall from time to time be 
 paid into the treasury of the city. He shall deposit all moneys 
 which shall come into his hands on account of the city on the 
 
 82 
 
day of the receipt thereof, or on the business day next succeed- 
 ing, in such banks and trust companies as shall have been 
 designated as deposit banks in pursuance of the next section ; 
 but no amount shall be on deposit at any one time in any one 
 bank or trust company exceeding one-half of the amount of the 
 capital and net surplus of such bank or trust company. The 
 money so deposited shall be placed to the account of the Chamber- 
 lain, and he shall keep a bankbook, in which shall be entered his 
 accounts of deposit in, and moneys drawn from the banks and trust 
 companies in which the deposits shall be made. The said banks 
 and trust companies shall, respectively, transmit to the Comp- 
 troller a weekly statement of the moneys which shall be received 
 and paid by them on account of the city treasury. The Chamber- 
 lain shall pay all warrants drawn on the treasury by the Comp- 
 troller and countersigned by the Mayor, or the chief clerk of 
 the Mayor when empowered by the Mayor in writing so to 
 do, and no moneys shall be paid out of the treasury ex- 
 cept on tnc */arrant of the Comptroller so countersigned. 
 No such warrant shall be signed by the Comptroller or coun 
 tersigned by the Mayor, except upon vouchers for the ex- 
 penditure of the amount named therein, examined and 
 allowed by an Auditor of Accounts, approved by the Comptroller, 
 and filed in the Department of Finance, except in the case of 
 judgments, in which case a transcript thereof shall be filed, 
 nor except such warrant shall be authorized by law or by ordi- 
 nance, and shall refer to the law or ordinance, and to the appro- 
 priation under and from which it is drawn. The Chamberlain 
 shall not draw any moneys of the City treasury from said banks 
 or trust companies unless by checks subjoined and attached to 
 such warrants and subscribed by him as Chamberlain and no 
 moneys shall be paid by either of the said banks or trust com- 
 panies on account of the treasury except upon such checks. 
 The Chamberlain shall exhibit his bank book to the Comptroller 
 on the first Tuesday of every month, and oftenerwhen required. 
 The accounts of the Chamberlain shall be annually closed on 
 the last day of November, and shall be examined in the month 
 of December in each year by the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 Such commissioners shall examine the accounts and vouchers of 
 
 83 
 
all moneys received into and paid out of the city treasury during 
 the year ending on the last day of November next preceding 
 such examination, and shall certify and report to the Mayor and 
 Municipal Assembly in the following month of January the 
 amount of moneys received into the treasury during such year, 
 the amount of moneys paid out during the same period by virtue 
 of warrants drawn on the treasury by the Comptroller, the 
 amount of moneys received by the Chamberlain who shall be in 
 office at the time of such examination, if he entered upon the 
 execution of his duties since the last preceding report, the bal- 
 ance in the treasury on the last day of November preceding such 
 examination, the amount of moneys borrowed for or on the credit 
 of the city during such year, and the amount of the bonds of the 
 city issued during such year, with the purposes for which and the 
 authority under which such bonds were issued. Such Commis- 
 sioners shall also compare the warrants drawn by the Comp- 
 troller on the treasury during the year ending on the last day of 
 November preceding such examination, with the several laws 
 and ordinances under which the same shall purport to have been 
 drawn, and shall in like manner certify and report whether the 
 Comptroller had power to draw such warrants ; and if any shall 
 be found which, in their opinion, he had no power to draw, they 
 shall specify the same in their report, with their reasons for such 
 opinion. 
 
 Public Moneys ; where to be deposited. Salary of Chamberlain. 
 
 Sec. 196. The said Chamberlain and Mayor and Comptroller 
 shall, by a majority vote, by written notice to the Comptroller, 
 designate the banks or trust companies in which all moneys of 
 The City of New York shall be deposited, and may, by like 
 notice in writing, from time to time change the banks and trust 
 companies thus designated ; but no such bank or trust company 
 shall be designated unless its officers shall agree to pay into the 
 city treasury interest on the daily balances at a rate to be fixed 
 by the Mayor and Chamberlain and the said Comptroller of The 
 City of New York, by a majority vote, which rate shall be so 
 fixed quarterly, on the first days of February, May, August and 
 November in each year, according to the current rate of interest 
 
 84 
 
upon like balances deposited in banks and trust companies in the 
 City of New York by private persons and corporations. The 
 said Chamberlain shall keep books showing the receipts of 
 moneys from all sources, and designating the sources of the 
 same, and also showing the amounts paid from time to time on 
 account of the several appropriations, and no warrants shall 
 be paid on account of any appropriation after the amount 
 authorized to be raised for that specific purpose shall have been 
 expended. The said Chamberlain shall once in each week 
 report in writing to the Mayor and to the Comptroller all moneys 
 received by him, the amount of all warrants paid by him since 
 his last report, and the amount remaining to the credit of the 
 city. The Chamberlain shall receive the sum of twelve thousand 
 dollars annually, and no more, for his services as Chamberlain of 
 said city, and as County Treasurer of the County of New York, 
 in lieu of all salary and of all interest, fees, commissions and 
 emoluments ; and all such interest, fees, commissions and emolu- 
 ments shall be accounted for and paid over by him to the city 
 treasury, except that the commissions or compensation provided 
 by law, and received by him for receiving and paying over the 
 state taxes, and all interest which accrue on deposits shall be 
 paid by him to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. He 
 may appoint and remove at pleasure. Deputy Chamberlains, and 
 such clerks and assistants as may be necessary, whose salaries, 
 together with all the expenses of his office, shall be paid 
 by The City of New York when fixed by him and approved 
 by the Municipal Assembly and the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment. 
 
 Certain Sections of Code of Civil Procedure respecting moneys patd 
 into Court, applicable . 
 
 Sec. 197. Each provision of title three of chapter eight of 
 the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to a County Treasurer, 
 applies to the Chamberlain, with respect to money paid into 
 court, in an action triable in The City of New York, as here- 
 by constituted, or with respect to money, or a bond, mortgage, 
 or other security, or public stock, representing money paid into 
 
 85 
 
court, except where special provision, with respect to the same, 
 is otherwise made by, law. 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Sec. 198. The Chamberlain is entitled, for the services 
 specified in this section, to collect for, and on behalf of the City 
 the following fees: For receiving money paid into the court, 
 one-half of one per centum upon the sum so received. For 
 paying out the same, one-half of one per centum upon 
 the sum so paid out. For investing money, pursuant to 
 the direction of the court, one-half of one per centum upon 
 the sum invested, not exceeding two hundred dollars, and one- 
 quarter of one per centum upon the excess over two hundred 
 dollars. For receiving the interest upon an investment, and 
 paying the same to the person entitled thereto, one-half of one 
 per centum upon the interest so received and paid. All of said 
 fees when collected by said Chamberlain shall be paid by him 
 into the city treasury as provided in section 196 of this Act. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 the sinking fund. 
 Cotnmissioners of the Sinking Fund : How Constituted. 
 
 Sec. 204. There shall be a Board of Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund, composed of the Mayor, Comptroller, Chamber- 
 lain, President of the Council, and Chairman of the Finance 
 Committee of the Board of Alderman, with all the powers and 
 duties now assigned, designated and reposed by law or ordinance 
 in the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of New 
 York, as heretofore constituted, of the City of Brooklyn and of 
 Long Island City, or the officers entrusted with similar powers 
 and duties in any of the municipal or public corporations or 
 parts thereof, including the Counties of Kings and Richmond, 
 hereby consolidated with the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 of the City of New York, except as otherwise provided by 
 this Act. The said Board shall administer each of the said 
 
 80 
 
several sinking funds, and perform, carry out and exercise the 
 several trusts, powers, ^obligations and duties relating thereto, 
 in the same manner as the same would have been administered, 
 performed, carried out and exercised if this Act had not been 
 passed, except as otherwise provided in this Act. 
 
 The assets and accounts of each of said sinking funds shall, 
 except as hereinafter otherwise provided, be kept separate and 
 distinct, and the same shall in all respects be administered as in- 
 dependent trusts, subject to and governed by the several pro- 
 visions of law or ordinance heretofore relating thereto, with the 
 intent and purpose of preserving inviolate the rights of holders 
 of bonds and stocks heretofore issued by any of the municipal 
 and public corporations or parts thereof hereby made part of The 
 City of New York, including the counties of Kings and 
 Richmond. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 Sec. 205. The said Board shall, except as in this Act other- 
 wise specifically provided, have power to sell or lease for the 
 highest marketable price or rental at public auction or by sealed 
 bids, and always after public advertisement and appraisal under 
 the direction of said board, any city property except parks, 
 wharves and piers and land under water, but not for a term 
 longer than ten years nor for a renewal for a longer period 
 than ten years. But if said property be market property, 
 excepting the market between sixteenth and seventeenth 
 streets east of Avenue C, the market in Gouverneur Slip and 
 the market in Old Slip, it shall not be sold or leased unless 
 under a condition that the purchaser or lessee thereof shall 
 maintain said market property as and for the purposes of a public 
 market for at least ten years from and after such sale or 
 lease, and under due ordinances of the • Municipal Assem- 
 bly or the Department of Health or under stipulations in 
 the deed of sale or lease, unless otherwise ordered by the Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund and the Municipal Assembly. 
 The proceeds of said ^sale or leasing shall on receipt thereof, 
 after paying necessary charges, be immediately paid to the 
 
 87 
 
credit of the sinking fund of The City of New York for the 
 redemption of the city debt. 
 
 The provisions of existing laws or ordinances relative to the 
 investment of moneys and assets of the several sinking funds 
 hereby made subject to the control of the Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund, as hereby constituted, in bonds, stocks or obliga- 
 tions of the municipal or public corporations or parts thereof 
 hereby consolidated into The City of New York, including the 
 Counties of Kings and Richmond, shall hereafter apply to 
 investment thereof in the bonds and stock of the corporation of 
 The City of New York, issued on and after January 1, 1898, 
 provided, however, that such bonds or stocks shall not thereupon 
 or thereafter be canceled, except as herein otherwise specifically 
 provided, but the same shall upon thejr maturity be paid off, 
 liquidated or discharged in the same manner as they would be 
 if held by private creditors. 
 
 It shall be lawful for the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund 
 in their discretion, and they are hereby empowered in such 
 discretion, to cancel from time to time, but not before maturity, 
 bonds and stocks of any of the municipal and public corpora- 
 tions or parts thereof forming part of the corporation of The 
 City of New York, as hereby constituted, and of the Counties 
 of Kings and Richmond, which may be held by any of said 
 sinking funds on December 31st, 1897, providing said bonds 
 and stocks are by law redeemable from the sinking funds in 
 which the same are held. It shall also be lawful for the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund in their discretion, and 
 they are hereby empowered in such discretion, to cancel from 
 time to time, but not before maturity, any portion of the indebt- 
 edness of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, incurred 
 on or after January 1, 1898, which may be held by them in 
 the "Sinking Fund of The City of New York," as hereinafter 
 constituted, and which may by law be redeemable from said 
 Sinking Fund as herein or elsewhere provided, and all such 
 similar indebtedness incurred to provide for the supply of water, 
 which maybe held by them and redeemable from "The Water 
 Sinking Fund of The City of New York " as hereinafter con- 
 stituted. 
 
 88 
 
The funds to be known as the " Sinking Fund of The City of 
 New York" and the " Water Sinking Fund of The City of New 
 York," as hereinafter constituted, shall be administered by the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, in like manner as provided 
 by the ordinance of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of 
 The City of New York, approved by the Mayor, February 22nd, 
 1844, so far as the same may be applicable ; provided, however, 
 that nothing contained in said ordinance shall affect or alter the 
 composition of the Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 
 as by this Act constituted. 
 
 The Sinking Fund of The City of New York. 
 
 Sec. 206. There shall be created a fund to be known as the 
 "Sinking Fund of The City of New York," which shall have 
 for its purposes the liquidation of the principal of the debt of the 
 corporation of The City of New York incurred on or after Janu- 
 ary 1st, 1898, as to which no provision for the payment thereof 
 otherwise than from taxation is made, and excepting revenue 
 bonds and bonds issued to provide for the supply of water pursuant 
 to the provisions of section 10 of Article VIII, of the constitution 
 of the State of New York. For the redemption of such debt 
 out of said sinking fund there shall be annually included in the 
 budget and paid into the sinking fund of The City of New 
 York herein created, an amount to be estimated and certified by 
 the Comptroller, and to be by the Municipal Assembly and the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment inserted in the budget for 
 each year, which with the accumulations of interest thereon shall 
 be sufficient to meet and discharge such bonds or stock by 
 the time the same shall be payable. 
 
 Whenever the bonds and stocks outstanding on December 
 31st, 1897, and being charges or liens on any of the sinking 
 funds hereby made subject to the control of the commissioners 
 of the sinking fund, shall in respect to any such sinking fund be 
 wholly discharged, liquidated or canceled, it shall thereupon be 
 lawful for the commissioners of the sinking fund to cancel such 
 bonds of the corporation of The City of New York issued on or 
 after January 1st, 1898, as may be held by such sinking fund, 
 
 89 
 
and the revenues of such sinking fund when thus relieved of such 
 liens or charges shall thereupon and thereafter be paid into the 
 Sinking Fund of The City of New York, as herein created. When- 
 ever such payments shall be made, the Comptroller in making the 
 certificate to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment by this 
 section required shall take into account the amount thereof, and 
 deduct the same from the estimated amount to be included 
 in each year's budget as herein provided. 
 
 Sinking Funds for redemption purposes to be continued. 
 
 Sec. 207. The fund known as "The sinking fund of 
 the City of New York for the redemption of the city debt," and 
 the fund known as "The sinking fund of the city of Brooklyn," 
 and the like funds of each and every of the municipial or public 
 corporations or parts thereof by this Act consolidated with the 
 corporation known as "the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of 
 the City of New York," including the Counties of Kings and Rich- 
 mond, shall be continued, and the funds, moneys, revenues and 
 assets heretofore pledged and appropriated to each of said funds 
 shall continue to be and the same are hereby pledged and 
 appropriated thereto severally and respectively in the same 
 manner as though this Act had not been passed, until such time 
 as the bonds, stocks and obligations outstanding on December 
 31st, 1807, and redeemable therefrom, shall have been respect- 
 ively cancelled, liquidated, discharged and redeemed. 
 
 Wherever, by existing laws or ordinances, the duty is 
 imposed upon boards or officers of the several municipal or 
 public corporations or parts thereof hereby consolidated with 
 the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, 
 including the Counties of Kings and Richmond, to raise by taxa- 
 tion, annually or otherwise, amounts of money for sinking fund 
 purposes, or for the redemption of or payment of interest on 
 bonded indebtedness, for which The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted, is by this Act made liable, it shall be the duty of the 
 proper officers of the said. The City of New York, in like manner 
 to raise such amounts by taxation upon the estates, real and 
 personal subject to taxation in said city. 
 
 90 
 
Sinking funds created pursuant to constitutional requirements ; 
 Water Sinking Fund of The City of New York. 
 
 Sec. 208. There shall be created a fund to be known as the 
 " Water Sinking Fund of The City of New York, " which shall 
 have for its purpose the liquidation of the principal of the debt 
 incurred by The City of New York, as hereby constituted, on or 
 after January 1st, 1898 for the supply of water as provided by 
 Section 10 of Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of 
 New York. 
 
 The funds known as the "Sinking Fund No. 2 of The City of 
 New York, "the "Water Sinking Fund of the City of Brooklyn" 
 and the Sinking Funds of each and every municipal and public cor- 
 poration or part thereof hereby made part of the corporation of 
 The City of New York, including the Counties of Kings and 
 Richmond, created pursuant to the requirements of the Constitu- 
 tional Amendment adopted November 4th, 1884, or of section 
 10 of Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of New York, 
 shall be continued, and the funds, moneys, revenues and assets 
 heretofore pledged and appropriated to each of said funds shall, 
 except as herein otherwise specially provided, continue to be 
 severally and respectively so pledged and appropriated. It shall, 
 however, be the duty of the Comptroller of The City of New 
 York, as soon as practicable after the passage of this Act, to 
 cause an examination to be made as to the condition of said 
 Funds, and if it appears to him, and he shall so certify to the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, that said funds or any of 
 them have been managed, invested and administered in the 
 manner required by the provisions of the Constitution of the 
 State of New York as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, by concurrent vote, to 
 authorize and direct the amalgamation of said fund or funds with 
 the Water Sinking Fund of The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 Sinking funds for the payment of interest. 
 
 Sec. 209. The fund known as the "Sinking Fund of the 
 City of New York for the payment of the interest accruing and 
 
 91 
 
to accrue upon the stocks of said city until the same be fully 
 and finally redeemed " shall be continued, and after providing 
 for the interest on the bonds and stocks now payable therefrom 
 as provided by law, shall form a fund which shall be transferred 
 to the " Sinking Fund of The City of New York for the Redemp- 
 tion of the City Debt " ; provided, however, that nothing herein 
 contained shall authorize the payment from said fund of any 
 interest which may accrue on bonds to be issued by the cor- 
 poration of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, after 
 January first, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. 
 Like funds in any of the municipal or public corporations or 
 parts thereof which by this Act are made part of the corporation 
 of The City of New York, as hereby constituted, including the 
 counties of Kings and Richmond, shall likewise be continued, 
 and any surplus that may remain therein after fully satisfying all 
 claims, liens or charges that may exist against such funds pur- 
 suant to law or ordinance shall, unless otherwise provided by 
 law, be transferred to the " Sinking Fund of The City of New 
 York," as herein constituted. 
 
 Disposition of certain moneys received for local improvements. 
 
 Sec. 210. All moneys now in the treasury of the corpora- 
 tion known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the 
 City of New York heretofore collected and received in payment 
 or on account of assessments made and confirmed for local 
 improvements in said city, and all moneys which shall here- 
 after be collected and received in payment or on account of 
 assessments made and confirmed, or which may be made 
 and confirmed, for local improvements in said city completed 
 prior to June third, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, 
 shall be paid into the sinking fund for the redemption of the city 
 debt, and the same is hereby, in addition to the revenues and 
 moneys aforesaid, pledged and appropriated to said sinking fund 
 for the payment of the bonds and stocks of said city, to be 
 paid and redeemed therefrom as herein provided. 
 
 Funds and revenues pledged to redemption of city debt. 
 
 Sec. 211. Between the city and its creditors, holders of its 
 
 92 
 
bonds and stocks as aforesaid, including the bonds and stocks of 
 the municipal or public corporations or parts thereof consolidated 
 with the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, as well as those of the latter 
 corporation and of the counties of Kings and Richmond, there 
 shall be and there is hereby declared to be a contract that the 
 funds and revenues of the city, including all the corporations last 
 stated and said counties of Kings and Richmond, and the funds 
 to be collected from assessments pursuant to any law by this 
 chapter pledged to the Sinking Fund for the redemption of the 
 city debt, shall be accumulated and applied only to the purposes 
 of the said several sinking funds as prescribed by law, until all 
 of said debt redeemable therefrom is fully redeemed and paid as 
 herein provided. 
 
 Sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt not to be alienated 
 or impaired. 
 
 Sec. 212. Nothing in this chapter contained shall be held to 
 require or authorize the Commissioners of the sinking fund 
 to use or apply any part or portion of the accumulations 
 in said sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt or 
 the revenues of said fund in any manner whatever, whereby the 
 security of said fund for the payment of the bonds and stocks of 
 the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 of the City of New York, for which said fund is now pledged 
 by law, and which are a charge on said fund, shall be alienated 
 or impaired, and the said bonds and stocks so secured by law are 
 hereby declared to constitute a preferred charge on said sinking 
 fund until the same are fully and finally paid and redeemed. 
 
 Commissioners may call in bonded debt. Consolidated stock of The 
 City of New York : Lien of, on sinking fund for the redemp- 
 tion of the city debt. 
 
 Sec. 213. The Commissioners of the sinking fund are hereby 
 authorized and empowered to call in, pay, and redeem any por- 
 tion of the bonded debt constituting a charge upon the treasury 
 of The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, other than 
 
 93 
 
revenue bonds, issued in anticipation of the collection of taxes, 
 when they may deem it to be advantageous for the interest of 
 the city so to do, and for this purpose the said commissioners of 
 the sinking fund, are hereby empowered to authorize, by a concur- 
 rent vote, and direct the Comptroller to issue and seizor exchange 
 therefor at not less than par, corporate stock of said city, in the 
 manner herein provided ; and upon the payment and redemption 
 of any portion of said bonded debt, the certificates thereof shall 
 be cancelled by said commissioners. 
 
 The "consolidated stock" of the Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of the City of New York, issued pursuant to 
 the provisions of section 176 of Chapter 410, of the Laws of 
 1882, after fully providing for the preferred bonds and stocks 
 of said City, as in the preceding section specified, shall form a 
 charge upon the said "sinking fund for the redemption of the city 
 debt," and any part of the bonded debt of said corporation falling 
 due and not exchanged for or redeemed from the proceeds of 
 said consolidated stock as in said section provided, may be paid 
 from said sinking fund for the redemption of the said city debt, 
 provided such payment shall not in any way impair the preferred 
 claims thereon as in the preceding section specified, and provided 
 also, th e Commissioners of the sinking fund shall deem it to be 
 for the best interests of the City that such payment shall be so 
 made. 
 
 Preferred bonds and stocks to be paid from the sinking fund for the 
 redemption of the city debt. 
 
 Sec. 214. From the said sinking fund for the redemption of 
 the city debt shall be paid and redeemed all preferred bonds and 
 stocks of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of 
 New York, as by this title authorized. 
 
 Disposition of certain assessments for local improvements. 
 
 Sec. 215. The assessments made for local improvements prior 
 to the ninth day of June, eighteen hundred and eighty, by the 
 corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of 
 The City of New York, including assessments for improvements 
 contracted for or authorized by said corporation, prior to jsaid 
 
 94 
 
date, shall, when collected, be paid over to the Commissioners of 
 the sinking fund, and applied by them in accordance with law. 
 
 Alteration of rates prohibited. 
 
 Sec. 216. It shall not be lawful for The City of New York to 
 make or cause to be made, any alteration of rates or charges 
 affecting any item or source of the revenues of any of the sink- 
 ing funds of said city, or of the general fund which may tend 
 to a diminution of the receipts from such source of revenue, or 
 either of them, and all the revenues of said corporation not by 
 law otherwise specifically appropriated, shall, when received into 
 the City Treasury, be credited to the general fund. 
 
 Applications for leases for public purposes. Statement by Comp- 
 troller. 
 Sec. 217. All applications to lease any real estate for the pur- 
 poses of The City of New York, including the premises required 
 in accordance with law for armories and drill-rooms and places 
 of deposit for the safe-keeping of arms, uniforms, equipments, 
 accoutrements, and camp equipage of the national guard, must 
 be presented to and passed upon by the Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund of said city. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller, 
 after due inquiry to be made by him, to present to the said 
 Commissioners a statement in writing of the facts relating to 
 any real estate proposed to be leased, the purposes for which 
 such lease is required by the city, with his opinion, and the 
 reasons therefor, as to the fair and reasonable rent of said 
 premises. The said Commissioners, upon such report and upon 
 such further inquiry as they in their discretion may make, may 
 authorize a lease of such premises as shall be specified in their 
 resolution, at the rent therein set forth, for a period not ex- 
 ceeding five years, but such lease shall not be authorized 
 except at a fair and reasonable rent, and unless the commissioners 
 are satisfied and shall so express that it would be for the interests 
 of the city that a lease of the premises for the purposes specified 
 should be made. Without the consent of the said commissioners 
 the premises leased shall not be used during the period of the 
 lease for purposes other than specified in said resolution. If 
 
 95 
 
the city shall, prior to the making of the lease, have entered 
 upon the possession of the property, the lease may be made to 
 commence as of the date when the occupation commenced. 
 
 Cession of certain lands to Federal Government to i^nprove Harlem 
 River. 
 Sec. 218. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, or the 
 Municipal Assembly, are authorized to cede, grant, and convey 
 to the United States, upon such terms, and for such consider- 
 ation as may be agreed upon by and between said Commissioners 
 of the Sinking Fund, or said Municipal Assembly, and the United 
 States, all the estate, right, title and interest of the City of New 
 York in and to any part of the land required for the channel to con- 
 nect the waters of the Harlem River with the Hudson River, ic 
 accordance with the plans for the improvement of the Harlem 
 River, prepared under the direction of the Secretary of War. 
 Wheneverany part of said land shall have been ceded by said Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund, or said Municipal Assembly, 
 pursuant to the authority hereby given, it shall be the duty 
 of said Commissioners of the Sinking Fund or a majority of 
 them, to give a certificate under their hands, that the same 
 has been ceded, pursuant to the provisions of this section ; 
 and upon the production of such certificate, and upon proof 
 of due compliance, on the part of the United States, with 
 the terms of cession, it shall be the duty of the Mayor of said 
 city, and the City Clerk, in the name and on behalf of the City 
 of New York, to execute a proper conveyance of such lands 
 under their hands and the seal of said city. 
 
 Certain duties of Commissioners relative to docks, piers, etc. 
 
 Sec. 219. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund shall per- 
 form the duties and possess the powers with reference to docks, 
 piers, and slips, stated in chapter XVI of this Act. 
 
 Sale of public lands at auction. 
 
 Sec. 220. The Commissioners of the sinking fund are author- 
 ized upon the application of the Board ofj Education duly 
 
 90 
 
authorized and certified, to sell at public auction at such times 
 and on such terms as they may deem most advantageous for the 
 public interest, any land or lands and the buildings thereon, 
 owned by the City of New York, occupied or reserved for school 
 purposes, and no longer required therefor, provided, however, 
 that no property shall be disposed of for a less sum than the same 
 may be appraised by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, 
 or a majority of them, at a meeting to be held and on an appraise- 
 ment made within two months prior to the date of the sale ; and at 
 least thirty days' notice of such sale, including a description of the 
 property to be sold, shall be published in the City Record. The 
 money received in payment for the said lands and buildings shall 
 be paid into the Sinking Fund for the Redemption of the 
 City Debt, if the property thus sold was acquired prior to 
 January 1, 1898, and if acquired subsequent thereto, into the 
 Sinking Fund of the City of New York. 
 
 Title 5. 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS AND THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND APPORTIONMENT. 
 
 Hcnv constituted: duties: the annual budget. 
 
 Sec. 226. The Mayor, Comptroller, Corporation Counsel, Presi- 
 dent of the Council, and the President of the Department of Taxes 
 and Assessments shall constitute the Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment. The first meeting of said Board in every year shall be 
 called by notice from the Mayor, personally served upon the mem- 
 bers of said Board. Subsequent meetings sihall be called as the said 
 Board shall direct. At such meetings the Mayor shall preside, and 
 one of the number shall act as secretary. The said Board shall an- 
 nually, between the first day of October and the first day of Novem- 
 ber, meet, and by the affirmative vote of all the members make a 
 budget of the amounts estimated to be required to pay the expenses 
 of conducting the public business of The City of New York, as con- 
 
 97 
 
stituted iby this Act, for the then next ensuing year. Such budget 
 shall be prepared in such detail as to the aggregate sum and the items 
 thereof allowed to each department, bureau, office, board, or com- 
 mission as the said Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall 
 deem advisable. In order to enable said Board to make such budget, 
 the heads of departments, bureaus, offices, boards, and commis- 
 sions shall, at least thirty days before the said budget is hereby re- 
 quired to be made, send to the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment an estimate in writing, herein called a departmental estimate, 
 of the amount of expenditure, specifying in detail the objects there- 
 of, required in their respective departments, bureaus, offices, boards, 
 and commissions, including a statement of each of the salaries of their 
 officers, clerks, employees, and subordinates. Duplicates of these 
 departmental estimates and statements shall be sent at the same 
 time to the Municipal Assembly. Before finally determining upon 
 the budget, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall fix such 
 sufficient time or times as may be necessary to allow the taxpayers 
 of said City to be heard in regard thereto, and the said Board shall 
 attend at the time or times so appointed for such hearing. After such 
 budget is made by the Board of Estimate and App>ortionment, it 
 shall be signed by all the members thereof, and submitted by said 
 Board within ten days to the Municipal Assembly, whereupon a spe- 
 cial joint meeting of the two houses constituting the Municipal 
 Assembly shall be called to consider such budget, and the same 
 shall simultaneously be published in the City Record. The Presi- 
 dent of the Council shall preside at such joint meeting, and it shall 
 be the duty of said two houses to consider and investigate care- 
 fully the said budget ; but such consideration and investigation 
 shall not continue beyond fifteen days. The Municipal Assem- 
 bly, by a majority vote by all the members elected thereto, may 
 reduce the said several amounts fixed by the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment, except such amounts as are now or may 
 hereafter be fixed by law, and except such amounts as may be 
 inserted by the said Board of Estimate and Apportionment for 
 the payment of state taxes and payment of interest and principal 
 of the city debt, but the Municipal Assembly may not increase 
 
 98 
 
such amounts nor insert any new items. Such action of the 
 Municipal Assembly on reducing any item or amount fixed 
 by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall be subject 
 to the veto power of the Mayor as elsewhere provided in this 
 Act, and unless such veto is over-ridden by a five-sixths vote 
 of the joint Assembly, the item or amount as fixed by the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall stand as part of the 
 budget. After the final estimate is made in accordance herewith, 
 it shall be signed by the President of the Council and the mem- 
 bers of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and when so 
 signed the said several sums shall be and become appropriated to 
 the several purposes and departments therein named. The said 
 estimate shall be filed in the office of the Comptroller and pub- 
 lished in the City Record and corporation newspapers. 
 
 Payment of City's obligations to be provided for. 
 
 Sec. 227. It shall be the duty of the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment, from time to time, to provide for the payment of the 
 interest and principal of the bonds and other obligations of the City, 
 or for which the City is liable, and also to provide for the payment 
 to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of any sums directed bj 
 special laws to be paid to said Commissioners on account of such 
 bonds or obligations and in anticipation of their maturity, and to 
 provide for the raising of the money therefor, in aiccordance with 
 iuch special laws and the laws under which such bonds and obliga- 
 tions were issued or created. 
 
 Duties when accumulations in sinking fund are insufficient. 
 
 Sec. 228. Whenever and as often as the Commissioners of the 
 Sinbing Fund shall certify to the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment that the accumulations in any sinking fund will not be sufficient 
 to meet the payment of any bonds or stocks falling due in the next 
 following calendar year redeemable therefrom it shall be the duty ol 
 said Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and it is hereby re- 
 quired, to include in the annual budget for such year, to be raised 
 by tax on the estates, real and personal, in said City, subject to tax- 
 ation, such an amount to be applied to the payment of said bonds 
 
 99 
 
or stocks as shall be certified by said Commissioners, and the 
 amount so included in said estimate shall be paid into said sinking 
 fund and applied as in this section specified. 
 
 Certain City bonds and stocks. Annual provisions to meet payment of. 
 
 Sec. 229. For the payment of all bonds and stocks of the May or» 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York issued after 
 June third, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, and for 
 the payment of all bonds and stocks hereafter issued by The City of 
 New York, as hereby constituted, and for which no provision for the 
 payment thereof, otherwise than from taxation, is made, except rev- 
 enue bonds issued in anticipation of the collection of taxes there shall 
 annually be set apart or paid over to the Commissioners of the Sink- 
 ing Fund as hereinafter directed, and invested by them in the manner 
 provided by law, a sum sufficient with the accumulation of interest 
 tihereon to meet and discharge the amount of said bonds or stocks by 
 the time the same shall be payable, as the same shall be estimated and 
 certified by the Comptroller. The said annual sum so to be set apart 
 or paid over and invested, except so far as it relates to bonds and 
 stocks issued on or after January first, one thousand eight hundred 
 and ninety-eight, and bonds issued to provide for the supply of 
 water, shall, until other provision therefor may be hereafter made 
 by law, be set apart out of the surplus income, revenues and ac- 
 cumulations of the Sinking Fund for the redemption of the City 
 debt as now established by law, after fully providing for the pay- 
 ment of the stocks and bonds of said City now outstanding, and 
 which by sections 212 and 213 of this Act are declared to be and 
 are made preferred claims upon said Sinking Fund, and also for 
 the payment of such other bonds and stocks of said City as by 
 said section 213 of this Act are authorized to be paid from said 
 Sinking Fund. Whenever, and as often as the Commissioners 
 of the Sinking Fund shall certify to the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment that the said surplus revenues of said Sink- 
 ing Fund will in the opinion of said Commissioners be less than the 
 amount by this section required to be set apart or paid over to said 
 Commissioners for the purposes aforesaid, and certifying the amount 
 of such deficiency, it shall be the duty of said Board of Estimate 
 
 100 
 
and Apportionment, and the Municipal Assembly, to include in the 
 annual budg^et for the year next ensuing to be raised by tax on the 
 estates real and personal in said City subject to taxation, the amount 
 of the deficiency certified as aforesaid, and this amount so raised by 
 tax shall be paid to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund on the 
 first day of November of the year in which the same shall be levied. 
 
 Items to be included in annual estimate. 
 
 Sec. 230. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall an- 
 nually include in its final estimate the following sums, which shall 
 annually be raised and appropriated: 
 
 First. — Such sum in any year, as shall be included in the esti- 
 mate of the Department of Highways, to be expended in repav- 
 ing or resurfacing such streets, roads, avenues, and public places 
 in the said City as shall be certified to the Municipal Assembly by 
 the Commissioner of Highways as required to be repaved for the 
 safety, health, or convenience of the public, and as said Assem- 
 bly, shall by ordinance or resolution direct. 
 
 Second. — Such sum as said Board may deem necessary in the in- 
 terest of the City, to be expended by the Commissioner of Water 
 Supply when thereto authorized by the Municipal Assembly, ac- 
 cording to law, in extending and enlarging the distribution of 
 water through the City. 
 
 Third. — All necessary sum or sums of money for the purpose of 
 paying the expense incurred by any coroner, in accordance with law, 
 in employing scientific experts, engineers and toxicologists. 
 
 Fourth. — The amount fixed by said Board for clerk hire and 
 contingent and incidental expenses of the offices of Commission- 
 ers of Jurors, but not exceeding the amount fixed by law. 
 
 Fifth. — A sum not exceeding eight thousand dollars to be paid to 
 the trustees of the Seventh Regiment armory building, as an equiv- 
 alent and in lieu of the rental of an armory for said regiment, to be 
 applied to the preservation, maintenance and improvement of said 
 armory building,'as provided in chapter 518 of the Laws of 1893, 
 said sum to be paid in the month of January in each year. 
 
 101 
 
Sixth. — The sum or sums authorized to be expended in accord- 
 ance with law for the purchasing and leasing of lands and the erec- 
 tion or leasing of buildings for armories and drill-rooms. 
 
 Seventh. — The amount necessary for the maintenance of the 
 buildings, instruments and equipments of 
 
 1. The Meteorological and Astronomical Observatory. 
 
 2. The American Museum of Natural History, not ex- 
 ceeding ninety-five thousand dollars. 
 
 3. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, not exceeding 
 ninety-five thousand dollars. 
 
 Eighth. — Such sum, not exceeding seventy-five thousand dol- 
 lars, as is included in the departmental estimates submitted to it 
 by the Department of Public Charities, to be applied to the relief 
 of poor adult blind persons. 
 
 Ninth. — The sum of ten thousand dollars to the credit of the 
 Department of Health to be known as the tenement house fund, 
 to be expended by the Board of Health. 
 
 Tenth. — Such sum as is necessary to pay the expenses of the reg- 
 istration and revision of registration required by law, and of all 
 elections held in said City during the year. 
 
 Eleventh, — Such sum as may be necessary to pay the compen- 
 sation payable according to law to justices of the Supreme Court 
 from judicial Departments, other than the first judicial district, 
 who hold court in the first judicial Department. 
 
 Twelfth, — Such sum as may be necessary to pay the salaries 
 of county officers within the counties of New York, 
 Kings and Richmond, and likewise all other expenses within said 
 counties and each of them which are county as distinguished from 
 City charges and expenses. 
 
 Thirteenth. — The amount necessary for the suipport of the night 
 medical service ; but in no case shall the sum so appropriated exceed 
 three thousand dollars for any one year, unless otherwise pro- 
 vided by said Board and the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Fourteenth. — To pay the proportion of expense chargeable to 
 
 102 
 
the City for the building, maintenance, and repair of the public 
 bridges, which are now built, or which may hereafter be built, 
 between the city of New York, as hitherto existing and the adja- 
 cent municipal corporations. 
 
 Fifteenth. — The amount necessary to pay the expense of pro- 
 curing and preparing surveys and maps for Commissioners of Esti- 
 mate and Assessments, appointed in any proceeding to open any 
 street, avenue, or public park or place. 
 
 Sixteenth. — The sum necessary to pay the salaries of the 
 janitors of the district courts. 
 
 Seventeenth. — Such sum as is necessary for defraying the ex- 
 penses incurred in carrying out the provisions of sections 1093, 
 1094, and 1095, of Chapter 410, of the Laws of 1882. 
 
 Eighteentih. — Such sum as may be necessary to pay the ex- 
 penses of the Magistrates' courts and the Board of City Magis- 
 trates incurred in accordance with law. 
 
 Nineteenth. — Such sum as may be necessary to provide for the 
 compilation and publication of the registry of voters. 
 
 Twentieth. — Such sum as may be required by the trustees of the 
 College of the City of New York, pursuant to section 1131 of 
 this Act. 
 
 Twenty-first. — Such sum as may be required by the trustees 
 of the Normal College, in the City of New York, pursuant to the 
 provisions of section 1142 of this Act. 
 
 Twenty-second. — The sums necessary, in the discretion of 
 said Board, to make the following described payments, namely: 
 
 1. To the American Female Guardian Society for the mainten- 
 ance of each girl under the age of fourteen and each boy under the 
 age of ten years, committed to such society by any magistrate in the 
 City of New York, the sum of two dollars per week for each and 
 every week until such child is discharged or removed from the insti- 
 tution of such society. And also the sum of twenty-five thousand 
 dollars, to be applied to the support of the industrial schools and 
 other charitable work of the said society. 
 
 103 
 
2. To the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Children the >um of thirty thousand dollars for the uses and pur- 
 poses of said society. 
 
 3. To the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and 
 Crippled, the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars for the support 
 of ever}'^ crippled child received and retained in their hospital for 
 one y^r, and a proportionate sum for a shorter period, 
 
 4. To the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, twen- 
 ty-five dollars for each homeless or needy mother who received care 
 and attendance in lying-in wards of the New York Infirmary for 
 Women and Children, for such care and obstetric attendance, and 
 the further sum of eighteen dollars per month, and proportionately 
 for any fraction of a month, for each mother thus domiciled and at- 
 tended at the birth of her child, and for each homeless or needy 
 mother with a nursing infant who resides at said infirmary at the 
 request of or by permission of its officers, and wet-nurses her own 
 infant, provided such residence shall exceed the period of two 
 months, but the said monthly allowance of eighteen dollars shall 
 not be paid for a longer period than one year for any mother so re- 
 maining continuously. And to the New York Medical College and 
 Hospital for Women, twenty-five dollars for each needy mother who 
 has received care and obstetric attendance at her home, or in the 
 lying-in wards of the said hospital,' for such care and obstretric at- 
 tendance, and the further sum of eighteen dollars per month and pro- 
 portionately for each fraction of a month for each mother attended 
 at the birth of her child and domiciled at such hospital, but not for 
 a longer period than one year, and also for each homeless or needy 
 mother with a nursing infant who resides at said hospital at the re- 
 quest of or by permission of its officers and wet-nurses her own in- 
 fant, provided such residence shall exceed the period of two months. 
 But such sums to the New York Medical College and Hospital for 
 Women shall not exceed eight thousand dollars in the aggregate in 
 any one year. 
 
 5. To the Children's Fold of the City of New York, the sum of 
 
 104 
 
two dollars per week for each and every orphan, half-v^rphan and 
 destitute child received and supported by said institution, tihe ex- 
 pense of whose support is not paid by private parties, 
 
 6. To the New York Institution for the Blind, fifty dollars for 
 each State pupil sent to and received in said institution from said 
 City, whose parents or guardians shall, in the opinion of the Su- 
 perintendent of Public Instruction, be unable to furnish them with 
 suitable clothing, to be by it applied to furnishing such pupils with 
 suitable clothing while in said institution. 
 
 7. To the Children's Aid Society, the sum of ten thousand dollars 
 for the usies and purposes of said society. And also the sum of thir- 
 ty thousand dollars to be applied to the care and education in the 
 industrial schools of said City, of destitute children not attending 
 the common sdhools in the City of New York. And also the sum of 
 thirty thousand dollars to be applied to the support of the boys' and 
 girls' lodging houses, of the said society. To St. John's Guild, of the 
 City of New York, the sum of thirty thousand dollars, to be applied 
 to 'the maintenance and operation of its hospitals, to the support of 
 its other charitable work and to the general uses and purposes of said 
 society, and to the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children in the City of 
 New York, the sum of five thousand dollars to be applied to the sup- 
 port of its charitable work. 
 
 8. To the Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity and to the 
 Babies' Hospital of the City of New York, respectively, at the rate 
 of thirty-eight cents per day for each and every foundling or infant 
 receiv»ed and maintained by them. And also for each and every 
 homeless and needy mother with a nursing infant, who shall reside 
 at the asylum, or at said hospital, by request of its officers, and nurse 
 her own infant, the sum of eighteen dollars per month. To the ba- 
 bies' wards of the Post-Graduate Hospital in the City of New York, 
 at the rate of thirty-eight cents per day for each and every infant 
 received and cared for therein. 
 
 9. To the Nursiery and Childs' Hospital, the sum of five dollars 
 per week for every destitute woman admitted into its lying-in wards, 
 
 105 
 
according to the time cf the said woman's continuing under the care 
 of the said institution, and the further sum of ten dollars per month 
 for each and every child born in the institution or supported and 
 maintained by said institution, whenever it may be necessary or ex- 
 pedient to place said child in the country, or for want of room in the 
 institution to find accommodation for it elsewhere ; and also the sum 
 of ten dollars per month for all children received and retained in the 
 Nursery and Child's Hospital, in the City of New York, and in like 
 proportion for any fraction of a year for each and every destitute 
 child which may be supported and maintained in said institution. 
 To the New York Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital, for board, 
 nursing and medical or surgical aid and attendance, one dollar per 
 day for each needy and charity patient who occupied a bed in said 
 hospital and who receives such care, support and maintenance ; such 
 payments not to exceed in the aggregate thirty thousand dollars per 
 annum. To the New York Homeopathic College and Hospital, for 
 board, nursing and medical or surgical aid and attendance, one dol- 
 lar per day for each needy and charity patient who occupies a bed in 
 the Flower Surgical Hospital, belonging to said New York Homeo- 
 pathic College and Hospital, and who receives such care, support 
 and maintenance; such payment not to exceed in the aggregate 
 twelve thousand dollars per annum. 
 
 10. To the New York Infant Asylum, a sum of money at the rate 
 of thirty-eight cents per day, in monthly payments, for each and 
 every child received and maintained by said asylum; a further sum of 
 twenty-five dollars for each homeless or needy mother who receives 
 care and attendance in the lying-in wards of the asylum ; the further 
 sum of eighteen dollars per month, and proportionately for any 
 fraction of a month, for each homeless or needy mother who is dom- 
 iciled in the asylum and attended at the birth of her child, and re- 
 sides at the asylum by the request of its officers, and wet-nurses her 
 own infant; and for each other homeless or needy mother with a 
 nursing infant who resides at the asylum by the request of its offi- 
 cers and wet-nurses her own infant ; provided, however, that in each 
 case such lesidence must exceed t!he period of two months, and that 
 
 106 
 
said monthly allowance shall not be paid for a longer period than 
 for one year for any mother so remaining. 
 
 11. To the Shepherd's Fold of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 in the State of New York, the sum of five thousand dollars, to be ap- 
 plied to the purposes and objects of said corporation. 
 
 12. To the New York Catholic Protectory, yearly, the sum of 
 one hundred and ten tiollars per capita, on the average number of 
 persons annually maintained in its institutions; the average number 
 of persons thus maintained shall be ascertained by the examination 
 and testimony, under oath of the president or secretary of said so- 
 ciety. 
 
 13. To the Hebrew Benevolent Society, of the City of New York, 
 one hundred and ten dollars per annum and proportionately for any 
 fraction of a year, and to the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, 
 of New York, one hundred and four dollars per annum and propor- 
 tionately for any fraction of a year for each orphan, half-orphan, 
 and indigent child comihitted or entrusted to its care in pursuance 
 of the provisions of law. 
 
 14. To the New York Juvenile Asylum, one hundred and ten 
 dollars per annum, and proportionately for any fraction of a year, 
 for each child, which, by virtue and in pursuance of the provisions 
 of chapter three hundred and thirty-two of the laws of eighteen 
 hundred and fifty-one, as amended by laws of eighteen hundred and 
 fifty-eight, chapter forty-three, laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 three, chapter ninety-four, and laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 six, chapter two 'hundred and forty-five, shall be entrusted or com- 
 mitted to the said asylum, and shall be supported and instructed 
 therein. 
 
 15. To the Roman Catholic House of the Good Shepherd, 
 monthly payments at the rate of one hundred and ten dollars per 
 annum for each female, between the ages of fourteen and twenty- 
 one, committed to it by any magistrate in accordance with chapter 
 
 107 
 
four hundred and nine, of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 seven. V 
 
 16, To the Magdalen Female Benevolent Asylum and Home 
 for Fallen Women, monthly payments at the rate of one hundred 
 and ten dollars per annum for each female, between the ages of four- 
 teen and twenty-one years, committed to it by any magistrate, in 
 accordance with said last mentioned law. 
 
 17. To the Protestant Episcopal House of Mercy, monthly pay- 
 ments at the rate of one hundred and ten dollars per annum for 
 each female, between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years, 
 committed to it by any magistrate in accordance with said last 
 mentioned law. 
 
 18. To tihe Five Points House of Industry, the sum of fifty-two 
 dollars per year for each and every orphan, half-^orphan, and 
 destitute child, not exceeding two hundred children in any one year, 
 received and supported by said institution for each year, the expense 
 of w^hose support is not paid by private parties, and in the same 
 proportion for the part of a year. 
 
 19. To the Association for Befriending Children and Young 
 Girls, a per capita allowance of one dollar a week for each female 
 by it rescued, supported, instructed, and trained to useful employ- 
 ment, 
 
 20. To the Peabody Home for Aged and Indigent Women, the 
 sum of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum for each and every 
 woman therein over sixty-five years of age received and supported 
 by said institution, not exceeding, however, the sum of five thousand 
 dollars in any one year, and to the Sloan Maternity Hospital in the 
 City of New York, the sum of five dollars per week .for every desti- 
 tute woman admitted into its lying-in ward, according to the time of 
 the said woman continuing under the care of the said institution, and 
 the further sum of ten dollars per month for each and every child 
 born in the institution or supported and maintained by said institu- 
 tion, but such sums shall not exceed eight thousand dollars in any 
 
 108 
 
5^'^'~0f THIS 
 
 [igiriVBItSITT] 
 
 one year. And to the New York Female Asylum for lying-in wo- 
 men, twenty-five dollars for eadi homeless and needy mother who 
 has received care and attention in the lying-in ward of the asylum, 
 for such care and obstetric attendance, but such sums shall not ex- 
 ceed eight thousand dollars in any one year. 
 
 21. To the Mothers' and Babies Hospital, fifteen dollars for 
 each homeless and needy mother w!ho has received care and atten- 
 tion in the lying-in ward of the hospital, for such care and obstetric 
 attendance, not to exceed three hundred patients in any one year. 
 
 22. Such other sum or sums as are, or may be by law directed 
 to be raised and paid for charitable purposes or to private or incor- 
 porated societies, associations, asylums, hospitals, corporations, in- 
 stitutions, protectories, home or schools. 
 
 23. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment are^ hereby 
 authorized in their discretion to include in their annual state- 
 ments and estimates the following specified sums of money 
 for the respective purposes herein stated, namely: Four 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Hospital 
 (formerly City Hospital); four thousand dollars to be paid to tht 
 Long Island College Hospital; four thousand dollars to be 
 paid to the Brooklyn Homcepathic Hospital ; fifteen hundred dol- 
 lars to be paid to the Brooklyn Central Dispensary ; fifteen hundred 
 dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn City Dispensary ; fifteen hundred 
 dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Eclectic Dispensary ; fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Dispensary; 
 five thousand dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Eastern District 
 Dispensary and Hospital (formerly the Williamsburgh Dispensary) ; 
 fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Long Island College Dis- 
 pensary; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Gates Avenue 
 Homoeopathic Dispensary; four thousand dollars to be paid to the 
 Brooklyn Nursery and Infants' Hospital; fifteen hundred dollars to 
 be paid to the Brooklyn Eastern District Homoeopathic Dispen- 
 sary (formerly the Williamsburgh Homoeopathic Dispensary) ; twen- 
 ty-five hundre'd dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Maternity (for- 
 
 109 
 
marly Brooklyn Lying-in Asylum); twenty-five hundred dollars 
 Co be paid to the Eye and Ear Hospital of the City of Brooklyn; one 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Southern Dispensary and Hos- 
 pital; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Orthopedic Dispen- 
 sary; four thousand dollars to be paid to the Saint Peter's Hospital; 
 fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Saint Peter's Dispensary; 
 two thousand dollars to be paid to the Atlantic Avenue Dispensary; 
 one thousand dollars to be paid to the Saint Mary's Dispensary; two 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Diet Dispensary ; fifteen 
 hundred dollars to be paid to the Saint Catherine's Dispensary; 
 four thousand dollars to be paid to the Saint Catharine's Hospital ; 
 one thousand dollars to be paid to the Helping Hand Society of 
 Brooklyn; one thousand dollars to be paid to the Sheltering Arms 
 Nursery of Brooklyn; four thousand dollars to be paid to the 
 Brooklyn Home for Consumptives ; four thousand dollars to be paid 
 to the Memorial Hospital for Women and Children; four thousand 
 dollars to be paid to the Saint Mary's General Hospital of the City 
 of Brooklyn ; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Central Hom- 
 oeopathic Dispensary; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the 
 Memorial Dispensary; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to th% 
 Bushwick and East Brooklyn Dispensary; fifteen hundred dollars to 
 be paid to the Dispensary of the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
 of Saint Mary's Hospital of the City of Brooklyn; four thousand dol- 
 lars to be paid to the Methodist Episcopal Hospital of the City of 
 Brooklyn; two thousand dollars to be paid to the Saint Mary's Fe- 
 male Hospital; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Lutheran 
 Hospital Association of the City of New York and vicinity; four 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Throat Hospital; two 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Bedford Dispensary and Hospital; 
 six thousand dollars in the statement and estimate in the year eight- 
 een hundred and ninety-six and four thousand dollars in each year 
 thereafter to be paid to the Saint Martha's Sanitarium and Dispens- 
 ary ; three thousand dollars to be paid to the Central Throat Hospital 
 and Polyclinic Dispensary; three thousand dollars to be paid to the 
 Long Island Throat Hospital and Eye Infirmary (formerly the Long 
 
 110 
 
Island Throat and Lung Hospital and People's Dispensary Associa- 
 tion) ; four thousand dollars to be paid to the Norwegian Lutheran 
 Deaconesses' Home and Hospital; two thousand and five hundred 
 dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Home for Aged Colored People; 
 three thousand dollars to be paid to the Saint Mary's Maternity and 
 Infants' Home; two thousand dollars to be paid to the Memorial 
 Training School for Nurses ; four thousand dollars to be paid to the 
 Church Charity Foundation of Long Island for its hospital; twenty- 
 five hundred dollars to be paid to the Home of Saint Giles the Crip- 
 ple ; three thousand dollars to be paid to the Bushwick Hospital ; four 
 thousand dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Society for the preven- 
 tion of Cruelty to Children ; two thousand dollars to be paid to the 
 Brooklyn Training School and Home for Young Girls ; fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars to be paid to the dispensary of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Hospital; twenty-five hundred dollars to b< 
 paid to the Low Maternity; fifteen hundred dollars to be 
 paid to the Brooklyn Hospital Dispensary; two thousand 
 dollars to be paid to the Society for the Aid of Friendlest 
 Women and Children; two thousand dollars to be paid to the Stoat 
 Maternity of Brooklyn; fifteen liundred dollars to be paid to Saint 
 Phoebe's Mission ; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Orphan 
 Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn; four thousand dollars in 
 the statement and estimate in the year eighteen hundred and ninety- 
 six, and two thousand five hundred dollars in each year thereafter 
 to be paid to the Industrial Home for the Blind; one thousand dol- 
 lars to be paid to the Homoeopathic Hospital Association of Brook- 
 lyn; fifteen hundred dollars to be paid to the Brooklyn Industrial 
 School Association and Home for Destitute Children; fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars to be paid to the Industrial Home School Association 
 of Brooklyn, Eastern District; twenty-five hundred dollars to be 
 paid to the Maternity of the Long Island College Hospital; fifteen 
 hundred dollars to be paid to the Twenty-sixth Ward Homoeopathic 
 Dispensary; such several sums of money to be paid to the several 
 institutions in consideration of their contracting to render and ren- 
 dering medical and surgical aid and treatment to the poor of the 
 County of Kings who may apply to them therefor; such contract to 
 
 111 
 
be in writing, executed on behalf of the City by the said Mayor and 
 Comptroller, and also by the executive officers of said association* 
 respectively, and to be approved by the Counsel to the Corporation 
 of said City, to be filed annually on or before the thirty-first day of 
 May, in the office of the Clerk of said City. 
 
 24. Any other sum or sums which may heretofore have been 
 duly authorized by law to be paid by tax within The City of New 
 York, or any part thereof, as constituted by this Act, for the 
 education and support of the blind, the deaf and dumb and juve- 
 nile delinquents, and for the care, support, maintenance and secular 
 education of inmates of orphan asylums, protectories, homes for 
 dependent children or correctional institutions, or to charitable, 
 eleemosynary, correctional and reformatory institutions wholly or 
 partly under private control for care, support and maintenance, as 
 in such law specified. The final estimate shall specify each institu- 
 tion by its corporate name and the sum to be paid thereto, with a 
 reference to the laws authorizing the appropriation; and the Comp- 
 troller is authorized to pay the sum to such institution upon its ap- 
 pearing to his satisfaction in such manner as he shall prescribe that 
 the exdenditure thereof by the institution is lawfnl and proper. 
 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment to audit charges against City for 
 costs, etc. 
 
 Sec. 231. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment is here- 
 by autliorized to audit and allow, as charges against the City, the 
 reasonable costs, counsel fees and expenses paid or incurred, or 
 which shall hereafter be paid or incurred by any commissioner, city 
 magistrate or police justice who shall have been a successful party 
 in any proceedings or trial to remove him from office, or who shall 
 bring or defend any action or proceeding, in which the question as 
 to his title to office is in any way presented, or involved, or in which 
 it is sought to convict him, or to review or prohibit any such re- 
 moval or to obtain possession of his office, or by any commissioner 
 for the proper presentation and justification of his official conduct 
 before any body or tribunal lawfully investigating the same, and not 
 
 112 
 
officially recommending his removal from office. The Board of Es- 
 timate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly are 
 hereby authorized and directed to cause to be included in the 
 budget for the year following such audit, an amount sufficient to 
 pay the revenue bonds directed to be issued by the said Comp- 
 troller pursuant to section 188 of this Act, with all interest due 
 or to become due thereon. 
 
 Deficiencies: how provided for. 
 
 Sec. 232. The amount raised by assessment, pursuant to the 
 provisions of chapter one hundred and ninety-'one, of the laws of 
 eigthteen hundred and eighty, shall be collected and paid into the 
 City treasury, and applied toward the payment of revenue bonds 
 issued under said chapter. If any deficiency shall arise from any 
 cause, and a sufficient amount shall not be realized from such 
 assessment to pay fifty thousand dollars of the revenue bonds issued 
 pursuant to said chapter, with the interest thereon, such deficiency 
 shall be provided for by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment and the Municipal Assembly, by including the same in 
 the annual appropriation first made, after the amount of such 
 deficiency, if any, shall be ascertained. 
 
 Salaries of certain officers. 
 
 Sec. 233. The salaries of all officers paid from the City 
 treasury not embraced in any department shall be fixed by the 
 Municipal Assembly and the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment, unless otherwise provided by law or by this Act. 
 
 List of persons and salaries not within a department. 
 
 Sec. 234. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall 
 file with the final estimate during the month of December in each 
 year a schedule of the names of all persons not within a department 
 employed under the City government, the designation of their 
 offices and employment, respectively, and the salaries and compen- 
 sation fixed for each, which said schedule shall be published in the 
 City Record. 
 
 113 
 
Issue of certain stock and bonds authorized ; Tra7isfers of appropri- 
 ations. 
 
 Sec. 235. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment may 
 at any time, as occasion may require, by the affirmative vote of 
 three members, autihorize the issue of any stocks or bonds for the 
 purpose of withdrawing, or taking up at maturity any stocks or 
 bonds outstanding; but the said bonds or their proceeds shall be 
 applied exclusively to the payment, purchase, and extinction of 
 such maturing bonds in such manner that the aggregate of the 
 stocks or bonds of said City outstanding shall not be increased 
 thereby for a longer period than is necessary in effecting said 
 change. The said Board of Estimate and Aipportionxnent 
 may, from time to time, on the application of the head 
 of any department, authorize the transfer, from one bureau 
 or purpose to another in the same department, of any 
 sum theretofore appropriated for the purpose of such department 
 or bureau. 
 
 Appropriation for prevention of contagious diseases. 
 
 Sec. 236. For the prevention of dangers from contagious or 
 infectious diseases found to exist in any part of the City, or for the 
 care of persons exposed to danger from contagious or infectious 
 diseases, the Municipal Assembly and the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment may appropriate to the use of the 
 Health Department money in excess of the annual estimate 
 and appropriation for any year to the amount that shall 
 be declared necessary for such purpose by resolution of the 
 Board of Health; not, however, to exceed, in the aggregate, the 
 sum of eighty thousand dollars in excess of such annual appropri- 
 ation, and if any sum or sums of money shall be so appropriated 
 by said Municipal Assembly and said Board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portionment in any year prior to the date of the certificate of the 
 Comptroller to the Municipal Assembly of the aggregate amount 
 of the budget for such year, the amount thereof shall be added to 
 such final estimate, and included in the tax levy in sutch year. 
 
 114 
 
Board of Estimate may transfer excess of appropriations. 
 
 Sec. 237. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall, 
 have the power at any time to transfer any appropriation for any 
 year which may be found, by the head of the department for which 
 such appropriation shall have been made, to be in excess of the 
 amount required or deemed to be necessary for the purposes or ob- 
 jects thereof, to such other purposes or objects for which the ap- 
 propriations in such year are insufficient, or such as may require 
 the same. But nothing in the power thus conferred shall authorize 
 the transfer by said Board of an appropriation made for any object 
 or purpose, in one year, to any purpose or object, whether an ap- 
 propriation has been made therefor or otherwise, in any subse- 
 quent year. And any balance of appropriations remaining unex- 
 pended ait the close of any fiscal year, after allowing sufficient to 
 satisfy all claims payable therefrom, and also any balance to the 
 credit of any account of moneys which have been or may hereafter 
 be paid into the treasury of tihe City, under existing laws, appro- 
 priated or authorized to be expended for any specific purpose, and 
 which the said Board of Estimate and Apportionment may deter- 
 mine not to be necessary, or to be in excess of the amount required 
 therefor, may, at any time, but not less than sixty days after the ex- 
 piration of the year for which such appropriations are made, or 
 sixty days after the expiration of the year during which the moneys 
 aforesaid were paid into the treasury of the City, after allowing 
 sufficient to satisfy all claims payable from such appropriations, or 
 whiVli the Comptroller shall certify should be paid from said 
 moneys paid into the treasury, as aforesaid, be transferred by the 
 Comptroller, with the approval of tihe said Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment, to the general fund of the City, and applied to 
 the reduction of taxation. The approval by the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment of the certificate of the Comptroller, as afore- 
 said, shall be an appropriation of the amounts therein stated to the 
 object or purposes in said certificate specified. 
 Appropriations out of excise moneys to Home for Girls. 
 
 Sec. 238. There may be paid annually, out of the excise 
 
 115 
 
moneys of the City of New York, to the Home for Fallen and 
 Friendless Girls, in said City, the sum of one hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars, for the support of every fallen amd friendless girl received and 
 supported by said corporation in their Home for Fallen and Friend- 
 less Girls for the year for which such payment shall be made, and a 
 proportional sum for a shorter period in the same year. 
 
 Street sweeping contracts to he approved by Board. 
 
 Sec. 239. The terms and conditions of all contracts for streets 
 sweeping and cleaning, or for the collection of ashes and garbage, 
 shall, before they are entered into, be approved by the Board of Es- 
 timate and Apportionment. 
 
 Excise moneys: how appropriated. 
 
 Sec. 240. Said Board of Estimate and Apportionment is 
 authorized, from time to time, in sums according to its discretion, 
 by resolution of said Board, to appropriate from excise moneys 
 obtained from either local or state boards or officers, for taxes 
 or licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors, to such benevolent or 
 charitable institutions in said City which shall gratuitously aid, sup- 
 port or assist the poor thereof, as may seem to said Board deserving 
 or proper, but no such resolutions shall be valid unless adopted 
 by a majority vote of all the members of said Board; and the Comp- 
 troller shall draw 'his warrants in favor of such institutions respec- 
 tively mentioned in such resolutions, according to the tenor there- 
 of, and the Chamberlain shall pay such -warrants out of the said 
 moneys received for licenses. The term "poor," as used in this 
 section, shall only include persons who would otherwise become a 
 charge upon said City, as foundlings, Wph'SLns, or such prostituted 
 or fallen women or juvenile delinquents a^'«i% be committed to or 
 cared for gratuitously, in or by any reforrifiitory institution, pro- 
 tectory, or juvenile asylum, persons who SSt^ supported, relieved, 
 or cared for gratuitously, in or by any charitable institution for the 
 care or relief of the ruptured or crippled, the cure of hip or spinal 
 diseases, tihe sick, or the destitute, friendless, or infirm, including 
 
 116 
 
children of volunteers who died in the late Civil War, and the care 
 and instruction of idiots, the deaf and dumb, the blind and the in- 
 sane. No payments shall be made, in pursuance of this section, 
 except as a per capita allowance for the poor and destitute persons 
 actually supported, treated, cared for, or educated in the institu- 
 tions referred to in this section, except in the case of the American 
 Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendless, the Chil- 
 dren's Aid Society, and the Shepherd's Fold of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church, which shall severally receive only the same amounts 
 as provided by other provisions of law. The said Board of Esti- 
 mate and Apportionment is also authorized, from time to time, and 
 in sums according to its discretion, to appropriate, by resolution of 
 said Board, all moneys derived from penalties and fines, recovered, 
 pursuant to sections 1473, 1481 and 1482 of this Act, and all 
 moneys from licenses, provided for in chapter twenty-two, title 
 two of this Act, to whatever benevolent or charitable institutions 
 may seem to such Board deserving or proper ; but no such resolu- 
 tion shall be valid unless adopted by vote of a majority of said 
 Board ; and the Comptroller of said City is hereby authorized and 
 dirccced to draw his warrants in favor of tlie corporatloiis, socie- 
 ties, or charitable institutions, respectively mentioned in such 
 resolution according to the tenor thereof ; and the Chamberlain 
 of said City shall pay such warrants out of the said moneys re- 
 ceived for such penalties, fines and licences. 
 
 Appropriations for contesting office to he made for prevailing party 
 
 only. 
 
 Sec. 241. No appropriation or payment for the contesting of 
 the office of Mayor, or any seat in the Municipal Assembly, or 
 Dffice in any department, or the office of any officer whose salary is 
 paid from the City treasury, shall be made to any but the prevailing 
 party. Nor shall any such appropriations or payment be made to 
 such prevailing party except upon the written certificate of the 
 chief officer of the Law Department, and of the Presiding Justice 
 of the Appellate Division of the first department of the Supreme 
 Court certifying who is such prevailing party, and the value of 
 
 117 
 
the services rendered in the case. In case an officer or clerk is 
 ordered to be examined, in pursuance of law, the Corporation 
 Counsel shall assign some one from his department as counsel 
 for the officer or clerk making the application. 
 
 Title 6. 
 
 LEVYING TAXES. 
 
 Comptroller's duties. 
 
 ^ Sec. 247. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller of said 
 The City of New York to prepare and submit to the Municipal As- 
 sembly, at least four weeks before their annual meeting, for the 
 purpose of imposing the annual taxes, a statement, setting forth 
 the amounts by law authorized to be raised by tax in that year, on 
 account of the Corporation of The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted, or for City purposes within said City, and also 
 an estimate of the probable amount of receipts by the 
 City Treasury during the then current year, from all the 
 sources of revenue of said general fund, including surplus 
 revenues from the sinking fund, available in accordance with law, 
 other than the surplus revenues of the sinking fund, for the pay- 
 ment of the City debt, and the said Mtmicipal Assembly are hereby 
 authorized and directed to deduct the total amount of such esti- 
 mated receipts from the aggregate amount of all the various sums 
 which, by law, t!hey are required to ofder, and cause to be raised by 
 tax in said year, for the purposes aforesaid, and to cause to be 
 raised, by tax ondy, the balance of said aggregate amount, after 
 making such deduction. 
 
 Deficiencies: limits of: levies for. 
 
 Sec. 248. It shall be the duty of the Municipal Assembly to 
 include, in lany and every ordinance or resolution passed by them, 
 
 118 
 
imposing and levying taxes for any purpose or purposes authorized 
 by law, such sum, in addition to the aggregate amount required for 
 such purposes, as they shall deem necessary, not exceeding three 
 per cent, of said aggregate amount, to provide for deficiencies in 
 the actual product of the amount imposed and levied therefore. 
 
 Aggregate amount apportioned to be certified to Municipal Assembly 
 and raised. 
 
 Sec. 249. The aggregate amount estimated by the Municipal 
 Assembly and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, in the an- 
 nual budget, shall be certified by the Comptroller to the Municipal 
 Assembly; and it shall be the duty of said Municipal Assembly, 
 injoint session of both houses, and they are hereby empowered and 
 directed annually to cause to be raised, according to law, and col- 
 lected by tax upon the estates, real and personal, subject to taxation 
 within the City of New York, the amount so certified, as aforesaid. 
 
 119 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LAW DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Corporation Counsel to be the head of the Law Department; duties, 
 salary. 
 
 Section 255. There shall be a Law Department of The City 
 of New York, the head whereof shall be called the Corporation 
 Counsel, who shall be the attorney and counsel for the City of 
 New York, the Mayor, the Municipal Assembly and each and 
 every officer, board and department of said city. The salary of 
 the Corporation Counsel shall be fifteen thousand dollars a 
 year. The Corporation Counsel shall have charge and conduct 
 of all the law business of the Corporation and its departments 
 and boards and of all law business in which The City of New 
 York is interested. He shall have charge and conduct of the 
 legal proceedings necessary in opening, widening, altering and 
 closing streets, and in acquiring real estate or interests therein 
 for the City by condemnation proceedings, and the preparation 
 of all leases, deeds, contracts, bonds and other legal papers of 
 the City, or of, or connected with any department, board or 
 officer thereof, and he shall approve as to form all such con- 
 tracts, leases, deeds, bonds and other legal papers. He shall be 
 the legal adviser of the Mayor, the Municipal Assembly and the 
 various departments, boards and officers and it shall be his duty 
 to furnish to the Mayor, the Municipal Assembly and to every 
 department, board and officer of the City all such advice and 
 legal assistance as counsel and attorney in or out of court as may 
 be required by them or either of them, and for that purpose the 
 Corporation Counsel may assign an assistant or assistants to any 
 department that he shall deem to need the same. No officer 
 board, or department of the City, unless it be herein otherwise 
 
 120 
 
especially provided, shall have or employ any attorney or coun- 
 sel. The Corporation Counsel shall have the right to institute 
 actions in law or equity, and any proceedings provided by the 
 Code of Civil Procedure or by law in any court, local, state, or 
 national, to maintain, defend and establish^the rights, interests, 
 revenues, property, privileges, franchises or demands of the City 
 or of any part or portion thereof, or of the people thereof, or to 
 collect any money, debts, fines or penalties or to enforce the laws 
 and ordinances. He shall be a member of the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment and of the Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 Corporation CounseV s Power of Appointment. 
 
 Sec. 256. The Corporation Counsel may appoint, and at pleas- 
 ure remove, as many assistants to the Corporation Counsel as are 
 necessary to the discharge of the duties of the Law Department, 
 and he may appoint and at pleasure remove such clerks, assistants, 
 and subordinates as are requisite to the discharge of the business 
 of the department, giving to his appointees such titles or designa- 
 tions as he may deem appropriate to their services, respectively. 
 He shall fix and regulate the salaries and compensation of all of 
 his appointees within the limits of the appropriation for his depart- 
 ment. Any Assistant Corporation Counsel shall, in addition to 
 his other powers, possess every power and perform all and every 
 duty belonging to the office of the Corporation Counsel, or so 
 much of such duties as the Corporation Counsel shall deem it 
 necessary to delegate whenever so empowered by said Corporation 
 Counsel by written authority, designating therein a period of 
 time, not extending beyond three months, nor beyond the term of 
 office of said Corporation Counsel, during which such power and 
 authority may be exercised ; such designation and authority must 
 be duly filed and remain on record in the Law Department, and 
 may be revoked at any time. 
 
 Branch Offices. 
 
 Sec. 257. In addition to the main office of the Corporation 
 Counsel, which shall be located in the Borough of Manhattan, he 
 shall have an office in the Borough of Brooklyn, and, in his dis- 
 cretion, may maintain an office in the Borough of The Bronx, the 
 
 121 
 
Borough of Queens and the Borough of Richmond, or either of 
 them. 
 
 Bureaus. 
 
 Sec. 258. The Corporation Counsel may establish such'bureaus 
 for divisions of service in the Law Department as he may judge 
 most conducive to the efficient discharge of duty. There shall 
 be a bureau in the Law Department to be known as the "Bureau of 
 Street* Openings." It shall have charge under the direction of 
 the Corporation Counsel of such legal proceedings to open, widen, 
 alter or close streets and parks, and to acquire title to or extin- 
 guish interests in real estate therefor, and of all such other pro- 
 ceedings involving awards for damages or assessments for benefit 
 to lands, tenements and hereditaments as may be assigned to 
 it by the Corporation Counsel. The Corporation Counsel shall 
 appoint and remove, at will, the head of said bureau and all 
 other employees thereof, and shall regulate their salaries and com- 
 pensation. The assistants to the Corporation Counsel assigned 
 to such bureau, shall conduct in his behalf, and subject to his 
 direction and control, all legal proceedings so assigned, and may 
 also act as clerks to the Commissioners of Estimate or the 
 Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment in all such pro- 
 ceedings. Such bureau shall furnish to the Commissioners of 
 Estimate or the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment 
 in each proceeding, suitable offices and all the assistance which 
 they may require in preparing their preliminary abstracts of 
 Estimate or of Estimate and Assessment, and their iinal reports 
 for presentation to the Supreme Court for confirmation. The 
 compensation of the head of said bureau and of all other 
 employees thereof, and all the legal costs, charges, expenses 
 and disbursements incurred by said bureau on account of such 
 proceedings, shall be divided proportionately, as nearly as 
 practicable, to the services rendered or expense incurred in 
 each of the said proceedings, and shall be included [in the 
 assessment for benefit to be imposed by the Commissioners 
 of Estimate or the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment 
 in each proceeding as part of the costs, charges and expenses 
 thereof, after the same shall have been taxed by the court in 
 
 122 
 
the manner now provided by law for the taxation of such costs, 
 charges, expenses and disbursements; but the compensation of 
 the employees of said bureau and the necessary charges, expenses 
 and disbursements thereof, shall be chargeable to and shall be paid 
 monthly, in the first instance by the Comptroller of The City of 
 New York, out of the fund known as "the Fund for Street and 
 Park Openings," created by chapter one hundred and seventy- 
 three of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and the 
 acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, upon pay rolls 
 and vouchers duly certified by the Corporation Counsel. The 
 assistant clerks or other appointees, of this bureau, engaged in 
 the transaction of business or duties pertaining to the Borough 
 of Brooklyn, may have their office in the Borough Hall or 
 public building of the Borough of Brooklyn, and if, in the judg- 
 ment of the Corporation Counsel it be convenient and 
 advisable, such of the assistants, clerks or other appointees of 
 this bureau as may be engaged in the transaction of business 
 pertaining to the Borough of The Bronx, the Borough of Rich- 
 mond or the Borough of Queens, may likewise have an office in 
 either of said Boroughs. 
 
 Bureau for Recovery of Penalties. 
 
 Sec. 259. There shall be a bureau in the Law Department 
 for the recovery of penalties for the violation of any law or muni- 
 cipal ordinance, to be called the "Bureau for the Recovery of 
 Penalties." All actions for such recovery shall be brought in 
 the name of The City of New York, and not in that of any de- 
 partment, except where otherwise provided by this Act. The As- 
 sistant Corporation Counsel assigned to this bureau in the main 
 office, or in the branch office located in any Borough, shall not 
 receive for his own use any fees or emoluments in addition to his 
 salary, and he shall pay into the city treasury all costs and commis- 
 sions received by him from any source whatever ; such payments 
 shall be made monthly, and shall be accompanied by a sworn 
 statement in such form as the Comptroller shall prescribe. Such 
 statement, with a detailed list of costs, commissions, fines and pen- 
 alties collected, shall be published in the "City Record" monthly. 
 
 123 
 
All fines or moneys, from whatsoever source, received by the head 
 of this bureau, shall be paid into the treasury of the City, except as 
 otherwise specially provided by law. 
 
 Bureau for Collection of Arrears of Personal Taxes. 
 
 Sec. 260. There shall be a bureau in the Law Department 
 for the collection of arrears of personal taxes to be called the 
 "Bureau for the Collection of Arrears of Personal Taxes." The 
 Assistant Corporation Counsel assigned to this bureau shall give a 
 bond to The City of New York, with one or more sureties, to be 
 approved by Comptroller and Corporation Counsel, in the penal 
 sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful perform- 
 ance of the duties of the office and the payment over of all taxes 
 collected by him, which shall be filed in the Comptroller's Office, 
 and he and his bondsman or bondsmen shall be responsible to 
 the corporation therefor. 
 
 Presentation of Claims to be Pleaded. 
 
 Sec. 261. No action or special proceeding, for any cause what- 
 ever, shall be prosecuted or maintained against The City of New 
 York, unless it shall appear by and as an allegation in the com- 
 plaint or necessary moving papers that at least thirty days have 
 elapsed since the demand, claim or claims upon which such action 
 or special proceeding is founded were presented to the Comp- 
 troller of said City for adjustment, and that he has neglected or 
 refused to make an adjustment or payment thereof for thirty 
 days after such presentment. If the plaintiff recovers judgment 
 in his action or special proceeding he shall recover full taxable 
 costs without regard to the amount of the judgment. 
 
 Jurisdiction of Actions Against the City. 
 
 Sec. 262. The Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction 
 over all actions or special proceedings wherein The City of New 
 York is made a party defendant. And all such actions shall be tried 
 in that County wholly or partly embraced within The City of 
 New York in which the cause of action arose, or in the County 
 of New York, subject to the power of the Court to change the 
 place of trial in the cases provided by law. 
 
 124 
 
Service of Process. 
 
 Sec. 263. All process and papers for the commencement of 
 actions and legal proceedings against The City of New York shall 
 be served either upon the Mayor, the Comptroller or the Cor- 
 poration Counsel. 
 
 Issuance of Execution. 
 
 Sec. 264. No execution shall be issued upon any judgment 
 recovered against The City of New York until after ten days' 
 notice, in writing, of the recovery of such judgment shall have 
 been given to the Comptroller. 
 
 125 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 POLICE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Police Board. Commissioners. Salary. 
 
 Section 270. The head of the Police Department shall be 
 called the Police Board. Said Board shall consist of four per- 
 sons, to be known as Police Commissioners of The City of New 
 York. They shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall hold 
 their respective offices as provided in Chapter IV of this Act. 
 No more than two of said Commissioners shall, when either of 
 them is appointed, belong to the same political party, or be of 
 the same political opinion on state and national politics. The 
 salary of each of said Police Commissioners shall be five thousand 
 dollars a year. 
 
 Police Board. Authority. Bureau of Elections. 
 
 Sec. 271. The said Police Board shall have cognizance and 
 control of the government, administration, disposition and dis- 
 cipline of the said Police Department, and of the police force of 
 said department, and it shall also have cognizance and control of 
 the Bureau of Elections hereinafter mentioned, and said Bureau 
 of Elections shall be a part of said Police Department. 
 
 Id.; To make and enforce rules and regulations. 
 
 Sec. 272. The said Police Board shall make, adopt and en- 
 force such rules, orders and regulations, and do all such other 
 acts as may be reasonably necessary to effect a prompt and 
 efficient exercise of all powers conferred by law, and the per- 
 formance of all duties imposed by lawjupon the said Board or the 
 said Department, or upon any part of or person in said depart- 
 ment. But said Board shall do no act which is contrary to or 
 inconsistent with this Act. 
 
 126 
 
Boards and offices abolished and forces consolidated. 
 
 Sec. 273. Except as herein otherwise expressly provided, 
 the Police Department, the Board of Police and the offices 
 of the Police Commissioners of The City of New York, pro- 
 vided for by The New York City Consolidation Act of 1882, 
 and the Acts amendatory thereof, the office of Commissioner of 
 Police and Excise of the City of Brooklyn, the Board of Police 
 Commissioners for Long Island City and the Board of Commis- 
 sioners of Police for the County of Richmond are hereby abol- 
 ished. The respective police forces and Departments heretofore 
 existing in the said cities and the said county, including the Park 
 Police of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City 
 of New York, and the Park Police of the City of Brooklyn, 
 and the police force of the Brooklyn Bridge are hereby 
 consolidated into one Department and force to be constituted, 
 controlled and administered as provided in this chapter. 
 
 Police Department ; Powers and authority transferred to. 
 
 Sec. 274. All the rights, powers, authority, duties and 
 obligations, immediately heretofore by law vested in or imposed 
 upon the Police Departments, or either of the Boards or Com- 
 missioners mentioned in the last above section, shall forth- 
 with by force of and as an effect of this chapter be trans- 
 ferred to and continue in the Police Department created by 
 this Act except in so far as the same shall be contrary to or in- 
 consistent with the provisions of this chapter. 
 
 All the rights, powers, authority duties and obligations 
 relative to, or connected with the appointment, control 
 or cognizance of any police force immediately heretofore 
 by law vested in or imposed upon the Commissioners of 
 Public Parks in the City of New York, the Department of 
 Parks of the City of Brooklyn, and the Board of Trustees 
 of the Brooklyn Bridge, shall forthwith, by force of, 
 and as an effect of this chapter be transferred to and con- 
 tinued in the Police Department created by this Act, except 
 in so far as the same shall be contrary to or inconsistent with 
 the provisions of this chapter. 
 
 127 
 
Property to vest in The City of New York and be managed by Police 
 Department. 
 
 Sec. 275. All moneys, funds and property, and all rights 
 and title to and interest in, and possession of and control over 
 and all rights to the use and possession of any moneys, funds 
 or property, which when this Act takes effect, shall be 
 vested in, held or exercised by the department, or either of 
 the Boards or Commissioners, mentioned in section 273 of this 
 Act, or which shall then be applicable to, or used for the 
 purposes of, or in the maintenance of, or in connection 
 with the functions or duties of either of the respec- 
 tive police forces appointed by the Commissioners of Public 
 Parks in the City of New York, the Department of Parks of 
 the City of Brooklyn, or the said Trustees of the Brooklyn 
 Bridge, .shall forthwith by force of and as an effect of this chapter, 
 be and become vested in The City of New York, and the same 
 shall be held, exercised, managed, controlled, used and applied 
 by, and under the direction of the Police Department created 
 by this Act until it is otherwise lawfully provided. No such 
 money, funds or property shall however be used for or applied 
 to any purpose different in kind from that for or to which the 
 same might theretofore have been lawfully used or applied, until 
 such different use or application shall first have been lawfully 
 authorized. 
 
 Police Force ; Composition. 
 
 Sec. 276. Until otherwise provided by the Municipal 
 Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Police Board, 
 the police force in the Police Department created by this 
 chapter, shall consist of the following members, to wit : A 
 Chief of Police ; five Deputy Chiefs of Police ; ten Inspect- 
 ors of Police; captains of police, not exceeding in num- 
 ber one to each fifty of the total number of patrolmen, 
 except in the rural portion of the city ; sergeants of police, 
 not exceeding four in number to each fifty of the total number 
 of patrolmen ; roundsmen, not exceeding four in number to each 
 fifty patrolmen ; detective sergeants to the number authorized 
 
 128 
 
by law ; doormen of police, not exceeding two in number to each 
 fifty of the total number of patrolmen ; surgeons of police, not 
 exceeding forty in number, one of whom shall be chief surgeon, 
 and patrolmen to the number of six thousand three hundred and 
 eighty-two. 
 
 Id.; Members of former forces in New York City transferred. 
 
 Sec. 277. The members of the Police force of The City of 
 New York, and the members of the Police force appointed by the 
 Commissioners of Public Parks in said City, as said forces are 
 provided for by sections 265 and 690 of the New York City 
 Consolidation Act of 1882, and by the statutes amendatory of 
 and supplementary to said sections, who shall be such members 
 of said forces respectively when this Act takes effect, shall be 
 members of the Police force specified in section 276 of this Act. 
 The employees of the telegraph force of the Police Department, 
 of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York who are in office when this Act takes effect, shall take the 
 same rank in the Police force specified in section 276 of this 
 Act, as the telegraph force of the Police Department of the City 
 of Brooklyn has under existing laws ; provided, however, that 
 until otherwise ordered by the Police Board, the Super- 
 intendent of Telegraph of the Police force of the Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York shall 
 be Superintendent of Telegraph for the Police force speci- 
 fied in said section 276 of this Act ; and the Deputy Super- 
 intendent of Telegraph of the Police force of said, the Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, shall be 
 Deputy Superintendent of Telegraph in the central office in the 
 Borough of Manhattan ; and the Superintendent of Telegraph of 
 the Police force of the City of Brooklyn shall be Superintendent 
 of Police Telegraph for the Borough of Brooklyn. 
 
 Id.; Members of former forces in Brooklyn transferred. 
 
 Sec. 278. The Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent 
 of police, and each inspector, captain, sergeant, detective- 
 sergeant, roundsman, patrolman, doorman, bridge-keeper, police 
 surgeon, superintendent of telegraph, and telegraph operator, 
 
 12y 
 
who is, when this Act takes effect, in, of, or attached to the 
 Police force of the City of Brooklyn, or the Police force appointed 
 by the Department of Parks of said City, or the Police force 
 appointed by the Board of Trustees of the New York and Brook- 
 lyn Bridge, pursuant to section 8 of Chapter 300 of the Laws of 
 1875, and the Acts amendatory thereof, or supplementary thereto, 
 shall be members of the Police force specified in section 276 of this 
 Act. 
 
 Id.; Members of former force in Long Island City transferred. 
 
 Sec. 279. The lawfully appoiiited captain, sergeant and 
 patrolmen of the police force of Long Island City, who shall be 
 such when this chapter takes effect, shall be members of the 
 police force, specified in section 276 of this Act. 
 
 Id.; Members of former force in Richmond County transferred. 
 
 Sec. 280. The captain and each sergeant, roundsman and 
 patrolman of the police force of the County of Richmond, or 
 of any town or village in that part of the County of Queens in- 
 cluded in The City of New York, as hereby constituted, shall 
 be members of the police force specified in section 276 of this 
 Act. 
 
 Police Board; Authority over members transfer ed by preceding 
 sections. Rank of transferred members. 
 
 Sec. 281. The Police Board created by this Act shall 
 have the same powers, control and authority over the members 
 of the police force, transferred thereto by sections 277, 278, 279 
 and 280 of this Act, and over their tenure of such membership 
 and removal therefrom, as the said Board shall have over the 
 members of said force, appointed thereto by said Board, and 
 especially, except as otherwise provided by this chapter, to fix 
 and assign the rank, title, duties, powers and place of service of 
 said transferred members. Until by said Board otherwise pro- 
 vided the rank, title, duties, powers and place of service of said 
 transferred members shall be the same as they were in the 
 police force to which they belonged before this Act took effect. 
 
 130 
 
Id.; Authority over employees of former boards. Duties and sal- 
 aries of such employees. 
 
 Sec. 282. All clerks, matrons, secretaries, and other sub- 
 ordinates, assistants and employees attached to, or in the service 
 of the Department or either of the Boards or Commissioners 
 specified in section 273 of this Act, until it shall be otherwise 
 provided by the Police Board created by this Act, shall 
 perform like services and duties and receive therefor the same 
 salaries or compensation as they performed and received respec- 
 tively prior to this Act taking effect. But such clerks, 
 matrons, secretaries, and other subordinates, assistants and 
 employees, their services, duties, salaries or compensation, tenure 
 of and removal from their positions or employment shall in all 
 respects be subject to the control and authority of the Police 
 Board created by this Act. 
 
 Id.; Power to appoint and remove members and employees — Salaries 
 and fines. 
 
 Sec. 283. Subject to the powers by this Act conferred on 
 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal 
 Assembly of The City of New York, and to such other 
 provisions of this Act as may limit their power in the 
 premises, the Police Board created by this Act shall 
 have power to appoint and to remove the members of the 
 police force specified in section 276 of this Act, and also 
 such clerks, police matrons, secretaries, and other sub- 
 ordinates, assistants and employees as may be reasonably 
 necessary to the proper performance of the duties and exe- 
 cution of the powers and functions of the Police Department 
 created by this Act or of any of the component parts there- 
 of, and to prescribe their respective ranks, duties and compensa- 
 tion. The salary or compensation of any of such members 
 of the said police force as are specified in sections 277, 278, 279 
 and 280 of this Act, as the same is lawfully fixed at the time 
 this chapter takes effect and immediately prior thereto, shall not 
 be decreased. The salary or compensation of members of the 
 police force shall be subject to all fines, penalties, forfeitures 
 and deductions lawfully imposed for cause. 
 
 131 
 
Police Force. Qualifications of members. Publishing names and 
 residence of applicants and appointees. 
 
 Sec. 284. No person shall ever be appointed or reappointed 
 to membership in the police force or continue to hold mem- 
 bership therein, who is not a citizen of the United States, or 
 who has ever been convicted of felony, or who cannot read 
 and write understandingly in the English language, or who 
 shall not have resided within the State one year next 
 preceding his appointment, but skilled officers of experience 
 may be appointed for detective duty who have not resided 
 as herein required. No person shall be appointed patrolman 
 who shall be at the date of such appointment over thirty 
 years of age ; nor shall any person who shall have been a mem- 
 ber of the force and have resigned, or have been dismissed there- 
 from, be reappointed, except upon the concurring vote of all the 
 members comprising the Board to be taken by ayes and noes, ^ d 
 recorded in the minutes. The name, residence and occupation 
 of each applicant for appointment or reappointment to 
 any position in the Police Department, as well as the 
 name, residence and occupation of each person appointed 
 to any position, shall be published, and such publication shall, 
 in every instance, be made, on the Saturday next succeeding such 
 application, or appointment, in the City Record. 
 
 Id.; Warrant of appointtnent. Oath. 
 
 Sec. 285. Every member of the police force shall have issued 
 to him, by the Police Department, a proper warrant of appoint- 
 ment, signed by the President of the Police Board and Chief 
 Clerk or First Deputy Clerk of said department or of the Police 
 Board, which warrant shall contain the date of his appointment 
 and his rank. Each member of the police force shall, before 
 entering upon the duties of his office, take an oath of office 
 and subscribe the same before any officer of the Police Depart- 
 ment who is empowered to administer an oath. 
 
 Id. ; Chief of Police — First appointment. 
 
 Sec. 286. The Chief of Police first appointed under this 
 Chapter shall be selected from one of the following named 
 
 132 
 
members transferred to the police force by sections 277 and 278 
 of this Act, to wit : The Chief of Police, the Superintendent of 
 Police, the Deputy Chief of Police and the Deputy Superintend- 
 ent of Police, 
 
 Id.; Other officers — First appointments. 
 
 Sec. 287. In making the first appointments of the other 
 members of the police force specified in section 276 of this Act, 
 whose appointment may be necessary to make up tjie full mem- 
 bership of said force provided for by said section, three of the 
 Deputy Chiefs shall be selected from the Chief of Police, the Sup- 
 erintendent of Police, the Deputy Chief of Police and the Deputy 
 Superintendent of Police transferred by sections 277 and 278 of 
 this Act, 'and two from the Inspectors of the respective police 
 forces transferred by sections 277, 278, 279 and 280 of this Act ; 
 Inspectors of Police shall be selected from, first, the Police In- 
 spectors, and second, from the Captains of Police transferred as 
 aforesaid ; the Captains of Police shall be selected from, first, the 
 Captains, and second, from the Sergeants of the respective police 
 forces transferred by sections 277, 278, 279 and 280 of this Act ; 
 Sergeants of Police shall be selected from, first, the Sergeants, and 
 second from the Detective Sergeants and Roundsmen of the re- 
 spective police forces transferred, by sections 277, 278, 279 
 and 280 of this Act. 
 
 Id.; Promotions. 
 
 Sec. 288. Promotions of officers and members of the 
 police 'force shall be made by the Police Board, as provided 
 in section 304 of this Act, on grounds of seniority, meri- 
 torious police service and superior capacity ; and shall be as 
 follows: Sergeants of Police shall be selected from among 
 Patrolmen assigned to duty as Roundsmen, as provided in 
 section 292 of this Act ; Captains from among the Ser- 
 geants; Inspectors from among Captains; Deputy Chiefs 
 of Police from among Inspectors and Captains; and Chief of 
 Police from among Deputy Chiefs, Inspectors and Captains, but 
 no promotion shall be made, except in the case of a vacancy in 
 
 133 
 
the office of Chief of Police, unless the same is recommended by 
 the Chief of Police in writing, stating his reason for such recom- 
 mendation. In case of the rejection of any recommendation for 
 promotion, the Chief of Police shall submit another name within 
 three days, and shall continue so to [do until the vacancy is 
 filled. 
 
 Id.; Increase of. 
 
 Sec. 289. The Police Board is authorized to increase the 
 police force by adding to the number of patrolmen from time to 
 time,gprovided the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and 
 the Municipal Assembly shall have previously made an appro- 
 priation for that express purpose, such increase not to exceed 
 one hundred and fifty in any one year. The Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly may include 
 in the annual budget from year to year, and the Comptroller 
 shall certify, as required by law, to the Municipal Assembly, 
 and the Municipal Assembly shall include in the annual tax- 
 levy an amount sufficient to provide for the compensation of 
 the additional patrolmen authorized to be appointed pursuant to 
 the provisions of this section. 
 
 Id.; Central Office Bureau of Detectives. 
 
 Sec. 290. The Police Board shall maintain a bureau which 
 shall be called the Central Office Bureau of Detectives, and shaU 
 select and appoint to perform detective duty therein as many 
 patrolmen as said board may, from time to time, determine to 
 be necessary to make that bureau efficient. The patrolmen so 
 selected and appointed shall be called detective sergeants, and 
 shall be assigned to duty in that bureau, and while performing 
 such detective duty shall be vested with the same authority 
 and be entitled to receive and be paid the same salary as ser- 
 geants of police under this chapter ; but the Police Board may 
 by order, reduce to the grade of patrolmen, and transfer such 
 detective sergeants or any of them to perform patrol or other 
 police duty, and when so transferred they shall only be entitled 
 to receive and be paid the same rate of compensation as 
 
 134 
 
ordinary patrolmen of the police force under this chapter. 
 Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the 
 Police Board to appoint any additional patrolmen in place of 
 said detective sergeants. The headquarters of said Central 
 Office Bureau of Detectives shall beat the Police Headquarters 
 in the Borough of Manhattan, and a branch office thereof shall 
 be maintained at the Police Headquarters in the Borough of 
 Brooklyn, and other branch offices thereof may be maintained 
 at the police headquarters in each of the other Boroughs into 
 which The City of New York is divided by this Act. 
 
 No member of Department to be interested in other office. 
 
 Sec. 291. Any Police Commissioner, or any member of the 
 police foKie, who shall, after qualifying in office, accept any ad- 
 ditional place of public trust, or civil emolument, or who shall 
 during his term of office be publicly nominated for any office 
 elective by the people, and shall not, within ten days succeeding 
 the same, publicly decline the said nomination, shall be in either 
 case deemed thereby to have resigned his commission and to 
 have vacated his office, and all votes cast at any election for any 
 person holding the office of Police Commissioner, or within thirty 
 days after he shall have resigned such office, shall be void. 
 
 Chief of Police. Duties and Powers. 
 
 Sec. 292. The Chief of Police shall be the chief executive 
 officer of the police force. He shall be chargeable with and re- 
 sponsible for the execution of all laws and the rules and regula- 
 tions of the department. He shall assign to duty the officers 
 and members of the police force, and shall have power to change 
 such assignments from time to time, whenever, in his judgment, 
 the exigencies of the service may require such change ; pro- 
 
 / vided, however, that permanent assignments of patrolmen to 
 
 'mJu^ ii'Uj roundsmen shall be made by the Police Board on the recommen- 
 
 (f dation of the Chief of Police, and in case of the rejection of 
 
 any such assignment recommended by the Chief of Police, 
 
 he shall within three days submit another name and continue 
 
 so to do until a permanent assignment is made. He shall have 
 
 1 35 
 
power to suspend without pay, pending the trial of charges, 
 any member of the police force; provided, however, that 
 no such suspension shall be continued for a period of more 
 than ten days without affirmative action to that effect by 
 the Police Board. If any member of the police force so 
 suspended shall not be convicted by the Police Board of 
 the charges so preferred, he shall be entitled to full pay from 
 the date of suspension, notwithstanding such charges and sus- 
 pension. Said Chief of Police may grant leaves of absence 
 to members of the force for a period not exceeding five days. 
 He shall report to the Police Board all changes or assignments of 
 officers and all leaves of absence granted. 
 
 Id.; Absence or disability of. 
 
 Sec. 293. In case of the absence or disability of the Chief 
 of Police, a Deputy Chief of Police designated by the Police 
 Board, or in case no Deputy Chief is so designated, then a 
 Deputy Chief of Police designated by the Chief of Police shall 
 discharge all the duties of Chief of Police ; or in case each 
 Deputy Chief of Police be absent or disabled, or, for any good 
 cause, is not available for such designation, then the duties of 
 Chief of Police shall be performed by one of the Inspectors of 
 Police to be designated by the Police Board. 
 
 Police Surgeons. Duties and districts. 
 
 Sec. 294. The duties of the Police Surgeons, and the extent 
 and bounds of their districts, shall be assigned, from time to 
 time, by the rules and regulations of the Police Board. The 
 Police Board may, if requested by the Department of Health, 
 employ their surgeons to aid the sanitary inspectors in the dis- 
 charge of their duties, under such regulations and orders as the 
 Police Board may make and issue. 
 
 Police Board. President and Treasurer. 
 
 Sec. 295. The Police Board shall appoint and remove at 
 pleasure one of their number as the President and another of 
 
 136 
 
their number as Treasurer of said Board, and prescribe for and 
 assign to them respectively as President and Treasurer such 
 powers and duties as may be consistent with law. 
 
 Id.; Duties of Treasurer. Bond. Deputy Treasurer. 
 
 Sec. 296. The Treasurer of said board shall be the 
 fiscal officer thereof, and chief purchasing agent of the 
 department, and shall, by check and voucher, duly disburse 
 by order of the said Police Board, all moneys belonging 
 to the Police Department or police fund, and shall deposit the 
 same, when paid to him, in a bank or banks or trust company 
 designated by said Police Board. The treasurer shall, 
 within tweaty days after he shall have received notice of his 
 appointment, and before he shall enter upon the execution of 
 the duties of his office, execute a bond in not less than the sum 
 of twenty thousand dollars, to the City of New York, with two 
 sufficient sureties, who shall each justify in the sum of not less than 
 twenty thousand dollars, conditioned that he will well and faith- 
 fully in all things perform and execute the office of treasurer 
 during his continuance in office, said bond to be approved by 
 the Comptroller and filed in his office. The said treasurer shall 
 have power, as soon as may be after he takes upon himself the 
 execution of his office, to appoint, by and with the consent of 
 the Police Board, some proper person deputy treasurer, 
 to hold office during the pleasure of the treasurer, and as often 
 as a vacancy shall occur in the office of such deputy treasurer, 
 or he shall become incapable of executing the same, another shall, 
 in like manner, be appointed in his place. In case of the absence, 
 inability or disability of the treasurer to perform his duties, the 
 said deputy treasurer shall have full powers to perform all the 
 duties of the treasurer during such absence, inability or disability. 
 The treasurer shall be responsible for all the acts of the deputy 
 treasurer, and any default or malfeasance in the office of such 
 deputy treasurer shall be deemed to be a breach of the con- 
 dition in the bond given by said treasurer who appointed him, 
 as herein provided. 
 
 137 
 
Id.; To pay salaries and discharge obligations of departmeiit. 
 
 Sec. 297. The Police Board through its Treasurer, and in 
 pursuance of orders, rules and regulations of the Police Board, 
 shall pay all salaries and wages to officers and me^nbers of 
 the Police Department and force, as established by and in pur- 
 suance of law, and all bills, claims and obligations lawfully 
 incurred by or by authority of said Police Department ; and 
 the Comptroller shall pay over to the Treasurer of the Police 
 Board on the requisition of the Police Board, the total amount 
 annually estimated, levied, raised, and appropriated for the 
 support and maintenance of the Police Department and force, 
 from time to time, and in such sums as shall be required (not 
 exceeding one-twelfth part of said total annual amount in any 
 one month), and the treasurer of the Police Board, if required 
 by the Comptroller, shall transmit to the Department of Finance, 
 each month, duplicate vouchers for the payment of all sums of 
 money made on account of the Police Department during each 
 month. The Police Board shall procure and pay for all printing, 
 books, blanks, paper, and other articles of stationery required 
 for the administration and business of the department and each 
 bureau thereof. 
 
 Id,; Copy of minutes when evidence. 
 
 Sec. 298. A copy of the minutes of the Police Board, or of 
 any part of said minutes, or of any order or resolution of said 
 Board, or of the rules and regulations established by said Board, 
 or any or either of them, when certified by the President of said 
 Board and the Chief Clerk, or First Deputy Clerk of said Board 
 or of said Police Department, may be given in evidence upon any 
 trial, investigation, hearing or proceeding in any court, or 
 before any Tribunal, Commissioner or Commissioners, or Board, 
 with the same force and effect as the original. 
 
 Salaries of officers and members of the force. 
 
 Sec. 299. Except as otherwise provided in sections 283 and 
 290 of this Act, the annual salaries and compensation of the 
 officers and members of the police force shall be as follows, to 
 wit : of the Chief of Police, six thousand dollars : of each Deputy 
 
 138 
 
Chief of Police, five thousand dollars; of each Inspector of 
 Police, three thousand^ five hundred dollars ; of each Captain 
 of Police, two thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars; of 
 each Police Surgeon, three thousand dollars; of each Sergeant 
 of Police, two thousand dollars; of each doorman, one thousand 
 dollars ; of each roundsman, one thousand five hundred 
 dollars ; and the grade and pay or compensation of patrol- 
 men or policemen shall be as follows, to wit : All such members 
 who are patrolmen and who shall have served five years ^or up- 
 wards on said force, shall be members of the first grade. All 
 such members who shall have served on such force for less than five 
 years and more than four years and six months, shall be members 
 of the second grade. All such members who shall have served on 
 such force for less than four years and six months, and more than 
 four years, shall be members of the third grade. All such mem- 
 bers who shall have served on such force for less than four years 
 and more than three years, shall be members of the fourth grade. 
 All such members who shall have served on such force for less 
 than three years and more than two years, shall be members of 
 the fifth grade. All such members who shall have served on 
 such force for less than two years and more than one year, shall 
 be members of the sixth grade. And all persons appointed 
 patrolmen on or after the first day of January, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-eight, shall be members of the seventh 
 grade. Whenever any member of the seventh grade 
 
 shall have done service therein for one year, he shall 
 be advanced to the sixth grade. Whene\er any member 
 of the sixth grade shall have done service therein for one 
 year, he shall be advanced to the fifth grade. Whenever any 
 member of the fifth grade shall have done service therein for one 
 year, he shall be advanced to the fourth grade. Whenever any 
 member of the fourth grade shall have done service therein 
 for one year, he shall be advanced to the third grade. When- 
 ever any member of the third grade shall have done service 
 therein for six months, he shall be advanced to the second grade. 
 And any member of said force who shall have served six months 
 in the second grade, shall become a mem^ber of the first grade. 
 But no such patrolman shall be so advanced as aforesaid, except 
 
 139 
 
after examination and approval by the Police Board of hi records, 
 efficiency, and conduct. The annual pay or compensation of the 
 members of the police force who are patrolmen, as aforesaid, 
 shall be as follows; For members of the first grade, at the rate 
 of not less than one thousand four hundred dollars each ; for 
 members of the second grade, at the rate of not less than one * 
 thousand three hundred and fifty dollars each ; for members of 
 the third grade, at the rate of not less than one thousand two 
 hundred and fifty dollars each : for members of the fourth grade, 
 at the rate of not less than one thousand one hundred and fifty 
 dollars each : for members of the fifth grade, at the rate of not 
 'less than one thousand dollars each; for members of the sixth 
 grade, at the rate of not less than nine hundred dollars each ; for 
 members of the seventh grade, at the rate of not less than eight 
 hundred dollars each. The pay or compensation aforesaid shall 
 be paid monthly to each person entitled thereto, subject to such 
 deductions for or on account of lost time, sickness, disabil- 
 ity, absence, fines, or forfeitures, as the Police Department 
 may, by rules and regulations, from time to time prescribe or 
 adopt. 
 
 Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to change 
 in any way the salaries or grading, present or prospective, of the 
 patrolmen or policemen who are or become members of the New 
 York Police force prior to January first, eighteen hundred and 
 ninety-eight. 
 
 All other patrolmen or policemen of the various police forces 
 consolidated into a single force by the provisions of this Act, 
 shall belong, so far as pay or compensation is concerned, to the 
 grade indicated by the pay or compensation which they are res- 
 pectively receiving on January first, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
 eight. But nothing in this section contained shall be construed 
 to affect in any other way the rights and privileges secured 
 under the provisions of this Act to the members of the various 
 police forces consolidated into a single force by this Act. 
 
 The date for the eligibility of any member of the forces trans- 
 ferred to the consolidated force by sections 277, 278, 279 and 280 
 of this Act for advancement to the next grade, shall be the day 
 of the year on which he was originally appointed to the force 
 
 140 
 
from which he was transferred ; and any member of the forces 
 so transferred not a member of the New York police force prior 
 to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, whose salary 
 falls between two grades, shall receive the salary of and be 
 assigned to the grade next above the salary he is receiving at 
 the time of transfer. 
 
 Salaries of all officers in the forces so transferred, other than 
 officers in the New York police prior to January first, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-eight, shall be equalized on the same basis. 
 If the difference in pay is not more than fifty dollars, the pay 
 shall be equalized at once. If the difference is more than fifty 
 dollars, the pay shall be made uniform within three years by 
 equal annual additions. 
 
 Police Board. Rules, etc. , for government and discipline of Polia 
 Department and Police Force. Dismissals. 
 
 Sec. 300. The Police Board is authorized and empowered to 
 make, adopt and enforce rules, orders and regulations for the gov- 
 ernment, discipline, administration and disposition of the Police 
 Department and Police Force and the members thereof. It 
 shall have power and is authorized to adopt rules and regula- 
 tions for the examination, hearing, investigation and determina- 
 tion of charges made or preferred against any member or mem- 
 bers of the said police force, but no member or members of the 
 police force except as otherwise provided in this Chapter shall be 
 fined, reprimanded, removed, suspended or dismissed from the 
 police force until written charges shall have been made or preferred 
 against him or them, nor until such charges have been examined, 
 heard and investigated before one or more members of said 
 Board, upon such reasonable notice to the member or members 
 charged, and in such manner of procedure, practice, examination 
 and investigation as the said Board may, by rules and regula- 
 tions, from time to time prescribe. Such rules and regula- 
 tions shall, as nearly as may be, provide that where a charge is 
 preferred against any member of the police force, the investiga- 
 tion of such charge and the taking of testimony with reference 
 thereto shall be at Police H eadquarters in the Borough within 
 which the accused member was serving at the time the charge 
 
 131 
 
was preferred. In all cases where the offence charged is punish- 
 able by fine, the case may be fully and finally disposed of by 
 one Commissioner. Any member of the police force who may 
 hereafter become insane or of unsound mind, so as to be'unable 
 or unfit to perform full police service or duty, may be removed 
 and dismissed from the police force by the Board. ^The Police 
 Board may, by a unanimous vote of the Board, or by a vote 
 of a majority of its members with the approval of the Mayor, 
 retire the Chief of Police or any Deputy Chief. 
 
 Police Commissioners, etc., may issue subpoenas. Who may administer 
 oaths. 
 
 Sec. 301. Either of the Police Commissioners shall have 
 power to issue subpoenas attested in the name of the President of 
 the Police Board, and to exact and compel obedience to any order, 
 subpoena or mandate issued by them, and to that end may insti- 
 tute and prosecute any proceedings or action authorized^by law in 
 such cases. They or either of them may in proper cases} issue 
 subpoenas duces tecum. Said Board may devise, make and issue 
 process and forms of proceedings to carry into effect any powers 
 or jurisdiction possessed by them. Each of the Police Com- 
 missioners, the Chief of Police, each Deputy-Chief of Police, 
 the Chief Clerk and First Deputy-Clerk of said Police Board 
 or Police Department are hereby authorized and empowered 
 to administer oaths and affirmations in the usual or appro- 
 priate forms, to any person in any matter 'or proceedings 
 authorized as aforesaid, and in all matters pertaining to the 
 Police Department or the duties of any officer or other 
 person in matters of or connected with said Department 
 and to administer oaths of oflfice which may be taken or required 
 in the administration or affairs of said Department, and to take 
 and administer oaths and affirmations, in the usual or appro- 
 priate forms, in taking any affidavit or deposition which may be 
 necessary or required by law or by any order, rule, or regulation 
 of the Police Board, for or in connection with the official [pur- 
 poses, affairs, powers, duties or proceedings of said Police 
 Department, or of said Police Board, or of any Police Com- 
 missioner, or member of the policejforce.'or any official purpose 
 
 142 
 
lawfully authorized by said Board. Any person making a com- 
 plaint that a felony or misdemeanor has been committed may be 
 required to make oath or afifirmation thereto, and for this pur- 
 pose a Police Commissioner, the Chief of Police, the Deputy 
 Chiefs of Police, the Chief Clerk, or Deputy Clerks of the Police 
 Department or Police Board, the Inspectors, Captains and Ser- 
 geants of police shall have power to administer oaths and 
 affirmations. 
 
 Police Board. Punishments by. Limitation of suits for reinstatements, etc. 
 
 Sec, 302. The Police Board shall have power, in its dis- 
 cretion, on conviction by it or by any court or officer of 
 competent jurisdiction, of a member of the force of any 
 criminal offence,' or neglect of duty, violation of rules, 
 or neglect or disobedience of orders, or absence without 
 leave, or any conduct injurious to the public peace or wel- 
 fare, or immoral conduct, or conduct unbecoming an officer, 
 or any breach of discipline, to punish the offending party by 
 reprimand, forfeiting and withholding pay for a specified time, 
 suspension, without pay during such suspension, or by dismissal 
 from the force; but no more than thirty days' pay or salary 
 shall be forfeited or deducted for any offense. All such for- 
 feitures shall be paid forthwith to the Treasurer of the Depart- 
 ment to the account of the police pension fund. The Police 
 Board is also authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to 
 deduct and withhold pay, salary or compensation from any mem- 
 ber or members of the police force, for or on account of absence 
 for any cause without leave, lost time, sickness or other 
 disability, physical or mental ; provided, however, that the pay, 
 salary or compensation so deducted and withheld shall not, ex- 
 cept in case of absence without leave, exceed one-half thereof 
 for the period of such absence, any act or law to the contrary 
 notwithstanding; and said Police Board is authorized and em- 
 powered from time to time to make and prescribe rules and regu- 
 lations to carry into effect and enforce the provisions of this 
 section. No action, suit or proceeding, either at law or in 
 equity, shall be commenced or maintained against the Police 
 Department, or any member thereof, or against the Police 
 
 143 
 
Board, Police Commissioners or either of them, or against 
 The City of New York by any member or officer, or former 
 member or officer of or belonging to the police force or de- 
 partment of said city to recover or compel the payment of any 
 salary, pay, money or compensation for or on account of any 
 service or duty, or to recover any salary, compensation or 
 moneys, or any part thereof forfeited, deducted or withheld for 
 any cause, or to restore or reinstate to the police force or depart- 
 ment any member or officer thereof, unless such action, suit or 
 proceeding shall be commenced within two years after the cause 
 of action shall have accrued ; provided that causes of action or 
 proceedings which shall have heretofore accrued may be begun or 
 brought within six years after the same shall have accrued and 
 within two years after the passage of this Act ; but nothing 
 jn this section contained shall be construed or held to extend 
 the time in which causes of action or proceedings which shall 
 have heretofore accrued must be brought. 
 
 Police Force. Resignations and absences on leave. 
 
 Sec. 303. No member of the police force, under penalty 
 of forfeiting the salary or pay which may be due him, shall 
 withdraw or resign, except by permission of the Police Board. 
 Absence, without leave, of any member of the police force for 
 five consecutive days shall be deemed and held to be a resigna- 
 tion, and the member so absent shall, at the expiration of said 
 period cease to be a member of the police force and be dismissed 
 therefrom without notice. No leave of absence exceeding 
 twenty days in any one year shall hereafter be granted or 
 allowed to any member of the police force, except upon the 
 condition that such member shall waive and release not less than 
 one-half of all salary, pay or compensation and claim thereto, 
 or any part thereof, during such absence. 
 
 Id.; Regulations of Civil Service Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 304. The Civil Service Commissioners shall prescribe 
 such regulations for the admission of persons into the police 
 force and into the service of the Police; Department as may 
 best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness 
 
 144 
 
of candidates in respect to character, knowledge and ability for 
 the police force. The regulations so to be prescribed shall, 
 among other things, be in furtherance of the following provis- 
 ions 
 
 1. For open, competitive examinations for testing the 
 fitness of applicants for the police force. Such examina- 
 tions shall be practical in their character, and, so far as 
 may be, shall relate to those matters which will fairly 
 test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons 
 examined to discharge the duties of that service into 
 which they seek to be appointed. 
 
 2. All oflficeg, places and employment so arranged or 
 to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selection from 
 among those graded highest as the result of said com- 
 petitive examinations ; provided, however, that the said 
 Board shall not be required to appoint from, but may 
 in their discretion, ignore those who have heretofore been 
 reported or decided to be eligible for appointment. 
 
 3. There shall be a period of probation before any 
 absolute appointment or employment in the police force. 
 
 4. Promotions from the lower grades to the higher 
 grades shall be on the basis of seniority, of merit and 
 of excellence, as shown by competitive examination. The 
 Police Board shall transmit to the Civil Service Commis- 
 sion, the record of each candidate for promotion. 
 
 5. There shall be non-competitive examination where, 
 after due efforts by previous public advertisement or 
 otherwise, competition may be found not to be practic- 
 able. 
 
 Police Board. Rewards to informers. 
 
 Sec. 305. The Police Board shall have authority to offer 
 rewards to induce all classes of persons to give information 
 which shall lead to the detection, arrest and conviction of per- 
 sons guilty of homicides, arson, or receiving stolen goods, know- 
 ing them to be stolen ; and to pay such rewards to such persons 
 
 145 
 
as shall give such information. But no such reward shall be 
 offered unless there be an unexpended appropriation therefor 
 made by the Board of Estimate^ and Apportionment, which 
 shall make the necessary appropriation for such purpose. 
 
 Police Force. Gratuities and political contributions forbidden. May be 
 permitted to retain rewards. 
 
 Sec. 306. No member of the police force or employee of 
 the police department shall, under any pretense whatsoever, 
 share in, for his own benefit, any present, fee, gift or emolu- 
 ment for police services, or for services of the Police Depart- 
 ment or any member thereof, additional to his regular salary, 
 pay or compensation. The Police Board, for merit- 
 orious and extraordinary services rendered by any member 
 of the police force in due discharge of his duty, may permit 
 such member of the police force to retain for his own benefit 
 any reward or present, or some part thereof, tendered him 
 therefor; and it shall be cause for removal from the police 
 force for any member thereof to receive any such reward 
 or present without notice thereof to the Police Board. 
 Upon receiving said notice, the Police Board may either 
 order the said member to retain the same, or shall dispose of it 
 for the benefit of the police pension fund. No person in the 
 police force shall be permitted to contribute any moneys di- 
 rectly or indirectly, to any political fund, or to join or be or 
 become a member of any political club or association or any 
 club or association intended to affect legislation ^for or on 
 behalf of the Police Department or any member thereof, or 
 to contribute any funds for such purpose. 
 
 Id.; Detail of policemen at polls. 
 
 Sec. 307. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to detail, 
 or to cause to be detailed on election day, at least two patrolmen 
 at each election poll. It shall be the duty of the police |]force, 
 or any member thereof, to prevent any booth, or box, or 
 structure for the distribution of tickets at any election from 
 being erected or maintained within one hundred and fifty feet 
 
 146 
 
of any polling place within the city, and summarily to remove any 
 such booth, box or structure, or to close and prevent the use 
 thereof. 
 
 Id.; Special patrolmeji ; when may be appointed. Military assistance. 
 
 Sec. 308. The Police Board may, upon an emergency 
 or apprehension of riot, tumult, mob, insurrection, pesti- 
 lence or invasion, appoint as many special patrolmen without 
 pay from among the citizens as it may deem desirable. The 
 Mayor, or, in case of his failure so to do, the Governor 
 may demand the assistance of the militia of the State 
 within the city, or of any brigade, regiment or company 
 thereof, by order in writing served upon the command- 
 ing officer of any brigade and such commanding officer 
 shall obey such order. Special patrolmen, appointed in pursu- 
 ance of law, may be dismissed by order of the Police Board ; 
 and while acting as such special patrolmen shall possess 
 the powers, perform the duties, and be subject to the orders, 
 rules and regulations of the Police Department in the same 
 manner as regular patrolmen. Every such special patrolman shall 
 wear a badge, to be prescribed and furnished by the Police 
 Board. No transfer, detail or assignment to special duty 
 of any member of the police force, except in cases authorized 
 or required by law, shall hereafter be made or continued, except 
 for police reasons and in the interests of police service ; provided, 
 however, that the Chief of Police may, whenever the exigencies 
 of the case require it, make detail to special duty for a period 
 not exceeding three days, at the expiration of which the mem- 
 ber or members so detailed shall report for duty to the officer of 
 the command from which the detail was made. The 
 Police Board, whenever expedient, may on the applica- 
 tion of any person or persons, corporation or corporations, 
 showing the necessity therefor, detail regular patrolmen of the 
 police force, or appoint and swear any number of special 
 patrolmen to do special duty at any place in The City of New 
 York upon the person or persons, corporation or corporations by 
 whom the application shall be made, paying, in advance, such 
 regular or special patrolmen for their services, and upon such 
 
 147 
 
regular or special patrolmen, in consideration of their appoint- 
 ment, signing an agreement in writing releasing and waiving all 
 claim whatever against the Police Department and The City of 
 New York for pay, salary or compensation for their services and 
 for all expenses connected therewith; regular patrolmen so 
 detailed shall be paid at the same rate as provided for patrolmen 
 in this Act; but the regular or special patrolmen so appointed 
 shall be subject to the orders of the Chief of Police and shall 
 obey the rules and regulations of the Police Department and 
 conform to its general discipline and to such special regulations 
 as may be made and shall wear such dress or emblems as the 
 department may direct, and shall during the term of their hold- 
 ing appointment possess all the powers and discharge all the 
 duties of the police force, applicable to regular patrolmen. The 
 special patrolmen so appointed may be removed at any time 
 by the Police Board without assigning cause therefor, and 
 nothing in this section contained shall be construed to constitute 
 such special patrolmen members of the police force, or to 
 entitle them to the privilege of the regular members of the 
 force, or to receive any salary, pay, compensation or moneys 
 whatever from the said Police Department or The City of New 
 York, or to share in the police pension fund. 
 
 Police Board. Detail persons to attend Courts. 
 
 Sec. 309. It shall be the duty of the Police; Board, 
 to cause some intelligent and experienced person connected 
 with the police force to attend at the courts of the city in cases 
 where there is need of such assistance, who shall, to such extent 
 as the rules of the Board of Magistrates may reasonably require, 
 aid in bringing the facts before the magistrates in proceedings 
 pending in such police courts. 
 
 Police Department to co-operate with Department of Health. 
 
 Sec. 310. It shall be the duty of the Police Department 
 (and of its officers and men, as said Police Board ^ shall 
 direct) to promptly advise the Department of Health of all 
 threatened danger to human life and health, and of all matters 
 thought to demand its attention, and to regularly report to said 
 
 148 
 
Department of Health all violations of its rules and ordinances, 
 and of the health laws, and all useful sanitary information. Said 
 Department, shall, so far as practicable and appropriate, co-op- 
 erate for the promotion of the public health and the safety of 
 human life in said city. It shall be the duty of said Police De- 
 partment, by and through its proper officers, agents and men, to 
 faithfully and at the proper time enforce and execute the sani- 
 tary rules and regulations, and the orders of said Department of 
 Health (made pursuant to the power of said Department of 
 Health), upon the same being received in writing and duly au- 
 thenticated as said Department of Health may direct. Said 
 Police Department is authorized to employ and use the appro- 
 priate persons and means, and to make the necessary expend- 
 itures for the execution and enforcement of said rules, orders, 
 and regulations, and such expenditures, so far as the same 
 may not be refunded or compensated by the means herein 
 elsewhere provided, shall be paid as the other expenses of 
 said Department of Health are paid. In and about the exe- 
 cution of any order of the Department of Health, or of the 
 Police Department made pursuant thereto, police officers and 
 policemen shall have as ample power and authority as when 
 obeying any order of or law applicable to the Police Depart- 
 ment, or as if acting under a special warrant of a justice or judge, 
 duly issued ; but for their conduct they shall be responsible to 
 the Police Department and not to the Department of Health. The 
 Department of Health may, with the consent of the Police De- 
 partment, impose any portion of the duties of subordinates in 
 said department upon subordinates in the police department. 
 
 Police Force. Arrests for violation of health laws. 
 
 Sec. 311. Any member of the police force may arrest without 
 warrant any person who shall, in view of such member, violate, or 
 do, or be engaged in doing or committing in said city, any act or 
 thing forbidden by Chapter XIX of this Act, or by any law or by 
 any ordinance the authority to enact which is given by this Act or 
 any other Statute or who shall, in such presence, resist or be 
 engaged in resisting the lawful enforcement of any such law or 
 ordinance or any official order made pursuant to any Statute of 
 
 149 
 
 fairiviEs: 
 
this State. And any person so arrested shall thereafter be 
 treated, disposed of and punished as any other person duly 
 arrested for a misdemeanor unless other provision "is made for 
 the case by law. 
 
 Id. : Detail of officers and men to assist Department of Health. 
 
 Sec. 312. The Police Board, upon the requisition of the 
 Board of Health, shall detail to the service of the said Depart- 
 ment of Health for the purpose of the enforcement of the pro- 
 visions of the sanitary code, and of the acts relating to|tenement 
 and lodging houses, not less than fifty nor more than one hundred 
 suitable oflficers and men of experience of at least five years' 
 service in the police force, provided that the Department of 
 Health shall pay monthly to the Police Department a sum equal 
 to the pay of all officers and men so detailed. At least thirty 
 of the officers and men so detailed shall be employed exclusively 
 in the enforcement of the laws relating to tenement and lodging 
 houses. These officers and men shall belong to the sanitary 
 company of police, and shall report to the Board of Health. 
 The Board of Health may report back to the Police Department 
 for punishment any member of said company guilty of any breach 
 of orders or discipline, or of neglecting his duty, and thereupon 
 the Police Board shall detail another officer or man in his place, 
 and the discipline of the said members of the sanitary company 
 shall be in the jurisdiction of the Police Department, but at any 
 time the Board of Health may object to any member of said 
 sanitary company on the ground of inefficiency, and thereupon 
 another officer or man shall be detailed in his place. 
 
 Id.; Detail of officers and men to assist the Department of Public Parks. 
 
 Sec. 313. The Police Board, upon the requisition of either 
 of the Commissioners of Parks, shall from time to time detail to 
 the service of the Department of Parks in the Borough or Bor- 
 oughs under the charge of such Commissioner, for the enforce- 
 ment of the park ordinances and for the maintenance of good 
 order in the parks, so many suitable officers and men as in the 
 judgment of the Police Department are necessary. Such officers 
 and men shall continue to be in all respects an integral part of 
 
 150 
 
the Police force of the city and shall be paid out of the funds 
 appropriated for the support of the Police Department. These 
 officers and men shall constitute the Park Police so long as their 
 detail lasts, and shall report to the Park Commissioner in charge 
 of the parks in which they serve. Each Commissioner of Parks 
 may report back to the Police Department for punishment any 
 member of said Park Police force guilty of any breach of orders 
 or discipline, or of neglecting his duty, and thereupon the Police 
 Department may detail another officer or man in his place : and 
 the discipline of the said members of the Park Police shall be in 
 the jurisdiction of the Police Department, but at any time either 
 Commissioner of Parks may object to the inefficiency of any mem- 
 ber of said Park Police serving in any park under his charge and 
 thereupon another officer or man may be detailed in his place. 
 
 Id.: Detail of officers and men to assist the Department of Bridges. 
 
 Sec. 314. The Police Board, upon the requisition of the 
 Commissioner of Bridges shall from time to time detail to the 
 service of the Department of Bridges for the enforcement of the 
 ordinances regulating travel over any of the bridges and for the 
 maintenance of good order thereon, so many suitable officers 
 and men as in the judgment of the Police Department are neces- 
 sary. Such officers and men shall continue to be in all respects 
 an integral part of the Police force of the city and shall be paid 
 out of the funds appropriated for the support of the Police 
 Department. These officers and men shall constitute the Bridge 
 Police so long as their detail lasts, and shall report to the Commis- 
 sioner of Bridges. The Commissioner of Bridges may report back 
 to the Police Department for punishment any member of said 
 Bridge Police force guilty of any breach of orders or discipline, 
 or of neglecting his duty, and thereupon the Police Department 
 may detail another officer or man in his place ; and the discipline 
 of the said members of the Bridge Police shall be in the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Police Department, but at any time the Commissioner 
 of Bridges may object to the inefficiency of any member of said 
 Bridge Police and thereupon another officer or man may be 
 detailed in his place. 
 
 151 
 
Id.; Duties of. 
 
 Sec, 315. It is hereby made the duty of the Police Depart- 
 ment and force, at all times of day and night, and the members of 
 such force are hereby thereunto empowered, to especially preserve 
 the public peace, prevent crime, detect and arrest offenders, sup- 
 press riots, mobs and insurrections, disperse unlawful or dangerous 
 assemblages, and assemblages which obstruct the free passage of 
 public streets, sidewalks, parks and places ; protect the rights of 
 persons and property, guard the public health, preserve order at 
 elections and all public meetings and assemblages ; regulate the 
 movement of teams and vehicles in streets, bridges, squares, parks 
 ^nd public places, and remove all nuisances in the public streets, 
 parks and highways ; arrest all street mendicants and beggars ; 
 provide proper police attendance at fires ; assist, advise, and pro- 
 tect emigrants, strangers and travelers in public streets, at steam- 
 boat and ship landings, and at railroad stations ; carefully observe 
 and inspect all places of public amusement, all places of business 
 having excise or other licenses to carry on any business ; all houses 
 of ill-fame or prostitution, and houses where common prostitutes 
 resort or reside ; all lottery ofifices, policy shops, and places where 
 lottery tickets or lottery policies are sold or offered for sale ; all 
 gambling houses, cock-pits, rat-pits, and public common dance- 
 Jiouses, and to repress and restrain all unlawful and disorderly 
 conduct or practices therein ; enforce and prevent the violation 
 of all laws and ordinances in force in said city ; and for these 
 purposes, to arrest all persons guilty of violating any law or ordi- 
 nance for the suppression or punishment of crimes or offenses. 
 
 Id.; General powers over certain trades. 
 
 Sec. 316. The Chief of Police and each Deputy Chief of 
 Police, and each Inspector in his district, and each Captain .of 
 Police within his precinct, shall possess powers of general 
 police supervision and inspection over all licensed or unlicensed 
 pawnbrokers, venders, junk-shop keepers, junk-boatmen, cart- 
 men, dealers in second-hand merchandise, intelligence-office 
 keepers, and auctioneers, within the said city; and in the 
 exercise of said supervision, may from time to time em- 
 
 152 
 
power members of the police force to fulfill such special 
 duties in the aforesaid premises as may be from time to 
 time ordained by the Police Board, The said Chief of Police 
 and each Deputy Chief of Police, and each Inspector in 
 his district and each Captain within his precinct, may, by author- 
 ity in writing, empower any member of the police force, whenever 
 such member shall be in search of property feloniously obtained, or 
 in search of suspected offenders, or evidence to convict any person 
 charged with crime, to examine the books of any pawnbroker, or 
 his business premises, or the business premises of any licensed 
 vender, or licensed junk-shop keeper, or dealer in second-hand 
 merchandise, or intelligence-office keeper, or auctioneer, or boat 
 of any junk-boatman. Kny such member of the police, when 
 thereto authorized in writing, by the said Chief, shall be author- 
 ized to examine property alleged to be pawned, pledged, deposi- 
 ted, lost or stolen, in whosesoever possession said property may 
 be ; but no such property shall be taken from the possessor thereof 
 without due process or authority of law. 
 
 Id.; May examine pawnbrokers^ books. 
 
 Sec. 317. The Chief of Police, Deputy Chiefs of Police, Inspec- 
 tors of Police, and Captains of Police and persons acting by their, 
 or by either of their orders, shall have power to examine the books 
 of any pawnbroker, his clerk or clerks, if they deem it necessary, 
 when in search of stolen property, and any person having in his 
 possession a pawbroker's ticket shall, when accompanied by a 
 policeman, or by an order from the Chief of Police or Deputy 
 Chief of Police, or Inspector of Police, or Captain of Police, be 
 allowed to examine the property purporting to be pawned by said 
 ticket ; but no property shall be removed from the possession of 
 any pawnbroker without the process of law required by the exist- 
 ing laws of this state, or the laws and ordinances of the city regu- 
 lating pawnbrokers. A refusal or neglect to comply in any respect 
 with the provisions of this section, on the part of any pawn- 
 broker, his clerk or clerks, shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and 
 punishable as such. 
 
 Id.; Suppression of gaming and other houses. 
 
 Sec. 318. If any member of the police force, or if any two 
 
 153 
 
or more householders shall report in writing, under his or their 
 signature, to the Chief of Police or to a Deputy Chief of Police, 
 that there are good grounds ( and stating the same ) for believ- 
 ing any house, room or premises within the said city to be kept 
 or used as a common gambling house, common gaming room, 
 or common gaming premises, for therein playing for wagers of 
 money at any game of chance, or to be kept or used for lewd 
 and obscene purposes or amusements, or the deposit or sale of 
 lottery tickets or lottery policies, it shall be lawful for the Chief 
 of Police or a Deputy Chief of Police, to authorize, in writing, 
 any member or members of the police force to enter the same, 
 who may forthwith arrest all persons there found offending 
 against law, but nciie others; and seize all implements of gam- 
 ing, or lottery tickets, or lottery policies, and convey any person 
 so arrested before a magistrate, and bring the articles so seized 
 to the office of the property clerk. It shall be the duty of the 
 said Chief of Police or Deputy Chief of Police to cause such 
 arrested person to be rigorously prosecuted, and such articles 
 seized to be destroyed, as the orders, rules, and regulations of 
 the Police Board shall direct. 
 
 Rules and regulations as to navigable waters within the City limits. 
 
 Sec. 319. It shall be the duty of the Board to provide and 
 enforce proper rules and regulations for the safety of passengers 
 on excursion steamers, yachts, and all craft taking part in 
 regattas or races, whether as observers or participants, in the 
 navigable waters embraced within the corporate limits of the 
 City and to preserve the public peace and prevent undue inter- 
 ference with, or interruption of such regattas and races. Such 
 rules and regulations when so adopted shall be duly published 
 in the public newspapers and any wilfull violation of the same 
 by any person shall subject the offender to the penalties of a 
 misdemeanor and if the holder of a license from the City to a 
 forfeiture thereof. 
 
 Police Board. To furnish station houses, etc. , and fix bojindaries of pre- 
 cincts. Headquarters. 
 
 Sec. 320. The PoHce Board shall from time to time with 
 
 154 
 
the authority of the Municipal Assembly, establish, provide and 
 furnish stations and station houses, or sub-stations and sub- 
 station houses, at least one to each precinct, for the accommo- 
 dation thereat of members of the police force, and as places of 
 temporary detention for persons arrested and property taken 
 within the precinct ; and shall also provide and furnish such 
 business accommodations, apparatus and articles, and provide 
 for the care thereof, as shall be necessary for the department 
 of police and the transaction of the business of the depart- 
 ment. The said Police Board is hereby authorized and 
 empowered to furnish horses and wagons, to be known as 
 patrol wagons, which said horses and wagons shall be under the 
 custody, control and care of said Police Department, for the 
 exclusive use thereof. The Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment and the Municipal Assembly are directed to appropri- 
 ate a suflficient sum of money in each and every year, for the 
 purpose of furnishing such horses, wagons and apparatus con- 
 nected therewith, and the maintenance thereof, and for the 
 other purposes authorized by this section. The number and 
 boundaries of the precincts shall be fixed by the Police 
 Board. There shall be one headquarters or central station, 
 established and located by said Police Board in each Borough 
 into which The City of New York is divided by this Act. A 
 Deputy Chief of Police shall be assigned to duty by the Police 
 Board at Police Headquarters in the Borough of Brooklyn, and, 
 in the discretion of the Police Board, a Deputy Chief of Police 
 may be assigned to duty at Police Headquarters in each of the 
 other Boroughs. The said Police Board shall apply to and use 
 for the purposes mentioned in this section, the property and 
 premises which shall come into their possession, or under their 
 control, by virtue of section 275 of this Act, so far as suitable 
 for the purpose in their judgment, and available therefor. 
 
 Id.; To provide accommodations for detention of witnesses. 
 
 Sec. 321. The Police Board shall, where not otherwise pro- 
 vided by law, and as authorized by the Municipal Assembly, 
 provide suitable accommodations and supplies for the deten- 
 tion of witnesses who are unable to furnish security for their 
 
 155 
 
appearance in criminal proceedings, other than children actual- 
 ly or apparently under the age of sixteen years, to be called 
 the house for the detention of witnesses ; and such accommo- 
 dation shall be in premises other than those employed for the 
 confinement of persons charged with crime, fraud or disorderly 
 conduct. And it shall be the duty of all magistrates, when com- 
 mitting witnesses in default of bail, to commit them to such house 
 for detention of witnesses. The Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment and the Municipal Assembly, shall in each and every year 
 appropriate a sufficient sum of money to defray the ex- 
 penses authorized by this section. And said Police Board 
 shall apply to and use for such purposes the property and 
 premises which shall come into their possession or under their 
 control by section 275 of this Act, so far as the same may be 
 available, and, in their judgment, suitable therefor. 
 
 Id.; To provide lodgings for vagrants, etc. 
 
 Sec. 322. It shall be the duty of said Police Board and it is 
 hereby empowered to provide for the lodging of vagrants and 
 indigent persons so far as such duty is not by law imposed on 
 some other department of The City of New York. 
 
 Id.; May maintain and operate telegraph and telephone lines, and use same 
 in assisting Department of Health. 
 
 Sec. 323. The Police Board shall have power to erect, 
 operate, supply and maintain, under the general laws of the 
 state relating to telegraphs, all such lines of telegraph and tele- 
 phone to and between such places in the city as for the purposes 
 and business of the police the Board shall deem necessary. The 
 Police Board may procure all instruments, fixtures, property and 
 materials for the purpose above mentioned, and control the 
 same, but the cost thereof shall be chargeable to general 
 expenses of police. The Police Board is hereby permitted 
 to use the said telegraph and telephone lines to aid it in facilitating 
 the operations of the Department of Health, and when so used, 
 the expense thereof shall be charged to the saidj Department of 
 Health. 
 
 156 
 
Id.; May use boats ; establish mounted patrol, sell old property, etc. 
 
 Sec. 324. In the performance of police service in any 
 precinct or precincts, comprising waters of the harbor, the 
 PoHce Board may procure and use and employ such row- 
 boats, steamboats, and boats propelled by other power as 
 shall be deemed necessary and proper. In rural or sparsely 
 inhabited precincts it may estabhsh a mounted patrol and 
 procure and use and employ so many horses and equipments 
 as shall be requisite for the purpose ; and it shall procure and 
 cause to be used teams and vehicles to transport prisoners, sup- 
 plies and property, whenever the use of teams and vehicles for 
 such purposes shall be proper and tend to preserve the public 
 peace and decency. The Police Board may sell and dis- 
 pose of, in accordance with law, any personal property owned or 
 used in the department, whenever such property shall have 
 become old and unfit and shall not be required for service, and it 
 shall have authority to detail and employ patrolmen in any duty 
 or service, other than patrol duty, which may be necessary and 
 proper to enable the department to exercise the powers and per- 
 form the duties and business imposed and required by law. 
 
 Applications for medical attendance. Registered physicians. 
 
 Sec. 325. Upon the application of any person residing 
 within the precinct, it shall be the duty of the captain or other 
 ofificer at the desk to register in a book kept open for that 
 purpose, the name and address of any person desiring or need- 
 ing medical attendance, with the name or address of the person 
 making such application, and without delay to select and notify 
 of such application one from the list of physicians who 
 have registered in said precinct as thereby pledging them- 
 selves to respond to any call for medical attendance, and who 
 have been certified by the registrar of vital statistics of the 
 Department of Health as being in good and regular standing. 
 It shall be the duty of the captain or other officer at the desk, 
 in the absence of any expressed preference by the applicant, 
 to select and notify, from the list of physicians thus registered, 
 the name of the physician residing nearest to the residence of 
 the said patient in whose behalf application is made. 
 
 157 
 
Compensation of registered physician. Certificate, etc. 
 
 Sec. 326. It shall be the duty of the captain, sergeant, or 
 other officer at the desk, in such police precinct as before speci- 
 fied, upon registry of any application as described in the pre- 
 ceding section, immediately to detail an officer whose duty it 
 shall be to call upon such physician without delay, and to con- 
 duct him to the residence of the patient, also to verify by 
 personal inspection or inquiry, the name and address of such 
 patient as registered by his superior officer. Every officer thus 
 detailed as messenger shall be furnished with a blank certificate, 
 upon which the name and address of the physician responding 
 to the call, the name and address of the patient attended, and 
 the date and hour of the visit shall be written by him after he 
 has conducted the physician to the patient's residence and 
 verified the genuineness of the application. Such certificate 
 shall be signed by him and given to the physician, and shall 
 specify upon its face that the physician therein named is entitled 
 to the sum of three dollars from the public funds, upon presenta- 
 tion thereof to the proper officer, and endorsement thereof in 
 writing of the name of the captain of the precinct. But it shall 
 be the duty of the physician making such visit to present such 
 certificate to the patient or his or her agent or attendant, and to 
 request payment of the said sum specified ; and in case of such 
 payment being made, said physician shall surrender such certifi- 
 cate to the person or persons making it, and it shall cease to be 
 a claim upon the public treasury. 
 
 In default of the immediate payment of the said fee specified 
 in the said certificate, by the patient or his or her agent or at- 
 tendant, it shall be the duty of the captain of the police 
 precinct in which the visit was made, to endorse it with his 
 name ; and thus endorsed it shall be the duty of the cashier 
 of the Department of Health to pay at sight the fee afore- 
 said, and to enter the payment in a book provided for 
 that purpose, and take up the certificate. And all certifi- 
 cates thus redeemed shall be valid debts to the amount 
 therein named, against the patients therein named, or their 
 guardians, which the said Department may order collected 
 by due process of law, provided that no prosecution shall be 
 
 158 
 
instituted in cases where it is satisfactorily shown that the 
 patient is without sufficient means for the payment thereof. 
 
 Physician to report to Department of Health. 
 
 Sec. 327. It shall be the duty of every physician thus 
 called to the medical assistance of any person within the police 
 precinct in which he is registered, to transmit to the registrar of 
 the Department of Health, within twenty-four hours after the 
 call shall have been answered, a full and accurate statistical 
 exhibit of the case, specifying therein the age and sex and the 
 employment, profession or business of the patient, the nature of 
 the disease, the hour of the attack, when practicable, the date 
 and the police precinct and ward in which the case occurred ; 
 the same shall be signed with the full name and address of the 
 physician rendering it, but the name and address of the patient 
 shall always be omitted. And it shall be the duty of the Depart- 
 ment of Health to provide all physicians thus registered for 
 night service with appropriate blanks for the said purpose, upon 
 their application therefor. 
 
 Nearest physician to be called. Penalty for refusal to attend. 
 
 Sec. 328. Any policeman who shall be detailed as messen- 
 ger, according to the provisions hereinbefore specified, shall, 
 in the absence of preference expressed in the application, call 
 the physician nearest and most convenient to the patient's 
 residence, or in the absence or refusal from any cause of the 
 latter, the physician next nearest, and so on. And there shall 
 be no delay or waiting for such physician to return ; and any of 
 the force neglecting to comply with this provision shall be 
 subject to trial and fine, or dismissal from service, by the Police 
 Board, in the same manner as for other offenses cognizable 
 by the said body. 
 
 And any physician thus registering who shall twice refuse or 
 neglect, without reasonable excuse, to answer a call made 
 according to the provisions of the three preceding sections, shall 
 be subject to have his name erased from the list, upon proper 
 evidence thereof, submitted to an executive officer, who shall 
 
 169 
 
be appointed by the registrar of vital statistics of the Depart- 
 ment of Health, and shall be under his immediate supervision. 
 
 List of re^stered physicians to be posted. 
 
 Sec. 329. The Captains of the several police precincts shall 
 cause the names and addresses of such physicians as have been 
 duly certified by the registrar of vital statistics to be plainly and 
 legibly written or printed on a bulletin provided for that pur- 
 pose, which bulletin shall be placed at a convenient point near 
 the captain's desk, and kept open to the inspection of all per- 
 sons within the precinct desiring to see the same. They may, 
 if in their judgment it shall be necessary to the public conven- 
 ience, cause the bulletins of physicians herein specified to be 
 posted in the hotels and district telegraph offices within their 
 respective precincts, but any applicant applying at such hotels 
 or telegraph offices, or desiring the services of any messenger 
 other than a member of the police force detailed for that pur- 
 pose, shall employ such messenger at his own expense, and shall 
 be liable for any expenses incurred in communicating with the 
 police precinct. 
 
 Hours of service of registered physicians. 
 
 Sec. 330. The period during which the aforesaid physicians 
 shall be held subject to call shall be between the hours of ten in 
 the evening and seven in the morning, from October first to 
 March thirty-first, inclusive, and between the hours of eleven in 
 the evening and six in the morning, from April first to Septem- 
 ber thirtieth, inclusive. 
 
 Stolen Property. Property Clerk; Employment of and duties. 
 
 Sec. 331. The Police Board shall employ some person as 
 clerk, who shall be designated property clerk, to take charge of 
 all property alleged to be stolen or embezzled, and which may be 
 brought into the police office, and all property taken from the 
 person of a prisoner, and all property or money alleged or sup- 
 posed to have been feloniously obtained, or which shall be lost or 
 abandoned, and which shall be taken into the custody of any 
 member of the police force or criminal court in The City of New 
 /ork, or which shall come into the custody of any magistrate or 
 
 160 
 
officer, shall be, by such member or magistrate, or by order of 
 said court, given into the custody of and kept by the said 
 property clerk. All such property and money shall be described 
 and registered by said property clerk in a book kept for that pur- 
 pose, which shall contain the name of the owner or claimant if 
 ascertained, the place where found, the name of the person from 
 whom taken, with the general circumstances, the date of its re- 
 ceipt, the name of the officer recovering the same, a description 
 thereof, the names of all claimants thereto, and any final dispo- 
 sition of such property or money. 
 
 The said Police Board may prescribe regulations in regard to 
 the duties of the clerk so designated, and require and take security 
 for the faithful performance of the duties imposed by this section, 
 but all animals strayed, lost or stolen, which shall come into the 
 possession of the said property clerk shall by him be transferred 
 and sent to the public pound, in said city, anything herein 
 contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Id.; Return of property to person accused. 
 
 Sec. 332. Whenever property or money taken from 
 any person arrested shall be alleged to have been felon- 
 iously obtained, or to be the proceeds of crime, and brought, with 
 all ascertained claimants thereof, and the person arrested, before 
 some magistrate for adjudication, and the magistrate shall be 
 then and there satisfied from evidence that the person arrested 
 is innocent of the offense alleged, and that the property right- 
 fully belongs to him, then said magistrate may thereupon, in 
 writing, order such property or money to be returned, and the 
 property clerk, if he have it, to deliver such property or money 
 to the accused person himself, and not to any attorney, agent, 
 or clerk of said accused person. 
 
 Id.; Claim to by another person. 
 
 Sec. 833. If any claim to the ownership of such property 
 or money shall be made on oath before the magistrate, by or in 
 behalf of any other persons than the person arrested, and the 
 said accused person shall be held for trial or examination, such 
 
 161 
 
property or money shall remain in the custody of the prop- 
 erty clerk until the discharge or conviction of the person 
 accused and until lawfully disposed of. 
 
 Uncldfimed, lost, stolen, etc. , property, to be registered and advertised. 
 
 Sec. 334. All property or money taken on suspicion of 
 having been feloniously obtained, or of being the proceeds of 
 crime, and for which there is no other claimant than the person 
 from whom such property was taken, and all lost property com- 
 ing into the possession of any member of the said police force, 
 and all property and money taken from pawnbrokers as the 
 proceeds of crime, or by any such member from persons sup- 
 posed to be insane, intoxicated or otherwise incapable of taking 
 care of themselves, shall be transmitted, as soon as practicable, 
 to the property clerk, to be registered and advertised in the 
 City Record for the benefit of all persons interested, and for the 
 information of the public, as to the amount and disposition of 
 the property so taken into custody by the police. 
 
 Id.; To be sold if unclaimed. 
 
 Sec. 335. If the property stolen or embezzled be not 
 claimed by the owner, before the expiration of six months from 
 the conviction of a person for stealing or embezzling it, the 
 officer having it in his custody must, on payment of the neces- 
 sary expenses incurred in its preservation, deliver the same to 
 the property clerk. The property so delivered to said property 
 clerk, and all such other property, securities, moneys, things, or 
 choses in action, that shall remain in the custody of the property 
 clerk for the period of six months without any lawful claimant 
 thereto, after having been advertised in the City Record for the 
 period of ten days, may be sold at public auction in a suitable 
 room to be designated for such purpose, and the proceeds of such 
 sale shall be paid into the police pension fund. No property 
 shall be delivered to the property clerk or at the central office 
 of the Police Department, except as provided by law. 
 
 Stolen property desired as evidence in criminal court. 
 
 Sec. 336. If any property or money placed in the 
 
 162 
 
custody of the property clerk shall be desired as evidence in any 
 police or other criminal court, such property shall be delivered 
 to any officer who shall present an order to that effect from such 
 court. Such property, however, shall not be retained in said 
 court, but shall be returned to such property clerk to be dis- 
 posed of according to the previous provisions of this chapter. 
 
 Police Force. Arrests without warrant. 
 
 Sec. 337. The several members of the police force shall 
 have power and authority to immediately arrest, without war- 
 rant, and to take into custody, any person who shall commit, 
 or threaten, or attempt to commit, in the presence of such mem- 
 ber, or within his view, any breach of the peace or offense 
 directly prohibited by Act of the Legislature, or by any ordi- 
 nance made by lawful authority. The members of the police 
 force shall possess in The City of New York and in every part of 
 this State, all the common law and statutory powers of con- 
 stables, except for the service of civil jprocess, and any warrant 
 for search or arrest, issued by any Magistrate of this State, may 
 be executed, in any part thereof, by any member of the police 
 force, and all the provisions of Sections 7, 8 and 9 of Chapter 2, 
 Title 2, Part 4 of the Revised Statutes, in relation to the giving 
 and taking of bail, shall apply to this chapter. 
 
 Id.; Returns of Arrests. Accused to be taken before Magistrate. 
 
 Sec. 338. In every case of arrest by any member of the 
 police force, the same shall be made known immediately to the 
 superior on duty in the precinct wherein the arrest was made, by 
 the person making the same ; and it shall be the duty of the 
 said superior, within twenty-four hours after such notice, to make 
 written return thereof, according to the rules and regulations of 
 the Police Department, with the name of the party arrested, the 
 alleged offense, the time and place of arrest, and the place of 
 detention. Each member of the police force, under the penalty 
 of ten days' fine, or dismissal from the force, at the discretion 
 of the Police Board shall, immediately upon an arrest, convey 
 in person the offender before the nearest sitting magistrate, 
 that he may be dealt with according to law. If the arrest 
 
 163 
 
is made during the hours that the magistrate does not regularly 
 hold court, or if the magistrate is not holding court, such offender 
 may be detained in a station house, or precinct thereof, until the 
 next regular public sitting of the magistrate, and no longer, and 
 shall then be conveyed without delay before the magistrate, to 
 be dealt with according to law. And it shall bej^the duty of the 
 said Police Board, from time to time, to provide suitable 
 rules and regulations to prevent the undue detention of persons 
 arrested, which rules and regulations shall be as operative and 
 binding as if herein specially enacted, subject, however, to the 
 order of the court committing the person arrested. 
 
 Penalty for personating policeman, atidfor willful neglect of police. 
 
 Sec. 339. It shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by im- 
 prisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year, nor 
 exceeding two years, or by a fine of not less than two hundred 
 and fifty dollars, for any member of the police force to 
 wilfully neglect to make any arrest for an offense against the 
 law of the state, or any ordinance in force in The City of New 
 York, or for any person not a member of the police force to falsely 
 represent himself as being such a member, with a fraudulent de- 
 sign upon persons or property, or upon any day or time to have, 
 use, wear or display, without specific authority from the Police 
 Department, any uniform, shield, buttons, wreaths, numbers or 
 other insignia or emblems in any wise resembling such as are 
 worn by members of the police force; and the said Police 
 Department is hereby authorized and directed, from time to 
 time, to prescribe the uniform, shields, emblems, insignia and 
 weapons to be worn, displayed and used, and to regulate the 
 wearing, display and use thereof, by any and all persons, except- 
 ing marshals and the sheriff, his undersheriff and deputies 
 authorized under the laws of this state, to make arrests for any 
 cause in The City of New York. 
 
 Misdemeanor for persons not members of Police Force to serve criminal 
 process. 
 
 Sec. 340. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person not 
 being a regular member of the police established in any city of 
 
 164 
 
this state, or a member of the police force of The City of New 
 York, or a constable of this state, or a police constable, or 
 assistant police constable, or United States marshal, or other 
 peace officer of this State, or a sheriff, or one of the usual gen- 
 eral deputies of any sheriff of this state, to serve any criminal 
 process within the said city. 
 
 Exetnption from military and jury duty, and civil process. 
 
 Sec. 341. No person holding office under this Department 
 shall be liable to military or jury duty, and no officer or patrol- 
 man while actually on duty shall be liable to arrest on civil pro- 
 cess, or to service of subpoena from civil courts. 
 
 Steam boilers. Inspection of. Not to be operated without certificate. 
 
 Sec. 342. Every owner, agent or lessee of a steam boiler 
 or boilers in use in The City of New York shall annually, and at 
 such convenient times and in such manner and in such form as 
 may, by rules and regulations to be made therefor by the 
 Police Board, be provided, report to the said Department the 
 location of each steam boiler or boilers, and thereupon, and as 
 soon thereafter as practicable, the sanitary company or such 
 member or members thereof as may be competent for the 
 duty herein described, and may be detailed for such duty by the 
 Police Board shall proceed to inspect such steam boilers, and all 
 apparatus and appliances connected therewith ; but no person shall 
 be detailed for such duty except he be a practical engineer, and the 
 strength and security of each boiler shall be tested by atmos- 
 pheric and hydrostatic pressure and the strength and security 
 of each boiler or boilers so tested shall have, under the 
 control of said sanitary company, such attachments, apparatus 
 and appliances as may be necessary for the limitation of pres- 
 sure, locked and secured in like manner as may be from time to 
 time adopted by the United States inspectors of steam boilers 
 or the Secretary of the Treasury, acording to act of Congress, 
 passed July twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; and 
 they shall limit the pressure of steam to be applied to or upon 
 such boiler, certifying each inspection and such limit of pres- 
 sure to the owner of the boiler inspected, and also to the engi- 
 
 165 
 
neer in charge of same, and no greater amount of steam or 
 pressure thanj^that certified in the case of any boiler shall be 
 applied thereto. 
 
 In limiting the amount of pressure, wherever the boiler 
 under test will bear the same, the limit desired by the owner of 
 the boiler shall bej^the] one certified. Every owner, agent or 
 lessee of a steam boiler or boilers in use in The City of New 
 York shall, for the inspection and testing of such or each of 
 such boilers, asjprovided for in this Act, and upon receiving from 
 the Police Department a certificate setting forth the location of 
 the boiler inspected, the date of such inspection, the persons by 
 whom the inspection was made, and the limit of steam pressure 
 which shall be applied to or upon such boiler or each of such 
 boilers, pay annually to the Treasurer of the Police Department 
 for each boiler, for the use of the Police Pension Fund, the sum 
 of two dollars, such certificate to continue in force for one year 
 from the granting thereof when it shall expire, unless sooner re- 
 voked or suspended. 
 
 Such certificate may be renewed upon the payment of a like 
 sum and like conditions, to be applied to a like purpose. It 
 shall not be lawful for any person or persons, corporation or cor- 
 porations, to have used or operated within The City of New 
 York any steam boiler or boilers except for heating purposes and 
 for railway locomotives, without having first had such boiler or 
 boilers inspected or tested and procured for such boiler or each 
 of such boilers so used or operated the certificate herein pro- 
 vided for. 
 
 The Superintendent and Inspectors of Boilers, in the employ 
 of the Police Department, in the City of Brooklyn, and the 
 Boiler Inspectors in Long Island City, shall continue to dis- 
 charge the duties heretofore devolved upon them, subject, how- 
 ever, to removal for cause, or when they are no longer needed. 
 
 Id.; No person to use, or act as engineer for, without certificate. 
 
 Sec. 343. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons 
 to operate or use any steam boiler to generate steam except for 
 railway locomotive engines, and for heating purposes in private 
 dwellings, and boilers carrying not over ten pounds of steam and 
 
 166 
 
not over ten horse-power, or to act as engineer for such purposes 
 n The City of NeM^ York without having a certificate of qualifi- 
 cation therefor from practical engineers detailed as such by the 
 Police Department, such certificate to be countersigned by the 
 officer in command of the sanitary company of the Police De- 
 partment of The City of New York and to continue in force 
 one year, unless sooner revoked or suspended. Such certificate 
 may be revoked or suspended at any time by the Police Board 
 upon the report of any two practical engineers, detailed as 
 provided in this section, stating the grounds upon which such 
 certificate should be revoked or suspended. Where such certifi- 
 cate shall have been revoked, as provided in this section, a like 
 certificate shall not in any case be issued to the same person 
 within six months from the date of the revocation of the former 
 certificate held by such person. 
 
 Id.; Record of inspections to be kept. 
 
 Sec. 344. A correct record in proper form shall be kept 
 and preserved of all inspections of steam boilers made under 
 the direction of the Police Board, and of the amount of 
 steam or pressure allowed in each case, and in cases where any 
 steam boiler or the^apparatus or appliances connected therewith 
 shall be deemed bySthe department, after inspection, to be inse- 
 cure or dangerous, the department may prescribe such changes 
 and alterations as may render such boilers, apparatus and appli- 
 ances secure and devoid of danger. And in the mean time, 
 and until such changes and alterations are made and such appli- 
 ances attached, such], boiler, apparatus and appliances may be 
 taken under the control of the Police Department and all per- 
 sons prevented from using'the same, and in cases deemed neces- 
 sary, the appliances, '^apparatus or attachment for the limitation 
 of pressure may be taken under the control of the said Police 
 Department. 
 
 Id.; Over-pressure forbidden. Owner neglecting to report boiler. 
 
 Sec. 345. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to 
 apply or cause to be applied to any steam boiler a higher pres- 
 sure of steam than that limited for the same in accordance with 
 
 167 
 
the provisions of this chapter and any person violating the pro- 
 visions of the last preceding section shall be guilty of a misde- 
 meanor. In case any owner of any steam boiler in the said city 
 shall fail or omit to have the same reported for inspection, as 
 provided by law, such boiler may be taken under the control of 
 the Police Department and all persons prevented from using the 
 same until it can be satisfactorily tested, as hereinbefore provided 
 for, and the owner shall, in such case, be charged with the 
 expense of so testing it. 
 
 Police Board. Licenses for public exhibitions. 
 
 Sec. 346. The Police Board is authorized to grant licenses 
 for public exhibitions, in the manner and on the conditions pro- 
 vided in Title 2 of Chapter XXII of this Act. 
 
 Id.; Licenses to emigrant boarding-houses. Bond. 
 
 Sec. 347. The Police Board is authorized to grant licenses 
 to persons keeping houses for the purpose of boarding emigrant 
 passengers. But before granting any such license, said board 
 shall require from such person or persons a bond satisfactory to 
 it, with one or more sureties in the penal sum of five thousand 
 dollars, conditioned for the good behavior of such person or 
 persons, and the proper conduct of all agents and runners in his 
 or their employ. The Police Board may revoke any license for 
 cause. The person or persons receiving such license shall pay 
 the sum of ten dollars a year for each license. 
 
 Id.; Licenses to bookers of emigrant passengers. 
 
 Sec. 348. The Police Board is authorized to grant licenses 
 to persons exercising the vocation of booking emigrant passen- 
 gers, or taking money for their inland fare, or for the trans- 
 portation of their baggage. The persons receiving such licenses 
 shall pay the sum of twenty-five dollars a year for each license. 
 
 Id.; Licenses to runners. Bonds. 
 
 Sec. 349. The Police Board may issue licenses authorizing 
 the person or persons to whom the same are issued, upon any 
 
 168 
 
street, public highway, dock or pier, or in any park or square, in 
 The City of New York, or upon any water adjacent thereto, over 
 which said City has jurisdiction, to solicit patronage for any 
 hotel, or inn, or passengers or patronage for any steamer, steam- 
 boat, ship, vessel or railroad, or for any person or corporation 
 selling or offering for sale passage tickets, or contracting or 
 offering to contract for passage in any such steamer, steamboat, 
 ship, vessel or railroad. Such license shall be for the period of 
 one year from the date thereof, and every person receiving such 
 a license shall pay the sum of twenty dollars therefor to the 
 Police Board, and shall also give to said Board a bond, with two 
 good and sufficient sureties in the penalty of three hundred 
 dollars, conditioned for his good behavior, and the faithful 
 observance by him of the provisions of this section. It 
 shall be lawful for said Board, upon an application made 
 prior to the expiration of said license to renew and continue the 
 same from year to year, provided that the applicant therefor 
 continues in all respects qualified, as herein provided, to hold 
 such license, and the said applicant shall, upon receiving such 
 renewal, pay into the City Treasury the further sum of twelve 
 dollars and fifty cents per annum as a renewal fee. Licenses 
 and renewals may be revoked at any time by the said Board for 
 any cause satisfactory to it, such cause to be stated in writing 
 to the person so removed at the time of the notice of his 
 removal. No person shall receive any license under the pro- 
 visions of this section who is not a citizen of the United States 
 and a person of good general character; such fact to be proved 
 to the satisfaction of the Police Board. Said Board shall render 
 to the Comptroller of said City quarterly accounts of all moneys 
 received by it under the provisions of this section, and the 
 amount so received shall be paid over by said Board into the 
 City Treasury. 
 
 Id.; Special Patrolman for District Telegraph companies. 
 
 Sec. 350. The Police Board is hereby authorized, in 
 addition to the police force now authorized by law, to appoint a 
 number of persons, not exceeding two hundred, who may be 
 designated by any company which may be operating a system of 
 
 169 
 
signalling by telegraph to a central office for police assistance, 
 to act as special patrolmen in connection with such telegraphic 
 system. And the persons so appointed shall, in and about such 
 service, have all the powers possessed by the members of the 
 regular force, except as this may be limited by the regu- 
 lations of the Police Board, and they shall be subject to the 
 supervision and control of the Police Department. No person 
 shall be appointed as such special patrolman who does not pos- 
 sess the qualifications which may be required by the Police 
 Board for such special service ; and the persons so appointed 
 shall be subject, in case of emergency, to do duty as a part of 
 the regular police force. The Police Board shall have 
 power to revoke any such appointment or appointments at any 
 time, and every person so appointed shall wear a badge and uni- 
 form, to be furnished by such company, and approved by the 
 Police Department. Such uniform shall be designated at the 
 time of the first appointment under this section, and shall be the 
 permanent uniform to be worn by said special police. The pay 
 of such special patrolmen and all expenses connected with their 
 service shall be wholly paid by such company or companies, and 
 no expense or liability shall at any time be incurred or paid by 
 the Police Department for, or by reason of, the services of the 
 persons so as aforesaid appointed. 
 
 Police Pension Fund. Police Board trustees of. Powers over. 
 
 Sec. 351. The Police Board shall be the Trustees of the Police 
 Petision Fund hereinafter mentioned. The Treasurer of said 
 Board shall be treasurer of the pension fund. He shall, before 
 entering upon his duties as treasurer thereof, execute and deliver 
 to said Board, a bond in the penal sum of one hundred thousand 
 dollars, to be approved by the Comptroller of the City of New 
 York, and conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties, and 
 that he shall pay over and account for all moneys and property 
 which shall come to his hands as such treasurer. Such trustees 
 shall have charge of and administer said funds, and from time to 
 time invest the same, or any part thereof, as they shall deem most 
 beneficial to said fund, and they are empowered to make all neces- 
 sary contracts and take all necessary and proper actions and pro- 
 
 170 
 
ceedings in the premises, and to make payments from such fund of 
 pensions granted in pursuance of this Act, and also pensions now 
 charged on said fund or any part thereof by or under existing 
 laws, and said trustees shall be the legal successors of the trustee 
 or trustees of the police life insurance fund, and of any police 
 pension fund heretofore existing within The City of New York 
 as constituted by this Act, including the pension fund of the 
 Park Police of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The 
 City of New York, and the pension fund of the Park Police of 
 the City of Brooklyn. 
 
 The said trustees may, and they are authorized and empowered, 
 from time to time to establish such rules and regulations for the 
 disposition, investment, preservation and administration of the 
 police pension fund as they may deem best. They shall report in 
 detail to the Municipal Assembly of the City of New York, 
 annually, in the month of January, the condition of the police 
 pension fund and the items of receipts and disbursements on 
 account of the same. No payments whatever shall be allowed 
 or made by said trustees from said fund as reward, gratuity or 
 compensation to any person for salary or services rendered, to 
 or for said trustees, except payment of legal expenses. 
 
 Id. ; Funds to be paid trustees. Exemption from execution and process. 
 False swearing in pension claims. 
 
 Sec. 352. The said police pension funds existing in said City 
 of New York as constituted by this Act, or in any part thereof 
 when this Act takes effect, and all moneys, bonds, investments, 
 securities, revenues and incomes thereof, or belonging thereto, 
 in whose hands soever or wherever the same may be, shall be 
 paid over and delivered on demand to the said trustees of the 
 Pension Fund as constituted by this Act. The moneys, secur- 
 ities and effects of the police pension fund, and all pensions 
 granted and payable from said fund shall be and are exempt 
 from execution and from all process and proceedings to enjoin 
 and recover the same by or on behalf of any creditor or person 
 having or asserting any claims against, or debt or liability of, 
 any pensioner of said fund. Every person who knowingly or 
 wilfully in any wise procures the making or presentation of any 
 
 171 
 
false or fraudulent affidavit or affirmation concerning any claim 
 for pension or payment thereof shall in every such case forfeit 
 a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, to be sued 
 for and recovered by and in the name of the said Trustees, 
 and, when recovered, to be paid over to and thereupon 
 become a part of the said police pension fund. Any person 
 who shall wilfully swear falsely in any oath or affirmation in 
 obtaining or procuring any pension or payment thereof, under 
 the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of perjury. 
 
 Td. : Of what it consists. 
 
 Sec. 353. The said police pension fund shall consist of: 
 
 1. The capital, interest, income, dividends, cash, 
 deposits, securities and credits formerly belonging to the 
 police life insurance fund, and any police pension fund, 
 existing as aforesaid with the addition thereto, from 
 time to time, of 
 
 2. All forfeitures imposed by the Police Depart- 
 ment from time to time, upon or against any member 
 or members of the police force ; and of 
 
 3. All rewards, fees, gifts, testimonials and emolu- 
 ments that may be presented, paid or given to any mem- 
 ber of the police force on account of police services, 
 except such as have been or shall be allowed by the 
 Police Department to be retained by the said members, 
 and also all gifts or bequests which may be made to the 
 said pension fund, or to the said Police Board as 
 trustees thereof. 
 
 4. All lost, abandoned, unclaimed, or stolen money 
 remaining in the possession of the property clerk of the 
 police department for the space of one year, and for 
 which there shall be no lawful claimant, and all moneys 
 arising from the sale by said property clerk of unclaimed, 
 abandoned, lost or stolen property, and all moneys 
 realized, derived or received from the sale of any con- 
 demned, unfit or unserviceable property belonging to or 
 
 172 
 
in the possession or under the control of the Police 
 Department ; and of 
 
 5. All moneys, pay, compensation or salary, or any 
 part thereof, forfeited, deducted or withheld from any 
 member or members of the police force on account of 
 absence for any cause, lost time, sickness or other disabil- 
 ity, physical or mental, to be paid monthly by the Trea- 
 surer of the Police Board to the Police Pension Fund. 
 
 6. All moneys derived or received from any licenses 
 or certificates granted or given under section 340 of 
 this Act. 
 
 7. Any sum out of or share of excise moneys de- 
 rived from the granting of licenses or permission to sell 
 strong or spirituous liquors, ale, wine or beer, or out of 
 or of any moneys paid for taxes upon the business of 
 trafificking in or selling or dealing in strong or spirituous 
 liquors, ale, wine or beer, which by law was, at the time 
 of the taking effect of this Act, applicable to or appro- 
 priated to any police pension fund then existing within 
 the limits of the said City of New York, and such sum or 
 share shall be paid in equal quarterly instalments by the 
 Comptroller of the City of New York, or other person or 
 officer having the legal custody thereof, to the Treasurer 
 of the Police Pension Fund without any action or au- 
 thority of or from any other official body or officer. 
 
 8. All moneys received or derived from the grant- 
 ing or issuing of permits to carry pistols in said city, and no 
 permit shall be granted or issued to any person except 
 upon the payment of two dollars and fifty cents in 
 advance to the Chief of Police, nor shall any such per- 
 mit continue in force for more than one year, when 
 another may be issued from year to year, upon the 
 payment of a like sum. The Chief of Police is author- 
 ized to grant and issue permits for such purpose in 
 proper cases, upon the payment of the ^ sum aforesaid, 
 and all such moneys shall be paid over to the treas- 
 urer of the police pension fund. 
 
 173 
 
9. All moneys derived or received from the granting 
 or issuing the permits, or the giving of permission to 
 give masked balls, entertainments or parties, or either of 
 them, in The City of New York, No masquerade or 
 fancy-dress ball, or other entertainment, shall be held, 
 given or permitted in The City of New York, except upon 
 condition that a license fee therefor of not less than five 
 dollars nor more than one hundred dollars shall first be 
 paid to the Police Department who are authorized to 
 demand and receive the same for the benefit of the police 
 pension fund. 
 
 10. A sum of money equal to but not greater 
 than two per centum of the monthly pay, salary or 
 compensation of each member of the police force, which 
 sum shall be deducted monthly by the Treasurer of the 
 Police Board from the pay, salary, or compensation of 
 each and every member of the police force and the said 
 Treasurer of said Board is hereby authorized, empow- 
 ered and directed to deduct the said sum of money as 
 aforesaid and forthwith to pay the same to the treasurer 
 of the trustees of the police pension fund. 
 
 11. Any and all other moneys and funds which, but 
 for the passage of this Act, would have been part of or 
 applicable to any police pension fund at the time this Act 
 takes effect or thereafter within the limits of The City of 
 New York as constituted by this Act. 
 
 12. And any and all unexpended balances of appro- 
 priation or amounts estimated, levied, raised or ap- 
 propriated for the payment of salaries or compensation 
 of members of the police force within said City of New 
 York remaining unexpended or unapplied after allowing 
 all claims payable therefrom. And the Police Board 
 may, and it is hereby authorized to pay over to the 
 police pension fund such unexpended balances or any 
 part thereof, at any time after the expiration of the year 
 for which the same were made and appropriated, and 
 
 174 
 
after allowing sufficient to satisfy all claims payable 
 therefrom as aforesaid. 
 
 13. In case the amount derived from the different 
 sources mentioned and included in this section shall not 
 be sufficient at any time to enable the police department 
 to pay in full the pensions which have been or which may 
 hereafter be granted, it shall be the duty of the Police 
 Department each year at the time of making up the de- 
 partmental estimate, to prepare a full and detailed state- 
 ment of the assets of said police pension fund and the 
 amount which is required to pay in full all such pensions 
 and to present the same to the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment together with a statement of the amount 
 of money required to enable the said board to pay the 
 said pensions in full. It shall be the duty of said Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal As- 
 sembly to make an appropriation sufficient to provide for 
 such deficiency and the amount so appropriated shall be 
 included in the tax levy, and the Comptroller shall pay 
 over the money to the Treasurer of the Police pension 
 fund. 
 
 14. And the said Police Board, as Trustees of the 
 Police Pension Fund, is hereby authorized and empow- 
 ered to take and hold, as trustees of such fund, any and 
 all gifts or bequests which may be made to such fund. 
 
 Id.; Pensions classified. 
 
 Sec. 354. The Police Board shall have power, in its 
 discretion, to retire and dismiss from membership in the said 
 police force, and thereupon to grant pensions to, as hereinafter 
 provided, any member of the police force of said city who shall 
 have become disabled, physically or mentally, or superannuated 
 by age so as to be unfit for police duty, and to widows and or- 
 phans of such members to be paid from the police pension fund 
 to the trustees thereof, as follows : 
 
 1. To the widow of any member of any police force 
 within the limits of said city, who shall have been killed 
 
 176 
 
while in the actual performance of duty, or shall have 
 died from the effects of any injury received whilst in the 
 actual discharge of such duty, or who has died, or who 
 shall hereafter die after ten years of service in any police 
 force within the limits of The City of New York, or who 
 shall have been retired upon a pension, if there be no child 
 or children under eighteen years of age of any such mem- 
 ber, the sum of not exceeding three hundred dollars per 
 annum ; but if there be any such child or children of such 
 member under the age aforesaid, then the said sum may 
 be divided between such widow, child or children in such 
 proportions and in such manner as the said trustee may 
 direct ; provided, however, that the foregoing provision 
 shall not be applicable to the widow, child or children of 
 any member of any police force within the limits of said 
 City who shall have been killed or died prior to the taking 
 effect of this Act, unless such widow, child or children 
 would have been entitled to a pension under the laws in 
 force at that time ; and provided further that in no event 
 shall such widow, child or children receive a greater pen- 
 sion than she, it or they would have been entitled to 
 under the laws in force immediately prior to the taking 
 effect of this Act. 
 
 2. Subject to the like limitations, to any child or 
 children under eighteen years of age of such member 
 killed or dying as aforesaid, or pensioner as aforesaid, 
 but leaving no widow, or, if a widow, then after her death 
 to such child or children being yet under eighteen years of 
 age, a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars per annum. 
 
 3. Subject to the likel imitations, to any such mem- 
 ber of any such police force who, whilst in the actual per- 
 formance of duty and by reason of the performance of 
 such duty, and without fault or misconduct on his part, 
 shall have become permanently disabled, physically or 
 mentally so as to be unfitted to perform full police duty, 
 a sum not to exceed one-half nor less than one-fourth of 
 his rate of compensation per annum. 
 
 176 
 
4. To any such member of the said police force who 
 shall, after ten years,and less than twenty-five years' mem- 
 bership in any such police force, become superannuated 
 by age, permanently insane or mentally incapacitated, 
 or disabled physically or mentally so as to be unfitted or 
 unable to perform full police duty by reason of such 
 disability or disease contracted without misconduct on 
 his part, a sum not to exceed one-half nor less than 
 one-fourth of his rate of compensation per annum. 
 
 Id.; When meinbers of force entitled to pension. Amount 
 and duration. 
 Sec. 355. Any member of the police force being of the age of 
 fifty-five years who has or shall have performed duty on any such 
 police force as aforesaid for a period of twenty years or upwards, 
 upon his own application in writing may, or upon a certificate 
 of so many of the police surgeons as the Police Board may 
 require showing that a member of whatever age who has 
 served twenty years is permanently disabled, physically or 
 mentally, so as to be unfit for duty, shall, by order of the 
 Police Board, be relieved and dismissed from said force and ser- 
 vice and placed on the roll of the police pension fund, and 
 awarded and granted to be paid from said pension fund an annual 
 pension during his lifetime of a sum not less than one-half of 
 the full salary or compensation of such member so retired ; and 
 any member of the police force who has, or shall have performed 
 duty on any such force aforesaid, for a period of twenty-five 
 years or upwards, being of the age of fifty-five years, or any 
 member of any such police force who is an honorably discharged 
 soldier or sailor from the army and navy of the United States in 
 the late civil war, who shall have reached the age of sixty years, or 
 any such soldier or sailor who has performed duty on any such force 
 for a period of twenty years, upon his own application in writing, 
 provided there are no charges against him pending, must be re- 
 lieved and dismissed from said force and service by the Depart- 
 ment and placed on the roll of the police pension fund and 
 awarded and granted, to be paid from said pension fund, an an- 
 nual pension during his lifetime of the sum of not less than one- 
 
 177 
 
half of the full salary or compensation of such member so retired ; 
 and the said Department may in like manner relieve and dismiss 
 from the service and place on the roll of the police pension fund, 
 and grant and award a pension to any member of said force other 
 than an honorably discharged soldier or sailor of the Mexican or 
 late civil war who shall have reached the age of sixty years. The 
 said Police Department shall award and grant pensions to the 
 chief of police of three thousand dollars ; to each deputy chief of 
 police, twenty-five hundred dollars ; to each inspector, seventeen 
 hundred and fifty dollars ; to each captain of the police, thirteen 
 hundred and seventy-five dollars, and to each sergeant and de- 
 tective sergeant of police hereafter relieved and dismissed from 
 said force and service and placed on the roll of the pension fund, 
 as hereinbefore provided, the sum of one thousand dollars per 
 annum hereafter. 
 
 Pensions granted under this section shall be for the natural 
 life of the pensioner, and shall not be revoked, repealed or dimin- 
 ished. In case any member shall have voluntarily left any such 
 police force, and entered into the United States service, and 
 served in the war of the rebellion, in the army or navy, and re- 
 ceived an honorable discharge, and afterwards shall have been 
 reinstated or reappointed in the police force, the time of his ser- 
 vice in the army or navy shall be considered as continuous ser- 
 vice in the police force. 
 
 Pensions may, in the discretion of the said Police Department 
 be continued and paid to the widows and children, or, if no 
 widow, to the child or children while under the age of eighteen 
 years of any member of the police force to whom pensions shall 
 have been granted, provided, however, that such pension to such 
 widows or children, as the case may be, shall, in no instance, 
 exceed six hundred dollars per annum, and the same may, in the 
 discretion of the said Board, be, from time to time, and at any 
 time diminished, modified or revoked ; provided however, that 
 no member of either of the police forces by this Act con- 
 solidated, having a right to retire upon a pension at the time 
 this Act takes effect, shall be deprived of such right by reason of 
 his remaining upon the police force, or of anything in this Act 
 contained. 
 
 178 
 
In determining the terms of service of any member of the 
 police force, service in the municipal and metropolitan force, and 
 subsequently in the police force of the City of New York, as 
 heretofore constituted, or in any police force within the limits 
 of The City of New York as hereby constituted, and thereafter 
 in the police force created by this Act, shall be counted 
 and held to be service in the police force of The City of New 
 York for all the purposes of this chapter. 
 
 Id.; When certain pensions terminate. Equalizing existing pensions. 
 
 Sec. 356. Pensions to widows shall terminate when the 
 widow shall re-marry, and pensions to children shall terminate 
 whenever the children shall respectively marry or arrive at the age 
 of eighteen years. The Police Board may, in its discre- 
 tion, order any pension granted, or any part thereof, to cease, or 
 be diminished, except those pensions as to which it is otherwise 
 provided in this Act, and as therein provided ; but in all such 
 cases the said Police Board shall file with the trustees of the 
 police pension fund a written statement of the causes which 
 determined the Police Board in ordering any- pension so to 
 cease or be diminished ; and nothing herein, or in any other 
 act contained, shall render the granting of any pension obliga- 
 tory on the Police Board or chargeable as a matter of right upon 
 said police pension fund, except as herein provided. All exist- 
 ing pensions lawfully granted, payable out of the police life 
 insurance fund, or any police pension fund of which the Police 
 Board are made Trustees by this chapter, and not lawfully 
 revoked, are continued and shall be paid out of the police pen- 
 sion fund in pursuance of the limitations and provisions of this 
 Chapter. 
 
 Id.; Certificate of disability. Department may make rules. 
 
 Sec. 357. No member of the police force shall be granted, 
 awarded, or paid a pension on account of physical or mental 
 disability or disease, unless a certificate of so many of the police 
 surgeons as the Police Board may require, which shall set forth 
 the cause, nature and extent of the disability, disease or injury 
 of such member, shall be filed in the Department. And no 
 
 179 
 
member shall be retired upon pension or be pensioned, nor shall 
 any pension be awarded, granted or paid except as provided in 
 this Chapter, any other law to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 The said Police Department is authorized and empowered to 
 make and adopt all such rules, orders and regulations as are or 
 may be necessary to carry out and enforce the provisions of this 
 Act as to pensions. 
 
 £ lections ; Powers transferred to Police Board. Board and offices 
 abolished. 
 
 Sec. 358. All the rights, powers, authority, duties and 
 obligations immediately heretofore by law vested in or imposed 
 upon the Board of Elections of the City of Brooklyn, or upon the 
 Commissioners or either of them comprising such Board, or upon 
 the Police Commissioners of the Mayor, Aldermen and Common- 
 alty of the City of New York, with respect to elections, shall 
 forthwith by force of and as an effect of this Chapter be trans- 
 ferred to and continue in and upon the Police Board created by 
 this Act, except in so far as the same shall be contrary to or in- 
 consistent with the provisions of the election law and of this 
 Chapter. The Board of Elections of the City of Brooklyn and 
 the tenure or term of office of the Commissioners comprising 
 such Board and each of them are hereby abolished. 
 
 General Bureau of Elections. Control of. Branches. 
 
 Sec. 359. There shall be in the Police Department created by 
 this Chapter a Bureau to be known and designated as the General 
 Bureau of Elections of The City of New York, which shall be 
 located at Police Headquarters in the Borough of Manhattan. 
 Branches of said General Bureau shall be established as follows : 
 one in the Borough of The Bronx; one in the Borough of 
 Brooklyn ; one in the Borough of Richmond ; and one in the 
 Borough of Queens. Said Police Board shall have cognizance 
 and control of said General Bureau of Elections, and of the 
 branches thereof, and of the officers, employees, affairs and 
 administration of said General Bureau and its branches. 
 
 Id.; Management. Superintendent. 
 
 Sec. 360. The affairs of said General Bureau of Elections 
 
 180 
 
and of said branches thereof under and subject to such rules, 
 regulations and orders as may, from time to time, be made 
 by said Police Board, not inconsistent with the provisions of the 
 election law or of this Chapter, shall be managed, conducted 
 and carried on by a person chosen and appointed by said Police 
 Board who shall be known as the Superintendent of Elections of 
 The City of New York ; and such other officers, clerks, assistants 
 and employees as may be selected or appointed as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 Id.; Appointment of Chiefs of Branches and assistants. Salaries of 
 assistants. Detailing members of Police Force. 
 
 Sec. 361. Said Police Board shall also provide and 
 appoint for each of the said branch bureaus a chief of such 
 branch bureau and such clerks, or other assistants, and furnish 
 such accommodations and supplies for the conduct and admin- 
 istration of said General Bureau and its branches, and their du- 
 ties and affairs as may be reasonably necessary, and shall fix 
 the grade, rank, duties and salaries of such clerks and other 
 assistants. Said Police Board shall pay said salaries in equal 
 monthly instalments. Said Police Board shall detail to said 
 General Bureau and its branches such patrolmen and other mem- 
 bers of the Police force as may be necessary from time to time 
 for the faithful performance by said General Bureau and its 
 branches of their functions and duties. 
 
 Id.; Officers terms and salaries. Removals. 
 
 Sec. 362. The said Superintendent of Elections shall hold 
 his office for five years, and shall receive a salary of six thousand 
 dollars a year. The chiefs of the branch bureaus of elections 
 of the Boroughs of Kings, Richmond, The Bronx and Queens 
 shall receive such salaries respectively as shall be fixed by the Po- 
 lice Board, not to exceed the sum of four thousand dollars a year 
 for the Chief of the Branch Bureau of Elections in the Borough of 
 Brooklyn, fifteen hundred dollars a year in the Borough of The 
 Bronx, and fifteen hundred dollars a year in each of the 
 Boroughs of Richmond and Queens. Such salaries shall be paid 
 
 181 
 
by the Police Board in equal monthly instalments. Said Super- 
 intendent of elections and chiefs of branch bureaus shall each be 
 removable at any time by the Police Board for cause. 
 
 Id.; Employees continued in service. 
 
 Sec. 363. Until said Police Board shall otherwise provide, 
 the clerks, assistant clerks, and other employees attached to or 
 in the service of the Board of Elections of the City of Brook- 
 lyn when this chapter takes effect shall continue in the service 
 and employment of the said General Bureau of Elections or 
 said branches thereof, and they shall have the same salaries and 
 perform the same duties as heretofore. But said Police Board 
 shall have the power to fix the salaries, duties, and rank of such 
 clerks, assistant clerks, and other employees. 
 
 Idii Appropriation for expenses of. 
 
 " Sec. 364. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 and the Municipal Assembly shall annually include in its 
 final estimate and in its appropriations for the Police 
 Department each year, such sums as may be necessary 
 to pay the expenses of said General Bureau of Elections and 
 branches thereof, including salaries and compensations of the 
 said superintendent of elections, and the chiefs of the branch 
 bureaus thereof, and of all other clerks and assistants therein. 
 The sums so included in the said estimate shall also be included 
 in the yearly tax levy upon the estates, real and personal, in the 
 said city of New York. 
 
 Id.; Superintendent the chief executive officer. Annual report. 
 
 Sec. 365. The superintendent of elections shall be the chief 
 executive ofificer of the General Bureau of Elections and be charge- 
 able with and responsible for the execution of the provisions of 
 the election law and the rules and regulations of the Police Board 
 relating to said General Bureau or any of its branches. He shall 
 render to the Police Board in each year a statement of the opera- 
 tions and expenses of the General Bureau of Elections and the 
 branches thereof, together with an estimate of the expenses 
 
 \ 182 
 
thereof for the ensuing year, and such recommendations in ref- 
 erence to the election law and the rules and regulations of the 
 Police Board relating to the election bureau and as to elections 
 as to him may seem advisable. 
 
 Id.; Chiefs of branches. Duties. Location of offices. 
 
 Sec. 366. The chief of a branch bureau of elections shall per- 
 form such duties as now are or which may hereafter be prescribed 
 by the election law, and the rules and regulations of the Police 
 Board. He shall be subject to the orders and directions of the 
 superintendent of elections under the rules and regulations of 
 the said board, and his ofifice shall be located at the Police Head- 
 quarters in the Borough in which he is appointed to serve. 
 
 Id.; Election expenses a charge against the city. 
 
 Sec. 367. The legal compensation of all inspectors of elec- 
 tion, poll clerks and ballot clerks, the expenses of registration and 
 revision of registration required by law, and of the compilation 
 and publication of the registry of electors, of all necessary notices^ 
 posters, maps, advertisements, registers, books, blanks and station- 
 ary, rent and cost of fitting up, warming, lighting, cleaning and 
 safe keeping of all places of registration, revision of registration 
 and polling places, and of all supplies of every kind and nature 
 for and all other necessary expenses of all elections in The City 
 of New York as constituted by this Act, or any territory 
 included therein shall be a charge against The City of 
 New York, and shall, upon proper certificates and vouchers, 
 be paid in the same manner as by law is provided for 
 the payment of the other expenses of and charges against the 
 said city. And the sums necessary for the purposes and pay- 
 ment specified in this section shall, by the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly, fee included 
 in the annual budget each year, and such sums shall also be 
 included in the yearly tax levy upon the estates, real and per- 
 sonal, in The City of New York. 
 
 Id.; Existing records and property transferred to, custody of. 
 
 Sec. 368. All books documents, papers, records, and elec- 
 tion appliances or appurtenances held or used by or under the 
 
 183 I 
 
control of the Board of Elections of the City of Brooklyn, or the 
 Board of Police Commissioners of The City of New York, or the 
 Bureau of Elections in said city, or other officers having cogni- 
 zance of the conduct of elections in The City of New York as 
 constituted by this Act shall be transferred to the care, custody 
 and control of the General Bureau of Elections created by this 
 chapter, but shall be in such care, custody and control, subject to 
 the orders of the Police Board. 
 
 Id.; Superintendent to destroy registers of electors, etc. 
 
 Sec. 369. The Superintendent of the General Bureau of 
 Elections under the direction of the Police Board in The City 
 of New York is hereby authorized and directed not less than two 
 years after each election, to sell or destroy all registers of electors, 
 statements of canvass and tally sheets ; provided that two copies 
 of the register of electors for each election district to be selected 
 by the Superintendent of the General Bureau of Elections, shall 
 be excepted and preserved from such sale or destruction. 
 
 ^.; Application of preceding section. 
 
 Sec. 370. The provisions of section 367 of this Act shall 
 apply to and include the material and records of former elections 
 which may at any time be in the custody of said General Bureau 
 of Elections or branches thereof, but shall not at any time apply 
 to nor include any material or records of any election as to which 
 any proceeding may at any time be pending in any court, and 
 such material or records shall remain on file and be preserved. 
 
 Disposition of proceeds of sales. 
 
 Sec. 371. All moneys realized by sales under this Chapter 
 shall be ^paid over to the Chamberlain of The City of New 
 York, toithe credit of the General Fund of said city. 
 
 184 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BOROUGH OFFICERS, LOCAL BOARDS AND LOCAL 
 IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Title 1. Borough Officers. 
 
 2. Local Boards. 
 
 3. Local Improvements. 
 
 Title 1. 
 
 BOROUGH officers. 
 
 President: qualifications, term, election, salary. 
 
 Section 382. There shall be a President of each Borough, 
 who must be a resident thereof at the time of his election 
 and remain a resident thereof throughout his term of office. 
 The President and his successors shall be elected by the electors 
 of the Borough at all the elections whereat the Mayors of The 
 City of New York are respectively to be elected. The President 
 shall hold his office for a term of four years commencing at noon 
 on the first day of January next after his election. The salary of 
 the Presidents of the Boroughs of Manhattan, of The Bronx and of 
 Brooklyn, respectively, shall be five thousand dollars a year, and 
 the salary of the Presidents of the Boroughs of Queens and of 
 Richmond, respectively, shall be three thousand dollars a year. 
 A President of a Borough may be removed by the Mayor on 
 charges, subject to the approval of the Governor of the State of 
 New York. Any vacancy in the office of President caused by re- 
 moval from the Borough, or otherwise, shall be filled for the unex- 
 pired term by an election to such vacancy made by a majority vote 
 of all of the members of the Municipal Assembly then in office rep- 
 
 185 
 
^esenting said Borough, and in case of any such vacancy it shall be 
 the duty of the Mayor forthwith to call such members in session 
 for such an election and to preside thereat ; but he shall not vote 
 unless his vote be necessary to decide the election. In case of 
 the disability of any President of the Borough caused by pro- 
 tracted illness there shall be elected in the same manner as for 
 a vacancy, a President of the Borough pro tempore, who shall act 
 until the President is able to perforra the duties of his office. 
 
 President: Powers and duties. 
 
 Sec. 383. A President of a Borough shall, by virtue 
 of his office, be a member of the Local Board of every Dis- 
 trict of Local Improvements in his Borough, and Chair- 
 man thereof, entitled to preside at its meetings and to vote 
 as any other member, but he shall not have the power of veto. 
 He shall have an office in such hall or public building of the 
 Borough as the Municipal Assembly may by resolution direct. 
 He shall have power to appoint a Secretary and other assist- 
 ants and clerks, if provision be made therefor by the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly, and, 
 within the proper appropriation, to fix their salaries. The said 
 Secretary, assistants and clerks shall hold office at the pleasure 
 of the President. 
 
 President to call meetings of Local Board. 
 
 Sec. 384. A President of the Borough shall call all meetings 
 of the various Local Boards of the Borough, and shall give such 
 notice thereof to the members as the ordinances of the Municipal 
 Assembly may require. And he shall certify all resolutions, 
 proceedings and determinations of the Local Boards of the 
 Districts of Local Improvements in his Borough. 
 
 Halls or buildings to be located in each Borough. 
 
 Sec. 885. There may be when prescribed by this Act a Hall 
 or Public Building or Buildings in each Borough, at which may 
 be stationed deputies of such of the various administrative de- 
 partments of the City Government, as may be authorized by the 
 Board of Public Improvements, for the greater convenience of 
 
 186 
 
the people of the City in the discharge of the duties thereof, 
 provided such deputies or divisions shall be in all things as 
 much a part of each department respectively, and as fully under 
 the head thereof, as if the administrative force of said depart- 
 ment were seated wholly in one building. 
 
 Title 2. 
 local boards. 
 
 Districts of Local Improvements. 
 
 Sec. 390. For the purposes of local improvements the terri- 
 tory of The City of New York is hereby divided into certain Dis- 
 tricts of Local Improvements. The districts so constituted shall 
 be named or numbered or otherwise distinguished by the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly. As first constituted by this Act there shall be 
 twenty-two Districts of Local Improvements which shall together 
 comprise all of the territory by^this Act consolidated into The City 
 of New York. The territory in each of the Senatorial Districts of 
 the State of New York, situated in whole or in part within the limits 
 of The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, as such Dis- 
 tricts are divided by the Constitution of the State of New York in 
 force January the first, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and to the 
 extent that they are within the limits of said city, and as therein 
 bounded and described, shall constitute a separate District of 
 local improvements, that shall be bounded and described in the 
 same terms as is the same territory when contained in a Senatorial 
 District, as aforesaid. The Municipal Assembly shall, whenever 
 necessary, supplement and complete the description of the 
 boundaries of any District. 
 
 The Local Board how constituted, jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 391. There shall be in each and every district of local 
 improvements a Board of Local Improvements to be known and 
 described as " The Local Board," to be entrusted with the powers 
 
 187 
 
by this Act prescribed. The jurisdiction of each Local Board shall 
 be confined to the district for which it is constituted, and to those 
 subjects or matters the costs and expenses whereof are in whole 
 or in part a charge upon the people or property of the district or 
 a part thereof, except so far as by this Act jurisdiction may other- 
 wise be given over matters of local administration within such 
 district. Each Local Board shall consist of the President of the 
 Borough wherein the district is situated, by virtue of his office, 
 and of each member of the Municipal Assembly, who is a resident 
 of such Local Improvement District, by virtue of his office and 
 during his term as such member. Removal from the district 
 shall vacate their offices as members of the said Local Board. The 
 members of a Local Board shall serve as such members without 
 compensation. If any proposed local improvement specified in 
 section 393 of this Act shall embrace the territory or affect the 
 property of more than one district of local improvements, the 
 members of the Local Boards of all the Districts so affected shall, 
 for all proceedings in the matter of such improvement, constitute 
 the Local Board for the purposes thereof, and its proceedings shall 
 in all respects conform to the provisions of this Act that regulate 
 the proceedings of any other Local Board. 
 
 Id.: Procedure. 
 
 Sec. 392. The action of a Local Board shall be by resolution, 
 subject to the procedure governing resolutions passed by the 
 Municipal Assembly and conformably thereto save that they 
 need not be submitted to the Mayor of The City of New York for 
 his approval. 
 
 Id.: Powers. 
 
 Sec. 393. A Local Board, subject to the restrictions provided 
 by this Act, shall have power in all cases where the cost of the 
 improvement is to be met in whole or in part by assessments 
 upon the property benefited, to recommend that proceedings be 
 initiated to open, close, extend, widen, grade, pave, regrade, 
 repave and repair the streets, avenues and public places, and to 
 construct lateral sewers within the district ; to flag or reflag, curb 
 or recurb the sidewalks, and to relay cross-walks on such streets 
 
 188 
 
#'V' ■- --'' ■♦^ 
 fUFIVlESITT] 
 
 and avenues ; to set or to reset street lampsT^Jftk=*ep^Wvide signs 
 designating the names of the streets. A Local Board shall have 
 power to hear complaints of nuisances in streets or avenues, or 
 against disorderly houses, drinking saloons conducted without 
 observance of the licenses therefor, gambling houses or any other 
 places or congregations violative of good order or of the laws of 
 this State, or other matters or things concerning the peace, 
 comfort, order and good government respecting any neighbor- 
 hood within the district, or concerning the condition of the poor 
 within the district, and to pass such resolutions concerning the 
 same as may not be inconsistent with the powers of the Municipal 
 Assembly or of the respective administrative departments of The 
 City of New York, and to aid such Municipal Assembly and 
 Departments in the discharge of their duties respecting the good 
 government of the said district. 
 
 Id.: Meetings: Secretary: Quorum, 
 
 Sec. 394. Meetings of each Local Board shall be held at the 
 Main Hall or Public Building of the Borough. It shall be the 
 duty of the President to call such meetings whenever in his 
 opinion the public business shall require, or whenever he shall 
 receive the written request of any three members of a Local 
 Board. The Secretary of the President of the Borough shall act 
 as the Secretary of each Local Board, in the Borough, without 
 additional compensation. He shall keep a record of all resolu- 
 tions, proceedings and determinations of each Local Board, and 
 shall file the same in the ofifice of the President of the Borough, 
 and he shall discharge such other duties as may be prescribed by 
 this Act, or by the Municipal Assembly, or by the President of 
 the Borough, or by a Local Board. The President of a Local 
 Board and one other member thereof shall constitute a quorum 
 for the transaction of business at any meeting duly called. 
 
 189 
 
Title 3. 
 
 local improvements. 
 
 President: Duty on receipt of petition. 
 
 Sec. 400. When a petition for a local improvement within 
 the jurisdiction of a Local Board has been received by the 
 President of the Borough, it shall be his duty to appoint a time 
 for a meeting of the proper Local Board, not more than fifteen 
 days thereafter, at which meeting such petition will by him be 
 submitted to the said Local Board, and he shall thereupon 
 cause a notice to be published in the "City Record," that such 
 petition has been presented to him and is on file in his office for 
 inspection, and of the time when and of the place where there 
 will be a meeting of the Local Board at which such petition will 
 be submitted by him, to said board, which time shall not be less 
 than ten days after the publication of the notice. 
 
 Local Board, proceedings after petition. 
 
 Sec. 401. The Local Board, after the submission of such 
 petition and consideration of the same, may then, as the petition 
 shall ask, recommend that proceedings be initiated to open, to 
 close, to extend, to widen, to regulate, to grade, to curb, to 
 gutter, to flag, and to pave streets, to lay crosswalks, and to con- 
 struct lateral sewers within its district, and generally for such 
 other improvements in and about such streets within its district 
 as the public wants and convenience of the district shall require. 
 
 Id. : To transmit resolution: further procedure; expenses to be a lien. 
 
 Sec, 402. If the Local Board shall by resolution decide to 
 recommend that proceedings be initiated for a local improvement 
 within its jurisdiction, it shall thereupon, forthwith, transmit a 
 copy of such resolution to the Board of Public Improvements. 
 Said board shall promptly consider such resolution, and if, in its 
 opinion, the work proposed ought to be proceeded with, it shall 
 take such steps in regard thereto as are in this Act provided in 
 the cases where public works are proposed and initiated by said 
 Board of Public Improvements. The expense of all such 
 
 190 
 
improvements shall be assessed and be a lien on the property- 
 benefited thereby in proportion to the amount of said benefit, 
 and in no case shall extend beyond the limits of said district. 
 
 Local Boards, power to flag sidewalks, etc. 
 
 Sec. 403. A Local Board shall have the power to cause the 
 flagging or reflagging of sidewalks, laying or relaying of cross- 
 walks, fencing vacant lots, digging down lots or filling in sunken 
 lots within its district, by resolution approved by the Board 
 of Public Improvements. When such public work or improve- 
 ment shall have been duly authorized, the Board of Public Im- 
 provements shall direct the proper department to proceed 
 forthwith in the execution thereof, as in cases where public 
 works are proposed and initiated by said Board of Public Improve- 
 ments. 
 
 Construction of this title. 
 
 Sec. 404. Nothing in this title contained shall be construed 
 to in any way limit the power of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments or of the Municipal Assembly, or of the Board of Public 
 Improvements and the Municipal Assembly conjointly, in 
 authorizing any public improvement, nor shall anything herein 
 contained be construed to authorize any local Board to incur any 
 expenditures other than as authorized by the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment. 
 
 191 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BOARD OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 Title 1. Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 2. Map or Plan of The City of New York ; Map of Sewer 
 
 System and Sewer Districts. 
 
 3. General Provisions relating to Departments. 
 
 4. Department of Water Supply. 
 
 5. Department of Highways. 
 
 6. Department of Street Cleaning. 
 
 7. Department of Sewers. 
 
 8. Department of Public Buildings, Lighting and Sup- 
 
 plies. 
 
 9. Department of Bridges. 
 
 Title 1. 
 board of public improvements. 
 
 Board of Public Improvements; how constituted. 
 
 Sec. 410. There shall be in The City of New York a Board 
 of Public Improvements, to consist of the President of said Board, 
 the Mayor, the Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller, the Com- 
 missioner of Water Supply, the Commissioner of Highways, the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning, the Commissioner of Sewers, 
 the Commissioner of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, 
 the Commissioner of Bridges, and the Presidents of the several 
 Boroughs, by virtue of their respective offices. The Mayor, the 
 Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller, and the Presidents of the 
 
 192 
 
several Boroughs shall not be counted as members of the Board 
 
 for the purpose of ascertaining if a quorum be present. No 
 
 President of a Borough shall have a vote in said Board except 
 
 upon matters relating exclusively to the Borough of which he is 
 
 President. 
 
 Id. President; salary; powers. 
 
 Sec. 411. The President of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments shall be appointed by the Mayor and hold his office, as 
 provided in chapter IV of this Act. His salary shall be eight 
 thousand dollars a year. He shall be a member of the Board of 
 Revision of Assessments. 
 
 The said President shall have power to designate one of the 
 members of said Board as Vice-President. 
 
 The President or in his absence the Vice-President, shall 
 preside at all meetings of said Board, shall certify all proceedings 
 thereof, except as otherwise provided, and shall cause all reports 
 required by said Board to be made from the departments without, 
 delay. 
 
 The President shall have power, in all cases of difference 
 in the said Board concerning the disposition of any public work, 
 to assign such work to one or more of the departments for execu- 
 tion ; and in case there shall arise any disagreement between the 
 different departments represented on said Board, other than the 
 Department of Finance and the Law Department, or between con- 
 tractors respectively undertaking work pursuant to contracts let 
 by the different departments, the President shall decide such mat- 
 ter and his decision shall be final until and unless such decision 
 shall be reversed by the Board of Public Improvements. In case 
 of the inability of the President to decide any of such matters by 
 reason of sickness, or absence from the city, for a period not 
 less than three days, the Mayor shall have power to decide the 
 same. 
 
 The President shall have the power to vote, but his approval 
 shall not be necessary for the validity of any resolution of the 
 said Board. 
 
 Id. Secretary; office; meetings; quorum, etc. 
 
 Sec. 412. The President of said Board shall have power to 
 
 193 
 
appoint and remove a Secretary of the Board and such other clerks 
 as may be necessary. The Secretary shall attend its meetings, 
 keep and preserve a record of its proceedings, and perform such 
 other clerical duties as the Board or the President may from time 
 to time direct. The salary of the Secretary and of all clerks, within 
 the proper appropriation, shall be fixed and regulated by said 
 Board. 
 
 The Municipal Assembly shall make provision for an office 
 and a meeting-room, in the Borough of Manhattan, for said Board 
 of Public Improvements. The said Board shall meet, once a week 
 at least, for the consideration of public business, and the President 
 of the Board may call meetings of the said Board whenever he 
 may deem it necessary. A majority of the members of the 
 Board who, as heretofore provided, are to be counted for the 
 purpose of ascertaining if a quorum be present, shall form a 
 quorum for the transaction of business, but final action shall not 
 be had in any matter specially concerning the department of any 
 Commissioner not in attendance, unless such matter has thereto- 
 fore been made a special order of the day. The said Board 
 shall from time to time furnish to the Municipal Assembly such 
 information and data as may be required of it, or as it may 
 deem proper or necessary to impart, and shall make an annual 
 report to the Mayor. 
 
 Authorizing Public Improvements. 
 
 Sec. 413. Except as herein otherwise provided, any public 
 ■work or improvement within the cognizance and control of any 
 one or more of the Departments of the Commissioners who con- 
 stitute the Board of Public Improvements, that may be the sub- 
 ject of a contract, must first be duly authorized and approved by 
 a resolution of the Board of Public Improvements and an ordi- 
 nance or resolution of the Municipal Assembly. But no public 
 work or improvement, involving an assessment for benefit, shall be 
 so authorized until there has been presented to the Board of Pub- 
 lic Improvements an estimate in writing, in such detail as the Board 
 may direct, of the cost of the proposed work or improvement, and 
 a statement of the assessed value, according to the last preceding 
 
 194 
 
tax roll, of the real estate included within the probable area of assess- 
 ment. Any ordinance or resolution of the Municipal) Assembly- 
 approving any public work or improvement shall be subject to the 
 power of the Mayor over resolutions or ordinances of the Mun- 
 icipal Assembly, which ordinance or resolution, together with 
 a statement of the final disposition thereof, duly certified by 
 the City Clerk, shall be transmitted to the Board of Public 
 Improvements. When a public work or improvement shall 
 have been duly authorized, as aforesaid, then, but not until then, 
 it shall be lawful for the proper department to proceed in the 
 execution thereof, in accordance with the provisions and subject to 
 the limitations of this Act. Nothing herein contained shall be 
 construed as conferring on the Board of Public Improvements 
 any of the exclusive powers vested by law in of the said Com- 
 missioners in his department concerning the details of any 
 work or improvement. 
 
 Municipal Assembly; restriction on powers of. 
 
 Sec. 414. It shall not be lawful for the Municipal Assembly 
 to enter directly into contract for any public work or im- 
 provement whatsoever. 
 
 When proposals to enter upon public work of any character 
 falling within the jurisdiction of the various departments repre- 
 sented in the Board of Public Improvements originate in the 
 Municipal Assembly, before an ordinance or resolution authori- 
 zing the same or providing money therefor shall be adopted, a 
 report must be had from the Board of Public Improvements as 
 to the desirability thereof. Said Board shall report in as much 
 detail as possible, and shall submit an approximate, and, when- 
 ever practicable, a detailed estimate of cost. If the report of 
 the Board of Public Improvements be favorable to the project, 
 an ordinance or resolution authorizing the same may be passed 
 in the usual manner : but, if the report of the Board of Public 
 Improvements be unfavorable, an ordinance or resolution authori- 
 zing the project shall be passed only by a vote of five-sixths of 
 both houses of the Municipal Assembly, and be approved by 
 the Mayor. 
 
 195 
 
Board of Public Improvements ; power with respect to certain 
 subjects. 
 
 Sec. 415. The Board of Public Improvements, shall have 
 power over the following subjects : 
 
 (1) The adoption of a map or plan for any part of 
 the City of New York for which no final map or plan has 
 been adopted. 
 
 (2) Acquiring title for the use of the public to land 
 required for parks, streets, approaches to bridges and 
 tunnels, sites or lands above or under water for bridges 
 or tunnels. 
 
 (3) Acquiring title for the use of the public to lands 
 or easements therein, required for sewers, as provided in 
 title 7 of this chapter. 
 
 (4) The approval of plans for the sewerage and drain- 
 age of the City of New York, devised and prepared by 
 the President of said Board and the Commissioner of 
 Sewers. 
 
 (5) The construction, repairing and cleansing of 
 sewers and underground drains. 
 
 (6) Repairs and renewal of pavements and readjusting 
 the grade of streets in connection therewith. 
 
 (7) Water rents, superintendence of water supply of 
 private water companies, contracts for water supply with 
 private companies or other municipalities. 
 
 (8) Any public work for which the money has been 
 provided either in the tax levy or by the issue of bonds. 
 But in the ordinance authorizing the issue of bonds for 
 the repaving of streets, the Municipal Assembly may 
 designate the Borough or Boroughs in which the money 
 obtained from the sale of such bonds shall be expended. 
 
 To prepare ordinances y etc. 
 
 Sec. 416. It shall be the duty of the Board of Public Im- 
 
 196 
 
y^^^lJ~vements to prepare and to recommend to the Municipal 
 Assembly all ordinances and resolutions regulating the following 
 
 matters 
 
 (1) The laying of water pipes and the making of all 
 attachments thereto, and also the extending, construct- 
 ing and repairing of the water works. 
 
 (2) The regulating, grading, curbing, guttering, flag- 
 ging and paving of streets, the laying of crosswalks, the 
 constructing, reconstructing and repairing of streets and 
 the making of all excavations therein for public purposes, 
 and also prescribing the width of sidewalks, and regula- 
 ting the manner of constructing and laying the same. 
 
 (3) Encroachments upon and obstructions in the city 
 streets, and authorizing and requiring their removal. 
 
 (4) The use of the streets and sidewalks for signs, 
 sign-posts, awnings, awning-posts, horse-troughs, urinals, 
 telegraph-posts and other purposes. 
 
 (5) The exhibition of advertisements or handbills 
 along the streets. 
 
 (6) The construction, repair and use of vaults, cis- 
 terns, areas, hydrants and pumps. 
 
 (7) The construction and repair of public markets. 
 
 (8) The preservation and protection of all or any of 
 the works connected with the supplying of the City of 
 New York with pure and wholesome water. 
 
 (9) The cleaning and sprinkling of streets, and the 
 using of streets and sidewalks in building operations, and 
 for all other temporary or business purposes. 
 
 (10) The laying of gas pipes and electric wires under- 
 ground, steam pipes, pneumatic tubes and the like, and 
 the lighting of all public thoroughfares, places, bridges 
 and buildings, the inspecting and testing of gas or 
 electricity employed for light, heating and power, gas- 
 meters, electric-meters, electric wires, the use and trans- 
 
 197 
 
mission of electricity for all purposes in, upon, across, 
 over and under all streets and public buildings, and the 
 opening of street surfaces for the business of manufac- 
 turing, using and selling electricity, gas, steam, or for 
 the surface of pneumatic tubes, 
 
 (11) The erecting, extending and repairing of public 
 buildings, other than school-houses, almshouses, peni- 
 tentiaries, and the police and fire station-houses. 
 
 (12) The rates of fare on the railroad of the New- 
 York and Brooklyn Bridge, and upon the roadways 
 thereof, and upon any other bridge or bridges and the 
 roadways thereof, where a fare is, or may be authorized 
 by law, and for the safety of travel upon any and all of 
 the bridges within the territory of the City and not 
 included within any of the public parks thereof. 
 
 (13) The making of all contracts for public work 
 or supplies, and agreements in relation thereto by 
 which the City shall be liable to pay money ; and such 
 ordinances among other matters must provide, that the 
 award, if any, must be made to the lowest bidder, unless 
 the Board of Public Improvements, by the vote of a 
 majority of its members, of whom the Mayor and the 
 Comptroller shall be two, shall determine that it is for 
 the public interest that a bid other than the lowest should 
 be accepted, and that no contract shall be made until the 
 Comptroller certifies thereon that the necessary funds are 
 provided and applicable thereto. 
 
 Public Improvement: further procedure. 
 
 Sec. 417. All proposed City ordinances regulating the 
 public work specified in section 416 of this Act must from 
 time to time be adopted or prepared by said Board of 
 Public Improvements, and when approved by said Board, 
 such proposed ordinances duly certified shall be submitted 
 to the Municipal Assembly. And the Municipal Assembly 
 shall, without power of amendment, take such ordinance or 
 
 198 
 
ordinances into consideration, and shall either enact or reject 
 the same, and if rejected, it or they shall be returned to 
 the Board of Public Improvements for further considera- 
 tion. So far as may be possible in the first instance, and 
 so far as the public business may permit, the ordinances 
 regulating the matters provided for in section 416 of this Act 
 shall be submitted to the Municipal Assembly so as to afford 
 an entire rule of municipal action upon each of the different 
 subjects in said section described and specified. 
 
 Board of Public Improvements; power to prescribe rides, etc. 
 
 Sec. 418. The Board of Public Improvements may prescribe 
 rules, regulations or plans for the regulating, grading, paving, 
 curbing and guttering of streets, avenues, roads and public 
 places other than parks, and for the laying of crosswalks and 
 sidewalks throughout the city. 
 
 Contracts for work or supplies. 
 
 Sec. 419. All contracts to be made or let for work to be 
 done or supplies to be furnished, except as in this Act otherwise 
 provided, and all sales of personal property in the custody of 
 the several departments or bureaus, shall be made by the 
 appropriate heads of departments under such regulations as shall 
 be established by ordinance or resolution of the Municipal 
 Assembly. Whenever any work is necessary to be done to com- 
 plete or perfect a particular job, or any supply is needful fo^ 
 any particular purpose, which work and job is to be undertaken 
 or supply furnished for the City of New York, and the several 
 parts of the said work or supply shall, together, involve the 
 expenditure of more than one thousand dollars, the same shall 
 be by contract, under such regulations concerning it as shall be 
 established by ordinance or resolution of the Municipal Assem- 
 bly, excepting such works now in progress as are authorized by 
 law or ordinance to be done otherwise than by contract 
 and, unless otherwise ordered by a vote of three-fourths of 
 the members elected to the Municipal Assembly ; and all 
 contracts shall be entered into by the appropriate heads of 
 
 199 
 
departments, and shall, except as herein otherwise provided, be 
 founded on sealed bids or proposals, made in compliance with 
 public notice, duly advertised in the "City Record," and the 
 corporation newspapers, said notice to be published at least 
 ten days; if the head of a department shall not deem it for 
 the interests of the City to reject all bids, he shall, without the 
 consent or approval of any other department or officer of the 
 City government, award the contract to the lowest bidder, unless 
 the Board of Public Improvements by the vote of a majority of 
 its members, of whom the Mayor and the Comptroller shall be 
 two, shall determine that it is for the public interest that a bid 
 other than the lowest should be accepted ; the terms of such 
 contract shall be settled by the Corporation Counsel as an act 
 of preliminary specification to the bid or proposal. The bidder 
 whose bid is accepted shall give security for the faithful per- 
 formance of his contract in the manner prescribed and required 
 by ordinance ; and the adequacy and sufficiency of this security 
 shall, in addition to the justification and acknowledgment, be 
 approved by the Comptroller. All bids or proposals shall be 
 publicly opened by the officer or officers advertising for the same 
 and in the presence of the Comptroller, but the opening of the 
 bids shall not be postponed if the Comptroller shall, after due 
 notice, fail to attend. If the lowest bidder shall neglect or 
 refuse to accept the contract within five days after written notice 
 that the same has been awarded to his bid or proposal, or if he 
 accepts but does not execute the contract and give the proper 
 security, it shall be readvertised and relet as above provided. 
 In case any work shall be abandoned by any contractor, it shall 
 be readvertised and relet by the head of the appropriate depart- 
 ment in the manner in this section provided. No bid shall be 
 accepted from, or contract awarded to, any person who is in 
 arrears to the City of New York upon debt or contract, or who 
 is a defaulter, as surety or otherwise, upon any obligation to the 
 City. Every contract, when made and entered into, as before 
 provided for, shall be executed in duplicate, and shall be filed 
 in the Department of Finance ; together with a copy of the 
 resolution or ordinance of the Municipal Assembly, or of the resolu- 
 tion of the Board of Public Improvements, or copies of both, 
 
 200 
 
as the case may be, authorizing said work ; such copies shall 
 be so filed within five days after the contract shall have been 
 duly executed by the contractor: a receipt for each payment, 
 made on account of or in satisfaction of the same, shall be 
 indorsed on the said contract by the party receiving the warrant, 
 which warrant shall be only given to the person interested in 
 such contract, or his authorized representative. No expenditure 
 for work or supplies involving an amount for which no contract 
 is required shall be made, except the necessity therefor be certi- 
 fied to by the head of the appropriate department, and the ex- 
 penditure has been duly authorized and appropriated. 
 
 Proposals to be advertised ; deposit to accompany bid. 
 
 Sec. 420. Whenever proposals for furnishing suppHes or 
 doing work are invited by advertisement by any department or 
 officer, such department or. officer is authorized and directed to 
 require, as a condition precedent to the reception or consider- 
 ation of any proposal, the deposit with such department or 
 officer of a certified check upon one of the State or National 
 banks of the said city, drawn to the order of the Comptroller, or 
 of money; such checks or money to accompany the proposal, to 
 an amount not less than three nor more than five percent, of the 
 amount of the bond required by the department or officer for the 
 faithful performance of the work proposed to be done or supplies 
 to be furnished. Within three days after the decision as to 
 whom the contract is to be awarded, the Comptroller shall return 
 all the deposits made to the persons making the same, except the 
 deposit made by the bidder whose bid has been accepted ; and if 
 the said bidder whose bid has been accepted shall refuse or 
 neglect, within five days after due notice that the contract has 
 been awarded, to execute the same, the amount of deposit made 
 by him shall be forfeited to and retained by the said City as 
 liquidated damages for such neglect or refusal, and shall be paid 
 into the Sinking Fund of the City, but if the said bidder shall 
 execute the contract within the time aforesaid the amount of his 
 deposit shall be returned to him. 
 
 Certifiicate of completion to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 421. It shall be the duty of each of the Commissioners 
 
 201 
 
mentioned in section 410, of this Act, having in charge any work, 
 within five days after the acceptance of such work, to file with 
 the Comptroller a final certificate of the completion and accept- 
 ance thereof, signed by the Chief Engineer|or head of his de- 
 partment. The filing of such certificate shall be presumptive 
 evidence that such work has been completed according to con- 
 tract. 
 
 It shall also be the duty of such Commissioner, in the case of 
 work to be paid for in whole or in part by assessment for benefit, 
 when such work shall have been completed and accepted, and all 
 the]]expenses thereof which may be legally assessed shall have been 
 ascertained, to execute a certificate of the total amount of all the 
 cost and expenses which shall have been actually incurred by the 
 City of New York on account of such work and forward the same 
 to the Board of Assessors in accordance with section 946 
 of this Act. Accompanying said certificate shall be a copy 
 of the resolution or ordinance of the Municipal Assembly, 
 or of the resolution of the Board of Public Improvements, or 
 copies of both, as the case may be, authorizing such work to be 
 done, and also a copy of any resolution or ordinance, if any such 
 has been passed, determining that any proportion of the cost and 
 expense of such work shall be borne by the City of New York. 
 The Board of Assessors shall, upon receiving such certificate, 
 assess upon the property benefited, in the manner authorized by 
 law, the amount of the certificate, or such proportions thereof, 
 as is authorized by law. The proceedings relative to levying, 
 confirming and collecting any such assessments shall be in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of chapter XVII of this Act. 
 
 Power to assess for Local Improvements. 
 
 Sec. 422. In all cases where the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments or the Municipal Assembly or the Board of Public Im- 
 provements and the Municipal Assembly together, with or 
 without the concurrence or approval of any other Board or 
 ofificer, are authorized to determine that a local 'improvement is 
 to be made, the said Board or the said Municipal Assembly, or 
 both as the case may be, shall determine whether any, and if 
 any, what proportion, of the cost and expense thereof shall be 
 
 202 
 
borne and paid by the City of New York, and the remainder of 
 such cost and expense shall be assessed upon the property deem- 
 ed to be benefited thereby ; and the assessment shall be laid and 
 confirmed and collected in accordance with the provisions of 
 chapter XVII of this Act. 
 
 The words " local improvement " as used in this section shall 
 be construed to mean with respect to each Borough of the City 
 of New York any work the payment of which was, prior to the 
 passage of this Act, provided for, by the laws in force in such 
 Borough, in whole or in part, by assessment upon the property 
 deemed to be benefited thereby or the owners thereof, other 
 than assessments which are confirmed by a court of record. 
 
 Comptroller to pay contractors. 
 
 Sec. 423. When a contract for a public improvement shall 
 have been entered into and a certified copy thereof shall have 
 been filed with the Comptroller, in conformity with section 419 
 of this Act, said Comptroller is hereby authorized and directed 
 to pay to the contractor or his assigns, from time to time as 
 the work progresses, seventy per centum of the estimated 
 value of the work actually done under said contract, until the 
 same shall have been completed. The estimate of the value of 
 any such work shall be signed by the Surveyor and also by 
 the Chief Engineer of the department having the matter in 
 charge, and upon the final completion of any contract, and the 
 filing of the final certificate of completion, the Comptroller shall, 
 within thirty days thereafter, or within thirty days after the 
 expiration of the time within which, according to the terms 
 of the contract, the City has to accept such work, pay to the 
 contractor or his assigns, the balance of the amount due under 
 said contract, provided, however, that the Municipal Assembly, 
 upon the recommendation of the Board of Public Improvements, 
 may authorize contracts for asphalt or other pavements to be 
 made, with a guaranty upon the part of the contractor for one 
 or more years, with a provision for the retention of a percentage 
 of the amount to be paid, which shall be paid within thirty 
 days after the expiration of the guaranty, upon the filing of a 
 certificate signed by the Chief Engineer of the department 
 
 203 
 
having the matter in charge that the terms of the contract have 
 been complied with. The payments to be made by the Comp- 
 troller pursuant to this section shall be made out of the " Street 
 Improvement Fund," if the cost and expense of said work are 
 to be assessed in whole or in part upon property deemed to be 
 benefited thereby. The amounts collected from any and all 
 assessments for local inprovements paid for out of such fund, 
 together with all defaults and interest on the same, are to be 
 paid into said fund. 
 
 It shall be the duty of, and lawful for the Comptroller, when 
 thereto authorized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 to create and issue such additional amounts of the corporate 
 stock of the City of New York as shall be necessary to provide 
 for the cost and expense of such work, or such part thereof as 
 is to be borne and paid by the City of New York ; and the pro- 
 ceeds of the sale of such stock shall be paid into the Street 
 Improvement Fund. 
 
 Municipal Assembly ; further restrictions. 
 
 Sec. 424. It shall not be lawful for the Municipal Assembly 
 to release any contractor with the city or with any of the depart- 
 ments, boards, bureaus or officers thereof, from any fine or pen- 
 alty incurred under his contract, save upon the unanimous 
 recommendation of the Board of Public Improvements. And it 
 shall not be lawful for the Municipal Assembly to extend the 
 time for the performance of any such contract save upon the 
 unanimous recommendation of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments. 
 Board of Public Improvements ; further powers. 
 
 Sec. 425. The Board of Public Improvements is authorized 
 and empowered, in its discretion, on the application, in writing, 
 of the Head of the Fire Department, to grant the said Depart- 
 ment location for apparatus houses in said Department on any 
 of the public property, streets or slips under the control and 
 care of one or more of the Commissioners who constitute said 
 Board ; provided that the same are so located and constructed as 
 in the judgment of the said Board will not disfigure or mar the 
 
 204 
 
appearance of the same, nor interfere with the purpose of travel 
 or public recreation, and if placed upon any street, avenue or 
 slip, which shall not reduce the width of the same between the 
 curbs for the purpose of travel at the place of such location to 
 less than thirty feet on each side of said building. 
 
 Board of Public Improvements; general powers. 
 
 Sec. 426. The said Board of Public Improvements shall 
 exercise such powers and perform such duties with respect to the 
 whole territory embraced within The City of New York, as consti- 
 tuted by this Act, as were heretofore vested in the Board of Street 
 Opening and Improvements of the corporation known as The 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of New York, 
 with respect to the territory included within that municipality, 
 except so far as the same have been otherwise specifically and 
 expressly conferred by this Act. And the said Board of Public 
 Improvements shall exercise such other powers and perform such 
 other duties as are vested in or cast upon it by any of the pro- 
 visions of this Act, or that may in accordance with the law be 
 devolved upon it by the Municipal Assembly, 
 
 Title 2. 
 
 THE MAP OR PLAN OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, ESTABLISHING 
 
 OF GRADES, CHANGES THEREIN, MAP OF SEWER 
 
 SYSTEM, AND SEWER DISTRICTS. 
 
 The m.ap of the City of New York. 
 
 Section 432. The map or plan of the territory lying within 
 the Borough of Manhattan, as heretofore laid out, adopted and 
 established by the municipal authorities of the corporation known 
 as The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York, and the map or plan of that part of the territory lying 
 within the Borough of The Bronx, laid out by the Commissioner 
 of Street Improvements of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth 
 Wards pursuant to chapter 545 of the Laws of 1890, and the acts 
 
 205 
 
amendatory thereof, as heretofore duly laid out, adopted and estab- 
 lished by such Commissioner, with the concurrence and approval 
 of the Board of Street Opening and Improvements pursuant to 
 law, and the map or plan of so much of the territory laying within 
 the Borough of Brooklyn, for which a permanent map or plan has 
 been adopted, as heretofore duly laid out, adopted and established 
 by the proper municipal authorities, and the map or plan of so 
 much of the territory lying within the Borough of Queens, for 
 which a permanent map or plan has been adopted by the proper 
 municipal authorities of Long Island City, as so laid out, adopted 
 and established, showing the parks, streets, bridges and tunnels, 
 and approaches to bridges and tunnels, as heretofore laid out, 
 adopted and established pursuant to law, and the maps and profiles 
 included in or accompanying the same, showing the grades of 
 such streets duly fixed, adopted and established, shall constitute 
 the map or plan of the City of New York to the extent and so 
 far as they cover the territory lying within the said city, and as 
 such is hereby laid out, adopted, established and confirmed, is to 
 be deemed final and conclusive with respect to the location, width 
 and grades of the streets shown thereon, so far as such location, 
 width and grades have been heretofore duly adopted, except as 
 herein otherwise provided. 
 
 Map to be completed. 
 
 Sec. 433. It shall be the duty of the President of the Board 
 of Public Improvements, subject to the limitations hereinafter 
 provided, to prepare a map of so much of the territory embraced 
 within the City of New York, as constituted by this Act, of which 
 a map or plan has not heretofore been finally established and 
 adopted, as set forth in section 432 of this Act, locating and laying 
 out all parks, streets, bridges, tunnels, and approaches to bridges 
 and tunnels, and indicating the width and grades of all such 
 streets so located and laid out. 
 
 Whenever and as often as the President of the Board of Public 
 Improvements shall have completed the map of a part of the terri- 
 tory aforesaid, he shall report the same together with the surveys, 
 maps and profiles, showing the parks^streets, bridges,tunnels, and 
 approaches to bridges and tunnels, located and laid out by him, 
 
 206 
 
and the grades thereof, to the Board of Public Improvements, for 
 its concurrence and approval, subject, nevertheless, to such correc- 
 tions or modifications as in the judgment of the majority of said 
 Board may be advisable ; and the said Board thereafter shall cause 
 such map or plan, and such profiles, as finally adopted by it, to be 
 certified by the President and Secretary of said Board, and filed as 
 follows : One copy thereof in the ofifice in which conveyances of 
 real estate are required to be recorded in the county in which the 
 territory shown upon such map is located ; one copy thereof in 
 the ofifice of the Corporation Counsel, and one copy thereof in the 
 office of the Board of Public Improvements. Such map and pro- 
 files, when so adopted and filed, shall become a part of the map 
 or plan of the City of New York, and shall be deemed to be final 
 and conclusive with respect to the location, width and grades of 
 the streets shown thereon, and the same shall not be subject to 
 any further change or modification except as provided in section 
 436 of this Act; provided, however, that the Board of Public 
 Improvements, within three months after the opening of a street, 
 shall have the power to alter the grade of such street, and to alter 
 the grades of intersecting streets, so far as it may be necessary to 
 conform the same to the new grades of the street opened. 
 
 President may be required to complete map. 
 
 Sec. 434. The Board of Public Improvements, or the Munici- 
 pal Assembly, with the approval of the Mayor, may at any time 
 require the President of the Board of Public Improvements to 
 complete the map or plan of the whole or of a part of the terri- 
 tory for which the map or plan shall not at such time have been 
 finally established and adopted, as specified in sections 432 and 
 433 of this Act, and to report the same to the Board of Public 
 Improvements, within a fixed and specified time. 
 
 Grades established by user. 
 
 Sec. 435. Whenever any street in the City of New York shall 
 have been used as such for upwards of twenty years without hav- 
 ing the grade thereof established by law, the level or surface of 
 such street as so used shall be deemed to be and to have been the 
 grade thereof. 
 
 207 
 
Authority to change the map or plan of the city or to change 
 grades. 
 
 Sec. 436. The Board of Public Improvements is authorized 
 and empowered, whenever and as often as it may deem it for the 
 public interest so to do, to initiate a change in the map or plan 
 of the City of New York, so as to lay out new streets, bridges, 
 tunnels, approaches to bridges and tunnels and parks, and to 
 widen, straighten, extend, alter and close existing streets, and to 
 change the grade of existing streets shown upon such map or 
 plan, by publishing notice of its proposed action for ten days, in 
 the "City Record" and the corporation newspapers, and 
 giving an opportunity for all persons interested in such change 
 to be heard, at a time and place to be specified in such 
 notice, such time to be not less than ten days after the 
 first publication of such notice. After the due publication 
 of such notice, and after hearing protests and objections, if 
 any there be, against the proposed change, if the said Board shall 
 favor such change, notwithstanding such protests and objections, 
 it shall transmit its resolution to that effect to the Municipal As- 
 sembly, together with the objections, if any, which have been 
 made in writing, and filed with it, and a statement of its reasons 
 for such determination. 
 
 If both houses of the Municipal Assembly concur in such reso- 
 lution passed by the Board of Public Improvements, by pass- 
 ing an ordinance adopting and approving the same by a 
 two-thirds vote, and the same receives the approval of the Mayor, 
 such change in the map or plan of the City of New York, or in 
 the grade of any street or streets shown thereon, shall be deemed 
 to have been made. 
 
 The Board of Public Improvements is authorized and em- 
 powered without the concurrence of the Municipal Assembly, 
 but with the approval of the Mayor, to change the grades of 
 bridges, tunnels, and approaches to bridges and tunnels, and the 
 location of approaches to bridges and tunnels. 
 
 208 
 
Maps of City to be kept in office of Corporation Counsel and office 
 of Board of Public Improvements ; maps showing changes 
 where filed. 
 Sec. 437. The map or plan of the City of New York or a certi- 
 fied copy thereof, showing the streets and parks within The City 
 of New York as constituted by this Act, shall be kept, one copy 
 thereof in the office of the Corporation Counsel and one copy 
 thereof in the office of the Board of Public Improvements. 
 Whenever the map or plan of the City of New York, as 
 heretofore laid out, adopted, established and confirmed by 
 this Act, or as hereafter laid out, adopted and established pur- 
 suant to this Act, shall be changed, and whenever the grade of any 
 street shown thereon shall be changed, the Board of Public 
 Improvements shall forthwith cause the maps and profiles, show- 
 ing such change in the map or plan of the City of New York, or 
 in the grade of a street or streets shown thereon, to be certified 
 by the Secretary of said Board and filed as follows : one copy 
 thereof in the office in which the conveyances of real estate are 
 required to be recorded in the county in which the territory 
 shown upon said copy is located ; one copy thereof in the office 
 of the Corporation Counsel, and one copy thereof in the office 
 of the Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 Drainage and sewer system, to be completed. 
 
 Sec. 438. It shall be the duty of the said President of 
 the Board of Public Improvements, together with the Com- 
 missioner of Sewers, and subject to the approval of the Board 
 of Public Improvements, to devise and prepare, so far as the 
 same has not already been done, a plan for the proper sewerage 
 and drainage of the whole of said city, for the purpose of 
 thoroughly draining and carrying off water and other matter 
 proper to be carried off by sewers. The said Commissioner shall, 
 so far as the same has not already been done, and subject to the 
 like approval, lay out the said city into as many sewerage dis- 
 tricts as he may deem necessary for the aforesaid purpose, and 
 shall also determine and show, on suitable maps or plans, the 
 location, course, size and grade of each sewer and drain proposed 
 for each of said districts, and the proposed alterations and 
 
 209 
 
improvements in existing sewers, and shall also determine and 
 show, on said maps or plans, the contemplated depth of said 
 sewers and drains below the present surface, and also below 
 the established grades of the streets and avenues in each of said 
 districts, and such other particulars as may be necessary for the 
 purpose of exhibiting a complete plan of the proposed sewerage 
 therein. 
 
 Drainage plan to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 439. Upon the completion of the map or plan for the 
 drainage of any sewerage district and its approval by the Board 
 of Public Improvements, such map or plan shall be the perma- 
 nent plan for the secverage of such district; subject, however, 
 to such subsequent modifications as may, in the opinion of the 
 Commissioner of Sewers and the Board of Public Improvements, 
 become necessary in consequence of alterations made in the loca- 
 tion or grade of any street or part thereof in said district, or for 
 other reasons. Copies of such complete map or plan and of the 
 maps showing modifications therein shall be certified by the Pre- 
 sident and Secretary of the Board of Public Improvements and 
 shall be filed as follows : one copy thereof in the office in which 
 conveyances of real estate are required to be recorded in the 
 county in which the territory shown upon said map is located ; 
 one copy thereof in the office of the Corporation Counsel, and one 
 copy thereof in the office of the Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 All sewers to be in accordance with general plan. ^ 
 
 Sec. 440. It shall not be lawful hereafter to construct any 
 sewer or drain in the city unless such sewer or drain shall be in 
 accordance with the general plan, approved by the Board of 
 Public Improvements as aforesaid, for the sewerage of the parti- 
 cular district in which such sewer or drain is proposed to be 
 constructed. 
 
 Raising of grade for drainage. 
 
 Sec. 441. Whenever the Commissioner of Sewers shall report 
 to the Board of Public Improvements that it is necessary to raise 
 the grade of any street or streets for the proper sewerage of the 
 
 210 
 
sewer district in which such street or streets, or parts of Streets, 
 are situated, the said Board is hereby authorized and empowered 
 to change the grade of such street or streets, or parts of streets, so 
 far as shall be necessary for the proper drainage thereof. 
 
 Power to mark boundaries and to make surveys. 
 
 Sec. 442. The President of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments shall have power to mark any boundary line or lines of the 
 Municipal Corporation constituted by this Act and known as The 
 City of New York, as said boundary line or lines is or are deter- 
 mined in and by this Act, so as to distinguish and define the 
 boundaries of said city, the boundaries of the Boroughs thereof, 
 and any other boundary line or lines determined in and by this 
 Act, by such monuments as may be authorized by resolution of 
 the Board of Public Improvements. He shall upon the request 
 of the Board of Public Improvements, of the Municipal Assem- 
 bly, of a Local Board of Commissioners of Estimate or of Com- 
 missioners of Estimate and Assessments, furnish surveys, dia- 
 grams or other information as may enable them to fully discharge 
 the duties imposed upon them by this Act relative to street and 
 park improvements. It shall be lawful for the President of the 
 Board of Public Improvements, and all persons acting under his 
 authority, to enter in the day time into and upon any lands, tene- 
 ments and hereditaments and waters which he shall deem neces- 
 sary to be surveyed, used or converted for the laying out, survey- 
 ing and monumenting of parks, streets, bridges, tunnels, and 
 approaches to bridges and tunnels, in The City of New York, or 
 for marking any boundary line or lines. 
 
 President to appoint surveyor, appropriations to be made for maps 
 etc. 
 
 Sec. 443. The President of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments shall have power to appoint a surveyor or engineer who 
 shall have the custody of the maps filed in the office of the Board 
 of Public Improvements and to fix his salary within the proper 
 appropriation. There shall be made in the final estimate each 
 year such provisions or appropriations as may be necessary for 
 the preparation and making of maps, plans and profiles, and for 
 
 211 
 
the setting of monuments, and the President of the Board of 
 Public Improvements shall be authorized, within the limits of 
 such provision or appropriation, to employ such engineers, survey- 
 ors, clerks and assistants as may in his judgment be necessary for 
 any part of such work. 
 
 Board may detail employees to assist President. 
 
 Sec. 444. The Board of Public Improvements may, from 
 time to time, and for so long a time as may be necessary, detail 
 such employees from any department as they may deem neces- 
 sary, to assist the President of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments in carrying out the duties imposed upon him by this Act. 
 
 Title 3. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENTS OF 
 WATER SUPPLY, HIGHWAYS, STREET CLEANING, SEWERS, 
 PUBLIC BUILDINGS, LIGHTING AND SUPPLIES, AND 
 BRIDGES. 
 
 Heads of departments. 
 
 Section 450. Each of the Commissioners hereinafter pro- 
 vided for in this chapter shall in all respects administer his de- 
 partment in conformity with the ordinances of the Municipal 
 Assembly relating thereto, and each shall be vested with the 
 sole executive power in his department, and be subject to the 
 laws of the State and the ordinances of the City for the conduct 
 and the work of his department. 
 
 Bratiches ; where located. 
 
 Sec. 451. The main office of each of the departments herein- 
 after mentioned in this chapter shall be located in the Borough 
 of Manhattan, unless the Board of Public Improvements shall 
 otherwise determine. 
 
 Branch offices of all or any of said departments may be 
 
 212 
 
located within such other of the Boroughs as may be 
 deemed advisable by the Commissioner of such department, 
 subject, however, to the approval of the Board of Public Im- 
 provements ; and it shall be the duty of the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment and of the Municipal Assembly to make 
 proper provision therefor. 
 
 Deputies. 
 
 Sec. 452. The Commissioner at the head of each of said de- 
 partments may appoint one or more Deputy Commissioners, 
 one of whom shall be located at the main office of such 
 department, and there may be a Deputy in each Borough in 
 which is located a branch office of such department, or the 
 same Deputy may have charge of more than one Borough, 
 as the Commissioner appointing such Deputy may deem 
 advisable. 
 
 A Deputy Commissioner located at a branch office shall, 
 under the direction and control of the Commissioner appoint- 
 ing him, have charge of the office work of his department in 
 the Borough or Boroughs for which the office was established, 
 and of the execution of all work devolved upon his depart- 
 ment therein. 
 
 The Commissioner at the head of each of said departments 
 may designate one or more of said Deputies, who shall, in 
 addition to his other powers, possess every power and per- 
 form all and every duty belonging to the office of such Com- 
 missioner, so far as specified in such designation, whenever so 
 empowered by such Commissioner by written authority, des- 
 ignating therein a period of time, not extending beyond a 
 period of three months nor beyond the term of office of such 
 Commissioner, during which such power and duty may be 
 exercised, and such designation and authority shall be duly 
 filed in and remain of record in said department, but may 
 be revoked at any time. A Deputy Commissioner so desig- 
 nated shall possess the like authority in case of absence or 
 disability of such Commissioner. 
 
 Engineers. 
 
 Sec. 453. The Commissioner at the head of each of said de- 
 partments, excepting the Department of Street Cleaning, shall 
 
 213 
 
appoint a Chief Engineer of his department, with power to 
 appoint, remove, and detail a staff of Assistant Engineers. 
 If the Commissioner of any department and the Board of 
 Public Improvements deem it advisable that more than 
 one Chief Engineer be appointed for such department, such 
 Commissioner shall appoint such additional Chief Engineer 
 or Chief Engineers, each with power to appoint and remove, 
 at pleasure, and detail a staff of Assistant Engineers. All Chief 
 Engineers and Assistant Engineers appointed by them respec- 
 tively, must be civil engineers of at least ten years' experience. 
 An Engineer located at a branch office of his department in 
 any Borough may be appointed a Deputy Commissioner for 
 the Borough or Boroughs to which he is assigned. An Assist- 
 ant Engineer who has been appointed a Deputy Commissioner 
 may be designated as the Engineer for the Borough in which 
 he acts as deputy. Any Engineer may be designated by such 
 title as shall properly describe his principal duties in the judg- 
 ment of the head of his department. 
 
 Chief Engineer s duties. 
 
 Sec. 454. Each Chief Engineer shall perform such duties as 
 may be required of him by this Act by the Commissioner at the 
 head of his department or by his Deputy in the Borough in 
 which such Engineer shall be located. 
 
 Consulting Engineers. 
 
 Sec. 455. The Commissioner of Water Supply, the Commis- 
 sioner of Highways, and the Commissioner of Sewers, shall each 
 appoint, without definite term, when thereto authorized by the 
 Board of Public Improvements, a Consulting Engineer to their 
 respective departments, who shall be an expert in all matters 
 relating to the work performed by the department in which he 
 is appointed and who shall have had at least fifteen years' exper- 
 ience as a civil engineer. 
 
 The Commissioner of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies 
 shall appoint (each without definite term) when thereto author- 
 ized by the Board of Public Improvements, a Consulting Engineer 
 of Lighting and Electricity to his department, who shall be an 
 expert in all matters relating to lighting and electricity, and 
 
 214 
 
whose training shall also have included instruction in the 
 capacity of civil engineer, and a Consulting Engineer of Public 
 Buildings to his department, who shall be an expert in the mat- 
 ter of construction, repair and maintenance of public buildings, 
 and a Consulting Architect to his department, who shall be an 
 architect of recognized scientific and artistic standing of not less 
 than fifteen years' experience. 
 
 The Commissioner of Bridges shall at any time appoint, with- 
 out definite term, when thereto authorized by the Board of 
 Public Improvements, a Consulting Engineer, who shall be a 
 recognized expert in bridge construction, and who shall have had 
 not less than fifteen years' experience as a civil engineer. 
 
 Commissioners ; powers to appoint and fix salaries. 
 
 Sec. 456. The Commissioner at the head of each of said de- 
 partments shall have power to appoint such clerks and subordi- 
 nates as may, in his judgment, be necessary in his main oi^ce, 
 and may fix and regulate their salaries, within the limits of the 
 appropriation duly made therefor. 
 
 A Deputy Commissioner in charge of a branch office of a 
 department shall, subject to the approval of the head of his 
 department, appoint such clerks and subordinates of his depart- 
 ment, in and for his Borough, as may in his judgment be neces- 
 sary, and fix and regulate their salaries, within the limits of the 
 appropriation duly made therefor. 
 
 Id: other duties. 
 
 Sec. 457. The Commissioner at the head of each of said 
 departments shall prepare and execute all contracts author- 
 ized by the Board of Public Improvements, or by said 
 Board and the Municipal Assembly for his department, and 
 shall make and cause to be made all surveys, maps, plans, 
 estimates and drawings of all works relating to his depart- 
 ment, and shall preserve the same in the main office of the 
 department, and shall make an annual report of the business 
 and transactions of his department to the Mayor. 
 
 Id. : To organize bureaus. 
 
 Sec. 458. The C^ )mmissioner at the head of each of said de- 
 
 215 
 
partments may organize such bureaus as he shall from time to 
 time deem necessary to the proper discharge of the duties 
 of his department ; he shall locate a branch of each of the 
 bureaus so organized, in the public hall or building of the Bor- 
 ough of Brooklyn, for the discharge (jf all of the duties of the 
 department devolved upon such bureau or bureaus, so far as 
 such duties pertain to the Borough of Brooklyn ; and he may 
 from time to time locate a branch of any or all bureaus so or- 
 ganized by him in any of the (jther Boroughs of the city for 
 the discharge of the duties devolved upon such bureau or 
 bureaus, so far as such duties pertain to the Boroughs wherein 
 such branch or branches may be respectively located. 
 
 Commissioners : power to appoint, etc. 
 
 Sec. 459. If the Commissioners of two or more departments 
 named in this chapter shall at any time determine that 
 the duties of the Chief Engineer or the Deputy Commissioner 
 in each of said two or more departments in and for any Bor- 
 ough can be adequately performed by one and the same per- 
 son, then it shall be lawful for said Commissioners, each 
 acting in his department, to appoint the same individ- 
 ual as Chief Engineer or Deputy Commissioner, or both, 
 of such departments for any of said Boroughs ; such ap- 
 pointment as Chief Engineer may be revoked by the proper 
 Commi<5sioner or Commissioners, respectively, as to all but 
 one department, whenever the Board of Public Improvements 
 shall so authorize ; and the Board of Public Improvements 
 shall also then determine and decide for which Department 
 the said person shall remain and shall be Chief Engineer. 
 
 Transfer of employees from Borough to Borough and frjm depart- 
 ment to department. 
 
 Sec. 460. Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to 
 limit in any way the power of the Commissioner at the het^d of 
 any one of the departments named in this chapter to 
 transfer any employee or employees from the office of his de- 
 partment located in one Borough to the office of his depart 
 ment in any other Borough. 
 
 It shall be lawful for the Board of Public Improvements 
 to transfer employees of one of the departments named in 
 
 216 
 
this chapter to another of said departments, provided 
 that in each case the heads of the departments affected shall 
 consent to and request such transfer. 
 
 Transfer of appropriations. 
 
 Sec. 461. No appropriation specifically appropriated to be 
 used in one Borough shall be transferred for expenditure in any 
 other Borough except by the unanimous vote of the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment ; but if any public work within 
 the cognizance and control of any one of said Commissioners 
 must be executed in more than one Borough he may, in his dis- 
 cretion, direct that said work shall be done through the 
 joint forces of his department in the Boroughs affected, or he 
 may execute such work with the force of his central office. 
 
 Definition of word *^ street." 
 
 Sec. 462. Whenever the word " street," or the plural there- 
 of, occurs in this chapter, it shall be deemed to include all that 
 is included by the term " street, avenue, road, alley, lane, high- 
 way, boulevard, concourse, public square and public place," or 
 the plurals thereof, respectively. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 department of water supply. 
 
 Commissioner of Water Supply ; Appointment ; Salary. 
 
 Sec. 468 The Head of the Department of Water Supply 
 shall be called the Commissioner of Water Supply. He shall be 
 appointed by the Mayor and hold office as provided in Chapter 
 IV of thij Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five hundred 
 dollars a year. 
 
 Id.: Jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 469. The Commissioner of Water Supply shall have 
 cognizance and control : 
 
 (1) Of all structures and property connected with the 
 supply and distribution of water for public use, except 
 
 217 
 
where the same shall be owned by private corporations, 
 including all fire and drinking hydrants and all water 
 meters. 
 
 (2) Of maintaining the quality of the water supply, 
 and of the investigation for, and the construction of all 
 work necessary to deliver the proper and required quan- 
 tity of water with ample reserve for contingencies and 
 future demands. 
 
 (3) Of the collection of the revenues from the sale or 
 use of water from the public water supply. 
 
 (4) Of the enforcing of the regulations concerning the 
 use of water, and of recommending to the Board of Public 
 Improvements proposed ordinances relating to any of the 
 matters within the province of his department. 
 
 Id.: Power when more than o?ie Borough involved. 
 
 Sec. 470. If any of the public work within the cognizance 
 and control of the said Commissioner of Water Supply must be 
 executed entirely outside of the city limits, he may direct 
 that such work be done by any of his force of any Borough 
 as may seem to him most advantageous. 
 
 Id.: Restriction on power to contract. 
 
 Sec. 471. It shall not be lawful for the Commissioner of Water 
 Supply to enter into any contract whatever with any person or cor- 
 poration engaged in the business of supplying or selling water for 
 private or public use and consumption, unless, preliminary to the 
 execution of the contract, the assent of the Board of Public Im- 
 provements after submission to it of the proposed contract in all 
 its details, shall be given by resolution to the execution of 
 such contract as submitted, and it shall not be lawful for the said 
 City of New York or for any department thereof, to make any 
 contract touching or concerning the public water supply, and 
 especially the increase thereof, with any person or corporation 
 whatsoe^ver, save in accordance with the provisions and require- 
 
 218 
 
ments of this Act, which said provisions and requirements are here- 
 by declared to estabHsh the exclusive rule for the making of such 
 contracts. 
 
 Id. : Power to determine source of water supply, condemnation pro- 
 ceedings, etc. 
 
 Sec. 472. The Commissioner of Water Supply, with the 
 approval of the Board of Public Improvements, shall have 
 power throughout the State of New York to select and to de- 
 termine all sources of water supply that may be needed for the 
 supply of the public water works of said city, and for the supply 
 and distribution of water in said city. Any sources of water so 
 selected and determined by him shall be deemed necessary for 
 the public use of The City of New York, and thereupon, with the 
 approval of the Board of Public Improvements and of the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment, together with the authority of 
 the Municipal Assembly expressed by its resolution or ordinance, 
 it shall be lawful for the City of New York to acquire by condemna- 
 tion any real estate or any interest therein that may be necessary in 
 order to acquire the sole and exclusive property in such source or 
 sources of water supply, and to wholly extinguish the water rights 
 of any other person or corporation therein, with the right to lay, re- 
 lay, repair and maintain conduits and water pipes with the connec- 
 tions and fixtures on the lands of others, the right to intercept 
 and to direct the flow of waters from the lands of riparian own- 
 ers, and from persons owning or interested in any water, and 
 the right to prevent the flow or drainage of noxious or impure 
 matters from the lands of others into its reservoirs or sources of 
 supply, provided that he shall not have power to acquire or 
 to extinguish the property rights of any person or corpora- 
 tion in or to any water rights that, at the time of the initia- 
 tion of proceedings for condemnation, were in whole or in part 
 devoted to the supply of the water works of the people of any 
 other city, town or village of the state, or to the supply and 
 distribution of water to the people thereof, or to take or use 
 the water from any of the canals of the state, any canal reservoirs, 
 or waters used exclusively as feeders for canals, or from any of 
 the streams acquired by the state for supplying the canals with 
 
 219 
 
water. It shall be the duty of the Corporation Counsel to take 
 the necessary legal proceedings, as provided in this Act, for 
 such improvement, upon the request in writing of the said 
 Commissioner of Water Supply, In the ascertainment of 
 the compensation for any property or property rights so 
 acquired, such compensation shall be based upon the actual 
 values of the property or the interest acquired therein at 
 the time of its taking, and there shall not be taken into 
 consideration any prospective or speculative value, based upon 
 the possible, probable or actual future use of such property, or 
 property rights, if the same had not been acquired by the said 
 city of New York for the public use. 
 
 The Commissioner of Water Supply is hereby authorized 
 to examine into the sources of water supply of any private com- 
 panies supplying The City of New York or any portion thereof 
 or its inhabitants with water, to see that the same is wholesome 
 and the supply is adequate, and to establish such rules and regu- 
 lations in respect thereof as are reasonable and necessary for the 
 convenience of the public and the citizens ; and the Board of Pub- 
 lic Improvements may exercise superintendence, regulation and 
 control in respect of the supply of water by such water compan- 
 ies, including rates, fares and charges to be made therefor, except 
 that such rates, fares and charges, shall not, without the 
 consent of the grantee, be reduced by the Board of Public Im- 
 provements beyond what is just and reasonable ; and in case of 
 a controversy, the question of what is just and reasonable shall 
 be finally determined as a judicial question on its merits by a 
 court of competent jurisdiction. 
 
 Municipal Assembly; power to fix rents, etc., for ivater supply. 
 
 Sec. 473. The Municipal Assembly shall hereafter have all 
 power, on recommendation of the Board of Public Improvements, 
 to fix and to establish a uniform scale of rents, and charges for sup- 
 plying water by The City of New York which shall be apportioned 
 to dififerent classes of buildings in said city in reference to their 
 dimensions, values, exposures to fires, ordinary uses for dwell- 
 ings, stores, shops, private stables and other common purposes, 
 number of familes or occupants, or consumption of water, as 
 
 220 
 
near as may be practicable, and modify, alter, amend and in- 
 crease such scale from time to time, and to extend it to other 
 descriptions of buildings and establishments. All extra charges 
 for water shall be deemed to be included in the regular rents, 
 which shall become a charge and lien upon the buildings upon 
 which they are respectively imposed, and if not paid, shall be 
 returned as arrears to the Collector of Assessments and 
 Arrears. Such regular rents, including the extra charges 
 above mentioned, shall be collected from the owners or 
 occupants of all such buildings, respectively, which shall 
 be situated upon lots adjoining any street or avenue in 
 said city in which the distributing water pipes are or may be 
 laid, and from which they can be supplied with water. Said 
 rents, including the extra charges aforesaid, shall become a 
 charge and lien upon such houses and lots, respectively, as here- 
 in provided, but no charge whatever, shall be made against any 
 building in which a water meter may have been, or shall be 
 placed as provided in this Act. In all such cases the charge for 
 water shall be determined only by the quantity of water actually 
 used as shown by said meters. 
 
 Commissioner, power to contract for water supply for the Twenty' 
 fourth Ward; duty in relation to. 
 
 Sec. 474. The Commissioner of Water Supply is authorized, 
 on behalf of The City of New York, with the preliminary consent 
 of the Board of Public Improvements and of the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment, to contract from time to time with the 
 City of Yonkers, or the Board of Water Commissioners of 
 the City of Yonkers, for a supply of wholesome water for the 
 Twenty-fourth ward and other parts of the Borough of The 
 Bronx, from the water works, or water belonging to them or 
 under their charge and control, for such time, in such quantities, 
 and at such places as may be agreed upon by them. The said 
 Commissioner of Water Supply is authorized and directed to pro- 
 cure, purchase and lay, provide and make ready for use, from 
 time to time, so many mains and pipes and other means and 
 appliances, and erect so many hydrants as may be necessary and 
 sufficient to distribute and supply the water so procured under 
 
 221 
 
contract with the City of Yonkers to and through said Twenty- 
 fourth ward, or such part of it as may require or be in need of 
 the same, and which cannot be, or in his judgment ought not to 
 be supplied from the Croton Water Works, and to purchase, pro- 
 vide, do, and perform all things necessary or proper to enable 
 the said Twenty-fourth ward, or said part, and the inhabitants 
 thereof, to obtain and have an abundant supply of water at all 
 times, and for such purpose, in case of necessity or convenience, 
 to arrange and agree with the owner of lands in said ward for 
 an irrevocable license or permission to enter upon, lay, repair, 
 keep in order, protect, and maintain mains, pipes, conduits and 
 hydrants in, through and upon said lands. The Municipal 
 Assembly is authorized to fix, and from time to time to alter, on 
 the recommendation of the Board of Public Improvements, 
 special rates or charges for water supplied to any house or 
 building, or to any other erection or structure, in said Twenty- 
 fourth ward, including washers and hydrants, and to make such 
 arrangements and rules as may be proper to ascertain the 
 quantity of water used therein, or by means thereof, and 
 such rates and charges shall be a lien until paid upon the lands 
 upon which such house, building, or other erection or structure 
 may stand or be situated, and shall be collectable at the same 
 time and in the same manner, including sales for unpaid taxes, 
 as the ordinary tax imposed on the same lands. 
 
 Meters. 
 
 Sec. 475. The Commissioner of Water Supply is author- 
 ized, in his discretion, to cause water meters, the pattern and 
 price of which shall be approved by the Board of Public 
 Improvements, to be placed in all stores, workshops, hotels, 
 manufactories, office buildings, public edifices, at wharves, 
 ferry-houses, stables, and in all places in which water is 
 furnished for business consumption, so that all water so 
 furnished therein or thereat may be measured and known 
 by the said department, and for the purpose of ascertain- 
 ing the ratable portion which consumers of water should pay 
 for the water therein or thereat received and used. There- 
 after, as shall be determined by the Commissioner of Water 
 
 222 
 
Supply, the said Department shall make out all bills and charges 
 for water furnished by them to each and every consumer as 
 aforesaid, to whose consumption a meter as aforesaid is affixed 
 in ratable proportion to the water consumed, as ascertained by 
 the meter on his or her premises or places occupied or used as 
 aforesaid. All expenses of meters, their connections and set- 
 ting, water-rates and other lawful charges for the supply of 
 water shall be a lien upon the premises where such water is sup- 
 plied as now provided by law. Nothing herein contained shall 
 be construed so as to remit or prevent the due collection of 
 arrearages or charges for water consumption heretofore incurred, 
 nor interfere with the proper liens therefor, nor of charges, or 
 rates, or liens hereafter to be incurred for water consumption in 
 any dwelling house, building, or place which may not contain 
 one of the meters aforesaid. The moneys collected for expen- 
 ses of meters, their connections and settings, shall bs applied by 
 the Commissioner of Water Supply to the payment of expenses 
 incurred in procuring, connecting and setting said meters. 
 
 Additional charge for non-payment of rents. 
 
 Sec. 476. The annual rents which are not paid to the De- 
 partment of Water Supply before the first day of August in each 
 year shall be subject to an additional charge of five per cent., 
 and those rates not paid before the first day of November in 
 each year shall be subject to a further additional charge of ten 
 per cent. 
 
 No valve, etc. to be used with royalty. 
 
 Sec. 477. No patent hydrant, valve or stopcock shall be 
 used by the Department of Water Supply unless the patentee 
 or owner of said patent shall allow the use of the patent by 
 said Department without royalty. 
 
 • 
 Printed notice of rules and regulations. 
 
 Sec. 478. The rules and restrictions for the use of the 
 water printed on each permit shall be notice to the water 
 takers, and shall authorize the exaction and recovery by process 
 
 223 
 
of law of any penalties which may be imposed in addition to 
 cutting off the use of the water for any violations of the 
 rules, and this section shall be printed on such permits. 
 
 Commissioners, duty in regard to sources of water supply and 
 property of Department. 
 
 Sec. 479. The Commissioner of Water Supply is charged 
 with the preservation of all lakes and all waters from which a 
 water supply is drawn by the city, with the preservation of the 
 banks of and of any river or other body of water from which the 
 water supply is drawn, from injury or nuisance, and with the 
 execution of such measures as may be necessary to preserve 
 and increase the quantity of water and keep it pure and whole- 
 some and free from contamination and pollution, with the 
 management, preservation and repairs of the dams, gates, 
 aqueducts, bridges, water towers, reservoirs, mains, pipes, 
 pipeyard, and property of every description belonging to the 
 water works, and shall have the construction of such new works 
 and the purchase and laying down of such mains and pipes as may 
 be authorized in accordance with law. The Department of Water 
 Supply shall be responsible for the supply of water and the good 
 order and security of all the water works, for the exactness and 
 durability of the structures which may be erected, and for the 
 daily work to be performed and for the sufficiency of the supply 
 in the pipeyards to meet every casualty, and for the fidelity, 
 care, and attention of all persons employed by the department in 
 watching the works, and in making constructions and repairs. 
 
 Assessment on lands used as reservoirs, etc. 
 
 Sec, 480. The lands heretofore taken or to be taken for 
 storage, reservoirs, or for other constructions necessary for the 
 introduction and maintenance of a sufficient supply of water 
 in the City, or for the purpose of preventing contamination 
 or pollution, shall be assessed and taxed in the Counties in which 
 they are or may be located, in the manner prescribed by law, at 
 the value of the lands, exclusive of the aqueducts, and the con- 
 struction and works necessary for its purposes, provided that the 
 
 224 
 
assessed value of the said lands shall not exceed the assessed 
 value of the lands in the immediate neighborhood thereof. 
 
 Certain acts misdemeanors. 
 
 Sec. 481. It shall not be lawful for any person to throw or 
 deposit, or cause to be thrown or deposited in any lake, pond or 
 stream, or in any aqueduct from or through which any part of 
 the water supply of The City of New York shall be drawn, or 
 either of the reservoirs, any dead animal or other offensive mat- 
 ter, or anything whatever. Any person offending against the 
 provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
 meanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by 
 a fine or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the Court. 
 Such fine not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, arid 
 such imprisonment not to exceed a period of three months. Such 
 imprisonment to be in the jail of the county in which the offense 
 shall have been committed. 
 
 Id. : Continued. 
 
 Sec. 482. If any person shall wilfully do or cause to be 
 done any act whereby any work, materials, or property whatever, 
 erected or used or hereafter to be erected or used within the City 
 or elsewhere, by the said city, or by any person acting under 
 their authority, for the purpose of procuring or keeping a supply 
 of water, shall in any manner be injured or shall erect or place 
 any nuisance on the banks of any river, lake or stream from 
 which the water supply of said city shall be drawn, or shall throw 
 anything into the aqueduct, or into any reservoir or pipe, such 
 person, on conviction thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor. 
 
 Duty of Commissioner of Water Supply. 
 
 Sec. 483. The Commissioner of Water Supply is hereby 
 authorized, empowered and directed to carry out the provisions 
 of this Act, in the manner hereinafter provided, for the purpose 
 of maintaining, preserving and increasing the supply of pure and 
 wholesome water for the use of the City, and for the purpose of 
 preventing or removing contamination or pollution of any supply 
 
 225 
 
or source or sources of supply of water heretofore acquired by 
 or on behalf of said city, and for the purpose of preventing the 
 contamination or pollution of any river, water course, lake, 
 pond, stream or reservoir hereafter acquired for the purpose of 
 supplying said city with water. 
 
 To take proceedings to acquire title. 
 
 Sec. 484. In all cases where the Commissioner of Water 
 Supply shall hereafter enter upon, acquire, take or use, or shall 
 deem it necessary to enter upon, acquire, take or use any " real 
 estate," as the term real estate is defined by this Act, for the 
 purpose of maintaining, preserving or increasing the supply of 
 pure and wholesome water for the use of said city, or for the pur- 
 pose of preventing the contamination or pollution of the same, 
 as hereinbefore set forth, the said Commissioner is authorized, 
 for and in behalf, and in the name of The City of New York, 
 in the manner hereinafter prescribed, to acquire all rights, 
 titles and interests in and to such real estate, by whomsoever 
 the same may be held, enjoyed or claimed, and to pay for and 
 extinguish all claims or damages on account of such rights, 
 titles or interests, or growing out of such taking or using. 
 
 Definition of '■^Real Estate." 
 
 Sec. 485. The term "real estate" as used in this Act shall be 
 construed to signify and embrace all uplands, lands under water, the 
 water of any lake, pond or stream, all water rights or privileges, and 
 any and all easements and hereditaments, corporeal or incorpo- 
 real, and every estate, interest and right, legal and equitable, in 
 lands or water, or any privilege or easement thereunder, includ- 
 ing terms for years, and liens thereon by way of judgment, 
 mortgages or otherwise, and also all claims for damage to such 
 real estate. It shall also be construed to include all real estate 
 (as the term is above defined) heretofore or hereafter acquired or 
 used for railroad, highway or other public purpose, providing 
 the persons or corporations owning such real estate, or claiming 
 interests therein, shall be allowed the perpetual use, for such 
 purposes, of the same or of such other real estate to be acquired 
 for the purposes of this Act as will afford practicable route or 
 
 226 
 
location for such railroad, highway or other public purpose, and 
 in the case of a railroad commensurate with and adapted to its 
 needs; and provided, also, that such persons or corporations 
 shall, not, directly or indirectly, be subject to expense, loss or 
 damage by reason of changing such route or location, but that 
 such expense, loss or damage shall be borne by the City. In 
 case any real estate so acquired or used for public purposes is 
 sought to be taken or affected for the purposes of this Act, there 
 shall be designated upon the maps referred to in this Act, and 
 there shall be described in the petition referred to, such portion 
 of the other real estate shown on said maps and described in 
 said petition as it is proposed to substitute in place of the real 
 estate then used for such railroad, highway or other public pur- 
 poses. The Supreme Court, at the Special Term to which said 
 petition is presented, or at such other Special Term as the con- 
 sideration thereof may be noticed or adjourned to, shall either 
 approve the substituted route or place or refer the same back to 
 the said Commissioner for alteration or amendment, and may 
 refer the same back, with such directions or suggestions as the 
 said Court may deem advisable, and as often as necessary, and 
 until the said Commissioner shall determine such substituted 
 route or place as may be approved by the Court ; an appeal from 
 any order made by said Court at Special Term, under the 
 provisions of this section, may be taken by any person or cor- 
 poration interested in and aggrieved thereby, to the Appellate 
 Division of the Judicial Department in which the real estate is 
 situated, and shall be heard as a non-enumerated motion. The 
 Commissioners of Appraisal herein referred to, in determining the 
 compensation to be made to the persons or corporations owning 
 such real estate, or claiming interest therein, shall include in 
 the amount of such compensation such sum^as shall be sufficient 
 to defray the expenses of making such change of route and loca- 
 tion and of building said railroad or highway. The said Com- 
 missioners of Appraisal shall suggest in their report, and the 
 Court, in the order confirming such report, shall determine, sub- 
 ject to review by the said Appellate Division, what reasonable 
 time after payment of the awards to said persons or corporations 
 shall be sufficient within which to complete the work of making 
 
 227 
 
such change, and the said City of New York or the Commis- 
 sioner of Water Supply thereof shall not be entitled to take 
 possession or interfere with the use, for the aforesaid purposes, 
 of such real estate, before the expiration of such time. This 
 time may be subsequently extended by the Court (subject to 
 review as aforesaid) upon sufficient cause shown. After the 
 expiration of the time so determined or extended no use shall 
 be made of said real estate which shall cause pollution to the 
 water in said reservoir, or the construction of said reservoir, or 
 interfere with its flow. 
 
 Commissioner to prepare maps. 
 
 Sec. 486. Whenever in the opinion of said Commissioner it 
 is necessary to acquire any such real estate (as the term "real 
 estate" is herein defined) for any of the purposes hereinbefore 
 set forth, or for the purpose of extinguishing any right, title or 
 interest thereto or therein, the said Commissioner, for and on 
 behalf of the City of New York, shall prepare a map or maps of 
 the real estate which in his opinion it is necessary to acquire for 
 the purposes hereinbefore set forth, and shall submit the same 
 to the Board of Public Improvements for approval. The said 
 Board may adopt, modify or reject such maps in whole or in part, 
 and may require others to be made instead thereof. A copy of the 
 map or maps so prepared, with a certificate of the adoption there- 
 of, signed by the Commissioner and the President of the Board 
 of Public Improvements, shall be filed in the office of said Com- 
 missioner and be open to public inspection, and shall be the map 
 or maps of the real estate to be acquired, subject to such changes 
 or modifications as the said Commissioner may from time to time 
 deem necessary for the more efficient carrying out of the provi- 
 sions of this act. And the said Board of Public Improvements, 
 prior to the final adoption of such map or maps, shall afford to 
 all persons interested a full opportunity to be heard respecting 
 such map or maps and the acquisition of the real estate shown 
 thereon, and shall give public notice of such hearing, by publish- 
 ing a notice, once in each week, for three successive weeks in the 
 "City Record," and the corporation newspapers, and in two 
 papers published in the County or Counties in which the real 
 
 228 
 
estate to be acquired or affected is situated, and in two daily- 
 papers in the City of New York. At such hearing or hearings 
 testimony may be produced by the parties appearing before him, 
 in such manner as said Board may determine, and the President 
 of said Board is hereby authorized to administer oaths and issue 
 subpoenas in any such proceeding pending before him. 
 
 Power to enter upon lands for the purpose of making maps. 
 
 Sec. 487. The said Commissioner, his agents, engineers, 
 surveyors, and such other persons as may be necessary to ena- 
 ble him to perform his duties under this Act, are hereby author- 
 ized to enter upon real estate, as the term real estate is defined 
 in this Act, and any land or water on or contiguous to the line, 
 course, site or track of any pond, lake, stream, reservoir, dam, 
 aqueduct, culverts, sluices, canals, bridges, tunnels, pumping 
 works, blow-offs, shafts and other appurtenances, for the purpose 
 of making surveys or examinations and preparing and posting 
 the notices required by this Act. 
 
 Details of maps. 
 
 Sec, 488. After the final adoption of said map or maps the 
 said Commissioner shall prepare six similar maps or plans of the 
 proposed site of any dam, reservoir, acqueduct, sluice culvert, 
 canal, pumping works, bridges, tunnels, blow-offs, ventilating 
 shafts, and other necessary appurtenances for the proper com- 
 pletion of the work so proposed by him. Upon these maps there 
 shall be laid out and numbered the various parcels of real estate, 
 on, over or through which the same are to be constructed and 
 maintained, or which may be necessary for the prosecution of 
 the work authorized by this Act. On said maps the natural and 
 artificial division lines existing on the surface of the soil at the 
 time of the survey shall be delineated, and there shall be plainly 
 indicated thereon of which parcels the fee or other interest is to 
 be acquired. The said maps may be made and filed in sections. 
 One or more sections may be determined before the maps of the 
 whole construction are completed. The proceedings hereinafter 
 authorized may, in like manner be taken separately, in reference 
 
 229 
 
to one or more of such sections, before the maps of the whole 
 are filed. The work upon one or more of such sections may be 
 begun before the maps of the remaining sections are filed. The 
 map or maps when adopted by the said Commissioner and Board 
 of Public Improvements shall be by said Commissioner trans- 
 mitted to the Corporation Counsel, with a certificate of ap 
 proval written thereon and signed by the said Commissioner 
 and the President of the Board of Public Improvements. 
 
 Maps to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 489. The Corporation Counsel shall cause one of said 
 maps to be filed in the office of the Clerk of each County in 
 which any real estate laid out on said maps shall be located, 
 except that in any County in which there may be a Register's 
 office, the said map shall be filed therein, instead of with the 
 County Clerk. The fourth, fifth and sixth maps shall be dis- 
 posed of in the manner indicated in section 495 of this Act. 
 
 Corporation Counsel to conduct proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 490. After the said maps shall have been filed, as pro- 
 vided for in the last section, the Corporation Counsel for 
 and on behalf of the City of New York, shall, upon first 
 giving the notice required in the next section of this Title 
 apply to the Supreme Court, at a Special Term thereof to be 
 held in the judicial district in which the real estate to be 
 acquired or affected is situated, for the appointment of Commis- 
 sioners of Appraisal. Upon such application he shall present to 
 the Court a petition, signed and verified by the said Commis- 
 sioner, according to the practice of said Court, setting forth the 
 action theretofore taken by said Commissioner and Board of 
 Public Improvement, and the filing of said map and praying for 
 the appointment of such Commissioners. Such petition shall 
 contain a general description of all the real estate to, in, or over 
 which any title, interest, right or easement is sought to be 
 acquired for the said City for the purposes of this Act, each par- 
 cel being more particularly described by a reference to the 
 number of said parcel, as given on said map ; and the title, 
 
 230 
 
interest or easement sought to be acquired to, in, or over such 
 parcel, whether a fee or otherwise, shall be stated in the 
 petition. 
 
 Notice to be given. 
 
 Sec. 491. The Corporation Counsel shall give notice in the 
 "City Record," and corporation newspapers, and in two public 
 newspapers published in the City of New York, and in two public 
 newspapers published in each other County in which any real 
 estate laid out on said maps may be located, of his intention 
 to make application to the said Court for the appointment 
 of such Commissioners of Appraisal, which notice shall specify 
 the time and place of such application, shall briefly state 
 the object of the application, and shall describe the real 
 estate sought to be taken or affected. A statement of the 
 boundaries of the real estate to be acquired or affected, 
 with separate enumerations of the numbers of the parcels 
 to be taken, in fee, and of the numbers of the parcels in 
 which any interest or easement is to be acquired, with a reference 
 to the date and place of filing the said map shall be sufificient 
 description of the real estate sought to be so taken or situated. 
 Such notice shall be so published, once in each week, in each of 
 the said newspapers, for six weeks immediately previous to the 
 presentation of such petition ; and the Corporation Counsel 
 shall, in addition to the said advertisements, cause copies 
 of the same, in hand-bills, to be posted in at least twenty 
 conspicuous places in the vicinity of the real estate so to be 
 taken or affected, at least six weeks prior to said application. 
 
 Motions for appointment of Commissioners of Appraisal. 
 
 Sec. 492. At the time and place mentioned in said notice, 
 unless the said Court shall adjourn said application to a subse- 
 quent day, and in that event, at the time to which the same may 
 be adjourned, the Court, upon due proof to its satisfaction of the 
 publication and posting aforesaid, and upon filing the said petition, 
 shall make an order for the appointment of three disinterested 
 and competent freeholders, one of whom shall reside in the 
 County of New York, one of whom shall reside in the County in 
 
 231 
 
which the real estate acquired or affected is situated, and one of 
 whom shall reside in the County in which the said real estate 
 shall be situated, or in an adjoining County, as Commissioners 
 of Appraisal to ascertain and appraise the compensation to be 
 made to the owners and all persons interested in the real estate 
 laid down on said maps, as proposed to be taken or affected for 
 the purposes indicated in this Act. Such order shall fix the time 
 and place for the first meeting of the Commissioners. 
 
 Commissioners to take and file oath. 
 
 Sec. 493. The said Commissioners shall take and subscribe 
 the oath required by the twelfth article of the Constitution, and 
 shall forthwith file the same in the office of the Clerk of the 
 County in which the real estate to be acquired or affected is sit- 
 uated, and shall file certified copies of said oath in the office of 
 the Register and County Clerk of the County of New York. 
 
 City to become seized of real estate. 
 
 Sec. 494. On filing the oath of the Commissioners of Ap- 
 praisal, in the manner provided by the last section, the said City 
 of New York shall be and become seized, in fee, of all those 
 parcels of real estate which are shown on the said map herein- 
 before referred to, of which it has been determined by the said 
 Commissioner, that the fee shall be acquired and shall be en- 
 titled to take and hold such interest in the parcels of land in 
 which it has been determined that the fee shall not be acquired, 
 as has been shown on said map and described in said petition, 
 and may immediately, upon the filing of such oaths and such 
 certified copies, or at any time or times thereafter, take posses- 
 sion of the lands shown on said map, or any part or parts thereof, 
 without any suit or proceeding at law for that purpose. 
 
 Proceedings of Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 495. Any one of said Commissioners of Appraisal may 
 issue subpoenas and administer oaths to witnesses ; and they, or 
 any one of them, in the absence of the others, may adjourn the 
 proceedings from time to time, in their discretion, but they shall 
 continue to meet, from time to time, as may be necessary to 
 
 282 
 
hear, consider and determine upon all claims which may be pre- 
 sented to them under this Act. In case of death, resignation, 
 refusal, neglect or inability to serve, of any Commissioner or 
 Commissioners of Appraisal, the Corporation Counsel shall, 
 upon due notice to be given by advertisement in the news- 
 papers designated in this Act ten days prior to such applica- 
 tion, apply to the Supreme Court, at a Special Term thereof, to 
 be held in the judicial district in which the real estate is situated, 
 for the appointment of one or more Commissioners to fill the 
 vacancy or vacancies so occasioned. Whenever the Commis- 
 sioners meet, except by appointment of the Court, or pursuant 
 to adjournment, they shall cause reasonable notice to be given 
 to the attorneys for such parties who have appeared. It shall 
 be the duty of the Commissioners of Appraisal to procure from 
 the Corporation Counsel the fourth, fifth and sixth copies 
 of the maps provided for in this Act. They shall view 
 the real estate laid down on said maps, and shall hear the 
 proofs and allegations of any owner, lessee or other person 
 in any way entitled to, or interested in said estate, or any 
 part or parcel thereof, and also such proofs and allega- 
 tions as may be offered on behalf of the City of New York. 
 They, or a majority of them, shall also determine the height to 
 which the waters of any lake, pond or natural stream concerning 
 which such proceedings were instituted may be raised and the 
 point to which such waters may be drawn down by the City of 
 New York, such determination to be made before any award of 
 damages shall be made on account of such proposed raising or 
 depressing of such waters, and they shall also determine what 
 sum shall be paid to the general or special guardian or com- 
 mittee of an infant, idiot, or person of unsound mind, and to 
 the attorney appointed by the Court to attend to the interests of 
 any unknown owner or party in interest, or to the attorney or 
 guardian of any party in interest whose interests are unknown or 
 the interest of any person or persons not in being. They shall 
 reduce the testimony, if any, taken before them, to writing, and 
 after the testimony is closed, they, or a majority of them, all 
 having considered the same, and having an opportunity to be 
 present, shall, without unnecessary delay, ascertain and deter- 
 
 233 
 
mine the just compensation which ought justly to be made by 
 the City of New York to the owners, or the persons interested 
 in the real estate sought to be acquired or affected by said pro- 
 ceedings. The said Commissioners of Appraisal shall make 
 reports of their proceedings to the Supreme Court, as in the 
 next section provided, with the minutes of the testimony taken 
 by them, if any, and they shall be entitled to the payments here- 
 inafter provided for their services and expenses, to be paid from 
 the fund herein provided. 
 
 Commissioners to prepare report. 
 
 Sec. 496. The said Commissioners shall prepare a report, and 
 a true copy or copies thereof, as may be required, to which 
 shall be respectively annexed the fourth and fifth copies, and, if re- 
 quired, the sixth copy of the maps referred to in this Act. The said 
 report shall contain a brief description of the several parcels of 
 real estate so taken or affected, with a reference to the map as 
 showing the location and boundaries of each parcel ; a statement 
 of the sum estimated and determined upon by them as a just com- 
 pensation to be made by the City to the owners of or persons 
 entitled to or interested in each parcel so taken or affected, and 
 a statement of the respective owners of or persons entitled thereto 
 or interested therein ; but in all and each and every case and 
 cases, where the owners and parties interested, or their respective 
 estates or interests are unknown, or not fully known, to the Com- 
 missioners of Appraisal, it shall be sufficient for them to set forth 
 and state, in general terms, the respective sums to be allowed 
 and paid to the owners of and parties interested therein generally, 
 without specifying the names or estates or interests of such 
 owners or parties interested, or any or either of them. They 
 shall also recommend such sums as shall seem to them proper to 
 be allowed to the parties or attorneys appearing before them, 
 as costs, counsel fees, expenses and disbursements, including 
 reasonable compensation for witnesses. 
 
 Report to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 497. Said report signed by said Commissioners, or a 
 majority of them, shall be filed in the office of the Clerk of the 
 
 234 
 
County in which the real estate is situated. The Commissioners 
 of Appraisal shall notify the Corporation Counsel as soon 
 as the said report is filed. 
 
 Notice of motion to confirm report. 
 
 Sec. 498. The Corporation Counsel, or, in case of his 
 neglect to do so within ten days after receiving notice of such 
 filing, then any person interested in the proceedings, shall give 
 notice that the said report will be presented for confirmation to 
 the Supreme Court, at a Special Term thereof, to be held in the 
 judicial district in which the real estate is situated, at a time and 
 place to be specified in said notice. The said notice shall contain 
 a statement of the time and place of the filing of the report, and 
 shall be published in each of the newspapers referred to in sec- 
 tion 491 of this Act, once in each week, for at least four weeks 
 immediately prior to the presentation of said report for confir- 
 mation. 
 
 Confirmation of report. 
 
 Sec. 499. The application for the confirmation of the report 
 shall be made to the Supreme Court, at a Special Term thereof, 
 held in the judicial district in which the real estate is situated. 
 Upon the hearing of the application for the confirmation thereof, 
 the said Court shall confirm such report, and make an order, con 
 taining a recital of the substance of the proceedings in the matter 
 of the appraisal, with a general description of the real estate 
 appraised, and for which compensation is to be made ; and shall 
 also direct to whom the money is to be paid, or in what Trust 
 Company it shall be deposited by the Comptroller of the City 
 of New York. Such report, when so confirmed, shall (except in 
 the case of an appeal, as provided in section 505 of this Act) be 
 final and conclusive as well upon the said City of New York as 
 upon the owners and all persons interested in or entitled to said 
 real estate ; and also upon all other persons whomsoever. 
 
 Payment of azvards. 
 
 Sec. 500. The said City of New York shall, within four 
 calendar months after the making and entry of the order con- 
 
 235 
 
firming the report of the Commissioners of Appraisal, pay to 
 the respective owners and bodies, politic or corporate, mentioned 
 or referred to in said report, in whose favor any sum or sums of 
 money shall be estimated and reported by said Commissioners, 
 the respective sum or sums so estimated and reported in their 
 favor respectively, with lawful interest thereon, from the date 
 of filing the oath of said Commissioners and certified copies 
 thereof, as by this Act required. And in case of neglect or default 
 in the payment of the same within the time aforesaid, the 
 respective person or persons, or bodies, politic or corporate, in 
 whose favor the same shall be so reported, his, her, or their 
 executors, administrators, legal representatives or successors, at 
 any time or times, after application first made by him, her, or 
 them, to the Comptroller of the City of New York for payment 
 thereof, may sue for and recover the same, with lawful interest, 
 as aforesaid, and the costs of suit in any proper form of action 
 against the said City of New York in any Court having cogni- 
 zance thereof, and in which it shall be sufficient to declare 
 generally for so much money due to the plaintiff or plaintiffs 
 therein by virtue of this Act, for real estate taken or affected 
 for the purposes herein mentioned, and the report and order 
 confirming report of said Commissioners, with proof of the right 
 and title of the plaintiff or plaintiffs to the sum or sums demanded 
 sht.ll be conclusive evidence in such suit or action, and entitle 
 plaintiff to judgment therein. 
 
 Sum awarded to be deposited in certain cases. 
 
 Sec. 501. Whenever the owner or owners, person or persons 
 interested in any real estate taken or affected in such proceedings, 
 or in whose favor any such sum or sums or compensation shall 
 be so reported, shall be under the age of twenty-one years, of 
 unsound mind, or absent from the State of New York, and also 
 in all cases where the name or names of the owner or owners, 
 person or persons interested in any such real estate shall not be 
 set forth or mentioned in the said report, or where the said owner 
 or owners, person or persons, being named therein cannot, upon 
 diligent inquiry, be found, or where there are adverse or conflict- 
 ing claims to the money awarded as compensation, it shall be 
 
 236 
 
lawful for the said City of New York to pay the sum or sums 
 mentioned in the said report, payable, or that would be coming 
 to such owner or owners, person or persons respectively, with 
 interest aforesaid, into such Trust Company as the Court may, 
 in the order of confirmation, direct, to the credit of such owner 
 or owners, person or persons, and such payment shall be as valid 
 and effectual, in all respects, as if made to the said owner or 
 owners, person or persons interested therein respectively them- 
 selves, according to their just rights; and provided, also, that 
 in all and each and every such case and cases where any such 
 sum or sums, or compensation, reported by the Commissioners 
 in favor of any person or persons, or party or parties, whatso- 
 ever, whether named or not named in the said report, shall be 
 paid to any person or persons, or party or parties, whomsoever, 
 when the same shall of right belong and ought to have been 
 paid to some other person or persons, or party or parties, it shall 
 be lawful for the person or persons, or party or parties to whom 
 the same ought to have been paid, to sue for and recover the 
 same, with lawful interest and costs of suits, as so much money 
 had and received to his, her or their use, by the person or per- 
 sons, party or parties respectively to whom the same shall have 
 been so paid. 
 
 IV/io may present claim before Commissioner. 
 
 Sec. 502. Every owner or person in any way interested in any " 
 real estate taken, affected or entered upon and used and occupied 
 for the purposes contemplated by this Act, and any owner or 
 person interested in real estate contiguous thereto, and which is 
 affected by the acquisition, use or occupation of the real estate 
 shown on said map, whether such contiguous real estate is 
 shown on the maps or not, if he or they intend to make claim for 
 compensation for such taking, entering upon, using or occupying, 
 shall, within one year after the appointment of the Commissioners 
 of Appraisal, exhibit to the said Commissioners a statement of 
 claim, and shall thereupon be entitled to offer testimony and to 
 be heard before them touching such claim, and the compensation 
 proper to be made, and to have a determination made by such 
 Commissioners of Appraisal as to the amount of such compensa- 
 
 237 
 
tion. Every person, corporation, or body politic, neglecting or 
 refusing to present such claim within said time shall be deemed 
 to have surrendered his, her or its title or interest in such real 
 estate, or his, her or its claim for damages thereto, except so 
 far as they may be entitled, as such owner or person interested, 
 •to the whole or a part of the sum of money awarded by the 
 Commissioners of Appraisal as a just compensation for taking, 
 using and occupying, or as damages for affecting the real estate 
 owned by said person, corporation, or body politic. 
 
 City protected by payment. 
 
 Sec. 503. Payment of the compensation awarded by said 
 Commissioners of Appraisal to the person or persons, corporation, 
 or body politic named in their report (if not infants or persons of 
 unsound mind) shall, in the absence of notice to City of New 
 York of other claimants to such award, protect the said City of 
 New York. 
 
 Separate reports may be made. 
 
 Sec. 504. Said Commissioners of Appraisal may, in their dis- 
 cretion, take up any specified claim or claims, and finally ascer- 
 tain and determine the compensation to be made thereon, and 
 make a separate report with reference thereto, annexing to said 
 report a copy of so much of the maps as displays the parcel or 
 parcels so reported on. Such report shall, as to the claims 
 therein specified, be the report required in this act, and the sub- 
 sequent action with reference thereto shall be had in the same 
 manner as though no other claim was embraced in said proceed- 
 ing, which, however, shall continue as to all claims upon which 
 no such determination and report is made. 
 
 Proceedings in case of an Appeal. 
 
 Sec. 505. Within twenty days after the making, entry and 
 service of the order confirming the report of the Commissioners 
 of Appraisal, as provided for in this Act, of which notice may, 
 as to the parties who have not appeared before the Commissioners, 
 be given in the manner provided in this Act, either party may 
 appeal by notice, in writing, to the Appellate Division of the 
 
 238 
 
Supreme Court of the judicial department in which the real es- 
 tate described in said petition and shown on said map is situated. 
 Such appeal shall be heard, on due notice thereof being given, 
 according to the rules and practice of the said Court, and pend- 
 ing such appeal the Comptroller of the City of New York shall 
 deposit in such Trust Company as the Court shall direct, the 
 amount of the award, with interest to the date of such deposit, 
 and the funds so deposited shall remain with the Trust Company, 
 subject to the further order of the Court. On the hearing of 
 such appeal the Court may direct a new appraisal and determina- 
 tion by the same or new Commissioners, in its discretion, and 
 either party, if aggrieved, may take a further appeal, which shall 
 be heard and determined by the Court of Appeals. In the case 
 of a new appraisal the second report shall be final and conclusive 
 on all parties and persons interested. If the amount of compen- 
 sation to be made by the said city is increased by the second 
 report, the difference shall be paid by the Comptroller of the 
 City of New York to the parties entitled to the same, or shall be 
 deposited, as the Court may direct ; and if the amount is dimin- 
 ished, the difference shall be refunded to the said City of New 
 York by the Trust Company. But the taking of an appeal by 
 any person or persons shall not operate to stay the proceedings 
 under this Act, providing such award and interest have been de- 
 posited. Such appeal shall be heard upon the evidence taken 
 and proceedings had before such Commissioners. 
 
 How defects may be remedied. 
 
 Sec. 506. The Supreme Court of the judicial district in which 
 the real estate is situated shall have power at any time to amend 
 any defect or informality in any of the special proceedings auth- 
 orized by this Act as may be necessary, or to cause other prop- 
 erty to be included therein, and to direct such further notices to 
 be given to any party in interest, as it deems proper, and also to 
 appoint other Commissioners in place of any who shall die or 
 refuse or neglect to serve, or be incapable of serving, or be re- 
 moved. And the said Court may, at any time, remove any of 
 said Commissioners of Appraisal who, in their judgment, shall be 
 incapable of serving, or who shall, for any reason in their judg- 
 
 239 
 
ment, be an unfit person to serve as such Commissioner. The 
 cause of such removal shall be specified in the order making the 
 same. If, in any particular, it shall, at any time, be found 
 necessary to amend any pleading, or proceeding, or to supply 
 any defect therein, arising in the course of any special proceed- 
 ing authorized by this Act, the same may be amended or sup-^ 
 plied in such manner as shall be directed by the Supreme Court, 
 which is hereby authorized to make such amendment or correc- 
 tion. 
 
 Agreements with owners of real estate. 
 
 Sec. 507. The said Commissioners, subject to the approval 
 of the Board of Public Improvements, may agree with the 
 owners or persons interested in any real estate laid down on 
 said maps as to the amount of compensation to be paid to such 
 owners or persons interested for the taking or using and occupy- 
 ing such real estate. And in case any such real estate shall be 
 owned, occupied or enjoyed by the people of this State, or by 
 any County, town or school district within this State, such 
 rights, titles, interests or properties may be paid for upon agree- 
 ment respectively with the Commissioners of the Land Office, 
 who shall act for the people of the State, with a chairman and a 
 majority in numbers of the Board of Supervisors of any County, 
 who shall act for such County, and with the Supervisor and Com- 
 missioners of Highways in any town, who shall act for such town, 
 and with the trustees of any school district, who shall act for 
 such district, and with the President and a majority of the Board 
 of Trustees of any incorporated village. The Commissioners of 
 the Land Office shall have power to grant to the said city any real 
 estate belonging to the people of this State which may be re- 
 quired for the purposes indicated in this Act, on such terms as 
 may be agreed on between them and the said Commissioners; 
 and if any real estate of any County, town, or school district is 
 required by such city for the purpose of this Act, the majority of 
 the Board of Supervisors, acting for such County, or the Super- 
 visors of any such town, with the Commissioners of Highways 
 therein, acting for such town, or the Trustees of any school dis- 
 trict, acting for such district, or the President and majority of 
 
 240 
 
Trustees of any incorporated village, may grant or surrender 
 
 such real estate for such compensation as may be agreed upon 
 
 •between such officers respectively and the said Commissioners. 
 
 Compensation and Expenses of Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 508. The Commissioners of Appraisal, appointed in pur- 
 suance of this Act, shall receive as compensation for their services 
 the sum of ten dollars per day for each day upon which the said 
 Commissioners shall meet and be actually and necessarily em- 
 ployed in the performance of the duties imposed upon them by this 
 Act. They may employ the necessary clerks and stenographers. 
 The Corporation Counsel shall, either in person or by such 
 counsel as he shall designate for the purpose, appear for and pro- 
 tect the interests of the City in all such proceedings in Court and 
 before the Commissioners. The fees of the Commissioners, and 
 the salaries and compensation of their employees, and their neces- 
 sary traveling expenses, and all other necessary expenses in and 
 about the special proceedings provided by this Act, to be had for 
 acquiring title or extinguishing claims for damages to real estate, 
 and such allowances for counsel fees, expenses and witness fees as 
 may be recommended by the Commissioners and ordered paid by 
 order of the Court, shall be paid by the Comptroller of the City 
 of New York, out of the funds hereinafter provided, when they 
 have been taxed before a Justice of the Supreme Court in the 
 judicial district in which the real estate is situated, upon five 
 days' notice to the Corporation Counsel. 
 
 Issue of bonds. 
 
 Sec. 509. The Comptroller of the City of New York is hereby 
 authorized and directed to raise, from time to time, on bonds of 
 said City, in addition to the amounts which he is now authorized 
 to raise for such purposes, such sums of money as shall be suffi- 
 cient to pay for any real estate, or for the extinguishment of 
 any right, title, or interest therein acquired, and all damages 
 appraised to persons interested therein, together with all ex- 
 penses necessarily incurred in acquiring title to such real estate, 
 or in extinguishing claims for damages thereto, and for all other 
 expenditures herein authorized. 
 
 241 
 
 ^IFO 
 
 
Description of bonds. 
 
 Sec. 510. The bonds to be issued by the Comptroller of the 
 City of New York in pursuance of this title shall be called 
 "Corporate stock of the City of New York," and shall be issued 
 in the manner hereinbefore provided for the issue of Corporate 
 stock, subject, however, to the limitations of the State Consti- 
 tution. And the Municipal Assembly of said city is hereby 
 authorized and directed to raise, from time to time, by tax upon 
 the estates, real and personal, subject to taxation in the City of 
 New York, the sum or sums of money which may be required to 
 pay the interest on said bonds and to redeem them at maturity. 
 
 Jurisdiction of State Board of Health. 
 
 Sec. 511. Any lake or reservoir constructed or maintained 
 under the provisions of this Act shall be subject to such sani- 
 tary regulations as the State Board of Health shall prescribe. 
 
 Highways and Bridges. 
 
 Sec. 512. The City of New York is hereby required to build 
 and construct such highways and bridges as may be made neces- 
 sary by the construction of any reservoir in the Counties of West- 
 chester, Putnam, Queens or Suffolk under this Act, and to repair 
 and forever maintain such additional bridges as may be made 
 necessary by the construction of such reservoir or reservoirs. 
 
 Account of Expenditure to be filed in Comptroller's office. 
 
 Sec. 513. The said Commissioner of Water Supply shall, in 
 every calendar month, file in the office of the Comptroller of the 
 City of New York an account of all expenditures made by him, 
 or under his authority, and of all liabilities incurred by him, 
 during the preceding month, and an abstract of each such account 
 shall be published in the City Record. 
 
 Limit within which Lake Mahopac may not be drawn down. 
 
 Sec. 514. Nothing herein contained shall authorize or em- 
 power or permit any water in excess of the ordinary flow thereof 
 to be drawn from Lake Mahopac, in the Town of Carmel, Put- 
 
 242 
 
nam County, between the first days of March and September in 
 any year. 
 
 Present proceedings to be continued. 
 
 Sec. 515. All proceedings pending at the time this Act takes 
 effect for the acquisition of title to or the extinguishment of rights 
 in real estate for any of the purposes in this title specified, shall 
 be continued and prosecuted to a conclusion according to the 
 respective provisions of law under which said proceedings may 
 have been begun, and as to all such proceedings this Act shall 
 not be deemed applicable. 
 
 Id. Corporations authorized to use grounds under streets^ etc. 
 
 Sec. 516. All persons acting under the authority of the 
 city of New York shall have the right to use the ground or soil 
 under any street, highway or road within this State for the pur- 
 pose of introducing water into the city of New York, on con- 
 dition that they shall cause the surface of said street, highways 
 or roads to be restored to its original state, and all damages 
 done thereto shall be repaired. 
 
 Devolution of powers of former boards. 
 
 Sec. 517. For all the purposes of this Act all of the rights, 
 powers, privileges, duties and obligations, heretofore created by 
 law or otherwise, of the City of Brooklyn, or of any of its De- 
 partments or officers respecting the water works of said City are, 
 so far as they are consistent with the provisions of this Act, 
 hereby vested in The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, and as matter of administration devolved upon the Com- 
 missioner of Water Supply of The City of New York to be by 
 him exercised in accordance with the provisions, directions and 
 limitations of this Act, and all of the rights, powers, privileges, du- 
 ties and obligations of Long Island City, or of any or either of 
 its Departments or officers, or of any town, village or dis- 
 trict in any of the territory hereby annexed to the corporation 
 heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of 
 the City of New York, and by this Act consolidated into one 
 
 243 
 
city, in respect to any of the public water works or the pubHc 
 water system, or the public water supply thereof ; the sale and 
 distribution of the same, are hereby vested in The City of New 
 York, and for the purpose of administration are hereby devolved 
 upon the said Commissioner of Water Supply of The City of 
 New York to be by him executed pursuant to the provisions, 
 directions and limitations of this Act. 
 
 Sec. 518. Nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed 
 or construed to repeal, or in any wise affect chapter 490 of the 
 Laws of 1883, entitled ' 'An Act to provide new reservoirs, dams 
 and a new aqueduct with the appurtenances thereto for the pur- 
 pose of supplying the City of New York with an increased 
 supply of pure and wholesome water," or the several acts 
 amendatory thereof, but the said Act and its amendments shall 
 remain in full force and effect, provided that the Commissioners 
 therein specified, shall not hereafter begin the construction of any 
 new work, except such as may be properly and necessarily ap- 
 purtenant to work, the construction of which has been begun 
 before the date upon which this Act takes effect. The term of 
 office of the Commission appointed and existing under the afore- 
 said Act shall cease and determine on the first day of January, 
 1901, and thereupon all papers, documents and records in pos- 
 session of the Aqueduct Commission shall be delivered to the 
 Commissioner of Water Supply, who shall continue and com- 
 plete, in the manner provided by this Act, all work of every 
 kind and description whatsoever left uncompleted by the said 
 Commission. 
 
 Title 5. 
 department of highways. 
 Commissioner of Highways ; appointme?it , terfn, salary.' 
 
 Sec. 523. The head of the Department of Highways shall 
 be called the Commissioner of Highways. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor and hold ofifice as provided in Chapter IV of this 
 Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five hundred dollars a 
 year. 
 
 244 
 
Id.: Jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 524. The Commissioner of Highways shall have cog- 
 nizance and control : 
 
 (1) Of regulating, grading, curbing, flagging and 
 guttering of streets and laying crosswalks. 
 
 (2) Of constructing and repairing public roads. 
 
 (3) Of paving, repaving, resurfacing, and repairing of 
 all streets, and of the relaying of all pavements removed 
 for any cause. 
 
 (4) Of the laying or relaying of surface railroad tracks 
 in any public street or road, of the form of rail used, or 
 character of foundation, and the method of construction, 
 and of the restoration of the pavement or surface after 
 such work. 
 
 (5) Of the filling of sunken lots, fencing of vacant lots, 
 digging down lots, and of licensing vaults under side- 
 walks. 
 
 (6) Of recommending to the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments, ordinances relating to any of the matters within 
 the province of his department. He snail make an 
 annual report of the business and transactions of his 
 department to the Mayor. 
 
 Permit from. Departme7tt of Highways necessary for removals of 
 pavements, etc. ; procedure in case of pavemeuts relaid, etc. 
 Sec. 525. No removal of the pavement or disturbance of the 
 surface of any street for the purpose of constructing vaults or 
 lateral ways, digging cellars, laying foundations of buildings or 
 other structures, making sewer connections, or repairing sewers 
 or pipes, of laying down gas and water pipes, steam pipes and 
 electric wires, or introducing the same into buildings, or for any 
 purpose whatever, shall be made until a permit is first had from 
 the Department of Highways; and whenever any portion of the 
 pavement in any street or avenue in said City shall have been 
 removed for any of these purposes, and such pavement shall not 
 be relaid in a manner satisfactory to the Commissioner, the said 
 Commissioner may cause a notice, in writing, to be served upon 
 
 246 
 
the person or corporation by whom the same was removed ; or if 
 such removal was for the purpose of making connection between 
 any house or lot, or any sewer or pipes in the street, or for con- 
 structing vaults, or otherwise improving any house or lot, upon 
 the owner or occupant of such house or lot requiring such per- 
 son or corporation, or the owner or occupant of such house or 
 lot, to have such pavement properly relaid within five days after 
 service of such notice. Such notice may be served upon the 
 owner or occupant of a house or lot by leaving the same with any 
 person of adult age upon said premises or posting the same there- 
 upon ; in case such pavement, or portion thereof, shall not be 
 relaid to the satisfaction of said Commissioner within |,the time 
 specified in such notice, it shall be lawful, and authority is hereby 
 given to said Commissioner, to have such pavement, or the portion 
 thereof which shall have been so unsatisfactorily laid, put in 
 proper order and repair, in such manner as the Commissioner may 
 deem best, on account of the person or corporation by whom 
 such pavement was removed, or of the owner of the premises for 
 whose benefit such removal was made. Upon the costs of such 
 work being certified to the Comptroller of the City of New York 
 by the said Commissioner, with a description of the lot or premises 
 to improve which such removal was made, said Comptroller shall 
 pay the same, and the amount so paid shall become a lien and 
 charge upon the premises so described, and, on being certified by 
 the Comptroller to the Collector of Assessments and Arrears, 
 may be collected in the same manner that arrears and water 
 rates are collected under the direction of such Collector of As- 
 sessments and Arrears. But nothing herein contained shall be 
 deemed to prohibit said Commissioner from demanding, before 
 issuing said permit, and as a condition thereof, the deposit of 
 such sum of money, or other security, as in his judgment may be 
 necessary to pay the cost of properly relaying the pavement so 
 removed, together with the expense of the inspection thereof. 
 
 The office of Commissioner of Street Im,provements in the 23d 
 and 2Ji,th Wards abolished ; devolution of powers. 
 
 Sec. 526. The office of Commissioner of Street Improve- 
 ments of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards of the 
 
 246 
 
City of New York, created by Chapter five hundred and forty- 
 five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety, is hereby 
 abolished, and all the powers, privileges and duties of the 
 said Commissioner of Street Improvements for the said Twenty- 
 third and Twenty-fourth Wards, which in any way relate 
 to the regulating, grading, regrading, curbing, flagging, and 
 guttering of streets, laying of crosswalks, the constructing 
 and repairing of public roads, paving, repairing and repaving of 
 all streets and the relaying of all pavements removed for any 
 cause, of the filling of sunken lots, are hereby, so far as the same 
 are consistent with the requirements of this Act, devolved upon 
 the Commissioner of Highways of The City of New York, and are 
 to be exercised and performed by him according to the pro- 
 visions of this Act. 
 
 Devolution of powers of former boards. 
 
 Sec. 527. All powers and duties conferred upon the corpor- 
 ation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Common- 
 alty of the City of New York, or upon any board or officer 
 thereof, or upon the corporation known as the City of Brook, 
 lyn, or upon any board or officer thereof, or upon the corpora- 
 tion known as Long Island City, or upon any Board or Officer 
 thereof, and upon any other Municipal Corporation, Town or 
 Village, within the County of Richmond, or within so much of 
 the territory of the County of Queens as is by this Act annexed 
 to the Municipal Corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, and consolidated 
 into the Municipality known as The City of New York, in any 
 way relating to the regulating, grading, regrading, curbing, 
 flagging, and guttering of streets, the laying of crosswalks, the 
 constructing and repairment of public roads, paving, repaving 
 and repairing of all streets, and the relaying of all pavements 
 removed for any cause, the filling of sunken lots, and all matters 
 directly related thereto are hereby vested in The City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act, and as matter of administration 
 devolved upon the Commissioner of Highways, and by him are 
 to be executed pursuant to the provisions, directions and limita- 
 tions of this Act. 
 
 247 
 
Title 6. 
 department of street cleaning. 
 
 Comtnissioner , appointment, tertn and salary. 
 
 Section 533. The Head'of the Department of Street Cleaning 
 shall be called the Commissioner of Street Cleaning. He shall 
 be appointed by the Mayor and shall hold office as provided in 
 Chapter IV of this Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five 
 hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Id.: Jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 534. The Commissioner of Street Cleaning shall have 
 cognizance and control : 
 
 (1) Of the sweeping and cleaning of the streets of the 
 city, and of the removal, or other disposition as often as 
 the public health and the use of the streets may require, 
 of ashes, street sweepings, garbage, and other light refuse 
 and rubbish, and of the removal of snow and ice from 
 leading thoroughfares and from such other streets as may 
 be found practicable. 
 
 (2) Of the removal of incumbrances. 
 
 (3) Of the issue of permits to builders and others to 
 use the streets, but not to open them, 
 
 (4) Of the framing of regulations controlling the use 
 of sidewalks and gutters by abutting owners and occu- 
 pants for the disposition of sweepings, refuse, garbage or 
 light rubbish, which, when so framed, and approved by 
 the Board of Public Improvements and the Municipal 
 Assembly shall be published in like manner as city ordi- 
 nances, and shall be enforced by the Police Department 
 in the same manner and to the same extent as such 
 ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 535. The term streets as used in this Title shall not be 
 deemed to include such macadamized streets as are within any 
 park or are under the control or management of the Department 
 
 248 
 
of Parks, nor such wharves, piers and bulkheads or slips and parts 
 of streets and places as are by law committed to the custody and 
 control of the Department of Docks and Ferries. 
 
 Street Cleaning Department; Members of; Clerical and Uniformed 
 Forces, 
 
 Sec. 536. The members of the department of street clean 
 ing shall be divided into two general classes, to be designated 
 respectively, the clerical force and the uniformed force. The 
 clerical force shall consist of a chief clerk, medical examiners 
 not exceeding three in number, and such and so many clerks and 
 messengers as the Commissioner of street cleaning shall deem 
 necessary ; but the aggregate salaries of the said clerical force 
 shall not exceed in any year the amount appropriated therefor 
 by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The uniformed 
 force shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Street Cleaning 
 and shall consist of one general superintendent, one assistant super 
 intendent, one superintendent of stables, one superintendent of 
 final disposition, one assistant superintendent of final disposition 
 district superintendents not exceeding twenty-one in number; time 
 collectors, not exceeding eight in number ; section foremen, not 
 exceeding one hundred and twenty-five in number; dump inspec 
 tors, not exceeding forty-three in number; assistant dump 
 inspectors, not exceeding forty-three in number; tug and scow 
 inspectors, not exceeding twenty-five in number; sweepers, not 
 exceeding thirty-one hundred in number; dump boardmen, not 
 exceeding forty-three in number; drivers, not exceeding six- 
 teen hundred in number; stable foremen, not exceeding 
 twenty-one in number; assistant stable foremen, not exceed- 
 ing twenty-one in number; hostlers, not exceeding one hundred 
 and forty-six in number ; a master mechanic and such and so many 
 mechanics and helpers as may be necessary ; but the aggregate sal 
 aries of such mechanics and helpers shall not exceed in any year 
 the amount appropriated therefor by the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment, and the Municipal Assembly. The Commissioner 
 of Street Cleaning shall have power and is hereby authorized to 
 increase the said uniformed force, from time to time, by adding 
 to the number of sweepers, drivers and hostlers, provided the 
 
 249 
 
Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and the Municipal 
 Assembly shall have previously made an appropriation for 
 the purpose of permitting such increase. The annual sal- 
 aries and compensations of the members of the uniformed 
 force of the Department of Street Cleaning shall be fixed 
 by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and shall not 
 exceed the following: Of the general superintendent, three 
 thousand dollars; of the assistant superintendent, two thous- 
 and five hundred dollars; of the superintendent of stables, 
 two thousand dollars ; of the master mechanic, one thous- 
 and eight hundred dollars; of the superintendent of final 
 disposition, two thousand dollars ; of the assistant superintendent 
 of final disposition, one thousand five hundred dollars ; of the dis- 
 trict superintendents, one thousand eight hundred dollars each ; of 
 the time collectors, one thousand two hundred dollars each ; of 
 the section foremen, one thousand dollars each ; of the dump 
 inspectors, one thousand dollars each ; of the assistant dump in- 
 spectors, nine hundred dollars each ; of the tug and scow in- 
 spectors, one thousand dollars each ; of the dump boardmen, 
 seven hundred and twenty dollars each ; of the sweepers, seven 
 hundred and twenty dollars each ; of the drivers, seven hundred 
 and twenty dollars each ; of the stable foremen, one thousand 
 two hundred dollars each ; of the assistant stable foremen, nine 
 hundred dollars each ; of the hostlers, seven hundred and twenty 
 dollars each. Hostlers may receive extra pay for Sundays if 
 an appropriation therefor is made by the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment. The members of the Department of 
 Street Cleaning shall be employed at all such times and dur- 
 ing such hours and upon such duties as the Commissioner of 
 Street Cleaning shall direct for the purpose of an effective 
 performance of the work devolving upon the said department. 
 In case of a snow fall or other emergency, the Commissioner of 
 Street Cleaning or the deputy commissioner may hire and em- 
 ploy temporarily such and so many men, carts and horses as 
 shall be rendered necessary by such emergency, forthwith report- 
 ing such action with the full particulars thereof to the Mayor, but 
 no man, cart or horse, shall be so hired or employed for a longer 
 period than three days, except that any person registered or eligible 
 
 250 
 
to appointment as a driver, or as a sweeper, may be temporarily- 
 employed at any time as an extra driver or sweeper to fill the 
 place of a driver or sweeper who is suspended or temporarily 
 absent from duty from any cause. The rate of compensation of 
 such extra drivers or sweepers shall be two dollars per day, and 
 the driver or sweeper whose place is so filled shall not receive 
 any compensation for the time during which he is so absent from 
 duty or his place is so filled, unless such injury or illness was 
 contracted in the service of the Department. The services of 
 any person employed, and of carts and horses hired pursuant 
 to this section, shall be paid for in full and directly by the Depart- 
 ment of Street Cleaning, at such times as may be prescribed by 
 such department ; and they, and each of them, shall be employed 
 and hired directly by the Department of Street Cleaning and not 
 through contractors or other persons, unless the Commissioner him- 
 self shall determine that this requirement must for proper action in 
 a particular instance be dispensed with. Nothing herein contained 
 shall affect any existing contracts made with or by the Department 
 of Street Cleaning in regard to the cleaning of Broadway below 
 Fourteenth street in said city or the renewal thereof, if deemed 
 best by the Commissioner of said department. 
 
 Id. Removal of members of clerical and uniformed forces. 
 
 Sec. 537. No member of the clerical force of the Depart- 
 ment of Street Cleaning shall be removed until he has been 
 informed of the cause of 'the proposed removal and has been 
 allowed an opportunity of making an explanation and in every 
 case of removal the true grounds thereof shall be entered upon 
 the records of the department. The Commissioner of Street 
 cleaning shall have power, in his discretion, on evidence satis- 
 factory to him that a member of the uniformed force has been 
 guilty of any legal or criminal offence or neglect of duty, viola- 
 tion of rules, or neglect or disobedience of orders, or incapacity, 
 or absence without leave, or conduct injurious to the public 
 peace or welfare, or immoral conduct, or any breach of disci- 
 pline, to punish the offending party by forfeiting or withhold- 
 ing pay for a specified time, suspension without pay during 
 such suspension for a period not exceeding thirty days, or 
 
 251 
 
by dismissal from the force, but no more than thirty days' 
 pay or salary shall be forfeited or deducted for any offense. 
 The said commissioner is also authorized and empowered, in his 
 discretion, to deduct and withhold pay, salary or compensation 
 from any member or members of the force for and on account 
 of absence for any cause without leave. All fines imposed and 
 pay deducted or withheld under the provisions of this section, 
 shall be retained by the Comptroller to the credit of the appor 
 tionment for the Department of Street Cleaning, and shall be 
 applicable, in the discretion of the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning, to any of the purposes of said department as if 
 originally appropriated therefor. Absence without leave of any 
 member of the uniformed force for five consecutive days shall 
 be deemed and held to be a resignation, and the member so 
 absent shall at the expiration of said period cease to be a mem- 
 ber of said force and may be dismissed therefrom without notice. 
 No leave of absence exceeding twenty days in any one year 
 shall be granted or allowed to any member of the uniformed 
 force, except upon condition that such member shall waive or 
 release not less than one-half of all salary, pay or compensation 
 and claim thereto or any part thereof during such absence. 
 The said Commissioner of Street Cleaning is hereby authorized 
 and empowered, from time to time to make, adopt, enforce 
 rules, orders and regulations conformable to the provisions of 
 this act for the government, administration, discipline and dis- 
 position of the said department and of the members thereof, 
 and to prescribe and define the duties of each member. When 
 and as soon as a member of the uniformed force has been fined, 
 suspended, or dismissed the true cause for such fine, suspension 
 or dismissal shall be entered in writing in a book to be kept for 
 that purpose by the Commissioner of Street Cleaning, which 
 book shall be a public record. A copy of the rules and regula- 
 tions or of any or either of them of the said commissioner 
 adopted by him may, when certified by him or by his deputy be 
 given in evidence upon any trial, investigation, hearing or pro- 
 ceeding in any court or before any tribunal, commissioner or 
 commissioners, board or competent body, with the same force 
 and effect as the original. 
 
 252 
 
Members of Department not liable to military or jury duty. 
 
 Sec. 538. No person holding any office or position under 
 the Department of Street Cleaning shall be liable to military or 
 jury duty. 
 
 Division of streets into districts; allotment of sweepers. 
 
 Sec. 539. All the paved avenues, streets, lanes, alleys and 
 places in said city which the department of Street Cleaning is by 
 this Act charged with the duty of cleaning, shall be cleaned 
 and kept cleaned by hand labor, and for that purpose each 
 sweeper shall provide himself with such tools and implements as 
 the Commissioner of Street Cleaning shall prescribe, and to each 
 sweeper shall be allotted a fixed area of street surface according 
 to the character of the locality ; of which allotment a record shall 
 be kept in the Department of Street Cleaning, and shall be a 
 public record, but nothing in this section contained shall be 
 deemed to prevent the Commissioner of Street Cleaning from 
 causing the labor of the sweepers to be supplemented by the use 
 of sweeping-machines in such streets and avenues as to him may 
 seem proper. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning to divide the city into a suitable number of districts, 
 not exceeding twenty-one, each of which shall be under the 
 charge and supervision of a district superintendent who shall be 
 directly responsible to the general superintendent, and also to the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning for the cleanliness of his district. 
 Each of said districts shall be by said Commissioner subdivided 
 into sections in charge of foremen responsible to the district 
 superintendent, as well as to the general superintendent, and to 
 the Commissioner of Street Cleaning for the cleanliness of his 
 section. It shall be the duty of said Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning to make such allotment and designation of the area 
 to be covered, and the duties to be performed by the uniformed 
 force, that each member thereof, except the general superinten- 
 dent and his assistant shall have one particular district or section 
 in which to perform all the work to which he is allotted. But 
 nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning from transferring, at his discre- 
 
 253 
 
tion, members of the uniformed force, from one district or section 
 to another, nor from temporarily employing all or any number of 
 said uniformed force in a particular street or streets, section or 
 sections. 
 
 Department of Docks; to keep wharves, etc. , clean. 
 
 Sec. 540. The Department of Docks shall have power 
 and authority and it is Hereby made its duty to cause the 
 wharves, piers, bulkheads, heads of slips, and portions of any 
 streets and places by law committed to the custody and control 
 of said Department of Docks, to be thoroughly cleaned, and kept 
 clean at all times ; and to remove from said wharves, piers, bulk- 
 heads, heads of slips and portions of streets, and to dispose of 
 all sweepings, ashes and garbage. And for the purpose of dis- 
 posing of the sweepings and other refuse removed by said 
 Department of Docks, the said Department of Docks shall have 
 the right and is hereby authorized to use concurrently with the 
 said Department of Street Cleaning, such dumping boards, slips 
 and piers as may be assigned to and set apart for the use of said 
 Department of Street Cleaning, and all contracts made by the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning under this Act for the removal 
 of ashes and garbage and sweepings shall provide for the removal 
 of such ashes, garbage, and sweepings, as may be required to be 
 removed by said Department of Docks. 
 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning; power to obtain plant, sup- 
 plies, etc. 
 
 Sec. 541. The said Commissioner of Street Cleaning shall 
 have power, and it shall be his duty, to purchase or hire from 
 time to time for his use as such Commissioner, at current prices, 
 such and so many horses, carts, steam tugs, scows, boats, ves 
 sels, machines, tools and other property as may be required for 
 the economical and effectual performance of his aforesaid duty 
 or to contract for the construction of any such tugs, scows 
 boats, vessels, carts, machines, tools or other property; or for 
 the sweeping of streets and the removal of street sweepings by 
 machine and also to contract for the cremation, utilization or burn 
 ing of street sweepings, refuse and garbage ; or for the melting oi 
 
 254 
 
removal of snow upon or from any streets or avenues or parts 
 thereof; the title to property so purchased or constructed shall 
 be in the City of New York. All such hiring, or purchases, or 
 contracts, however, exceeding one thousand dollars in amount 
 at any one hiring or purchase, shall be let by contract to the 
 lowest bidder therefor, founded on sealed bids or proposals 
 made in compliance with public notice^^advertised in the City 
 Record ; such notice to be published at least ten days prior to 
 the opening of such proposals or bids. Provided, that nothing 
 herein contained shall prevent said Commissioner, whenever it 
 shall be necessary, to hire such boats, steam tugs, scows, vessels, 
 machines, tools or other property for a day or trip, and for suc- 
 cessive days or trips, without advertising or contract founded 
 on sealed proposals or bids, at compensation by the day or trip, 
 notwithstanding the aggregate compensation for such successive 
 days or trips may exceed said sum of one thousand dollars. 
 The said Commissioner is hereby authorized, whenever and 
 as often as, in his opinion, the public interests shall require, 
 to reject all bids or proposals received in answer to any 
 such advertisement, and to re-advertise for bids and pro- 
 posals as hereinafter provided. Whenever the said Com- 
 missioner shall deem it necessary, he shall and is hereby author- 
 ized to sell, at public auction, any plant, material, horses, carts, 
 scows or other property, used in any way in connection with 
 the work of cleaning streets ; but before any such sale shall be 
 made a notice thereof stating the time and place of sale shall be 
 published in the City Record and corporation newspapers for at 
 least ten days immediately preceding such sale, and the proceeds 
 arising from such sale, after deducting the necessary expenses 
 thereof, shall be paid into the city treasury to the credit of the 
 general fund for the reduction of taxation. The said Commis- 
 sioner is hereby authorized, with the consent and approval of 
 the Board of Sinking Fund Commissioners, to hire or lease suit- 
 able and sufficient offices for the transaction of the business 
 under his charge, and also such stables and other buildings or 
 parts of buildings or plots of ground as may, from time to time, 
 be necessary. All carts used by said department of street clean- 
 ing shall be of such size, form and construction as to pre- 
 
 255 
 
vent escape during transit of dust, or of any refuse carried 
 therein. 
 
 Piers, docks t slips, etc , for use of department. 
 
 Sec. 542. The department, bureau or city officer, author 
 ity or authorities, which shall from time to time have the man- 
 agement and control of the public docks, piers and slips of the 
 city, shall designate and set apart for the use of said Commis- 
 sioner suitable and sufficient slips, piers, and berths in slips, locat- 
 ed as the said Commissioner may require, and such as shall be 
 convenient and necessary for his use in executing the duty here- 
 by imposed upon him, excepting slips, docks and piers on the 
 East River set apart for the use of canal boats. The said Com- 
 missioner may, with the approval, in writing, of the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment, lease piers, slips or wharves for the 
 necessary purposes of the duties by this chapter conferred, 
 whenever suitable piers, slips or wharves owned by or under the 
 control of the city cannot be obtained or are not set apart and 
 designated as in this section provided. 
 
 Uniform, Badges, etc. , of Uniformed Force. 
 
 Sec. 543. The Commissioner of street cleaning is hereby 
 authorized and directed, from time to time, to prescribe distinctive 
 uniforms, badges and insignia to be worn and displayed by the 
 several members of the uniformed force of said department and 
 to prescribe and enforce penalties for the failure to wear and ex- 
 hibit the same by any member of said force while engaged in the 
 work of the department. 
 
 Special Contracts for Disposition of Sweepings, Ashes, Garbage, etc. 
 
 Sec. 544. Said Commissioner shall have power to enter 
 into contracts with responsible persons and parties for the 
 final disposition, for periods not exceeding five years, of all 
 or any part of the said street sweepings, ashes, or garbage, 
 and such other light refuse or rubbish when collected ; pro 
 vided always that such contract shall be approved both as to 
 terms and conditions by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 
 256 
 
ment. All contracts shall be entered into on behalf of the city 
 by the Commissioner with adequate security. He shall adver- 
 tise for proposals in such newspapers in the city as he may desig- 
 nate, not exceeding three in number, for ten days, to perform 
 the work in such form and manner and on such terms and con- 
 ditions as he may prescribe. Such proposals may be for the per- 
 formance of all or such part or portion of the work as he shall 
 require. Each proposal must be accompanied by a certified 
 check on a solvent banking incorporation in the city, payable to 
 the order of the Comptroller for five per cent, of the amount for 
 which the work bid for is proposed in any one year to be per- 
 formed. From the proposals so received he may select the bid 
 or bids, the acceptance of which will, in his judgment, best se- 
 cure the efificient performance of the work, or he may reject any 
 or all of said bids. On the acceptance of any bid by him, the 
 checks of the unaccepted bidders shall be returned to them, and 
 upon the execution of the contract the check of the accepted 
 bidder shall be returned to him. The surety or sureties upon all 
 contracts hereby authorized shall be approved by the Comptrol- 
 ler, and all contracts and bonds securing the same shall be ap- 
 proved as to form by the counsel to the corporation. 
 
 Proceedings for removal of Trucks, etc. from Streets, regulated. 
 
 Sec. 545. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning to remove, or cause to be removed, all unharnessed 
 trucks, carts, wagons and vehicles of any description, found in 
 any public street or place, and also all boxes, barrels, 
 bales of merchandize and other movable property found 
 upon any public street, or place, not including, hov/ever, any 
 portion of marginal street, or place, or wharf, which, by the pro- 
 vision of any law or statute, is committed to the custody and 
 control of the Department of Docks. The said Commissioner of 
 Street Cleaning is hereby authorized, with the consent and ap- 
 proval of the board of sinking fund commissioners, to lease a 
 suitable yard or yards to which the trucks, carts, wagons and 
 vehicles, boxes, bales, barrels and other things, removed under 
 the authority of this section, shall be taken, and the said Com- 
 missioner shall, from time to time, as often as he shall deem ne- 
 
 257 
 
cessary, sell, or cause to be sold, as hereinafter provided at pub- 
 lic auction, at such yard or yards, the said trucks, carts, wagons, 
 vehicles, boxes, barrels, and other things so removed. When- 
 ever the said Commissioner or deputy commissioner shall have 
 removed or caused to be removed any such trucks, carts, 
 wagons, vehicles, boxes, barrels, bales or other things, and shall 
 deem it necessary to sell them, and before making the sale 
 thereof, he shall file with a justice of the Municipal court of the City 
 of Nfew York, a written petition, verified by oath, setting forth 
 the facts which bring the case within this section, toijether with 
 a brief description of each of the trucks, carts, wagons, vehicles, 
 boxes, barrels or other things so removed in his custody and 
 possession as Street Cleaning Commissioner at the time of filing 
 such petition, stating either the name of the owner or that his 
 name is not known to the said petitioners, and cannot be ascer- 
 tained with reasonable diligence, and praying for a final order, 
 directing the sale of the property so seized and removed, and 
 the application of the proceeds thereof as herein prescribed ; 
 and, upon the presentation of said petition the justice must 
 issue a precept under his hand, directed to the persons whose 
 names appear in the said petition as owners, if stated in the 
 petition, or if not so stated, directed generally to all persons 
 having any interest in the property so seized and removed, and 
 briefly reciting in substance the other facts stated in the peti- 
 tion, and requiring the person or persons to whom the precept 
 is directed to show cause before a justice at a time and place 
 specified therein, not less than ten nor more than twenty days 
 after the issuing of the precept, why the prayer of the petitioa 
 :should not be granted. The said precept shall be served by 
 posting a copy thereof in at least two public and coaspicuoas 
 places in said city, one of which shall be tl\e ofifice of the said 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning, and the second of which shall 
 be the yard to which the property shall have been removed, 
 and a copy of which precept shall be so posted within three 
 days after the precept shall have been issued ; and a brief 
 abstract of said precept shall be published in the City 
 Record and corporation newspapers within five days after 
 the issue, and not later than three days before the return 
 
 :258 
 
day mentioned in the precept. At the time and place when 
 the precept is returnable, the said Commissioner or deputy 
 commissioner must furnish proof of the service of said precept 
 as herein prescribed, and any person named in the petition and 
 precept or otherwise, having an interest in the property seized, 
 may appear on the return day of the said precept and make him- 
 self a party to the proceeding by filing a written answer, sub- 
 scribed by him or his attorney, and verified by the oath of the 
 person subscribing it, denying absolutely, or upon information 
 and belief, one or more material allegations in the petition, and 
 setting forth his interest in the property seized. The subsequent 
 proceedings before the justice shall be the same as in an action in 
 the Municipal Court where an issue of fact has been joined, and 
 if the decision of the justice is in favor of the petitioner, the 
 justice must make a final order, the same as though no appear- 
 ance or trial were had, except to recite the appearance and trial 
 before him. If no person appears and answers, the justice shall 
 make a final order, directed to the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning, commanding him to sell, at public auction, ail of the 
 property seized and described in the petition, at the yard to 
 which said property was removed, for the best price which he 
 can obtain therefor. Before making any such sale, the said 
 Commissioner or deputy commissioner shall give public notice 
 in the City Record and corporation papers, as by this Act 
 prescribed, not later than three days before the day of such 
 sale, and such notice of sale shall specify the time and place of 
 such sale, and shall contain a general description of the prop- 
 erty to be sold, but no particular description of any article 
 shall be contained therein. 
 
 The sale shall be made at the time and place specified in said 
 notice of sale by the Cofnmissioner or Deputy Commissioner, or 
 by an auctioneer designated for such sale by said Commissioner. 
 Immediately after such sale, the Commissioner of Street Clean- 
 ing shall pay to the Comptroller the proceeds of such condemna- 
 tion and sale, and shall, at the same time, transmit to the 
 Comptroller an itemized statement of the articles sold, with the 
 price received for each article and a certificate of the costs and 
 expenses incurred by the said Commissioner in making such con- 
 
 259 
 
demnation and sales. The Ccmptroller shall credit and add to 
 the appropriation for the Department of Street Cleaning from 
 the proceeds of such sale the amount of said costs and expenses 
 of such condemnation and sales, as hereinbefore provided, and, 
 in addition thereto, such an amount for each incumbrance 
 seized or taken, condemned and sold as hereinbefore provided, 
 not to exceed ten dollars, as may be estimated and fixed by the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning as necessary to pay the cost 
 of seizing, removing and keeping or storing such incum- 
 brances ; and the remainder of the moneys realized from 
 such sale shall be paid, without interest, to the lawful 
 owners of the several articles sold. Any payment to a 
 person apparently entitled thereto, under the provisions of 
 this section, shall be a good defense to the city against any 
 other person claiming to be entitled to such payment, but if the 
 person to whom such payment is made be not in fact entitled 
 thereto, it shall be lawful for the person or persons to whom 
 the same ought to have been paid to recover the same with inter- 
 est and costs of suit as so much money had and received to 
 his, her or their use by the person or persons to whom the same 
 shall have been paid. The owner of any truck, cart, wagon, 
 vehicle, box, barrel, bale or other thing removed from any public 
 street or place under the provisions of this section, may redeem 
 his property at any time after its removal upon payment to the 
 Commissioner of Street Cleaning of such sum as he may fix, not 
 to exceed ten dollars for each article redeemed. The sum thus 
 paid shall be immediately transmitted to the Comptroller, and 
 by him added and credited to the appropriation for the Depart- 
 ment of Street Cleaning, under the provisions of this Act, and 
 may be used by the Commissioner for any of the purposes of said 
 department, as if originally included in the appropriation thereof, 
 by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Nothing in this 
 section contained shall be deemed to authorize the summary re- 
 moval of materials for any public work or improvement in course 
 of construction. 
 
 260 
 
Limitation of amount of expense for street cleaning. Bonds to be 
 iss2ied by Comptroller for purchase of plant. 
 
 Sec. 546. In no case, except as in this section provided, 
 shall the amount expended by the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning exceed the amount appropriated for the said depart- 
 ment by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the 
 Municipal Assembly, but, for the more effectual carrying out of 
 the provisions of this Act, the said Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning may, with the approval of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments and of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, pur- 
 chase or construct stock or plant, including houses, dumping 
 boards or places or buildings or structures necessary for any 
 purpose pertaining to the business of the department, of dur- 
 able character intended to be used for a term of years, to be 
 paid for by the issue and sale of bonds, and the Comptroller 
 shall issue such bonds as may be necessary for such purpose. 
 Such bonds shall be of such amount and to run for such 
 term as may be determined by said Comptroller, by and 
 with the authority of the Municipal Assembly, not less than 
 ten nor more than fifty years, and shall bear interest not 
 exceeding four per cent, per annum and shall not be sold at less 
 than the par value thereof. If the necessary cost of removing snow 
 or ice from the streets and avenues shall, in any one year, exceed 
 the amount appropriated therefor, the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment may authorize such additional expenditure as 
 may be required for the removal of such snow or ice to be paid 
 out of any unexpended balance of the appropriation made for 
 the purposes of said department ; and the Comptroller shall 
 raise the amount of such additional expenditure by the issue and 
 sale of revenue bonds, and shall place the amount so raised to 
 the credit of the Department of Street Cleaning, to supply the 
 amount of the deficiency occasioned by such additional ex- 
 penditure. 
 
 Dei'olution of powers of former boards. 
 
 Sec. 547. All the powers and duties conferred upon the 
 corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 
 261 
 
monalty of the City of New York, or upon any board or officer 
 thereof, or upon the corporation known as the City of Brooklyn, 
 or upon any board or officer thereof, or upon the corporation 
 known as Long Island City, or upon any board or officer thereof, 
 and upon any other municipal corporation, town or village, 
 within the County of Richmond, or within so much of the 
 territory of the County of Queens as is by this Act annexed 
 to the municipal corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, and consolidated 
 into the municipality known as The City of New York, relating 
 in any way to the sweeping and the cleaning of the streets, 
 avenues, highways, boulevards, squares, lanes, alleys and other 
 public places of the city, and of the removal, or other disposition 
 as often as the public health and the use of the streets may 
 require, of ashes, street sweepings, garbage and other light 
 refuse and rubbish, and of the removal of snow and ice 
 from leading thoroughfares and from such other streets as may 
 be found practicable ; of the removal of encumbrances ; of the 
 issue of permits to builders and others to use the streets, avenues, 
 highways, boulevards, squares and public places, but not to 
 open them ; of the framing of regulations controlling the use of 
 sidewalks and gutters by abutting owners and occupants for the 
 disposition of sweepings, refuse, garbage or light rubbish, are 
 hereby vested in The City of New York, and as matters of 
 administration devolved upon the Commissioner of Street Clean- 
 ing of said city, to be by him executed pursuant to the powers, 
 provisions and limitations of this Act. 
 
 269 
 
Title 7. 
 
 department of sewers. 
 Commissioner of Sewers ; appointment ; salary. 
 
 Section 555. The head of the Department of Sewers shall 
 be called the Commissioner of Sewers. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor, and hold office as provided in chapter IV. of 
 this Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five hundred 
 dollars a year. 
 
 Id.; jurisdiction and duties ; salary. 
 
 Sec. 556. The Commissioner of Sewers shall have cogni- 
 zance and control of all subjects relating to the public sewers 
 and drainage of the city, and shall initiate the making of all 
 plans for the drainage of the city, except as otherwise speci- 
 fically provided in title 2 of this chapter. He shall have 
 charge of the construction of all sewers in accordance with 
 said plans. He shall prepare and execute all contracts and 
 specifications relating to the sewers for submission to the 
 Board of Public Improvements, and shall supervise all worl^ 
 done under such contracts. He shall have in charge the man- 
 agement, care and maintenance of the sewer and drainage 
 system of the city, and the licensing of all cisterns and cess- 
 pools. 
 
 Overflow sewers may be constructed. 
 
 Sec. 557. Any overflow sewers which may be deemed nec- 
 essary for the relief of any main sewers now constructed or 
 which may hereafter be constructed in said city, may be dis- 
 charged into the waters adjacent to said city, or into the Gow- 
 anus canal, or any other canal or inlet in said city, at such 
 points as in its judgment may be most convenient. 
 
 Canals to be kept free from obstructions. 
 
 Sec. 558. It shall be the duty of the City of New York to keep 
 any canal free from any obstructions that may be occasioned by 
 
 263 
 
the reason of the emptying of said overflow sewers into it, and 
 for that purpose the Department of Sewers of said city is au- 
 thorized and directed to dredge the same from time to time. 
 
 Commissioner ; power to construct temporary sewers, expenses of 
 same. 
 
 Sec. 559. Whenever it shall become necessary to construct a 
 sewer or drain for the purpose of preventing damage to prop- 
 erty or to abate a nuisance, and it shall become impracticable 
 to proceed immediately to the construction of the same in ac- 
 cordance with any plan already adopted, pursuant to title 2 of 
 this chapter, on the approval of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments, the said Commissioner shall have power to construct 
 a temporary sewer or drain in such manner as to avoid such 
 damage or to abate such nuisance, and the cost of such tempor- 
 ary sewer or drain shiJl be assessed upon the property drain- 
 ing into the same and benefited thereby. And such assess- 
 ments shall be enforced, levied and collected in the manner 
 provided in chapter XVII. of this Act. 
 
 Permits for construction of private sewers ; procedure. Becomes 
 property of City zvhen paid for by, etc. 
 
 Sec. 560. A permit for the construction of sewers in the 
 streets of said city by private property owners shall only be 
 granted upon the parties proposing to construct such sewer 
 first filing with the Commissioner of Sewers, plans and specifi- 
 cations of such proposed sewer, conforming to the general plan 
 for the construction of public sewers in said city, on file in the 
 office of the Board of Public Improvements and a duplicate 
 copy of the contract for the construction of such sewer, show, 
 ing the cost of the construction thereof, together with a satis- 
 factory guarantee to said Commissioner for the payment of the 
 necessary expense of the said Department of Sewers, in the 
 supervision of the construction of said sewer. And upon 
 approval of such plans, specifications and contracts, by the 
 Commissioner of Sewers and the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments the said Commissioner shall issue his permit for the 
 
 264 
 
construction of such proposed sewer and shall forthwith request 
 the Board of Assessors to apportion the cost of the construction 
 of said sewer according to actual benefit between the several 
 parcels of property abutting on each side of that part of the 
 street through which said sewer shall be constructed. The said 
 Board of Assessors shall as soon as practicable report such 
 apportionment of such cost the said Commissioner of Sewers. 
 Said Commissioner shall grant permits for connection with 
 said sewer, to be constructed as aforesaid, only to such owners 
 or occupants of the property abutting on that part of such 
 street through which said sewer shall be constructed as shall 
 produce to said Commissioner of Sewers satisfactory proof of 
 the payment by him or them to the parties who constructed 
 and paid for such sewer, of the amount of the proportionate 
 part of the cost of the construction of said sewer apportioned 
 as aforesaid to the property sought to be connected with said 
 sewer, and no permit shall be issued for, nor shall any con- 
 nection be allowed with said sewer, nor with any sewer here- 
 tofore constructed by the owners of the abutting property by 
 private contract from any abutting property until the pro- 
 portionate part of the expense of the construction of such 
 sewer shall have been paid to the parties entitled thereto 
 by the owners of such abutting property, and satisfactory 
 proof thereof m ade to said Commissioner of Sewers. 
 
 And when constructed, except for the purpose of supervis- 
 ion, maintenance and use by The City of New York in connec- 
 tion with its public sewer system, said sewer shall be deemed 
 the private property of the persons who shall have paid for its 
 construction until the owners of all the property abutting on 
 that part of the street or avenue in which said sewer shall be 
 laid, shall have paid their several shares of the cost of the con- 
 struction of said sewer, but when the same shall have been 
 fully paid for by all the owners of abutting property, then the 
 same shall be the property of The City of New York, and 
 deemed to have been fully dedicated to said city. 
 
 Id.; Pozvcr to acquire lands for seivers. 
 
 Sec. 5f)l. The City of New York is authorized to acquire 
 title for the use of the public to all or any of the lands and 
 
 265 
 
premises required for sewers, or to easements therein for that 
 purpose, whether the same be above or below high- water mark 
 or under water. 
 
 The Board of Public Improvements, at the request of the 
 Commissioner of Sewers, is authorized to direct the same to 
 be done. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the Corporation Counsel, when 
 requested in writing by the Board of Public Improvements, 
 immediately to institute a proceeding to acquire title for the 
 use of the public to the lands and premises or easements 
 therein, required for the building of sewers or drains, in the 
 same manner that is provided by this Act for the acquisition 
 of lands for the purpose of opening streets. 
 
 The expenses incurred in the acquisition of such lands and 
 premises, with the buildings and improvements thereon, so 
 far as the same shall be taken in such a proceeding, shall be 
 assessed in accordance with the provisions of this Act relating 
 to the opening of streets upon all the property deemed by the 
 Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment appointed in such 
 proceeding to be benefited by the acquisition of such lands for 
 such purpose, and upon the owners thereof or persons interest- 
 ed therein. 
 
 Proposals and contracts for sewerage work. 
 
 Sec. 562. The Commissioner of Sewers, upon the completion 
 of the plan of sewerage of any district, upon the filing of copies 
 thereof, as required by title 2 of this chapter, or as soon there- 
 after as may be deemed convenient and necessary, shall, with 
 the approval of the Board of Public Improvements, cause 
 printed specifications to be made in accordance with said plan 
 of the work proposed to be done in said district, and shall there- 
 upon invite proposals in the manner now required by law, and 
 shall contract for the whole or any part of the work in said 
 district. 
 
 Commissioner authorized to purchase supplier.. 
 
 Sec. 563 In order to provide for the more effectual and 
 economical construction of sewers,the Commissioner of Sewers, 
 
 266 
 
with the approval of the Board of Public Improvements, may 
 contract in pursuance of law for such materials used in the con- 
 struction of sewers and in such quantities as he may deem 
 proper ; and it shall be the duty of the Comptroller out of the 
 appropriate fund or from the proceeds of assessment bonds 
 authorized to be issued, upon the requisition of said com- 
 missioner, to pay for such materials, and the expenses for 
 engfineers, surveyors, inspectors or other persons employed 
 by authority of said commissioner in the construction of 
 sewers. 
 
 Penalty for injury to sewers. 
 
 Sec. 564. All provisions of law creating civil and criminal 
 liabilities from wrongs and injuries done to the water works of 
 the City of New York, and providing remedies for the redress 
 thereof, and the prosecution and punishment of persons com- 
 mitting the same, shall apply in like manner and extent to 
 wrongs and injuries done to sewers in the said city. 
 
 Devolution of Powers of the Commissioner of Street Improvements 
 in the 2^d and 2^th Wards. 
 
 Sec. 565. All the powers, privileges and duties of the Com- 
 missioner of Street Improvements in the Twenty-third and 
 Twenty-fourth Wards of the City of New York as heretofore 
 constituted, which in any way relate to the public sewers and 
 drainage of the said Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, 
 and to the construction, repair and cleansing of sewers and 
 underground drains, and of the licensing of the cisterns and 
 cesspools therein, and of all matters in any way relating to the 
 construction, maintenance and care of the sewer system and 
 drainage of said wards, are hereby vested in The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted, and as matter of administration 
 devolved upon the Commissioner of Sewers of The City of 
 New York to be by him executed in accordance with the pro- 
 visions, directions and limitations of this Act. 
 
 Devolution of powers of former Boards. 
 
 Sec. 566. All powers and duties heretofore conferred 
 
 2G7 
 
upon the City of New York as heretofore known and 
 bounded, or any of the Officers thereof, or upon the City 
 of Brooklyn, or any of the Officers thereof, or upon Long 
 Island City or any of the Officers thereof, or upon any 
 Board of Public Officers acting within any of the territory of 
 the County of Richmond, or within that part of the territory 
 of the County of Queens, hereby annexed by this Act to the 
 Corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 of the City of New York, and by this Act consolidated into 
 one municipal corporation, which in any way relate to the 
 public sewers and drainage of the said Cities, Municipal Cor- 
 porations, Towns or Territory, and to the construction, repair 
 and cleansing of sewers and underground drains and of the 
 licensing of cisterns and cesspools therein and to all matters 
 in any way concerning the construction and care of the sewer 
 system and drainage thereof, so far as such powers and duties 
 are consistent with and conformable to the provisions of this 
 Act, are hereby vested in The City of New York, and as mat- 
 ter of administration devolved upon the Commissioner of 
 Sewers of New York, to be by him executed in accordance 
 with the provisions, directions and limitations of this Act. 
 
 Title 8. 
 
 The Department of Public Buildings, Lighting and 
 
 Supplies. 
 
 Commissioner ; appointment^ term^ salary. 
 
 Sec. 572. The head of the Department of Public Buildings, 
 Lighting and Supplies shall be called the Commissioner of 
 Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies. He shall be ap- 
 pointed by the Mayor and hold office as provided in Chapter 
 IV of this Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars a year. 
 
 268 
 
Id.: Jjirisdiciion. 
 
 Sec. 573. The Commissioner of the Department of Public 
 Buildings, Lighting and Supplies shall have cognizance and 
 control of 
 
 (i) the construction, repairs, cleaning and maintenance of 
 Public Buildings, except School-houses, Alms-houses, Peniten- 
 tiaries and the like, and Fire and Police Station Houses. 
 
 (2) Of the making and performance of contracts when duly 
 authorized in accord with the provisions of this Act, and for 
 the execution of the same in the matter of furnishing the 
 City, or any part thereof, with gas, electricity or any other 
 illuminant ; of the selecting, locating and removing and chang- 
 ing of lights for the use of the city; of the inspecting and test- 
 ing of gas and electricity used f )r light, heating and power 
 purposes, gas meters, electric meters, electric wires and of all 
 lights furnished to said City; an 1 of the use and transmission 
 of gas, electricity, pneumatic power and steam for all purposes 
 in, upon, across, over and under all streets, roads, avenues, 
 parks, public places and public buildings ; of the construction 
 of electric mains, conduits, conductors, and subways in any 
 such streets, roads, avenues, parks and public places, and the 
 granting of the permission to open streets, when approved by 
 the Department of Highways, and to open the same for the 
 purpose of carrying on therein the business of transmitting, 
 conducting, using and selling electricity, steam, or for the ser- 
 vice of pneumatic tubes. 
 
 (3) Of the care and cleaning of all offices eased or occupied 
 for public uses. 
 
 (4) Of the location, care, management and maintenance of 
 the public baths. 
 
 (5) Of the location, erection, establishment and maintenance 
 of public urinals. 
 
 (6) Of the purchase of fuel, furniture, utensils, books, station- 
 ery and other articles needed for the public offices, which are 
 
 269 
 
to be furnished Upon the receipt of a written requisition signed 
 by the head of the Department or office in which the same is 
 required, and by the principal officer in charge of the sub- 
 division. The said Commissioner shall prepare all contracts 
 relating to his Department for submission to the Board of 
 Public Improvements. 
 
 Consulting Engineer ; duties. 
 
 Sec. 574. The Consulting Engineer of Lighting and Electric- 
 ity shall, when requested by the Commissioner of Public 
 Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, examine problems arising 
 from the use of gas and electricity and steam affecting public 
 interests in said City from time to time, and shall report 
 thereon to the said Commissioner from time to time as he 
 may be required. He shall recommend to the said Commis- 
 sioner proposed ordinances for the use and control of gas and 
 electricity and steam, which the said Commissioner may submit 
 to the Board of Public Improvements ; and he shall perform 
 such other duties as the said Commissioner may from time 
 to time require. 
 
 Commissioner ; to cause tests to be made, etc. 
 
 Sec. 575. The said Commissioner shall cause tests to be made 
 of all gas used for lighting, heating and power purposes, shall 
 cause inspections to be made of gas and electric lights fur- 
 nished to the City, and of gas meters and electric meters and 
 electric wiring, as such tests may be provided for by the 
 proper appropriation ; the said Commissioner shall cause tests 
 to be made of all meters in use in said City for measuring or 
 ascertaining the quantity of gas or electricity or steam fur- 
 nished by any corporation or person in said City within one 
 year after this Act shall take effect ; and thereafter no corpor- 
 ation or person shall furnish or put in use any gas or electric 
 or steam meter which shall not have been inspected, ap- 
 proved and sealed by the inspectors, and every such cor- 
 poration or person shall provide and keep in or upon 
 their premises a suitable and proper apparatus to be ap- 
 proved and sealed by the inspector for testing and proving 
 
 270 
 
accuracy of meters furnished for use by them. Whenever 
 a meter shall be inspected the inspector shall attach thereto 
 some seal, stamp or mark, with the inspector's name, the date 
 of his inspection, and whether or not the meter is accurate. 
 Meters in use shall be re-inspected and tested on the written 
 request of the consumer, or of the company, in the presence of 
 the consumer, if desired. If any such meter on being so tested 
 shall be found defective or inaccurate to the prejudice or injury 
 of the consumer, the necessary removal, inspection, correction 
 and replacing of such meter shall be without expense to the 
 consumer ; but in all other cases, except where the change is 
 beneficial to the Company, he shall pay the reasonable expense 
 of such inspection, and the re-inspection shall be stamped on 
 the meter. Provided, however, that nothing herein contained 
 shall be construed as requiring to be sealed, electrolytic or 
 other electric meters, which in their construction or use are 
 not susceptible of being sealed, nor the apparatus employed in 
 taking the usual periodic readings therefrom ; but all such 
 meters shall, in all other respects, be tested and stamped in the 
 manner provided herein for other meters ; and every corpora- 
 tion using such electrolytic or other meters shall at all 
 times admit the inspectors of meters at its meter department 
 and reading rooms, and permit the inspection by him of all 
 meters and of all the processes, methods and operations of 
 measuring electric current consumed by it. 
 
 Latvs repealed. 
 
 Sec. 576. The provisions of sections 62, 6^ and 64 of chapter 
 40 ol the General Laws, known as the Transportation Cor- 
 porations Law, are hereby repealed in so far as they affect ihe 
 inspection of gas meters and electric meters within the City of 
 New York. 
 
 Interest in manufacture of gas, etc., and certain acts by officers, etc. ^ 
 of department prohibited. 
 
 Sec. 577. No officer, agent or employee of the Department 
 of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies shall in any way, 
 directly or indirectly, be interested, pecuniarily, in the manu- 
 
 271 
 
facture or sale of gas, or of electricity or steam, or of gas or 
 electric or steam meters, or of any article or commodity used 
 by gas or electric companies, or used for any purpose for 
 the consumption of gas or of electricity, or steam, or in or 
 with a gas or electric or steam company, and no such officer, 
 agent or employee shall give certificates or written opinions 
 to a maker or vendor of any such article or commodity. 
 
 Inspection of illuminating gas ; tests. 
 
 Sec. 578. The illuminating gas of every company shall 
 be inspected at least twice a year, and may be inspected as 
 frequently as the Commissioner may think best^ but not oftener 
 than once a week. The gas shall be tested for illuminating 
 power by means of a disc photometer, or other approved 
 apparatus, and during such test shall be burned from a burner 
 best adapted to it, which is at the same time suitable for 
 domestic use, and at as near the rate of five feet per hour as is 
 practicable. When the gas of any such company shall be 
 found on three consecutive inspections to be of an illuminating 
 power less than twenty sperm candles of six to a pound, and 
 burning at the rate of one hundred and twenty grains of 
 spermaceti per hour, tested at such place as the said Com- 
 missioner shall specify by a burner consuming five cubic feet 
 of gas per hour, and shall not comply with the reasonable and 
 proper standard of purity as fixed by said Commissioner, a fine 
 of one hundred dollars shall be paid by such company to the 
 city. 
 
 Commissioner to submit proposed ordinances relative to wires, etc. 
 
 Sec. 579. The said Commissioner shall from time to time 
 submit for the consideration of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments such proposed ordinances in regard to electric wires, 
 appliances and currents for furnishing light, heat or power 
 when introduced into or placed in any building in said city. 
 Such proposed ordinances shall prescribe the method of con- 
 struction, operation, location, arrangement, insulation and use 
 of such wires, appliances and currents, as said Commissioner 
 
 272 
 
shall from time to time deem necessary for the protection of 
 life and property. 
 
 Inspector of electric wirhig ; qualifications ; all ivires to be in- 
 spected ; rules, notices, etc.; penalty for violation. 
 
 Sec. 580. Any inspector of electric wiring appointed in the 
 department shall have a technical and practical knowledge of 
 the construction and operation of electrical lines and appli- 
 ances. After this Act takes effect, the Commissioner shall 
 cause to be inspected all such wires, currents and appliances 
 that may be introduced into or placed in any building in said 
 city, and the said commissioner shall furnish a certificate of 
 such inspection t(3 any person or corporation applying there- 
 for. All notices of the violation of any of the provisions of 
 this section, or of any ordinances relating to said department, 
 or any regulations, rules or orders made thereunder relating 
 to electrical wires, currents or appliances, shall be issued and 
 served in the manner provided in this act for the service of 
 notices. The violation of any of the provisions of this section 
 or of any of the said ordinances or any rules or regulations 
 thereunder shall be deemed to be a violation of the provisions 
 of the Department of Buildings of said city, and shall subject 
 the person or corporation committing the same to the penalties 
 prescribed herein for such violations. 
 
 Removal of electric wires. 
 
 Sec. 581. Whenever in the opinion of the Board of Public 
 Improvements, it shall be practicable to remove the electrical 
 conductors above ground in any street, avenue, highway or 
 public place of that part of the City of New York which lies 
 within the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, after 
 the grade of said street; avenue or highway shall have been 
 finally determined and established, and to place the same 
 underground, the Commissioner of Public Buildings, Light- 
 ing and Supplies, shall notify the owners or operators of 
 the electrical conductors above ground that such electrical 
 conductors must be removed within a certain time to be 
 
 273 
 
fixed by said Commissioner, which time shall be sufficient 
 for such removal, and in the case of a corporation duly author- 
 ized to lay and operate electrical conductors underground in 
 such street, avenue, highway or public place, sufficient also for 
 the proper laying of conductors underground in place of those 
 removed. All electrical conductors authorized to be placed 
 underground, shall be placed underground under and in accord- 
 ance with the provisions of chapter seven hundred and sixteen 
 of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, 
 chapter two hundred and thirty -one of the laws of one thousand 
 eight hundred and ninety -one, chapter two hundred and sixty- 
 three of the laws of one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
 two, and the laws amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto. 
 Whenever application shall be made to said Commissioner of 
 Public Buildings, Ligliting and Supplies, for permission to 
 place underground electrical conductors in any street, avenue 
 highway or public place of that part of the City of New York 
 which lies within the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, 
 the subways therefore shall, if such permission be granted, be 
 constructed or provided, and such electrical conductors placed 
 underground under and in accordance with said laws. But 
 such permission shall be granted only in accordance with the 
 provisions of said laws. 
 
 Underground electrical conductors. 
 
 Sec. 582. Whenever the said Board of Public Improve- 
 ments shall deem it desirable and practicable, after hear- 
 ing all parties interested, that the electrical conductors 
 in any street, avenue, highway or public place of the 
 City of New York, lying within the Boroughs of Brooklyn, 
 Queens and Richmond, be placed underground, the said Com- 
 missioner shall notify the owners or operators of the electrical 
 conductors above ground in any such street, avenue, highway 
 or public place, that said electrical conductors shall be placed 
 underground within a certain time to be fixed by the said 
 Commissioner, which said time shall be sufficient for the proper 
 construction of underground conduits or other channels in said 
 street, avenue, highway or public place. Whenever any duly 
 
 274 
 
authorized company operating or intending to operate electrical 
 conductors in any street, avenue, highway or public place in 
 that part of the City of New York which lies within the 
 Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond, shall desire to 
 place its conductors or any of them underground, it shall be 
 obligatory upon such company to file with the Commissioner 
 of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, a map or maps 
 made to a scale, showing the streets or avenues or other high- 
 ways or public places, which are desired to be used for such 
 purpose, and giving the general location, dimensions and course 
 of the underground conduit desired to be constructed. Before 
 any such conduit shall be constructed it shall be necessary to 
 obtain the approval by said Commissioner of said plan of con- 
 struction so proposed by such company, and said Commissioner 
 shall have power to require that the work of removal and of 
 constructing every such system of underground conductors 
 shall be done according to such plan so approved. 
 
 Id.: Procedure when Board of Public Improvements determines upoUi 
 
 Sec. 583. Whenever the Commissioner of Public Building's. 
 Lighting and Supplies, in accordance with the resolution of 
 the Board of Public Improvements, shall notify the owners or 
 operators of any electrical conductors in the City of New 
 York, that said conductors shall be removed or placed under- 
 ground within a certain time, the time within which said 
 electrical conductors shall be placed underground shall be 
 fixed by the said Commissioner, giving all persons or corpora- 
 tions owning or operating such electrical conductors, an oppor- 
 tunity to be heard on the question of the time necessary to 
 place said conductors underground, and after hearing the 
 Engineer of Lighting and Electricity, and such other ex- 
 pert opinion as the said Commissioner may think advisable. 
 Said owners or operators of electrical conductors above 
 ground in such street or locality shall be required to remove 
 all of said poles, wires or other electrical conductors and sup- 
 porting fixtures or other devises from any such street or 
 locality within thirty days after the expiration of the time so 
 fixed by said Commissioner. 
 
 275 
 
Id.: Permit necessary to take tip pavement, etc. Board of Public 
 Improvement to determine method of extensio7i. Municipal 
 Assembly may enact ordinances regulating use, etc. 
 
 Sec. 584. It shall be unlawful, after the passage of this Act, 
 for any person or corporation to take up the pavement of 
 any of the streets and parks of said city, or to excavate 
 for the purpose of laying underground any electrical con- 
 ductors, or to construct subways, unless permission in writ- 
 ing therefor shall have been first obtained from the said 
 Commissioner of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, 
 endorsed by the Commissioner of Highways. And except 
 with a like permission therefor no electrical conductors, 
 poles, wires or other electrical devices or fixtures shall be con- 
 structed, erected, strung, laid or maintained above or below the 
 surface of any street, avenue, highway or other public place, in 
 any part of said city. And the said Commissioner of Public 
 Buildings, Lighting and Supplies shall determine whether any 
 extension of the existing electrical conductors of any person or 
 corporation in said city shall be by means of overhead or 
 underground conductors. And the Municipal Assembly may 
 establish, and may from time to time enact ordinances regu- 
 lating all the construction, maintenance, use and management 
 of the electrical conductors, poles and fixtures above ground, 
 the conduits and subways therefor constructed underground, 
 and for regulating the number and location of overhead lines» 
 
 The four preceding sections to be police regulations. 
 
 Sec. 585. The provisions of the four preceding sections of 
 this Act are made police regulations in and for the City of 
 New York, and in case the several owners of said poles, wires 
 or other electrical conductors, fixtures, and devices shall not 
 cause them to be removed from such streets or localities as 
 required by said Commissioner or by the determination of the 
 Board of Public Improvements, or shall neglect or refuse to 
 comply with any of the ordinances as herein provided, it shall 
 be the duty of the said Commissioner to cause the same to be 
 removed from said streets, roads, avenues, lanes, parks and 
 public places. 
 
 276 
 
Former boards to turn over maps, etc., to Commissioner. 
 
 Sec. 586. The Board of Electrical Control in and for the 
 City of New York and the Mayor and Commissioner of City 
 Works of the City of Brooklyn, acting as Commissioners of 
 Electrical Subways of the City of Brooklyn, are hereby re- 
 quired and directed to turn over and deliver to the Commis- 
 sioner of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, within thirty 
 days after this Act shall take effect, all maps, plans, models, 
 books and papers relating to the construction and location of 
 electrical conductors, conduits or subways filed with or com- 
 municated to said Commissioner, and all official records and 
 papers of every kind in their possession. 
 
 Separate contracts for lighting each Borough ; duty of Commis^ 
 sioner. 
 
 Sec. 587. The Commissioner of Lighting and Electricity 
 under and in conformity to the ordinance regulating contracts 
 shall prepare the terms and specifications under which con- 
 tracts shall be made for lighting the streets, public buildings 
 and parks of said city. Separate contracts shall be made for 
 such lighting in each of the boroughs of The City of New 
 York, or in such subdivisions of the city as may appear to the 
 Board of Public Improvements and the Municipal Assembly to 
 be for the best interests of said city. The number, kind and 
 location of lights to be furnished under each of said contracts 
 shall be determined and prescribed by the Commissioner of 
 Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies. Such bids shall be 
 prepared and advertised for, and such contracts shall be exe- 
 cuted in the manner prescribed for herein as to other contracts 
 entered into by said city or the departments thereof. 
 
 Contracts shall be made for the term of one year and shall be 
 awarded to the lowest bidder, unless the Board of Public 
 Improvements by a vote of a majority of its members, of 
 whom the Mayor and Comptroller shall be two, shall deter- 
 mine that it is for the public interest that a bid other than the 
 lowest should be accepted. Contracts made for a given 
 Borough or district shall include all lights of a given kind used 
 
 277 
 
by said city in said borough or district then ordered or there- 
 after to be ordered by said Commissioner during the term of 
 said contract. But no bid shall be entertained unless the said 
 Commissioner shall be satisfied that the party or parties bid- 
 ding are possessed of sufficient plant to carry out the provis- 
 ions of the contract. 
 
 Deiiolution of powers of former boards. 
 
 Sec. 588. All powers and duties conferred or imposed upon 
 the corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Coin nonalty of the City of New York, or upon any of the 
 officers, or any Board thereof, or upon the Board of Electrical 
 Control in and for the City of New York, or upon the corpor- 
 ation known as the City of Brooklyn, or upon any of the offi- 
 cers or any Board thereof, or upon any Board of Commis- 
 sioners of Electrical Subways therein, or upon the corporation 
 known as Long Island City, or upon any of the officer?, or any 
 Board thereof, or upon any other municipal corporation, town 
 or village, or any Board of Public Officers existing or acting 
 within the territory of the County of Richmond, or within so 
 much ol the territory of the County of Queens as is by this Act 
 annexed to the corporation known as The Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, so far as such 
 powers and duties in any way relate to the construction^ 
 repairs, cleaning and maintenance of public buildings, includ- 
 ing markets, except school houses, alms houses, penitentiaries 
 and the like, and fire and police station houses, and to furnish- 
 ing the city, or any part thereof, with gas, electricity, or any 
 other illuminant, or of steam ; the selecting, locating and re- 
 moving and changing of lights for the use of the city ; the 
 inspecting and testing of gas and electricity used for lights 
 heating and power purposes, gas meters, electric meters, elec- 
 tric wires and of all lights furnished to said city ; and the use 
 and transmission of electricity for all purposes in, upon, across^ 
 over and under all streets, roads, avenues, parks, public places 
 and public buildings ; the construction of electric mains, con- 
 duits, conductors and subways in any such streets, roads^ 
 avenues, parks, and public places and the granting of the per- 
 
 278 
 
mission to open streets, and lo open same for the purpose of 
 carrying on therein tiie business of using and selling electricity 
 or steam, or for the service of pneumatic tubes, the care of all 
 offices leased or occupied for public uses ; the location, care, 
 management and maintenance of the public baths ; the loca- 
 tion, erection, establishment and maintenance of public urinals ; 
 the purchase of fuel, furniture, utensils, books, stationary, and 
 other articles needed for the public offices, so far as such 
 powers are consistent with and conformable to the provisions 
 of this Act, are hereby conferred and imposed upon the City 
 of New York as constituted by this Act, and as a matter of 
 administration are devolved upon the Commissioner of Public 
 Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, to be by him exercised, per- 
 formed and executed according to the provisions, directions 
 and limitations of this Act. 
 
 Title 9. 
 Department of Bridges. 
 
 Commissioner, appointment, term and salary. 
 
 Sec. 594. The Head of the Department of Bridges shall be 
 called the Commissioner of Bridges. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor and hold office as provided in Chapter IV of 
 this Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five hundred 
 dollars a year. 
 
 Id.: jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 595. The Commissioner of Bridges shall have cogniz- 
 ance and control — 
 
 (i) Of the management and maintenance of the New York 
 and Brooklyn Bridge. 
 
 ii79 
 
(2) Of the operation of the railroad on the New York and 
 Brooklyn Bridge. 
 
 (3) Of the collection of fares and of tolls on the New York 
 and Brooklyn Bridge. 
 
 (4) Of the construction, repair, maintenance and manage- 
 ment of all other bridges, that may at any time hereafter be 
 constructed in whole or in part at the expense of the City of 
 New York, or that may be acquired by said city. 
 
 (5) Of the construction, repair and maintenance of all other 
 bridges that are or may be in whole or in part a public charge, 
 not included in public parks, within the territory of The City 
 of New York, except the East River Bridge, authorized by 
 Chapter 789, Laws of 1895. 
 
 Id : To 7nake daily report to Comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 596. The said Commissioner shall keep accurate ac- 
 counts of all moneys received or collected by his Department 
 for fares,tolls, and any other purpose, in such form as the Comp- 
 troller of the City or the Ordinances of the Municipal Assemb- 
 ly shall require, and he shall pay over the same daily to the 
 Chamberlain and make a daily report of the same to the Comp- 
 troller. 
 
 Persons not affected by passage of this Act ; exceptions. 
 
 Sec. 597. The engineers, officers and subordinates, with the 
 exception of the attorneys and counsel, of the New York and 
 Brooklyn Bridge in office or employment at the time of the 
 passage of this Act and heretofore appointed by the Trustees 
 of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge shall not be affected 
 by the passage of this Act so far as their positions are con- 
 cerned, but shall continue to hold such places and positions 
 under the Commissioner of Bridges, subject to the provisions 
 of this Act. 
 
 The New York and Brooklyn Bridge, a public liighway. 
 Sec. 598. The New York and Brooklyn Bridge is hereby de- 
 
 280 
 
clared to be a public highway for the purpose of rendering travel 
 between the Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn certain and 
 safe at all times, subject to such tolls and prudential and police 
 regulations as the Municipal Assembly shall adopt and pre- 
 scribe ; provided, however, that the passageway of the bridge 
 now set apart for foot passengers shall remain free and open 
 to all pedestrians coming or going at all times. 
 
 Concurrent jurisdiction in Boroughs of Nezv York and Brooklyn 
 over crimes, etc., committed on the said bridge. 
 
 Sec. 599. Concurrent jurisdiction shall be possessed by all 
 Courts located in the Borough of Manhattan, and b}' all Courts 
 located in the Borough of Brooklyn, and by the judicial and 
 administrative offices of the City of New York, over all crimes 
 and ofTences, committed upon said Bridge and upon any other 
 bridge that may hereafter be erected between the two 
 Boroughs. It shall be the duty of the said Commissioner of 
 Bridges, and he hereby is authorized to execute the ordinances 
 of the Municipal Assembly, relative to said Bridges and to 
 have in immediate charge, the control and disposition of such 
 members of the Police Force of the City of New York, as 
 may be assigned for duty in his Department. 
 
 Certain acts declared to be misdemeanors, penalties for. 
 
 Sec. 600. Any person wilfully doing any injury to any of 
 said bridges or any of their appurtenances, shall forfeit and 
 pay to the said City of New York three times the amount of 
 such injury, and shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
 be subject to a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars, 
 and to imprisonment not exceeding six months, in the dis- 
 cretion of the Court. 
 
 Devolution of power of former boards, etc. 
 
 Sec. 601. Upon the appointment of the Commissioner of 
 Bridges, the respective offices of the Trustees of the New York 
 and Brooklyn Bridge shall be and they hereby are declared 
 
 281 
 
abolished and all the powers and duties vested in and devolved 
 upon said Trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge by 
 any law or statute shall, so far as they are consistent with and 
 conformable to the provisions of this Act, be devolved upon 
 the Commissioner of Bridges of the City of New York and 
 upon the Municipal Assembly, and they shall in all respects 
 exercise such duties and perform such powers, subject, how- 
 ever, to the provisions, directions and limitations of this Act. 
 
 282 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ■ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS. 
 
 Title 1. The Parks of the City. 
 2. The Art Commission. 
 
 Title 1. 
 the parks. 
 
 Administrative Jurisdiction ; Board; President ; Salaries; Branch 
 Offices. 
 
 Section 607. The head of the Department of Parks shall be 
 called the Park Board. Said Board shall consist of three mem- 
 bers who shall be known as Commissioners of Parks of the City 
 of New York. They shall be appointed by the Mayor and shall 
 hold their respective offices as provided in Chapter IV of this 
 Act. One of said Commissioners shall be the President of the 
 Board, and shall be so designated by the Mayor. In appoint- 
 ing such Commissioners, the Mayor shall specify the Borough 
 or Boroughs in which they are respectively to have administra- 
 tive jurisdiction, to wit: one in the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and Richmond ; one in the Borough of The Bronx ; and one in 
 the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The principal office of 
 the Department of Parks shall be in the Borough of Manhattan. 
 There shall be branch offices in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and 
 The Bronx, and a branch office may be established in the 
 Borough of Queens, or the Borough of Richmond, in the dis- 
 cretion of the Board. At any time when requested so to do by 
 said Board, the Mayor may make a new specification of the 
 Borough or Boroughs in which said Commissioners are respectively 
 to have administrative jurisdiction. The salary of each of said 
 Commissioners shall be five thousand dollars a year. 
 
 283 
 
Title to Park's, Squares and Public Places. 
 
 Sec. 608. The title to each and all of the parks, parkways, 
 squares and public places comprised within and belonging to the 
 corporation heretofore known as The Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, or the corporation heretofore 
 known as the City of Brooklyn, or the corporation heretofore 
 known as Long Island City, or the County of Kings, or the 
 County of Richmond, or which are owned by the County of 
 Queens and are comprised within that portion of said county 
 which is included in the City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, or belonging to any of the sub-divisions of said coun- 
 ties, is hereby vested in the City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 Gifts of Real and Personal Property. 
 
 Sec. 609. Real and personal property may be granted, de- 
 vised, bequeathed, or conveyed to the City of New York, as 
 constituted by this Act, for the purposes of the improvement or 
 ornamentation of the parks, squares or public places in said city, 
 or for the establishment or maintenance, within the limits of 
 any such park, square or public place, of museums, zoological, 
 botanical, or other gardens, collections of natural history', ob- 
 servatories, or works of art, upon such trusts and conditions as 
 may be prescribed by the grantors or donors thereof, and be 
 accepted by the Department ; and all property so devised, 
 granted, bequeathed, or conveyed, and the rents, issues, profits, 
 and income and increase thereof shall be subject to the manage- 
 ment, direction and control of the Commissioner for the Borough 
 or Boroughs in which the same is situated or to which it ap- 
 pertains, and except such surplus animals and duplicate speci- 
 mens as the Park Board may deem it judicious to dispose of by 
 sale or otherwise, the same shall be forever properly protected, 
 preserved, and arranged for public use and enjoyment, subject 
 to such rules and regulations as the Park Board may prescribe. 
 The said Board shall hereafter, with its annual report, make a 
 statement of the condition of all the gifts, devises and bequests 
 of the previous year, and of the names of the persons making 
 the same. 
 
 284 
 
General Powers of the Board; Ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 610. The Park Board shall by a vote of a majority of its 
 members have power to establish general rules and regulations 
 for the administration of the Department, which rules and regu- 
 lations so far as practicable shall be uniform in all the Boroughs. 
 Said Board shall have power to appoint a secretary, and, within 
 the limit of its appropriation, to appoint such subordinate officers 
 as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the office of the 
 Department. The Board shall also have power by a vote of a 
 majority of its members to enact ordinances for the government 
 and protection of all parks, parkways, squares and public places 
 within the City, and the same shall at all times.be subject to all 
 such ordinances as to the use and occupation thereof and in 
 respect to any erections or encumbrances thereon. Any person 
 violating any of such ordinances shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 
 and shall on conviction before a City Magistrate be punished by 
 a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, or in default of payment of such 
 fine by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days. 
 
 Landscape Architect ; Appointment and Duties. 
 
 Sec. 611. The Board shall also appoint without definite 
 term a landscape architect, skilled and expert, whose assent 
 shall be requisite to all plans and works or changes thereof re- 
 specting the conformation, development or ornamentation of any 
 of the parks, squares, or public places of the City, to the end 
 that the same may be uniform and symmetrical at all times. It 
 shall be the duty of such architect, from time to time, to pre- 
 pare and submit to the Board, or to any Commissioner, as he 
 may deem proper, or as he may be requested by said Board or 
 by any Commissioner, plans for works or changes thereof respect- 
 ing the parks, parkways, squares or public places of the City. 
 The salary of said architect shall be fixed by the Board within 
 the proper appropriation. 
 
 General Powers of Commissioners as to the management of Parks. 
 
 Sec. 612. Subject to such general rules and regulations as shall 
 
 285 
 
be established by the Board, each Commissioner shall have charge 
 of the management and be responsible for the care of all such parks, 
 parkways, squares and public places as are situated in the Bor- 
 ough or Boroughs over which he has jurisdiction, and of the streets 
 and avenues immediately adjoining the same ; but such jurisdic- 
 tion shall not extend to nor include the buildings which are now 
 or may hereafter be erected in such parks, squares or public 
 places for governmental purposes, other than those of the Depart- 
 ment of Parks. It shall be the duty of each Commissioner, 
 subject to such general rules and regulations and in conformity 
 therewith, to maintain the beauty and utility of all such parks, 
 squares and public places as are situated within his jurisdiction, 
 and to institute and execute all measures for the improvement 
 thereof for ornamental purposes and for the beneficial uses of 
 the people of the City. Subject to the general rules and regu- 
 lations established by the Board, each Commissioner shall have 
 power to determine the line or curb and the surface construction 
 of all streets and avenues lying within a distance of three hun- 
 dred and fifty feet from the outer boundaries of any park, square 
 or public place in his jurisdiction ; and he shall also have power 
 to plant trees and to construct, erect and establish seats, drink- 
 ing fountains, statues and works of art, when he may deem it 
 tasteful or appropriate so to do, on any part of the public 
 streets and avenues within such environment, subject to the pro- 
 visions of Title Two of this Chapter, and to determine when 
 and where new lamps or lighting appliances shall be placed and 
 lighted. 
 
 Maintenance and Management of Buildings in Parks. 
 
 Sec. 613. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner for 
 the Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond to maintain the 
 meteorological and astronomical observatory, the Museum of 
 Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central 
 Park, the Aquarium in Battery Place, and such other build- 
 ings as now are or may hereafter be erected in such parks or 
 in any other park, square or public place under his juris- 
 diction by authority of the Municipal Assembly. It shall be 
 the duty of the Commissioner for the Boroughs of Brooklyn 
 
 286 
 
and Queens to maintain the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 
 Sciences, and such other buildings as now are or may hereafter 
 be erected in any park, square or public place under his juris- 
 diction by authority of the Municipal Assembly, It shall be 
 the duty of the Commissioner for the Borough of The Bronx 
 to maintain the New York Botanical Garden and the buildings 
 appurtenant thereto, and such other institutions or buildings as 
 may be established or erected in any park, square or public place 
 in his jurisdiction by authority of the Municipal Assembly. It 
 shall be the duty of the several Commissioners to provide the 
 necessary instruments, furniture and equipments for the several 
 buildings and institutions within their respective jurisdictions, 
 and, with the authority of the Municipal Assembly, to develop 
 and improve the same, and to erect additional buildings ; but the 
 maintenance of all such buildings and institutions shall be sub- 
 ject to the provisions of the Acts incorporating said institutions, 
 or either of them, and the Acts amendatory thereof, and to the 
 powers of said corporations thereunder, and of the boards by 
 such Acts created or provided for ; and shall also be subject to and 
 in conformity with such contracts and agreements as have hereto- 
 fore been made with such institutions respectively, and are in force 
 and effect when this Act takes effect, or as may be hereafter 
 made by the authority of the Municipal Assembly, and no 
 moneys shall be expended for such purposes unless an appropria- 
 tion therefor has been made by the Board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portionment and the Municipal Assembly. Out of the moneys 
 annually appropriated for the maintenance of parks each Com- 
 missioner may apply such sum as shall be fixed by the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment for the keeping, preservation and 
 exhibition of the collections placed or contained in buildings or 
 institutions now situated or hereafter erected in the parks, squares 
 or public places under the jurisdiction of such Commissioner. 
 
 Appointment of subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 614. Each Commissioner shall have power to ap- 
 point such superintendents, engineers, subordinates, clerks and 
 assistants as may be necessary for the efficient performance of 
 the duties of ttie Department respecting the parks, squares 
 
 387 
 
and public places within his jurisdiction, and as may be author- 
 ized by the Municipal Assembly and provided for by the proper 
 appropriation. He shall, subject to the approval of the Board, 
 fix the salaries of his appointees within the limits of such appro- 
 priation. Each Commissioner shall also have power to employ 
 all of the mechanics, agents or laborers needed or required for 
 the work of the Department in the parks, squares and public 
 places in his jurisdiction within the limits of the proper appro- 
 priation, and to arrange and classify the various appointees and 
 employees in such manner and under such titles or designations 
 as the Board may prescribe. Each Commissioner shall have in 
 immediate charge the control and disposition of such members 
 of the Police Force of the City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, as may be assigned for duty in the parks, squares or 
 public places subject to his jurisdiction. 
 
 Permits to buildings for fire apparatus. 
 
 Sec. 615, Each Commissioner is hereby authorized in his 
 discretion, on the application in writing of the Fire Commissioner, 
 to permit a building or buildings for fire apparatus to be placed 
 in any of the parks, squares or public places situated within the 
 jurisdiction of such Commissioner of Parks, provided the same 
 are so located and constructed as, in the judgment of the Com- 
 missioner granting such permission, will not disfigure or encum- 
 ber the same, or interfere with the purposes of public use and 
 recreation, but will tend to the protection of the public and their 
 property. 
 
 General Powers of Commissioners under Former Acts. 
 
 Sec. 616. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and Richmond shall in addition to the powers, rights and duties 
 expressly conferred or imposed upon him by this Act, possess 
 and exercise all the powers, rights and duties and shall be sub- 
 ject to all the obligations heretofore vested in, conferred upon 
 or required of the corporation known as The Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, or the Department 
 of Parks in said city, or the Commissioners of Parks, or in any 
 other board, body or officer therein or thereof, or in any com- 
 
 288 
 
mission, commissioner, body, board or officer in or for the 
 County of Richmond, so far as such powers, rights, duties and 
 obligations concern or affect the control, care, management, 
 government, extension, maintenance or administrative jurisdic- 
 tion of the parks, squares and other public places situated or 
 lying within the Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond or either 
 of them at the time this Act takes effect or which may thereafter 
 be opened or established therein, so far as the same are not in- 
 consistent with this Act. The Commissioner for the Borough of 
 The Bronx shall, in addition to the powers, rights and duties 
 expressly conferred or imposed upon him by this Act, possess and 
 exercise all the aforesaid powers, rights, duties and shall be sub- 
 ject to all the aforesaid obligations so far as such powers, rights, 
 duties and obligations concern or affect the care, management, 
 control, government, extension, maintenance or administrative 
 jurisdiction of the parks, squares and other public places situated 
 or lying within the Borough of The Bronx at the time this Act 
 takes effect, or which may thereafter be opened or established 
 therein, so far as the same are not inconsistent with this Act. 
 The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens 
 shall in addition to the powers, rights and duties expressly con- 
 ferred or imposed upon him by this Act, possess and exercise all 
 the powers, rights and duties and shall be subject to all the obli- 
 gations heretofore vested in or conferred upon, or required of the 
 corporation known as the City of Brooklyn, or the Department 
 of Parks in and for said city, or the Commissioners of Parks, or 
 any commission, commissioner, body, board or officer of said 
 city or of the County of Kings, or in any commissioner, body, 
 board or officer in or for that portion of the County of Queens 
 which is included in The City of New York as constituted by this 
 Act, so far as such powers, rights, duties and obligations concern 
 or affect the control, care, management, government, extension, 
 maintenance or administrative jurisdiction of the parks, squares 
 and other public places situated or lying within the Boroughs of 
 Brooklyn and Queens, or either of them, at the time this Act takes 
 effect or which may be thereafter opened or established therein, 
 so far as the same are not inconsistent with this Act. 
 
 289 
 
Accounts; Annual Estimates; Expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 617. Each Commissioner shall keep accurate and de- 
 tailed accounts, in a form approved by the Commissioners of 
 Accounts, of all moneys received and expended by him, the 
 sources from which they are received and the purposes for which 
 they are expended, and shall prepare itemized monthly state- 
 ments of all receipts and expenditures in duplicate, one of which 
 statements, together with all vouchers, shall be filed with the 
 Comptroller, and one of which shall be filed in his own office. 
 Each Commissioner shall, on or before the first day of 
 September in each year prepare an itemized estimate of his 
 necessary expenses for the ensuing fiscal year and present the 
 same to the Board. The three estimates so prepared, as revised 
 by the Board, shall together constitute the annual estimate of 
 the Department of Parks, and shall be submitted to the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment within the time prescribed by 
 this Act for the submission of estimates for the several Depart- 
 ments of the City. No Commissioner shall incur any expense 
 for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated therefor; 
 nor shall he expend any money so appropriated for any purpose 
 other than that for which it was appropriated. The Com.mis- 
 sioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond shall 
 annually include in his estimate of the amount necessary for 
 the maintenance of the Parks, the sums now authorized by 
 law for the maintenance of the American Museum of Natural 
 History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not exceeding, 
 however, ninety-five thousand dollars per annum for each of 
 the said Museums. It shall be the duty of the Board of Esti- 
 mate and Apportionment and of the Municipal Assembly to 
 provide in the annual budget the proportionate part of the 
 appropriation for the Department of Parks applicable to the 
 administration of the Department in each Borough of the City, 
 Borough by Borough. 
 
 Advertisements for Supplies. 
 
 Sec. 618. The Board shall from time to time as may be 
 necessary, advertise in the City Record and corporation news- 
 
 290 
 
papers for not less than ten days, for proposals for such articles 
 and supplies as shall be necessary to be used in the parks, squares 
 and public places of the City, and shall award contracts for the 
 same to the lowest bidders who shall give adequate security for 
 the faithful performance of such contracts, excepting such perish- 
 able articles as may be excepted by the rules and regulations of 
 the Board. In case of an emergency each Commissioner may 
 purchase articles immediately required without calling for com- 
 petition at an expense not exceeding one thousand dollars during 
 any one month. 
 
 Battery Place; Boat Landings. 
 
 Sec. 619. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and Richmond shall have power and control over all that por- 
 tion of Battery Place lying south of the line of the south side of 
 Pier No. 1, North River, and west of the easterly line of West 
 street, extended in a southerly direction, and also over the waters 
 of the North River and soil under the waters thereof, in front of 
 said portion of Battery Place, and to the extent of two hundred 
 feet westerly from the westerly end of said Battery Place ; and 
 it shall be lawful for such Commissioner to erect, construct and 
 maintain on said part of Battery Place, and over or on the lands 
 under water before mentioned, suitable buildings, docks, piers, or 
 basins for the accommodation of small boats that may be engaged 
 in the business of attending on shipping lying in the said river, or 
 the bay or harbor of New York, and also to make, prescribe and 
 enforce, from time to time, such rules and regulations, for the 
 use and enjoyment of the same, as to the Commissioner shall seem 
 meet and proper for the public interest. Such Commissioner may 
 also prescribe and enforce like rules and ordinances for the control 
 and government of all small boats frequenting or using the water 
 basin at the south end of the Battery. 
 
 Harlem River Improvement. 
 
 Sec. 620. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner for the 
 Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond to continue and com- 
 plete every and all plan or plans, work or construction, respect- 
 
 291 
 
ing the improvement of Harlem River, heretofore devolved upon 
 the Department of Public Parks of the corporation known as 
 The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York, by Chapter five hundred and thirty-four of the laws of 
 eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and by all acts or parts of 
 acts amendatory thereof, so far as the same remain to be contin- 
 ued and completed according to the provisions of that act or its 
 amendments. 
 
 Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
 
 Sec. 621. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhat- 
 tan and Richmond is hereby authorized and directed to continue 
 the contract with the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the occu- 
 pation by it of the buildings erected or to be erected on that 
 portion of the Central Park east of the old receiving reservoir, 
 and bounded on the west by the drive, on the east by the Fifth 
 avenue, on the south by a continuation of Eightieth street, and 
 on the north by a continuation of Eighty-fifth street, and for 
 transferring thereto, and establishing, and maintaining therein 
 its museum, library, and collections, and carrying out the objects 
 and purposes of the said Museum of Art. 
 
 American Museum of Natural History. 
 
 Sec. 622. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhat- 
 tan and Richmond is hereby authorized and directed to continue 
 the contract with the American Museum of Natural History for 
 the occupation by it of the building erected, or to be erected, on 
 that portion of the Central Park formerly known as Manhattan 
 Square, and for establishing and maintaining therein its museums 
 library and collections, and carrying out the objects and pur- 
 poses of said Museum. 
 
 New York Public Library. 
 
 Sec. 623. Whenever, pursuant to lawful authority, the land 
 at present occupied by the reservoir at Fifth Avenue and For- 
 tieth and Forty-second Streets shall be made a public park, and 
 the removal of said reservoir shall have been duly authorized and 
 directed, the Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan and 
 
 292 
 
^ 
 
 Richmond is hereby authorized and directed to make and enter 
 into a contract with the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox 
 and Tilden foundations, a corporation duly organized under the 
 laws of this State, for the use and occupation of said land, or of 
 any part thereof, by the said corporation and its successors, for 
 establishing and maintaining thereon a free public library and 
 reading room, and for carrying out the objects and purposes 
 of said corporation in accordance with the provisions of the 
 agreement of consolidation between the trustees of the Astor 
 Library, of the Lenox Library and of the Tilden Trust, and the 
 several acts incorporating the said several corporations ; and said 
 contract may provide that such use and occupation shall continue 
 so long as the said the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox 
 and Tilden foundations, or its successors, shall maintain such 
 free public library and reading room upon said land. 
 
 Brooklyn Institute of A rts and Sciences. 
 
 Sec. 624. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Brooklyn 
 and Queens is hereby authorized and directed to continue the 
 contract and lease with the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 
 Sciences, for the occupation by it of park lands and of a building 
 or buildings erected or to be erected on that portion of Prospect 
 Park bounded by the Eastern Parkway on the north, Washing- 
 ton Avenue on the east, a line parallel to Old President street, 
 and one hundred feet south of the southerly line of said street, 
 on the south, and on the west by the easterly line of land 
 reserved for the Prospect Hill Reservoir, and in continuation 
 thereof, for establishing and maintaining therein its museum, 
 library, and collections. For carrying out the plans and purposes 
 of said Institute and for the maintenance of said museum build- 
 ing or buildings, and for the keeping, preservation and exhibi- 
 tion of collections placed therein, a sum not less than twenty 
 thousand dollars shall be appropriated annually by the said City 
 of New York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 New York Botakical Garden. 
 
 Sec. 625. The Commissioner for the Borough of The*' 
 Bronx is hereby authorized and directed to carry out the exist- 
 
 293 
 
ing contract made by and between the Department of Parks of 
 the corporation heretofore known as The Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of the City of New York and the Board of Man- 
 agers of the corporation known as the New York Botanical 
 Garden pursuant to the provisions of chapter two hundred and 
 eighty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-one,' 
 entitled "An Act to provide for the establishment of a botanic 
 garden and museum and arboretum in Bronx Park in the City of 
 New York and to incorporate The New York Botanical Gar- 
 den for carrying on the same", as amended by Chapter one hun •• 
 dred and three of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety- 
 four, which contract provides for the allotting and setting 
 apart for the uses of said garden of two hundred and fifty acres 
 of land or less in the northern part of Bronx Park as shown upon 
 a certain map thereof numbered five hundred and sixty-eight, 
 and signed by Messrs. Vaux and Parsons, and filed with the 
 former Department of Public Parks of the corporation known 
 as The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York. 
 
 New York Zoological Garden. 
 
 Sec. 626. The Commissioner for the Borough of The Bronx i& 
 hereby authorized and directed to carry out the contract made 
 by and between the Department of Public Parks and the Sinking 
 Fund Commissioners of the corporation heretofore known as The 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York^ 
 with the Board of Managers of the corporation known as The 
 New York Zoological Society, pursuant to the provisions of 
 chapter four hundred and thirty-five of the Laws of eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-five, entitled "An Act to incorporate 
 The New York Zoological Society and to provide for the establish- 
 ment of a zoological garden in the City of New York" if such a 
 contract shall have been entered into prior to the passage of 
 this act. If no such contract shall have been entered into by 
 the said Department of Parks and the said Sinking Fund Com- 
 missioners prior to the passage of this Act, then and in that case 
 the said Commissioner for the Borough of The Bronx, with the 
 consent and approval of the Sinking Fund Commissioners of The 
 
 294 
 
City of New York, as constituted by this Act, is hereby author- 
 ized to enter into a contract in behalf of The City of New York 
 with said New York Zoological Society allotting and setting 
 apart for the use of said Society, a tract of land in Bronx Park 
 in said Borough of The Bronx upon such terms and conditions 
 as shall be approved by the said Commissioner and said Sinking 
 Fund Commissioners. 
 
 Military Encampments and Evolutions ; Public Fairs. 
 
 Sec. 627. No military encampment, parade, drill, review, or 
 other military evolution, or exercise, shall be held or performed 
 in any park, or in any part thereof ; nor shall any military com- 
 pany, regiment, or other military body, enter or move in mili- 
 tary order within any park without permit from the Commis- 
 sioner within whose jurisdiction such park is situated. No mili- 
 tary officer shall have authority to order, direct, or hold any such 
 parade, drill, review, or other evolutions or exercise, or encamp- 
 ment within said park, except in case of riot, insurrection, re^ 
 beilion, or war, without such permit. It shall not be lawful to 
 grant, use or occupy, for the purposes of a public fair or exhibi- 
 tion, any portion of any park, square or public place. 
 
 Title 2. 
 art commission. 
 Art Commission; how co7istituted. 
 
 Sec. 633. There shall be an Art Commission for the City of 
 New York composed as follows: 
 
 1. The Mayor of The City of New York. -^ 
 
 2. The President of the Metropolitan Museum of 
 
 Art. 
 
 3. The President of the New York Public Library ) 
 
 — (Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations). 
 
 4. The President of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts 
 
 and Sciences. ) 
 
 295 
 
 Ex 
 
 Officio, 
 
One painter, one sculptor and one architect, all residents 
 of The City of New York ; and three other residents of said 
 City, none of whom shall be a painter, sculptor or architect 
 or member of any other profession in the Fine Arts. All of 
 the six last mentioned shall be appointed by the Mayor from a 
 list, of not less than three times the number to be appointed, 
 proposed by the Fine Arts Federation of New York. 
 
 In all matters of which such Commission takes cognizance 
 pertaining to work under the special charge of a Commissioner 
 or Department, the Commissioner having such special charge 
 shall act as a member of the Commission. 
 
 Members of Commission ; how chosen ; vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 634. The painter, sculptor and architect, members of 
 the Commission, shall choose by lot one, two and three year 
 terms of office ; the three other appointed members of the 
 Commission shall also choose by lot one, two and three year 
 terms of office, and the appointment of their successors, after 
 the expiration of the first year of this Commission, shall be for 
 a term of three years. All appointments to fill vacancies shall 
 be for the unexpired term. 
 
 In case any vacancy shall occur in the Commission, by 
 reason of death, resignation, incapacity, refusal to serve, or 
 otherwise, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment, as pro- 
 vided in section 633 of this Act. In case the Fine Arts 
 Federation shall fail to present a list of nominees as aforesaid 
 within three months from the time when any appointment is 
 to be made, the Mayor shall appoint without such nomina- 
 tion. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Sec. 635. The Commission shall serve without compensation 
 as such, and shall elect a President, Vice-President and Secre- 
 tary from its own members, whose terms of office shall be for 
 one year and until their successors are elected and have 
 qualified. The Commission shall have power to adopt its 
 own rules of procedure. Five Commissioners shall constitute 
 a quorum. 
 
 296 
 
Offices to be provided ; expenses, how met. 
 
 Sec. 636. Suitable offices shall be provided for the Com- 
 mission by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The 
 expenses of the Commission shall be paid by the City and the 
 amount of the same shall be fixed annually by the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 All works of art to be submitted to and approved by the Commission. 
 
 Sec. 637. Hereafter no work of art shall become the prop- 
 erty of the City of New York, by purchase, gift or otherwise, 
 unless such work of art, or a design of the same, together with 
 a statement of the proposed location of such work of art, shall 
 first have been submitted to and approved by the Commission ; 
 nor shall such work of art until so approved be erected or 
 placed in or upon, or allowed to extend over or upon any 
 street, avenue, square common, park, municipal building, or 
 other public place belonging to the city. The Commission 
 may when they deem proper also require a complete model of 
 the proposed work of art to be submitted. The term " work 
 of art " as used in this title shall apply to and include all paint- 
 ings, mural decorations, stained glass, statues, bas reliefs or other 
 sculptures ; monuments, fountains, arches, or other structures of 
 a permanent character intended for ornament or commemora- 
 tion. No existing work of art in the possession of the City shall 
 be removed, re-located or altered in any way without the similar 
 approval of the Commission, except as provided in section 
 six hundred and thirty-nine of this Act. When so requested 
 by the Mayor or the Municipal Assembly the Commission 
 shall act in a similar capacity, with similar powers, in respect 
 of the designs of municipal buildings, bridges, approaches, 
 gates, fences, lamps or other structures erected or to be erected 
 upon land belonging to the City, and in respect of the lines, 
 grades and plotting of public ways and grounds, and in respect 
 of arches, bridges, structures and approaches which are the 
 property of any corporation or private individual, and which 
 shall extend over or upon any street, avenue, highway, park or 
 public place belonging to the City. But this section shall not 
 be construed as intended to impair the power of the Park 
 
 297 
 
Board to refuse its consent to the erection or acceptance of 
 public monuments or memorials or other works of art of any 
 sort within any park, square or public place in the city. 
 
 Time for "fecision limited. 
 
 Sec. 638. If the Commission shall fail to decide upon any 
 matter submitted to it within sixty days after such submission, 
 its decision shall be deemed unnecessary. 
 
 Removal or re-location of works of art ; duty of Commission. 
 
 Sec. 639. In case the immediate removal or re-location of any 
 existing work of art shall be deemed necessary by the Mayor, 
 the Commission shall within forty-eight hours after notice 
 from him approve or disapprove of such removal or re-location, 
 and in case of their failure so to act within forty-eight hours 
 after the receipt of such notice, they shall be deemed to have 
 approved of the same. 
 
 29« 
 
Chapter XII. 
 DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Appointment of Commissioners; qualifications; jurisdiction; salaries. 
 
 Sec. 644. The head of the Department of Buildings shall 
 be called the Board of Buildina:s. Said Board shall consist of 
 three members to be known as Commissioners of Buildings. 
 They shall be appointed by the Mayor and shall hold their 
 respective offices as provided in Chapter IV. of this Act. 
 Each of said Commissioners shall be a competent architect or 
 builder of at least ten years' experience. One of said Commis- 
 sioners shall be the President of the Board, and shall be so de- 
 signated by the Mayor. In appointing such Commissioners the 
 Mayor shall specify the Borough or Boroughs in which they 
 are respectively to have administrative jurisdiction, to wit: 
 one in the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx ; one in the 
 Borough of Brooklyn ; and one in the Boroughs of Queens and 
 Richmond. The principal office of the Department of Build- 
 ings shall be in the Borough of Manhattan. There shall be a 
 branch office in the Borough of Brooklyn, and a branch office 
 may be established in any of the other Boroughs, in the 
 discretion of the Board. The salary of the Commissioner 
 of Buildings for the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, 
 and the salary of the Commissioner of Buildings for the 
 Borough of Brooklyn, shall in each case be seven thousand 
 dollars a year. The salary of the Commissioner of Buildings 
 for the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond shall be Three 
 thousand five hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Rules and regulations. 
 
 Sec. 645. The Board shall have the power, by a vote of a 
 majority of its members, to establish general rules and 
 
 299 
 
regulations for the administration of the Department, and 
 such other rules and regulations as were authorized by 
 law at the time of the passage of this Act to be established 
 by the Superintendent of Buildings in the City of New 
 York, or by the Commissioner of the Department of Build- 
 ings in the City of Brooklyn, as said cities were formerly 
 constituted. Such rules and regulations shall, so far as prac- 
 ticable, be uniform in all the Boroughs, but the Board 
 shall have power, from time to time, to . amend or repeal 
 such rules and regulations when in the opinion of a 
 majority of the Commissioners it shall seem necessary or 
 desirable. The Board shall also have power to appoint a Sec- 
 retary, and within the limits of its appropriation to appoint 
 such subordinate officers as may be necessary for the proper 
 conduct of the office of the Department. 
 
 General powers of Commissioners under existing laws. 
 
 Sec. 646. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and The Bronx shall within such Boroughs, in addition to the 
 powers, rights and duties expressly conferred or imposed upon 
 him by this Act, possess and exercise all the powers, rights and 
 duties and shall be subject to all the obligations heretofore 
 vested in, conferred upon or required of the Department of 
 Buildings or the Superintendent of Buildings in the City of 
 New York as heretofore constituted, except in so far as the 
 same are inconsistent with or are modified by this Act. 
 The Commissioner for the Borough of Brooklyn shall within 
 such Borough, in addition to the powers, rights and duties 
 expressly conferred or imposed upon him by this Act, possess 
 and exercise all the powers, rights and duties, and shall be 
 subject to all the obligations heretofore vested in, conferred 
 upon or required of the Department of Buildings or the 
 Commissioner of the Department of Buildings in the City of 
 Brooklyn as heretofore constituted, except in so far as the same 
 are inconsistent with or are modified by this Act. The Com- 
 missioner for the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond shall 
 within such Boroughs respectively, in addition to the 
 powers, rights and duties expressly conferred or imposed 
 upon him by this Act, possess and exercise all the 
 
 300 
 
powers, rights and duties and shall be subject to all 
 the obligations heretofore vested in, conferred upon or 
 required of any department, commission, board or officer 
 of Long Island City as heretofore constituted, or of any 
 town or village as heretofore constituted which is comprised 
 within that portion of the County of Queens included in the 
 City of New York as constituted by this Act, or which is 
 vested in, conferred upon or required of any department, 
 commission, board or officer of any town or village in the 
 County of Richmond as heretofore constituted, so far as such 
 powers, rights, duties and obligations concern, affect or relate 
 to the construction, alteration or removal of any building or 
 structure erected or to be erected within said Boroughs or 
 either of them, except in so far as the same are inconsistent 
 with or are modified by this Act. 
 
 Continuation and repeal of existing laws; Building Code. 
 
 Sec. 647. The several acts in effect at the time of the passage 
 of this Act concerning, affecting, or relating to the construction, 
 alteration or removal of buildings or other structures in any of 
 the municipal and public corporations included within The 
 City of New York as constituted by this Act are hereby con- 
 tinued in full force and effect in such municipal and public 
 corporations respectively, except in so far as the same are incon- 
 sistent with or are modified by this Act ; provided, however, 
 that the Municipal Assembly shall have power to establish 
 and from time to time to amend a code of ordinances, to 
 be known as the " Building Code," providing for all matters 
 concerning, affecting, or relating to the construction, altera- 
 tion, or removal of buildings or structures erected or to 
 be erected in The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, and for the purpose of preparing such code to appoint 
 and employ a commission of experts ; and provided further 
 that upon the establishment of such code the several acts first 
 above mentioned shall cease to have any force or effect, and 
 are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not take effect until 
 such "Building Code" shall be established by the Municipal 
 Assembly as herein provided. 
 
 The provisions of such " Building Code " shall be in conform- 
 
 301 
 
ity with and be subject to all general laws of the State concern- 
 ing, affecting, or relating to buildings, or classes of buildings, 
 or other structures. 
 
 Duties of Commissionexs; appointment and removal of subordinates^ 
 
 Sec. 648. Each Commissioner shall, within the Borough of 
 Boroughs in which he is appointed to exercise administrative 
 jurisdiction, have charge of the administration of, and it shall 
 be his duty, subject to and in accordance with the general 
 rules and regulations established by the Board, to enforce such 
 rules and regulations and the provisions of this Chapter and of 
 such ordinances as may be established by the Municipal 
 Assembly and of the laws relating to the construction, altera- 
 tion or removal of buildings or other structures erected or to 
 be erected within such Borough or Boroughs. Each Commis- 
 sioner within the limits of his appropriation shall have power 
 to appoint and at pleasure to remove subordinate officers, 
 as follows : such Superintendents of Buildings, and such In- 
 spectors of Buildings, Engineers, Clerks, Messengers, Assistants 
 and other subordinates as in his judgment may be necessary 
 and proper to carry out and enforce such rules and regu- 
 lations and ordinances and the provisions of said laws 
 and of this Chapter within the Borough or Boroughs 
 under his jurisdiction. The Superintendents of Buildings 
 shall each be a competent architect, engineer or builder of at 
 least ten years' practice. The Inspectors shall be competent 
 men, either architects, engineers, masons, carpenters, plumbers 
 or iron workers, who shall have served at least five years as such. 
 It shall not be lawful for any officer or employee in the Depart- 
 ment to be engaged in conducting or carrying on business as 
 an architect, civil engineer, carpenter, plumber, iron- worker, 
 mason or builder while holding office in the Department. Each 
 Commissioner shall have power to designate in writing one of 
 the Superintendents of Buildings or any of the Inspectors so 
 appointed by him to act on any survey authorized by law, or 
 to perform such other duties as the said Commissioner may 
 direct. Each Commissioner may designate a Superintendent 
 of Buildings, who, during the absence or inability of such 
 Commissioner, shall possess all the powers and perform all the 
 
 302 
 
duties of such Commissioner. Any employee, for any neglect 
 of duty, or omission to properly perform his duty, for 
 violation of rules, or neglect or disobedience of orders, or 
 incapacity, or absence without leave, may be punished by the 
 Commissioner appointing him by forfeiting and withholding 
 pay for a specified time, or by suspension from duty with or 
 without pay ; but this provision shall not be deemed to abridge 
 the right of said Commissioner to remove or dismiss any 
 Inspector of Buildings or other subordinate appointed by him 
 or by any predecessor in office from the service of the Depart- 
 ment at any time in his discretion. 
 
 Decisions of Commissioners ; appeals. 
 
 Sec. 649. Each Commissioner shall have power and it shall 
 be his duty, subject to the provisions of law and the ordinances 
 of the Municipal Assembly and the general rules and regu- 
 lations established by the Board, to pass upon any ques- 
 tion relative to the mode, manner of construction or ma- 
 terials to be used in the erection or alteration of any build- 
 ing or other structure erected or to be erected within the 
 Borough or Boroughs under his jurisdiction which is included 
 within the provisions of this Chapter or of any existing law 
 applicable to such Borough or Boroughs relating to the con- 
 struction, alteration or removal of buildings or other structures, 
 and to require that such mode, manner of construction, or 
 materials shall conform to the true intent and meaning of the 
 several provisions of this Chapter and ot the laws and ordinances 
 aforesaid and the rules and regulations established by the Board. 
 Whenever a Commissioner to whom such question has been 
 submitted shall reject or refuse to approve the mode, manner 
 of construction or materials proposed to be followed or used 
 in the erection or alteration of any such building or structure, 
 or when it is claimed that the rules and regulations of the Board 
 or the provisions of law or of said ordinances do not apply or 
 that an equally good and more desirable form of construction 
 can be employed in any specific case, the owner of such build- 
 ing or structure, or his duly authorized agent, may appeal 
 from the decision of such Commissioner to the Board in any 
 case where the amount involved by such decision shall exceed 
 
 303 
 
the sum of one thousand dollars ; provided, however, that in the 
 Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx such appeal shall be 
 taken to the Board of Examiners, established by Chapter four 
 hundred and fifty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
 eighty-five and the several acts amendatory thereof or sup- 
 plemental thereto. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of 
 Manhattan and The Bronx shall be ex-officio a member and 
 the Chairman of said Board of Examiners. The other mem- 
 bers of said Board of Examiners shall be the persons mentioned 
 and described in section thirty-one of said Chapter four hundred 
 and fifty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five. 
 The appeal authorized by this section may be taken within ten 
 days from the entry of a decision upon the records of the Com- 
 missioner by filing with the Commissioner rendering such 
 decision and with the Secretary of the Board established by this 
 Act or with the Clerk of the Board of Examiners, as the case 
 may be, a notice of appeal stating specifically the questions 
 which the appellant desires to have passed upon by the Board 
 of Buildings or by the Board of Examiners, as the case may be, 
 and by filing with the Secretary of the Board of Buildings or 
 the Clerk of the Board of Examiners, as the case may be, 
 copies of all papers required by law or by the rules and regu- 
 lations of the Board of Buildings to be submitted to the Com- 
 missioner upon an application for a building permit, and the 
 Board of Buildings or the Board of Examiners, as the case may 
 be, shall thereafter fix a day within a reasonable time for the 
 hearing of such appeal, and upon such hearing the appellant 
 may be represented either in person or by his agent or attor- 
 ney. The decision of the Board of Buildings or the Board 
 of Examiners, as the case may be, upon such appeal, shall be 
 rendered without unnecessary delay and such decision shall 
 be final. 
 
 Power to vary the provisions of law. 
 
 Sec. 650. Each Commissioner shall have power with the ap- 
 proval of the Board to vary or modify any rule or regu- 
 lation of the Board or the provisions of this Chapter or of 
 any existing law or ordinance relating to the construction, 
 alteration or removal of any building or structure erected 
 
 304 
 
or to be erected within his jurisdiction upon an application to 
 him therefor in writing by the owner of such building- or 
 structure, or his duly authorized agent, where there are prac- 
 tical difficulties in the way of carrying out the strict letter ot 
 the law, so that the spirit of the law shall be observed and 
 public safety secured and substantial justice done ; but no such 
 variation or modification shall be granted or allowed except 
 by vote of a majority of the Board. Where such application 
 has been filed with a Commissioner the owner of such building 
 or structure or his duly authorized agent shall have the right 
 to present a petition to such Commissioner and the Board 
 setting forth the grounds for the desired variation or modi- 
 fication, and raiy appear before said Board and be heard. 
 The Board shall fix a date within a reasonable time for a 
 hearing upon such application and shall as soon as prac- 
 ticable render a decision thereon, which decision shall be 
 final. The particulars of each such application and of the 
 decision of the Board thereon shall be entered upon the 
 records of the Board, and if the application is granted a certi- 
 ficate therefor shall be issued by the Commissioner to whom 
 the application is made and shall be countersigned by the 
 Secretary of the Board. 
 
 Accounts; annual estimates ; expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 651. Each Commissioner shall keep accurate and de- 
 tailed accounts, in a form approved by the Commissioners of 
 Accounts of all moneys received and expended by him, the 
 sources from which they are received and the purposes for which 
 they are expended, and shall prepare itemized monthly state- 
 ments of all receipts and expenditures in duplicate, one of 
 which statements, together with all vouchers, shall be filed 
 with the Comptroller, and one of which shall be filed in his 
 own office. Each Commissioner shall, on or before the first 
 day of September in each year prepare an itemized estimate of 
 his necessary expenses for the ensuing fiscal year and present 
 the same to the Board. The three estimates so prepared as 
 revised by the Board shall together constitute the annual esti- 
 mate of the Department of Buildings, and shall be submitted 
 to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment within the time 
 
 306 
 
prescribed by this Act for the submission of estimates for the 
 several departments of the city. No Commissioner shall incur 
 any expense for any purpose in excess of the amount appro- 
 priated therefor ; nor shall he expend any money so appropri- 
 ated for any purpose other than that for which it was appro- 
 priated. 
 
 Record of applications. 
 
 Sec. 652. Each Commissioner shall keep a record of all ap- 
 plications presented to him concerning, affecting or relating to 
 the construction, alteration or removal of buildings or other 
 structures. Such record shall include the date of the filing of 
 each such application ; the name and address of the applicant ; 
 the name and address of the owner of the land on which the 
 structure mentioned in such application is situated; the names 
 and addresses of the architect and builder employed thereon; a 
 designation of the premises by street number, or otherwise 
 sufficient to identify the same; a statement of the nature and 
 proposed use of such structure ; and a brief statement of the 
 nature of the application, together with a memorandum of the 
 decision of the Commissioner upon such application and the 
 date of the rendition of such decision. The books contain- 
 ing such records are hereby declared to be public records, 
 and shaU be open to inspection at all reasonable times. 
 
 306 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CHARITIES. 
 
 Jurisdiction: Salary. 
 
 Sec. 658. The head of the Department of Public Charities 
 shall be called the Board of Public Charities. Said Board shall 
 consist of three Commissioners, who shall be designated Com- 
 missioners of Public Charities of The City of New York. They 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor and hold their respective offices, 
 as provided in Chapter IV of this Act. One of said Commis- 
 sioners shall be the President of said Board, and shall be so desig- 
 nated by the Mayor. In appointing such Commissioners the 
 Mayor shall specify the Borough or Boroughs in which they are 
 respectively to have administrative jurisdiction, to wit : one in 
 the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx : one in the Bor- 
 oughs of Brooklyn and Queens ; one in the Borough of Rich- 
 mond. The salary of the Commissioner for the Boroughs of 
 Manhattan and The Bronx, and of the Commissioner for the 
 Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens shall in each case be seven 
 , thousand five hundred dollars a year. The salary of the Com- 
 missioner for the Borough of Richmond shall be two thousand 
 five hundred dollars a year. The principal office of the Depart- 
 ment shall be in the Borough of Manhattan. There shall be a 
 branch office in each of the other Boroughs. 
 
 Rules and regulations ; subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 659. The said Board shall by a vote of a majority of its 
 members have power to establish general rules and regulations for 
 the administration of the Department and the government of the 
 institutions under the jurisdiction of said several Commissioners, 
 except the institutions specified in section 661 of this Act, and 
 such general rules and regulations shall be so far as practicable 
 
 307 
 
uniform in all the Boroughs. Subject to such general rules and 
 regulations each Commissioner shall have jurisdiction over the 
 several classes of public institutions hereinafter specified which 
 are situated or may hereafter be established within the Borough 
 or Boroughs for which he is appointed. The Commissioner for 
 the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, and the Commis- 
 sioner of the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, shall each have 
 power to appoint and at pleasure to remove a deputy. Each 
 deputy so appointed shall during the absence or disability of the 
 Commissioner appointing him possess all the powers and per- 
 form all the duties of such Commissioner, except the powers 
 conferred by sections 661 and 664 of this Act. Whenever such 
 absence or disability shall continue for five days, or in the judg- 
 ment of the Mayor it is necessary, either of the other Commis- 
 sioners may be designated by him to exercise such powers. The 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assem- 
 bly may from time to time provide for additional deputies in the 
 last named Boroughs and also for a deputy in the Borough of 
 Richmond. Any deputy to serve in the Borough of Richmond 
 shall be appointed by the Commissioner having administrative 
 jurisdiction therein, and shall be subject to removal at his 
 pleasure. Each of the Commissioners, within the limits of his 
 appropriation, shall have power to appoint and at pleasure to 
 remove such subordinate officers and assistants as may be neces- 
 sary for the efificient performance of his duties as such Commis- 
 sioner. The Board shall have power to appoint a secretary, and, 
 within the limit of its appropriation, to appoint such subordinate 
 officers as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the office 
 of the Department. 
 
 Public institutions under tJu jurisdiction of the Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 660. Each Commissioner shall have jurisdiction over and 
 it shall be his duty to take charge of and to establish and enforce 
 rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the general rules and 
 regulations established by the Board, for the government of the 
 following described classes of public institutions situated within 
 the Borough or Boroughs for which he is appointed, viz. ; all 
 hospitals, asylums, almshouses and other institutions belonging 
 
 308 
 
to or hereafter acquired or established by the City of New York, 
 which are or shall be devoted to the care of the feeble minded, 
 the sick, the infirm and the destitute ; except hospital wards 
 attached to penitentiaries and to other prisons and institutions 
 under the jurisdiction of the Department of Correction ; and 
 except such hospitals as are or may hereafter be established and 
 conducted by the Department of Health pursuant to law ; and 
 except the House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents and the 
 House of Detention for Witnesses; and except the island known 
 as Ward's Island and the buildings and improvements thereon, 
 and the equipment, fixtures and furniture of the asylums for the 
 insane on said island during the continuance of the lease thereof 
 heretofore made by the City of New York to the State of New 
 York. Such buildings and grounds on Blackwell's Island as are 
 now used for the care of the insane pursuant to the provisions of 
 chapter two of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety- 
 six shall, when the insane shall have been removed therefrom, 
 be under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Public Char- 
 ities for the Boroughs of Manhattan ana The Bronx. The 
 buildings and grounds, together with the equipments, fixtures 
 and furniture of the buildings now leased to the State by the 
 County of Kings for the care of the insane, shall, when said 
 lease expires, be under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner 
 of Public Charities for the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. 
 
 Payments to Private Institutions. 
 
 Sec. 661. No payment shall be made by the City of New 
 York to any charitable, eleemosynary or reformatory institution 
 wholly or partly under private control, for the care, support, sec- 
 ular education, or maintenance of any child surrendered to such 
 institution, or committed to, received or retained therein in ac- 
 -cordance with sections 664, 665, 666 and 667 of this Act, 
 except upon the certificate of the Commissioner having adminis- 
 trative jurisdiction that such child has been received and is retained 
 by such institution pursuant to the rules and regulations established 
 by the State Board of Charities. Moneys paid by the City of 
 New York to any such institution for the care, support, secular 
 
 309 
 
education or maintenance of its inmates shall not be expended 
 for any other purpose. Whenever the Commissioner shall decide, 
 after reasonable notice to the institution and a hearing, that any 
 such child as aforesaid who is received and retained in such in- 
 stitution is not a proper charge against the public, and notice of 
 such decision in writing is given by him to such institution, there- 
 upon all right on the part of said institution to recieve compen- 
 sation from the city for the further retention of the child shall 
 cease. He shall file in the office of the Department in the 
 Borough within which the institution is situated, a statement 
 of the reasons for his decision and of the facts upon which it is 
 founded, and shall furnish a copy to the institution where the 
 child is detained. His decision may be reviewed on certiorari 
 by the Supreme Court. 
 
 Powers of Commissioners as to destitute and other persons. 
 
 Sec. 662. The Commissioner for the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and The Bronx shall within said Boroughs have all the authority 
 concerning the care, custody and disposition of insane, feeble- 
 minded, sick, infirm, and destitute persons which the Commis- 
 sioners of Public Charities of the corporation known as The. 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York 
 had at the time of the taking effect of this Act, and shall be 
 subject to the same obligations and discharge the same duties 
 in respect to such persons, except in so far as the same are 
 inconsistent with or are modified by this Act. The Commis- 
 sioner for the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens shall withirk 
 said Boroughs have all the authority concerning the care, custody 
 and disposition of such persons which the Board of Charities 
 and Correction of the City of Brooklyn and County of Kings 
 as formerly constituted, or the Superintendent or Overseers of 
 the Poor of the County of Queens had at the time of the pas- 
 sage of this Act, and shall be subject to the same obligations 
 and discharge the same duties in respect to such persons, except 
 in so far as the same are inconsistent with or are modified by 
 this Act. The Commissioner for the Borough of Richmond 
 shall within said Borough have all the authority concerning the 
 care, custody and disposition of such persons which the Sup- 
 
 310 
 
erintendent and Overseers of the Poor in the County of Rich- 
 mond had at the time of the taking effect of this Act, and shall 
 be subject to the same obligations and discharge the same duties 
 in respect to such persons, except in so far as the same are in- 
 consistent with or are modified by this Act. The said several 
 Commissioners shall be the Overseers of the Poor of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act. No Commissioner shall 
 have power to dispense any form of oiit-door relief except as 
 expressly provided in this chapter; but each Commissioner shall 
 have power to pay for the cost of the removal or transportation 
 of any person who may come under his charge whenever in his 
 judgment t'le City will thereby be relieved from an unnecessary 
 or improper charge. 
 
 Each Commissioner in his Borough or Boroughs shall make pro- 
 vision for the temporary care of vagrant and indigent persons, and 
 shall provide for an investigation into the circumstances of all such 
 persons, and shall cause every person who is found upon investi- 
 gation to be a vagrant, to be brought before a magistrate pur- 
 suant to law. The Board of Estimate and Apportionmenttand 
 the Municipal Assembly shall in each year appropriate such 
 sum as in their judgment may be necessary to carry out the pro- 
 visions of this section. 
 
 Classification and Instruction of Inmates. 
 
 Sec. 663. It shall bje the duty of each Commissioner to 
 cause all the inmates of public institutions under his charge to be 
 classified so far as practicable. Destitute children shall be kept 
 apart from criminal children, so that youthful and less hardened 
 inmates shall not be rendered more depraved by association with 
 and the evil example of older and more hardened inmates. Each 
 Commissioner may establish and maintain in the public institu- 
 tions under his charge such schools or classes for the instruction 
 and training of inmates as may be authorized by the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Powers of Commissioners as to destitute and other children. 
 
 Sec. 664. Each Commissioner shall have power to commit, 
 to indenture, place out, discharge, or transfer any child who 
 
 311 
 
may be in his custody, whenever in his judgment it shall be for 
 the best interests of such child so to do, and he and his success- 
 ors in office shall have power to revoke and cancel any such 
 indenture or agreement, and to make contracts for the main- 
 tenance of any such child in accordance with the general rules 
 and regulations of the Board ; but in indenturing, placing out, 
 transferring or committing any such child such Commissioner 
 shall, when practicable, indenture or place out such child with 
 an individual of the like religious faith as the parents of such 
 child, or transfer or commit such child to an institution governed 
 by persons of the same religious faith. In respect to such minors 
 so committed to or otherwise placed under his charge each Com- 
 missioner shall within his Borough or Boroughs have such addi- 
 tional powers as are at the time of the taking effect of this Act 
 vested by law in the corresponding officers of the corporation 
 known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City 
 of New York, of the corporation known as the City of Brooklyn, 
 and of the counties of Kings, Richmond and Queens, mentioned 
 in section 662 of this Act. 
 
 Notice of commitment of children. 
 
 Sec. 665. Whenever any child actually or apparently under 
 the age of sixteen years, is brought before any court or magistrate 
 in The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, pursuant to 
 section eight hundred and eighty-eight of the Code of Criminal 
 Procedure, or is found destitute of means of support, the magis- 
 trate presiding or before whom such child is brought shall there- 
 upon fix a day not more than three days distant for the hearing 
 and final disposition of the charge against said child, and shall, 
 at the same time, in addition to such other notices as may be 
 required by law, give notice, in writing, of such arrest to the 
 Commissioner of Public Charities of the Borough in which said 
 arrest is made, and to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
 to Children if there shall be one incorporated in the Borough, 
 which notice shall state the name of the child, its age, either 
 actual or apparent, its sex, color, birthplace, residence, father's 
 name, mother's name, parents' religion and parents' occupation, 
 each, if known ; the specific charge upon which the arrest is 
 
 312 
 
made; the name of the ofricer making the arrest, and the name 
 and address of the compiainhig witness, if any there be. And 
 such court or magistrate may temporarily commit such child to 
 the custody and care of an institution to which said court or 
 magistrate is authorized by law to make final commitment. 
 
 Children committed as public charges : investigation. 
 
 Sec. 666. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner so noti- 
 fied to investigate forthwith the charge against such child. The 
 Commissioner may appear either by clerk or by counsel on all 
 hearings in such proceeding, and shall on or before the final hear- 
 ing therein, file with the court or magistrate a statement in writ- 
 ing of such fact or facts as in the opinion of the Commissioner 
 render it proper or improper that such child should be supported 
 as a pubHc charge at the expense of the City; and such 
 written statement of fact or facts when so filed shall be preserved 
 with and form a part of the record of the proceedings instituted 
 by the arrest of such child. Omission or failure to file such state- 
 ment shall not be ground for delaying the final decision. 
 
 Term of commitment of children: discharge. 
 
 Sec. 667. The term of commitment of each child committed 
 in The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, under any of 
 the provisions of sections 664, 665 and 666 of this Act, 
 shall be until such child shall attain the age of sixteen years, or 
 until it shall be duly indentured or placed out as an apprentice 
 by the institution to which it shall have been committed, or 
 until it shall be given over in adoption by said institution to 
 some suitable person, or until otherwise discharged. Each in- 
 stitution, mentioned in section 661 of this Act, shall file with the 
 Commissioner on or before July 1st, 1898, a list of all the children 
 therein referred to in sections 661, 664, 665 and 666 of this Act, 
 which list shall contain the names and residence of the parents 
 and guardians of the children as far as known. Every three 
 months thereafter each such institution shall file a similar list of 
 all such children received, discharged or otherwise disposed of in 
 the interval. 
 
 313 
 
Saving clause as to certain existing laws. 
 
 Sec. 668. Nothing contained in the foregoing sections shall 
 be construed to alter or affect any provision of chapter one hun- 
 dred and seventy-two of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 five, or of chapter four hundred and thirty-nine of the laws of 
 eighteen hundred and ninety-two, or of chapter three hundred and 
 fifty-three of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-six. 
 
 Record of inmates of institutions. 
 
 Sec. 669. It shall be the duty of each Commissioner to keep 
 and preserve a proper record of all persons who shall come under 
 his care or custody and of the disposition made of such persons, 
 with full particulars as to the name, age, sex, color and nativity 
 of each, and in case of minors the names and residence of parents 
 and their religious faith so far as ascertained, and the religious 
 faith and residence of the person or families with whom or of the 
 persons in charge of the institution in which they are placed, 
 together with copies of any instrument of indenture or agree- 
 ment executed by such Commissioner. 
 
 Temporary care in accident cases. 
 
 Sec. 670. Any person injured or taken sick on the streets or 
 in any public place within said city, who may not be safely re- 
 moved to his or her home, may be sent to and shall be received 
 in any public hospital within said city, for temporary care and 
 treatment, irrespective of his or her place of residence. 
 
 Temporary care of the insane. 
 
 Sec. 671. Each Commissioner shall provide and maintain 
 suitable rooms or wards for the reception, medical examination 
 and temporary care of persons alleged to be insane. 
 
 Alteration and repair of buildings. 
 
 Sec. 672. Each Commissioner, subject to the approval of 
 the Board, whenever the increase of inmates in or the proper care 
 and government of the public institutions or establishments under 
 his jurisdiction shall in his judgment render it necessary or ex- 
 pedient, shall have power to enlarge or alter the buildings occu- 
 
 314 
 
pied by such institutions or establishnaents or any of them; 
 and shall also have power to make all needful repairs to build- 
 ings and property under his control, provided that an appro- 
 priation has been made therefor. 
 
 Potter s Field. 
 
 Sec. 673. Each Commissioner, except the Commissioner of 
 the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, shall have charge 
 of the Potter's Field or Fields situated in the Borough or 
 Boroughs for which he is appointed, and each and every Com- 
 missioner shall, when the necessity therefor shall arise, have 
 power to lay out a Potter's Field or other public burial place 
 for the poor and strangers, within the Borough or Boroughs 
 for which he is appointed, and from time to time to enclose and 
 extend the same, to make enclosures therein and to build vaults 
 therein, and to provide all necessary labor therefor and for inter- 
 ments therein. 
 
 Accounts; annual estimates ; expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 674. Each Commissioner shall keep accurate and de- 
 tailed accounts, in a form approved by the Comptroller, 
 of all moneys received and expended by him, the sources 
 from which they are received and the purposes for which 
 they are expended, and shall prepare itemized monthly 
 statements of all receipts and expenditures in duplicate, one 
 of which statements, together with all vouchers, shall be filed 
 with the Comptroller, and one of which shall be filed in his own 
 office. Each Commissioner shall, on or before the first day 
 of September in each year prepare an itemized estimate of his 
 necessary expenses for the ensuing fiscal year and present the 
 same to the Board. The three estimates so prepared as revised 
 by the Board shall together constitute the annual estimate of 
 the Department of Public Charities, and shall be submitted to 
 ^he Board of Estimate and Apportionment within the time 
 prescribed by this Act for the submission of estimates for the 
 several Departments of the City. No Commissioner shall 
 incur any expense for any purpose in excess of the amount 
 appropriated therefor; nor shall he expend any money so ap- 
 
 315 
 
propriated for any purpose other than that for which it was 
 appropriated. 
 
 Advertisements for supplies. 
 
 Sec. 675. The Board shall from time to time as may be 
 necessary advertise in the C2/v7?^^<?r^ and the corporation newspa- 
 pers for not less than ten days for proposals for such articles and 
 supplies as shall be necessary to be used in and for the relief and sup- 
 port of the poor of the city, and shall award contracts for the same 
 to the lowest bidders who shall give adequate security for the faith- 
 ful performance of such contracts, excepting such perishable arti- 
 cles as may be excepted by the rules and regulations of the Board. 
 In case of an emergency each Commissioner may purchase articles 
 immediately required without calling for competition at an ex- 
 pense not exceeding one thousand dollars during any one month. 
 
 Expenditures for the relief of the blind. 
 
 Sec. 676. The Commissioners are hereby authorized and em- 
 powered to insert in their annual estimate of expenditures an 
 item of expenditure for the relief of the poor adult blind not 
 to exceed in all seventy-five thousand dollars. Under such rules 
 and restrictions as the Board may deem necessary, each Com- 
 missioner shall distribute the sum so appropriated each year 
 and assigned for use in his jurisdiction, in uniform sums not 
 to exceed one hundred dollars to any one person, to such 
 poor adult blind persons, not inmates of any of the public 
 or private institutions in the City of New York, who shall 
 be in need of relief and who shall be citizens of the United 
 States, and shall have been residents of said City continu- 
 ously for two years previous to the date of application for 
 such relief. 
 
 Detail of inmates of correctional institutions to work in Department. 
 
 Sec. 677. The Commissioner of the Boroughs of Manhattan 
 and The Bronx may from time to time in his discretion request 
 the Department of Correction to detail and designate inmates 
 of the correctional institutions on Blackwell's Island to perform 
 
 316 
 
necessary work, labor and services in and upon the grounds 
 and buildings which are under the charge of the said Com- 
 missioner on Blackwell's Island or Randall's Island ; and such 
 inmates of such correctional institutions when so employed shall 
 at all times be under the personal oversight and direction of a 
 keeper or keepers from such correctional institutions as the De- 
 partment of Correction may deem necessary : but no inmate of 
 any correctional institution shall be employed in any capacity 
 whatever in any ward of any hospital while such ward is being 
 used for hospital purposes ; and in like manner the Commission- 
 ers for the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, and for the Bor- 
 ough of Richmond may request the Department of Correction 
 to make a like detail or designation when the persons so detailed 
 or designated can be properly guarded and restrained. 
 
 Care of non-residents in Bellevue and Kings County Hospitals. 
 
 Sec. 678. The Commissioner of Public Charities for the Bor- 
 oughs of Manhattan and The Bronx is hereby authorized in his 
 discretion to permit the reception and treatment in Bellevue Hos- 
 pital of persons who do not reside in the City of New York, pro- 
 vided that every person so receiving treatment shall be required 
 to pay such sum for board and attendance as may be fixed by 
 such Commissioner. And in like manner the Commissioner for 
 the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens may permit the reception 
 and treatment of such persons in the hospital now known as the 
 Kings County Hospital. Such Commissioner shall collect and 
 pay over all such moneys to the Chamberlain once every month, 
 and the amount so collected shall be paid into the General 
 Fund. Each Commissioner shall upon making such payments 
 to the Chamberlain report the same to the Comptroller of the 
 City of New York. 
 
 Requisitions of subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 679. Each superintendent, warden or chief officer of 
 every institution under the charge of any Commissioner shall 
 make his requisition in writing on such Commissioner for all 
 articles deemed necessary by the said officer to be used in the 
 
 317 
 
respective institutions under his charge, and shall keep an accu- 
 rate account of the same. 
 
 Reports of subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 680. Each such superintendent, warden or other chief 
 officer of every institution under the charge of any Commissioner 
 shall once in each week report in writing to such Commissioner 
 the number of persons who have been received or transferred, 
 who are sick, who have died, and who are remaining in 
 the respective institutions under his charge, the discipline 
 which has been maintained therein, the punishments imposed, 
 and the quantity and kind of labor performed, and such other 
 information as the Commissioner may require. 
 
 Employment of inmates ; articles manufactured; cultivation of 
 lands. 
 
 Sec. 681. Every inmate of an almshouse whose age and 
 health will permit, shall be employed in cultivating the grounds 
 under the control of the Commissioner of the Borough in which 
 such almshouse is situated or in manufacturing such articles as 
 may be required for ordinary use in the public institutions under 
 the control of such Commissioner, or for the use of any department 
 of the City of New York, or in preparing and building sea walls 
 upon islands or other places belonging to the City, or at such 
 mechanical or other labor as shall be found from experience to 
 suit the capacity of the individual. The articles raised or manu- 
 factured by such labor shall be subject to the order of and shall 
 be placed under the control of the Commissioner having juris- 
 diction, and all such articles shall be utilized in the public institu- 
 tions under the charge of the Department of Charities or in some 
 other Department of the City. All the lands under the jurisdiction 
 of any Commissioner, not otherwise occupied or utilized and which 
 are capable of cultivation shall in the discretion of such Commis- 
 sioner be used for agricultural purposes. 
 
 Hours of labor ; discipline. 
 
 Sec. 682. The hours of labor required of any pauper or 
 other person committed to or placed under the charge of a Com- 
 
 318 
 
missioner of Public Charities shall be fixed by the Board and 
 shall not exceed eight hours per day fo reach such person. In 
 case any such pauper shall neglect or refuse to perform the work 
 allotted to him or her by the person in charge, or shall violate the 
 rules and regulations of the institution, it shall be the duty of 
 the superintendent of the almshouse to report such insubordina- 
 tion or violation to the Commissioner having jurisdiction, who 
 may thereupon direct the punishment of such pauper by solitary 
 confinement and by being fed on bread and water only for such 
 length of time as he may consider necessary. In case any 
 pauper shall neglect to perform the work assigned to him or her, 
 or be guilty of any such violation on three or more separate oc- 
 casions, the said Commissioner may cause such pauper to be 
 brought before the proper court or magistrate, and such court or 
 magistrate may commit such pauper to the workhouse or peni- 
 tentiary as a disorderly person. 
 
 Support of poor persons by relatives. 
 
 Sec. 683. The father, mother, children and grand-children 
 of sufficient ability, of a poor person who is insane, blind, old, 
 lame, impotent or decrepit so as to be unable by work to main- 
 tain himself must at their own charge relieve and maintain him 
 in a manner to be approved by the Commissioner within whose 
 jurisdiction such person resides. If the relative of a poor person 
 fails to maintain and relieve him as in this section provided, the 
 said Commissioner may apply to any City Magistrate for the 
 order authorized by law in such cases. The action authorized 
 by law for a failure to comply with the order of the court requir- 
 ing the payment of a weekly sum for such support must be in 
 the name of the Commissioner of Public Charities within whose 
 jurisdiction such poor person resides. 
 
 Conduct of bastardy proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 684. All bastardy proceedings shall be conducted by 
 and in the name of the Commissioner within whose jurisdiction 
 the person charged with being the father or mother of the 
 bastard resides, and the amount collected shall be paid to the 
 
 319 
 
Commissioner, to be by him applied to the support of the 
 child or of the child and its mother, and shall be accounted for 
 by him in a manner approved by the Commissioners of Accounts. 
 Each Commissioner shall have authority to compromise bastardy 
 and abandonment cases arising in the Borough or Boroughs for 
 which he is appointed. 
 
 Maintenance of abandoned wives and children. 
 
 Sec. 685. Every person in The City of New York, as consti- 
 tuted by this Act, who actually abandons his wife or children 
 without adequate support, or leaves them in danger of becoming 
 a burden upon the public, or who neglects to provide for them 
 according to his means, or who threatens to run away and leave 
 his wife and children a burden upon the public, may be arrested 
 upon a complaint made under oath to a City Magistrate and a 
 warrant thereon issued, and brought before such Magistrate, as 
 provided by section nine hundred of the Code of Criminal Pro- 
 cedure. And if thereupon it shall appear by the confession of 
 the defendant or by competent testimony that he is guilty of 
 the charge, the said Magistrate shall make an order specifying a 
 reasonable sum of money to be paid weekly for the space of one 
 year thereafter by such defendant to the Commissioner of Public 
 Charities for the Borough in which such proceeding is had, for 
 the support of the wife or children. But nothing in this Chap- 
 ter contained shall apply to or affect an order for the payment 
 of money for the support of a child in an institution, pursuant 
 to the provisions of section two hundred and eighty-eight of the 
 Penal Code or of section nine hundred and twenty-one of the 
 Code of Criminal Procedure. 
 
 Commitments in abandonment proceedings; surety. 
 
 Sec. 686. Any person convicted of any of the offences 
 hereinbefore recited shall, upon being served with such 
 order, enter into a bond to the People of the State in such 
 sum as such City Magistrate shall direct, with good and suffi- 
 cient surety to be approved by the said City Magistrate, that 
 such person will pay weekly for the space of one year such 
 
 320 
 
sum for the support of the wife or children or either or any of 
 them, as has been ordered as aforesaid, to the Commissioner 
 of the Borough in which such proceeding is had. In default 
 of such surety being found, the City Magistrate shall maj<e up, 
 sign and file in the office of the Clerk of the County in which 
 such conviction is had, a record of the conviction of such <5fifender 
 as a disorderly person, specifying generally the nature and 
 circumstances of the offense and the names of the witnesses by 
 whom it has been established, and shall by warrant commit 
 such offender to the workhouse on Blackwell's Island, or to 
 the penitentiary or jail in the Borough where the conviction 
 is had, there to remain until such surety be found or such 
 offender be discharged according to law, or he shall sentence 
 such offender to imprisonment in the penitentiary, for a term 
 not exceeding six months or until such offender gives the 
 security as hereinbefore provided or is discharged according 
 to law. Upon the trial or hearing of all complaints for any 
 or either of the offenses hereinbefore referred to, the wife shall 
 be a competent witness therein against her husband, as to all 
 matters embraced in said complaint. 
 
 Actions on bonds in abandonment proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 687. Any suit, action or proceeding brought or instituted 
 upon any bond or recognizance given in pursuance of the pre- 
 ceding section shall be brought and prosecuted by and in the 
 name of the Commissioner for the Borough in which such bond 
 or reorganizance was given, and all moneys recovered in any suit, 
 action or proceeding shall be paid to such Commissioner to be 
 by him applied and expended for the support of the wife and 
 children, or either or any of them, of the person against whom 
 the order mentioned and provided for in section 685 of this Act 
 shall have been made. If the person charged with the offenses here- 
 inbefore recited or either of them is admitted to bail, the undertak- 
 ing of his bail shall be for the future appearance of the defendant: 
 according to the terms of the undertaking, or that the bail will 
 pay to the Commissioner of the Borough in which such proceed- 
 ing is had, a specified sum in the event of such failure to 
 appear, or if such person deposits a sum of money as directed by 
 
 321 
 
law instead of giving an undertaking of bail for his future appear- 
 ance, and if such person shall thereafter fail to appear in accord- 
 ance with the terms of said undertaking or the terms upon which 
 the money was deposited, then the said Magistrate shall enter 
 the fact of said person's non-appearance upon the minutes and 
 the undertaking of his bail or money deposited instead of bail 
 shall thereupon be forfeited. 
 
 Recoveries in abandonment proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 688. When such an undertaking is forfeited, an action 
 may be brought in the name of the Commissioner for the Bor- 
 ough in which such proceeding is had to recover the amount 
 specified in such undertaking, and the amount recovered in said 
 action shall be applied and expended for the support of the wife 
 and children, or either or any of them, of the person charged 
 with the offenses hereinbefore recited or either or any of such 
 offenses, and when any money has been deposited instead of bail 
 and which shall have been forfeited as hereinbefore provided, 
 said money shall be paid to the Commissioner, by the person 
 with whom the said sum of money is deposited, upon presenting 
 to him a certificate from the City Magistrate certifying to the 
 forfeiture thereof, which said certificate shall state the name of 
 the person making the deposit, when it was made, the name of 
 the defendant, and that the said sum of money was forfeited on 
 account of the defendant's failure to appear as directed, and shall 
 be signed by said Magistrate. 
 
 Appeals in abandonment proceedings : costs. 
 
 Sec. 689. An appeal to the Court of General Sessions may 
 be taken from a conviction before a City Magistrate under this 
 chapter within the County of New York, or to the County Court in 
 any other County which is wholly or partly within The City of New 
 York as constituted by this Act, which said appeal shall be 
 conducted under and in accordance with the provisions of 
 the Code of Criminal Procedure of the State of New York, 
 except that the judge allowing the appeal must take from the 
 defendant a written undertaking in such sum and with such sureties 
 as he may approve, that defendant will abide the judgment of the 
 
Appellate Court upon the appeal, and will pay all costs which may 
 be awarded against him, and except that all notices required by 
 said Code of Criminal Procedure to be served upon the District 
 Attorney upon such appeal shall be served upon the Commis- 
 sioner for the Borough in which the conviction from which such 
 appeal is taken was had, and the Commissioner may appear by 
 Clerk or Counsel upon the hearing of such appeal. The Court 
 must award costs to the party in whose favor the appeal is deter- 
 mined, as follows, besides disbursements: To the appellant 
 upon reversal, thirty dollars ; to the respondent upon affirmance, 
 twenty-five dollars. When awarded to the appellant they must 
 be paid by the Comptroller of the City of New York, on the 
 delivery to him of a certified copy of the order of reversal, and 
 must be charged to the contingent account of the Commissioner 
 for the Borough in which conviction so reversed was had. When 
 awarded to the respondent the payment of costs may be enforced 
 as in a civil action, and in an action brought therefor against the 
 sureties upon the undertaking given on the allowance of the 
 appeal, the production of a certified copy of the order of affirm- 
 ance shall be conclusive evidence. 
 
 323 
 
Chapter XIV. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION. 
 
 Jurisdiction ; salary ; regulations ; subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 694. The head of the Department of Correction shall be 
 called The Commissioner of Correction. He shall be appointed 
 by the Mayor and shall hold office, as provided in chapter 
 IV of this Act. His salary shall be seven thousand five 
 hundred dollars a year. The Commissioner shall have power 
 to establish rules and regulations for the administration 
 of the Department and the government of the institutions 
 under his control. He shall have full and exclusive juris- 
 diction over the several institutions hereinafter specified 
 which are situated or may hereafter be established within The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this Act. He shall have 
 his principal office in the Borough of Manhattan and a branch 
 office in the Borough of Brooklyn. He may establish such 
 other branch offices as he may deem necessary. He shall have 
 power to appoint and at will to remove a deputy and such 
 additional deputies and assistant deputies as the Board of Esti- 
 mate and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly may 
 from time to time authorize, and to assign them to duty in 
 such Borough or Boroughs as he deems proper ; and at least 
 one of such deputies shall be asssigned to the branch office in 
 the Borough of Brooklyn. He shall also have power within 
 the limits of his appropriation to appoint and at will to re- 
 move such superintendents, wardens and other subordinate 
 officers and assistants as may be necessary for the efficient per- 
 formance of the duties of the Department. Each deputy so 
 appointed shall during the absence or inability of the Com- 
 missioner possess all the powers and perform all the duties of 
 such Commissioner within the Borough or Boroughs to which 
 he is assigned. The Commissioner may delegate to the super- 
 
 324 
 
intendent or warden in charge of any institution in the Depart- 
 ment the power to appoint and remove subordinate officers or 
 assistants in such institutions. 
 
 Institutions under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner. 
 
 Sec. 695. The Commissioner shall have jurisdiction over 
 and it shall be his duty to take charge of and manage all institu- 
 tions for the care and custody of criminals and misdemeanants 
 which belong to or are hereafter acquired by or established in 
 The City of New York as constituted by this Act, except the 
 House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents and the House of 
 Detention of Witnesses, and the Brooklyn Disciplinary Train- 
 ing School for Boys, and except all jails or places for the 
 detention of prisoners or persons charged with crime which 
 are under the charge of the Sheriff or the Police Department. 
 The Commissioner shall also have charge of such other institu- 
 tions as may be hereafter placed under his jurisdiction by the 
 Municipal Assembly. Whenever the State authorities shall 
 have caused the inmates of the lunatic asylum on Hart's 
 Island to be removed elsewhere and shall have vacated the 
 buildings now on said island occupied by said asylum, the 
 said buildings with the grounds thereto appertaining shall 
 become and be under the charge and control of the Depart- 
 ment of Correction : provided, however, that the burial of 
 deceased paupers shall be continued on said island under 
 regulations established by the joint action of the Depart- 
 ments of Public Charities and of Correction, or in case of 
 disagreement between said Departments, under such regula- 
 tions as may be established by the Mayor of the city. 
 
 Transfer of inmates to Rikers Island and Hart's Island. 
 
 Sec. 696. The Commissioner, whenever, in his judgment, 
 it is expedient and practicable to do so, may cause to be 
 removed to Riker's Island, and in case Hart's Island shall 
 have been transferred to the Department of Correction, as in 
 section 695 of this Act provided, then also to Hart's Island, 
 the inmates of the workhouse and of the penitentiary on 
 Blackwell's Island ; and he may direct such removals to be 
 
 325 
 
made, from time to time, as accommodation for the said 
 inmates may be provided upon Riker's Island and Hart's 
 Island or elsewhere within the City of New York. And when- 
 ever in consequence of such removals or otherwise any of the 
 buildings theretofore occupied or used for said workhouse or 
 penitentiary shall have become vacant, such building or build- 
 ings with the grounds thereto appertaining shall be transferred 
 to the Department of Public Charities. And whenever any of 
 the said buildings or grounds shall have been so transferred, 
 the Commissioner of Correction shall have no further rights,^ 
 duties or obligations in respect to such building or buildings 
 or grounds, but it or they shall thereafter be included in and 
 appertain to the Department of Public Charities of The City 
 of New York, and shall be under the jurisdiction of the 
 Commissioner of Charities for the Boroughs of Manhattan and 
 The Bronx. 
 
 Powers of Commissioner over criminals and misdeiueanants. 
 
 Sec. 697. The Commissioner shall have all the authorit3r 
 concerning the care, custody and disposition of criminals and 
 misdemeanants which the Commissioner of Correction of 
 the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, or which the Board of 
 Charities and Correction for the City of Brooklyn and County 
 of Kings, as formerly constituted, had at time of the taking 
 effect of this Act ; and he shall discharge the same duties and be 
 subject to the same obligations in respect to such persons as 
 the said Commissioner and Board, respectively, except in so far 
 as the same are inconsistent with or are modified by this Act^ 
 The Commissioner shall have no authority and be subject to na 
 obligation in respect to any destitute person not charged with 
 or convicted of crime or misdemeanor. 
 
 Classification of criminals and misdemeanants ; Instruction. 
 
 Sec. 698. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to cause 
 all the criminals and misdemeanants under his charge to be 
 classified as far as practicable, so that youthful and less hard- 
 ened offenders shall not be rendered more depraved by the 
 association with and evil example of older and more hardened 
 
 326 
 
offenders. The Commissioner may establish and maintain 
 such schools or classes for the instruction and training of the 
 inmates of the institutions under his charge, as may be author- 
 ized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. And to 
 this end the Commissioner, with the authority of the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly, may set apart one of the penal institutions for 
 the custody of such youthful and less hardened offenders, and 
 said Commissioner shall have the power, in his discretion, to 
 transfer such offenders thereto from any other of the penal 
 institutions of the City. 
 
 Record of inmates of institutions. 
 
 Sec. 699. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to keep 
 and preserve a proper record of all persons who shall 
 come under his care or custody, and of the disposition 
 of each such person, with full particulars as to the name, 
 age, sex, color, nativity and religious faith of each, to- 
 gether with a statement of the cause and length of de- 
 tention of each such person. Such record shall be supple- 
 mentary to and shall be kept separate from the records re- 
 quired to be kept by section 709 of this Act. 
 
 Employment of inmates; articles manufactured; cultivation of lands. 
 
 Sec. 700. Every inmate of an institution under the charge of 
 the Commissioner, whose age and health will permit, shall be 
 employed in quarrying or cutting stone, or in cultivating land 
 under the control of the Commissioner, or in manufacturing 
 such articles as may be required for ordinary use in the insti- 
 tutions under the control of the Commissioner, or for the use 
 of any Department of the City of New York, or in preparing 
 and building sea walls upon islands or other places belonging 
 to the City of New York upon which public institutions now 
 are or may hereafter be erected, or at such mechanical or 
 other labor as shall be found from experience to be suited to 
 the capacity of the individual. The articles raised or manu- 
 factured by such labor shall be subject to the order of and 
 shall be placed under the control of the Commissioner, and 
 shall be utilized in the institutions under his charge or in some 
 
 327 
 
other Department ot the City. All the lands under the juris- 
 diction of the Commissioner, not otherwise occupied or util- 
 ized, and which are capable of cultivation, shall in the discre- 
 tion of the Commissioner be used for agricultural purposes. 
 
 Detail of inmates to work in Department of Public Charities. 
 
 Sec. 701. At the request of any Commissioner of Public 
 Charities of The City of New York, the Commissioner of Cor- 
 rection may detail and designate any inmate of any of the 
 institutions in the Department to perform necessary work, 
 labor and services in and upon the grounds and buildings 
 under the charge of such Commissioner of Public Charities, 
 as provided in Chapter XIII. of this Act, and subject to the 
 restrictions therein contained. 
 
 Hours of labor ; discipline. 
 
 Sec. 702. The hours of labor required of any inmate of any 
 institution under the charge of the Commissioner shall not 
 exceed eight hours per day for each such person and shall be 
 fixed by the Commissioner. In case any person confined 
 in any institution in the Department shall neglect or refuse 
 to perform the work allotted to him by the officer in charge 
 of such institution, or shall wilfully violate the rules and 
 regulations established by the Commissioner or resist and 
 disobey any lawful command, or in case any such person 
 shall offer violence to any such officer or to any other pris- 
 oner, or shall do or attempt to do any injury to such institu- 
 tion or the appurtenances thereof or any property there- 
 in, or shall attempt to escape, or shall combine with any one 
 or more persons for any of the aforesaid purposes, the officer 
 or officers of such institution shall use all suitable means to 
 defend themselves, to enforce discipline, to secure the persons 
 of the offenders and to prevent any such attempt or escape. 
 It shall be the duty of the officer in charge of such institu- 
 tion in which such person or persons is or are confined 
 to punish him or them by solitary confinement, and by being 
 fed on bread and water only, for such length of time as 
 may be considered necessary ; but no other form of punish- 
 
 328 
 
merit shall be imposed, and no officer of any such institution 
 shall inflict any blows whatever upon any prisoner except 
 in self-defense or to suppress a revolt or insurrection. In 
 every case the officer imposing such punishment shall forth- 
 with report the same to the Commissioner and notify the phy- 
 sician of the institution. It shall be the duty of such physician 
 to visit the person so confined and to examine daily into the 
 state of his health until he shall be released from solitary con- 
 finement and return to labor, and to report to the Commis- 
 sioner and to the officer in charge of such institution whenever 
 in his judgment the health of the prisoner shall require that he 
 should be released. 
 
 Accounts ; annual estimate ,' expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 703. The Commissioner shall keep accurate and 
 detailed accounts, in a form approved by the Comptroller, 
 of all moneys received and expended by him, the sources 
 from which they are received and the purposes for which 
 they are expended, and shall prepare itemized monthly 
 statements of all receipts and expenditures in duplicate, 
 one of which statements together with all vouchers shall be 
 filed with the Comptroller, and one of which shall be filed 
 in his own office. The Commissioner shall, on or before the 
 first day of September in each year, prepare an itemized esti- 
 mate of the necessary expenses of the Department for the 
 ensuing fiscal year, which estimate shall constitute the annual 
 estimate of the Department of Correction, and shall be submit- 
 ted to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment within the 
 time prescribed by this Act for the submission of estimates from 
 the several Departments of the City. He shall incur no ex- 
 pense for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated 
 therefor, nor shall he expend any money so appropriated for 
 any purpose other than that for which it was appropriated. 
 
 Advertisements for supplies. 
 
 Sec. 704. The Commissioner shall from time to time, as may 
 be necessary, advertise in the City Record and the corporation 
 newspapers, for not less than ten days for proposals for all such 
 
 329 
 
articles and supplies (excepting perishable articles) as shall be 
 necessary to be used in and for the institutions in the Depart- 
 ment, and shall award contracts for the same to the lowest re- 
 sponsible bidders who shall give adequate security for the faith- 
 ful performance of such contracts. In case of an emergency 
 the Commissioner may purchase articles immediately required 
 without calling for competition, but the amount expended by 
 the Commissioner for articles so required or for perishable 
 articles shall not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars 
 during any one month. 
 
 Requisitions and reports of subordinate officers. 
 
 Sec. 705. Each superintendent, warden, or other chief officer 
 of any institution under the charge of the Commissioner shall 
 make his requisitions in writing upon the Commissioner for all 
 articles deemed necessary by the said officer to be used in the 
 institution or institutions under his charge, and shall keep an 
 accurate account of the same. It shall also be the duty of each 
 such superintendent, warden or other chief officer to report 
 once in each week to the Commissioner the number of persons 
 who have been received, discharged or transferred, who have 
 become sick, or who have died, and the number remaining in 
 the respective institutions under their charge, the discipline 
 which has been maintained, and the quantity and kind of labor 
 performed, and such other information as the Commissioner 
 requires. 
 
 Collection of fines. 
 
 Sec. 706. The Department of Correction is hereby author- 
 ized to demand and receive fines imposed for intoxication and 
 disorderly conduct in The City of New York as constituted 
 by this Act in the manner and for the purposes now prescribed 
 by law. 
 
 Commitment of disorderly persons and vagrants. 
 
 Sec. 707. Whenever any person is convicted in The City of 
 New York as constituted by this Act, of public intoxication, dis- 
 orderly conduct or vagrancy, the court or magistrate before 
 
 330 
 
which or whom such conviction is had shall impose upon the 
 person so convicted one or other of the penalties herein pro- 
 vided. Upon a charge of vagrancy, the person so convicted shall 
 be committed to the workhouse in said city, or to a county 
 jail, to be detained until discharged pursuant to sections 710 
 and 711 of this Act, and for a term not exceeding six months 
 from the date of such commitment, and the warrant of com- 
 mitment shall so recite. All persons convicted of any of the 
 offences last mentioned in any of the Boroughs of The City 
 of New York shall be committed to the workhouse on Black- 
 well's Island, or to a county jail, except as hereinafter pro- 
 vided, but may be thereafter transferred by the Commis- 
 sioner to any branch workhouse in the control of the Depart- 
 ment. Upon a charge of public intoxication or disorderly 
 conduct, the court or magistrate may impose a penalty, as 
 follows : 
 
 1. Commit the person so convicted to the said workhouse 
 or jail to be detained until discharged pursuant to sections 710 
 and 711 of this Act, and for a term not exceeding six months 
 from the date of such commitment, and the warrant of com- 
 mitment shall so recite. 
 
 2. Impose a fine not exceeding ten dollars. Upon the pay- 
 ment of the fine imposed, the person so convicted shall be forth- 
 with discharged from custody. If the fine imposed be two dol- 
 lars or less, and be not paid forthwith, the person so fined shall 
 be committed to a city prison or county jail for not ex- 
 ceeding two days, each day of imprisonment to be taken 
 as a liquidation of one dollar of the fine. If the fine im- 
 posed exceed the sum of two dollars, and be not paid forth- 
 with, the court or magistrate shall commit the person so 
 fined to a city prison or county jail, and the warrant of 
 commitment shall contain a direction that, if the fine be not 
 paid before five o'clock in the afternoon of the day succeeding 
 such commitment, the person so committed shall be trans- 
 ferred to and detained in the workhouse until discharged 
 pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and for a term 
 not exceeding six months from the date of such commitment. 
 
 3. Require any person convicted of disorderly conduct 
 to give sufficient surety or sureties for his good behavior 
 
 331 
 
for any time not exceeding six months. In default of giving 
 such surety forthwith, the court or magistrate shall commit 
 such person to the city prison or county jail to be thereafter 
 transferred to and detained in the workhouse until such surety 
 is furnished, or until discharged pursuant to sections YIO and 
 711 of this Act, not exceeding, however, a term of six months 
 from the date of such commitment. But no such person shall 
 be discharged by the Commissioner prior to the expiration of 
 the time for which he was required to give surety, except 
 by order of the magistrate who signed the last warrant of 
 commitment, granted as provided in this chapter. 
 
 Superintendent of the workhouse : reports. 
 
 Sec. 708. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the 
 workhouse to ascertain from the records thereof, and from 
 examination and inspection of the person committed as afore- 
 said, whether such person has, since April fourth, eighteen 
 hundred and ninety-five, and within two years next preceding 
 the date of his commitment, been previously committed to 
 such institution upon conviction of public intoxication, dis- 
 orderly conduct, or vagrancy. Within twenty-four hours after 
 the commitment of any such person to the workhouse, the said 
 Superintendant shall transmit to the Commissioner, a written 
 statement showing the name, sex, age, residence, occupation, 
 height, weight and the color of the hair of any such person, and 
 describing any scars, marks or' deformities or other signs where- 
 by such person may subsequently be identified, the date of the 
 commitment, the offense for which such person was committed 
 and the name of the magistrate by whom the commitment was 
 made. Such statement shall also show whether such person has 
 been previously committed to such institution within the period, 
 and for any one of the causes above specified ; and, if so, the 
 number of times that such person has been so committed dur- 
 ing such period, the date of the last previous commitment of 
 such person for either of said offenses, the name of the magis- 
 trate by whom and the offense for which such last previous 
 commitment was made, and the period of detention under such 
 last previous commitment. 
 
 332 
 
Record of persons committed. 
 
 Sec. T09. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to 
 keep a book or books in which shall be properly recorded 
 the names of all persons committed under section 707 of this 
 Act, and all other facts whigh shall be certified to him by 
 the superintendent of the workhouse as herein required. 
 Such book or books are hereby declared to be public records 
 and shall be open to public inspection, and shall be indexed 
 and kept so as to show whether any person committed, as pre- 
 scribed by this chapter, has been previously committed within 
 two years next preceding such commitment for any of the 
 causes herein specified. 
 
 Term of detention to be fixed by Commissioner. 
 
 Sec. 710. Within three days after the commitment of any 
 person as herein provided, it shall be the duty of the Com- 
 missioner to ascertain from the aforesaid records whether 
 such person has been committed to the workhouse, after April 
 fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and within two years 
 next preceding the date of such commitment for public intoxi- 
 cation, disorderly conduct or vagrancy, and to make a written 
 order specifying the date at which such person shall be dis- 
 charged, as follows, namely : — in the case of a person who has 
 not previously been committed for any one of the offenses 
 herein specified within two years next preceding the date of 
 his last commitment, and after April fourth, eighteen hundred 
 and ninety-five, the said order shall direct that such person 
 shall be discharged at the expiration of five days from the 
 date of his commitment ; — in the case of a person who has been 
 committed once before within the period of two years next pre- 
 ceding the day of his commitment and after April fourth, eigh- 
 teen hundred and ninety-five, for any of the offenses herein 
 specified, the said order shall direct that such person shall 
 be discharged at the expiration of twenty days from the date 
 of his commitment; — and in the case of a person who has been 
 committed more than once during the two years next pre- 
 ceding the date of his commitment, and after April fourth, eigh- 
 teen hundred and ninety-five, for any of the offenses herein speci- 
 
 333 
 
fied, the said order shall direct that such person be discharged 
 at the expiration of a period equal to twice the term of 
 his detention under the last previous commitment, but, not, in 
 any event, exceeding six months ; provided, however : — First, 
 that in the case ot a person QDmmitted upon conviction of 
 vagrancy, the said order may direct that the said person shall 
 be discharged at the expiration of a period to be fixed by the 
 Commissioner and stated therein, not exceeding six months 
 and not less than the period of detention above specified 
 for first and subsequent commitments, as the case may be : — 
 Second, that whenever the period of detention of any such 
 person under his last previous commitment shall have ex- 
 ceeded the period of detention provided for by this section 
 (either by reason of his detention on failure to furnish surety 
 for his good behavior, or by reason of the action of the Com- 
 missioner upon a conviction of vagrancy), then such excess 
 of detention under his last previous commitment shall not be 
 considered by the Commissioner in determining the date of his 
 discharge under the existing commitment. The date of any 
 order made pursuant to this section and the name of the 
 person whose period of detention is fixed thereby, and the 
 period of detention therein specified shall be entered in the 
 records required to be kept by section 709 of this Act, 
 and the said order shall forthwith be transmitted to the 
 superintendent of the workhouse. Upon the expiration of 
 the term of detention specified therein, and upon the dis- 
 charge of the person named therein it shall be the duty of 
 such superintendent forthwith to return such order, with a 
 written certificate indorsed thereon specifying the date of the 
 discharge of the person named therein, to the Commissioner 
 who shall preserve the same as a public record. 
 
 Discharge of persons committed. 
 
 Sec. 711. In any case where the period ol detention, as 
 fixed by the Commissioner shall exceed twenty days, and 
 shall be less than one hundred and sixty days, the magis- 
 trate who signed the last warrant of commitment may, after 
 the expiration of twenty days, direct the discharge of any 
 person so committed, but no such order or mandate shall be 
 
 334 
 
granted by any magistrate except upon the written certificate 
 of the Commissioner specifying the period of detention 
 fixed by him for the person so committed, and upon an 
 affidavit setting forth facts which, in the opinion of the 
 said magistrate, shall justify such discharge. The said affi- 
 davit and certificate shall be filed and preserved with the com- 
 plaint upon which such person was last convicted. Upon any 
 subsequent commitment, under section 707 of this Act, 
 of a person so discharged, the Commissioner shall fix the 
 period of detention of such person at the term for which 
 he would have been detained under the existing commitment 
 if no such order or mandate had been granted. 
 
 Transfer of inmates by Commissioner. 
 
 Sec. 712. The Commissioner may transfer and commit and 
 cause to be transferred and committed from the workhouse 
 to the city prison, penitentiary, or to any other of the institu- 
 tions in the Department, any person committed to the 
 workhouse under section 707 of this Act, whenever such 
 transfer shall be necessary tor the proper care and manage- 
 ment of such city prison, penitentiary or other institution or 
 for the proper employment of such person. The Commis- 
 sioner may also transfer and commit and cause to be trans- 
 ferred from the workhouse to the city prison or penitentiary, 
 any person committed to the workhouse under section 707 of 
 this Act, whenever, by reason of the number of offenders 
 actually detained in such workhouse at any time, there shall not 
 be accommodation therein for all the persons committed 
 thereto; and in like manner the Commissioner may transfer 
 prisoners from one penitentiary to another penitentiary within 
 the Department, or from one district prison to another district 
 prison within the Department, whenever it may be necessary 
 to prevent over-crowding. The Commissioner may also trans- 
 fer and commit or cause to be transferred and committed from 
 the city prison to the workhouse to be detained and employed 
 therein any person who shall have been duly committed to 
 the city prison. 
 
 335 
 
Alteration and repair of buildings. 
 
 Sec. 713. Whenever the increase of inmates in or the proper 
 care and government of the institutions in the Department 
 shall, in the judgment of the Commissioner, render it necessary 
 or expedient, he shall have power to enlarge or alter the build- 
 ing or buildings occupied by such institutions ; and he shall 
 also have power to make all needful repairs to such buildings 
 and the appurtenances thereto, provided that an appropriation 
 has been made therefor. The Commissioner shall when 
 practicable cause the work of such alterations or repairs to be 
 done by persons confined in such institutions. 
 
 Additional gifts to be given to inmates on discharge. 
 
 Sec. 714. In addition to the donations, provided by the 
 general laws of the State, to be given to inmates of penal 
 institutions upon their discharge, the Commissioner of Correc- 
 tions shall donate to each inmate serving a term longer than 
 three years the sum of five dollars upon his discharge. 
 
 336 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 I 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Title 1. Organization, Duties and Powers of Officers and Men. 
 
 2. Fires and their Extinction. 
 
 3. Prevention of Fires; Explosives and Combustible 
 
 Materials. 
 
 4. Fire Marshals, and Investigation of Origin of Fires. 
 
 5. Relief Fund and Pensions. 
 
 6. Tax upon Foreign Insurance Companies. 
 
 Title 1. 
 organization, duties and powers of its officers and men. 
 
 Fire Commissioner; salary. 
 
 Sec. 720. The head of the Fire Department shall be the 
 Fire Commissioner. He shall be appointed by[the Mayor and 
 hold office as provided in Chapter IV of this Act. The salary 
 of the Fire Commissioner shall be seven thousand five hundred 
 dollars a year. 
 
 Deputies. 
 
 Sec. 721. The Fire Commissioner shall appoint a Deputy Com- 
 missioner, who shall be seated at the office of the Fire Department 
 in the Borough of Brooklyn, through whom such business, duties 
 and powers of the Fire Department in the Boroughs of Brooklyn 
 and Queens shall be conducted, performed and exercised, as may 
 be directed by the Fire Commissioner. 
 
 Consolidation of Departments: Volunteer Departments. 
 
 Sec. 728. The officers and members of the uniformed force 
 and legally appointed firemen in the corporation formerly known 
 
 337 
 
as the Mayor Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New- 
 York, and in the city of Brooklyn and in the city of Long Island 
 City, are hereby made members of the Fire Department of The 
 City of New York, as hereby constituted, and shall be assigned 
 to duty therein by the Fire Commissioner, with the rank and grade 
 now held by them respectively, as nearly as may be practicable. 
 The paid fire department system shall, as soon as practicable, 
 be extended over the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, by 
 the Fire Commissioner, and thereupon the present volunteer 
 fire departments now maintained therein shall be disbanded. 
 Any real property and likewise any apparatus, equipment or 
 other personal property owned or used by said volunteer 
 forces which may be deemed useful or necessary for the use of the 
 Fire Department, shall, upon the extension of the paid system to the 
 Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, respectively, be purchased by 
 
 the Fire Commissioner at the reasonable value thereof. In the 
 meantime, and until the said paid Fire Department shall be ex- 
 tended over said territory as herein provided, said volunteer fire 
 companies shall continue to discharge the duties for which they 
 have been associated or incorporated, and said companies shall 
 receive from the City such sums as are now awarded them by the 
 villages or towns in which they are respectively located. When- 
 ever hereafter the paid Fire Department shall be extended into 
 any part of the territory of The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted, in which now or hereafter there shall exist a vol- 
 unteer fire department, such members of said volunteer fire 
 department in said locality as may be in active service shall, so 
 far as practicable, be preferred for appointment as firemen in 
 the paid department ; and the volunteer benevolent asso- 
 ciations existing within said territory shall possess all the privi- 
 leges, and be entitled to all the rights now conferred by law on 
 such associations. 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 Sec. 723. The Fire Commissioner shallbe the Treasurer of the 
 Fire Department, and shall file in the office of the Comptroller 
 a bond in the sum of one hundred Dhousand dollars for the faithful 
 performance of his duties as such Treasurer. 
 
 338 
 
Powers. 
 
 Sec. 724. The Fire Commissioner shall possess and exercise 
 fully and exclusively all powers, and perform all duties for the gov- 
 ernment, management, maintenance, and direction of the Fire De- 
 partment of the city, and the premises and property thereof. The 
 said Department shall have sole and exclusive power and authority 
 to extinguish fires in said city. All real estate, fire apparatus, hose, 
 implements, tools, bells, and bell-towers, fire telegraph, and all 
 property, of whatever nature, in use by the firemen or Fire Depart- 
 ment of the city, belonging to said city, shall be in the keeping and 
 custody of the Fire Department, and for the use of said Department. 
 But the said property shall remain the property of the City of New 
 York, subject to the public uses of said Department, as aforesaid 
 and for the purposes provided by this chapter. And whenever any 
 of the said property shall no longer be needed by the said Depart- 
 ment for the purposes of this chapter, the Commissioner shall sur- 
 render the same to the city. 
 
 Horses, apparatus, etc., to be provided. 
 
 Sec. 725. The Fire Commissioner shall, subject to the other 
 provisions of this Act, have full power to provide supplies, horses, 
 tools, implements, and apparatus of any and all kinds (to be used in 
 the extinguishing of fires), and fire telegraphs, to provide suitable 
 locations for the isame, and to buy, sell, construct, repair, and have 
 the care of the same, and take any and all such action in the 
 premises as may be reasonably necessary and proper. 
 
 To control and manage property, etc. 
 
 Sec. 726. The Fire Commissioner shall possess and exercise 
 full and exclusive power and discretion for the government, man- 
 agement, maintenance and direction of the several buildings and 
 premises, and bell-towers, and property, and appurtenances thereto, 
 and all apparatus, hose, implements, and tools of any and all kinds 
 which may belong to or be in the use of the said department. 
 
 Bureaus. 
 
 Sec. 727. The Fire Commissioner shall have power to organ- 
 
 339 
 
ize the Fire Department into such bureaus, as may be convenient 
 and necessary for the performance of the duties imposed upon him. 
 One bureau shall be charg-ed with the duty of preventing and ex- 
 tinguishing fires and of protecting property from water used at 
 fires, the principal officer of which shall be called the "Chief of De- 
 partment." Another bureau shall be charged with the execution 
 of all laws relating to the storage, sale, and use of combustible 
 materials, the principal officer of which shall be called "Inspector 
 of Combustibles." The salary of said Inspector of Combustibles 
 shall be three thousand dollars a year. Another bureau shall 
 be charged with the investigation of the origin and cause of 
 fires, the principal officers of which shall be called " Fire 
 Marshals." A branch of said bureau shall be located in the 
 Borough of Brooklyn. 
 
 Selection of subordinates. 
 
 Sec. 728. The Fire Commissioner shall have power to select 
 heads of bureaus and assistants and as many officers and firemen as 
 may be necessary, and they shall at all times be under the con- 
 trol of the Fire Commissioner, and shall perform such duties as 
 may be assigned to them by him, under such names or titles as he 
 may confer ; provided, however, that assignments to duty and 
 promotions shall be made by the Fire Commissioner upon the 
 recommendation of the Chief of Department, and in case any 
 recommendation so made by the Chief shall be rejected, he shall, 
 within three days, submit another name or names, and continue 
 so to do until the assignment or promotion is made. 
 
 Location of fire alarm telegraph, etc. : penalty for interference therewith. 
 Sec. 729. The Fire Commissioner shall have exclusive right 
 and power from time to time to designate and fix the location of all 
 fire-alarm telegraph, signal and alarm stations in the city, and to 
 have access to and the control of the same for the purposes of the 
 department; to fix upon and adopt the colors or combination of 
 colors in painting the poles, boxes, and fixtures thereof, and the 
 kind or style of keys and appliances by which to operate the same ; 
 to select and designate the places of deposit for keeping the keys 
 
 340 
 
of the various stations, and to designate the offices and persons who 
 shall be intrusted with duplicate keys and authorized to use the 
 same, and to make from time to time such rules and regulations 
 governing the possession, return, or use thereof, and as to the use 
 and control of said telegraph, as they may deem necessary; and no 
 person other than the said Commissioner or the officers and employ- 
 ees specially authorized to operate said telegraph, or to use the 
 same for instruction or drill, or policemen or citizens using the 
 same for communicating an actual alarm of fire, shall make use 
 thereof; and no person shall use the keys or appliances thereof for 
 communicating a false alarm, or experimenting or tampering with 
 the same for any purpose whatever, or have or possess any key 
 thereof, without such authority; and no person, association, corpo- 
 ration, or company shall post, paint, impress, or in any way affix to 
 any pole connected with said fire-alarm telegraph, or any box, 
 wire, or other appliance connected therewith, any placard, sign, 
 broadside, notice, or announcement of any kind, or cut, mutilate, 
 alter, mar, deface, cover, obstruct, or interfere with the same in any 
 manner whatsoever, or paint or cause to be painted, the poles of 
 any other telegraph, or any other poles on the lines thereof, of a 
 similar color or colors, or in irhitation thereof, nor consent, allow, 
 or be privy to any of said things being done for them or upon their 
 behalf; and any ofifense against the provisions of this section shall 
 be punished as a misdemeanor, and subject the party or parties 
 violating the same tc an additional penalty of one hundreid dollars. 
 No kite shall be flown, raised, or put up in the streets or avenues 
 adjacent to the lines of said telegraph, or allowed to become en- 
 tangled with the wires or apparatus of said telegraph, under a pen- 
 alty of ten dollars for every such offense; and the Police Board 
 and their officers are specially charged and directed to aid in the 
 enforcement of this section. 
 
 Business oiUces. Seal. 
 
 U Sec. 730. The said Fire Commissioner shall, subject to the 
 other provisions of this Act, provide such offices and business ac- 
 
 341 
 
commodations as may be requisite for the transaction of the 
 business of the department and that of its subordinates. The 
 Commissioner may adopt a common seal and its use. 
 
 Suits and actions. 
 
 Sec. 731. The Fire Commissioner is hereby authorized, em- 
 powered, and especially charged with the duties of enforcing the 
 several provisions of this chapter, and may, subject to the other 
 provisions of this Act, incur any expense necessary and proper 
 therefor; and said Fire Commissioner is hereby authorized and 
 empowered to receive and collect all license fees mentioned in this 
 chapter,and to sue for,and shall have the exclusive right of recovery 
 of, any and all penalties imposed under this chapter,and may sue for 
 and recover and collect the same, with costs, in the manner pro- 
 vided for in actions under the Code of Civil Procedure, and shall 
 apply the same to the uses and purposes of the relief fund of the 
 Fire Department in the City of New York, and the said Fire Com- 
 missioner may bring any suit or action for the enforcement of its 
 rights and contracts, and for the protection, possession, and main- 
 tenance of the property under the control of said department; and 
 any action to recover any fee, fine, or penalty under this chapter 
 may be brought in any of the Municipal courts in said city ; and the 
 assistant corporation counsel assigned to the Fire Department 
 shall, under the direction of the Fire Commissioner, take charge 
 of the prosecution of all suits or proceedings instituted for the re- 
 covery and collection of penalties, and the enforcement of the 
 several provisions of this chapter; collect and receive all moneys 
 upon judgments, suits, or proceedings so instituted; pay all costs 
 and disbursements, and discontinue suits and proceedings, and ex- 
 ecute satisfaction of judgments upon payment of penalties or costs, 
 and in compliance with orders made in such suits and proceedings; 
 shall keep a correct and accurate register of all suits and proceed- 
 ings, and account for all moneys received and paid out thereon; 
 and shall pay over to the treasurer of the relief fund the amount of 
 all license fees, penalties, and moneys received and collected by 
 him, and the said Fire Commissioner is authorized to settle or com- 
 
 342 
 
promise any such suit or judgment for less than the amount of the 
 same, in case, in his judgment, he is satisfied that the full 
 amount cannot be collected. 
 
 Members of force to decline nominations to ofUce. 
 
 Sec. 732. Any officer or member of the uniformed force of said 
 department who shall be publicly nominated for any office, elect- 
 ive by the people, and who shall not decline the said nomination 
 within ten days succeeding notice of the same, shall be deemed 
 to have vacated his office in the Fire Department. 
 
 Uniforms and badges. 
 
 Sec. 733. It shall be the duty of the Fire Commissioner to 
 make suitable regulations under which the officers and men of the 
 Fire Department shall be required to wear an appropriate uniform 
 and badge, by which in case of fire and at other times, the authority 
 and relations of such officers and men in said department may be 
 known as the exigency of their duties may require. It shall be a 
 misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for a period of not 
 less than sixty days, for a person not enrolled or employed, 
 or appointed by the said department, to wear the whole or 
 any part of the uniform or insignia prescribed' to be worn by the 
 rules or regulations of the Fire Department, or do any act as fire- 
 man not duly authorized by the Commissioner, or to interfere with 
 the property or apparatus of the Fire Department in any manner 
 unless by the authority of the Fire Commissioner, Any person who 
 shall falsely represent any member of the uniformed force of the 
 Fire Department, or who shall maliciously, with intent to deceive, 
 use, or imitate any of the signs, fire caps, badges, signals or de- 
 vices adopted or used by the said department, shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be subject to a fine of not less 
 than twenty-five dollars or more than two hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars, and to imprisonment for a term not less than ten days, or 
 more than three months, such fines when collected, to be paid 
 over to the trustees of the New York Fire Department relief 
 fund. 
 
 343 
 
Qtuilifications of force. 
 
 Sec. 734. No person shall be appointed to membership in 
 the Fire Department or continue to hold membership therein, 
 who is not a citizen of the United States, or who has ever been 
 convicted of felony ; nor shall any person be appointed who can- 
 not read and write understandingly in the English language, or 
 who shall not have resided within the State one year immediately 
 prior to his appointment, or who is not over the age of twenty- 
 one and under the age of thirty years. 
 
 Resignations and absences. 
 
 Sec. 735. No member of the Fire Department shall, under 
 penalty of forfeiting the salary or pay which may be due to him, 
 withdraw or resign, except by permission of the Fire Commis- 
 sioner. Unexplained absence, without leave, of any member of the 
 uniformed force, for five days, shall be deemed and held to be a 
 resignation by such member, and accepted as such. 
 
 Military and jury duty: arrest. 
 
 Sec. 736. No person holding office under this department 
 shall be liable to military or jury duty, nor to arrest on civil pro- 
 cess, or, whilst actually on duty, to service of subpoenas from civil 
 courts. 
 
 Warrants of appointment. 
 
 Sec. 737. Every member of the uniformed force shall have 
 issued to him a proper warrant of appointment signed by the 
 Fire Commissioner. 
 
 Oaths of office. 
 
 Sec. 738. Each member of the uniformed force shall take an 
 oath of office, and subscribe the same before an officer of the 
 Department empowered to administer an oath. 
 
 Discipline, etc. 
 
 739. The government and discipline of the Fire Depart- 
 ment shall be such as the Fire Commissioner may, from time to 
 
 344 
 
time, by rules, reg-ulations, and orders prescribe. The Fire Com- 
 missioner shall have power, in his discretion, on conviction of a 
 member of the force of any legal offense or neglect of duty, or 
 violation of rules, or neglect or disobedience of orders, or inca- 
 pacity, or absence without leave, or any conduct injurious to the 
 public peace or welfare, or immoral conduct, or conduct unbecom- 
 ing an oflficer or member or other breach of discipline, to punish 
 the offending party, by reprimand, forfeiting and withholding pay 
 for a specified time, or dismissal from the force ; but no more than 
 ten days' pay shall be forfeited and withheld for any offense. Offi- 
 cers and members of the uniformed force shall be removable only 
 after written charges shall have been preferred against them, and 
 after the charges shall have been publicly examined into, upon such 
 reasonable notice to the person charged, and in such manner of 
 examination as the rules and regulations of the Fire Commissioner 
 may prescribe. The examination into such charges shall be 
 conducted by the Fire Commissioner or by the Deputy Com- 
 missioner; but no decision shall be final or be enforced, until 
 approved by the Fire Commissioner. 
 
 No member of the uniformed force shall be permitted to 
 contribute any moneys directly or indirectly to any political 
 fund, or to join or become or be a member of any political club 
 or association, or of any club or association intended to affect 
 legislation for or on behalf of the Fire Department or any officer 
 or member thereof, or to contribute any money directly or 
 indirectly for such purpose. 
 
 The rules and regulations now established in the respective fire 
 departments of the City of New York, the City of Brooklyn, and 
 Long Island City, shall continue in force until modified or repealed 
 by said Commissioner. The rules and regulations of the Fire 
 Department, when established by the Fire Commissioner, shall 
 be printed, published and circulated among the officers and 
 members of said department. 
 
 Grades^ranks and salaries of officers and members of the uniformed 
 force. 
 Sec. 740. The ranks and salaries of officers of the Fire De- 
 partment shall be as follows: Chief of Department whose 
 
 345 
 
annual salary shall be not more than six thousand dollars, nor 
 less than five thousand dollars ; Deputy Chiefs of Department 
 whose annual salary shall be not more than four thousand dol- 
 lars, nor less than three thousand five hundred dollars ; Bat- 
 talion Chiefs whose annual salary shall be not more than three 
 thousand five hundred dollars, nor less than two thousand 
 seven hundred^aud fifty ^dollars ; Captains or Foremen of com- 
 panies whose annual salary shall be not more than two thou- 
 sand five hundred dollars, nor less than eighteen hundred dol- 
 lars ; Lieutenants or Assistant Foremen of companies whose 
 annual salary shall be not more than eighteen hundred dollars, 
 nor less than one thousand five hundred dollars ; Engineers of 
 steamers whose annual salary shall be not more than one thou- 
 sand six hundred dollars, nor less than one thousand three 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 From and after January ist, 1898, the uniformed members 
 of the Fire Department who are firemen shall be divided into 
 four grades, to wit. First, Second, Third and Fourth, and shall 
 receive an annual pay or compensation as follows : Members 
 of the First grade, fourteen hundred dollars ; members of 
 the Second grade, twelve hundred dollars ; members of the 
 Third grade, one thousand dollars, and members of the Fourth 
 grade, eight hundred dollars. 
 
 The members of the uniformed force who are appointed after 
 January i, 1898, shall be assigned to the Fourth grade ; after 
 one year of service in the Fourth grade, they shall be advanced 
 to the Third grade ; after one year of service in the Third 
 grade, they shall be advanced to the Second grade ; after one 
 year of service in the Second grade, they shall be advanced to 
 the First grade ; and they shall in each instance receive the 
 annual pay or compensation of the grade to which they belong 
 as herein provided. 
 
 All persons who, when this Act takes effect, are firemen in 
 the uniformed force of the Fire Department of the corporation 
 heretotore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 of the City of New York, or of the City of Brooklyn, or of the 
 corporation heretofore known as Long Island City, shall there- 
 upon become firemen of that grade having a salary thereto at- 
 tached equal to the salary or compensation paid such firemen, 
 
 346 
 
respectively, at the time of the taking effect of this Act ; pro- 
 vided, however, that any such firemen who has been a member 
 of the uniformed force in the City of Brooklyn, or in Long 
 Island City, whose salary falls between any two of the grades 
 hereby established, shall within three years have his salary 
 made equal to the salary of the First grade by equal annual 
 additions. 
 
 Nothing- in this section contained shall be construed to 
 change in any way the salaries or grading, present or pros- 
 pective, of the firemen who are or shall become members of 
 the uniformed force of the New York Fire Department prior 
 to January ist, 1898; and nothing in this section contained shall 
 be construed to affect in any other way than as provided 
 herein the rights and privileges secured under the provisions 
 of this Act to uniformed members of the various Fire Depart- 
 ments consolidated into one Department by this Act. 
 
 The pay or compensation of the officers of the Fire Depart- 
 ment and each of them mentioned in the first paragraph of 
 this section, and also the pay or compensation of District 
 Engineers and officers ranking as such, and of any other 
 officers who, when this Act takes effect, belong to the uni- 
 formed force of either of the Fire Departments hereby con- 
 solidated into one Department, shall be and remain fixed 
 at the amount which they and each of them were severally 
 receiving or entitled to receive from tlie respective muni- 
 cipal corporations in whose employ they were prior to 
 the taking effect of this Act ; provided, however, that the 
 salaries of all such officers in either of said Fire Departments 
 other than the New York Department, so consolidated into 
 one Department, shall be made equal to the salaries of corre- 
 sponding officers in said New York Department, within three 
 years from January ist, 1898, by equal annual additions ; and 
 provided further that if the difference in the pay received b}^ 
 such officers and the pay received by corresponding officers 
 of the New York Fire Department as heretofore existing, is 
 not more than $50, when this Act takes effect, the pay shall be 
 equalized at once. 
 
 The pay or compensation aforesaid shall be paid monthly to 
 each person entitled thereto, subject to such deductions each 
 
 347 
 
 [USIVIRSITY] 
 
month from the pay or compensation of said persons as are or 
 shall be authorized by law or by this Act ; and no pay or com- 
 pensation shall be allowed or paid to any such fireman or offi- 
 cer, except as in this section provided for and declared, any 
 other law to the contrary or otherwise notwithstanding. 
 
 Police Department to co-operate. 
 
 Sec. 741. It shall be the duty of the Fire Department and 
 of the Police Department, their respective officers and men, to co- 
 operate together in all proper ways, and the said Police Depart- 
 ment and Fire Department may respectively provide for protec- 
 tion against fire, and for the arrest of all persons who may, at or 
 near any fire, commit, or attempt to commit, any crime against 
 the laws of this State, or violate any rule or regulation of said 
 Police Department or Fire Department. 
 
 TrrLE 2. 
 
 FIRES AND THEIR EXTINCTION. 
 
 Right of way : obstructing. 
 
 Sec. 748. The officers and men of the Fire Department, with 
 their apparatus of all kinds, when on duty, shall have the right of 
 way at any fire in any highway, street, or avenue, over any and all 
 vehicles of any kind, except those carrying the United States mail. 
 And any person in or upon any vehicle who shall refuse the right 
 of way, or in any way obstruct any fire apparatus, or any of said 
 officers while m the performance of duty, shall be guilty of mis- 
 demeanor, and be liable to punishment for the same. 
 
 Hose-bridges on railway tracks. 
 
 Sec. 749. The Fire Commissioner is empowered to provide for 
 the laying on the railway tracks of the city, over the hose used by 
 
 348 
 
the department for the extinguishment of fires, such hose bridges 
 as he may deem necessary; and the various horse and 
 steam railways companies running cars within the limits of the 
 City of New York shall provide and use such hose-bridges as may 
 be designated by the Fire Commissioner. Such bridges shall be 
 paid for by the railway companies using the same. 
 
 Fire hydrants not to be obstructed. 
 
 Sec. 750. No person shall in any manner obstruct the use of 
 any fire hydrant in said city, or allow any snow or ice to be thrown 
 or piled upon or around the same, or have or place, or allow to be 
 placed, any material in front thereof, from the curb line to the 
 center of the street, and to within ten feet from either side thereof, 
 and all snow and ice accumulating within such space shall be re- 
 moved by the owner or owners, lessee or lessees, of the premises 
 fronting the same in the same manner as is prescribed for the keep- 
 ing clear of the sidewalk, under a penalty of ten dollars for each and 
 every such offense; and any and all material found as an obstruc- 
 tion, as aforesaid, may be forthwith removed by the officers or em- 
 ployees of said department, and at the risk, cost and expense of the 
 owner or claimant, and said Fire Commissioner may take all proper 
 measures to keep said hydrants from freezing, and in proper condi- 
 tion for use at all times. 
 
 Sappers and miners. 
 
 Sec. 751. The Fire Commissioner is hereby empowered and 
 directed to maintain in the Fire Department a corps to be known 
 as the corps of sappers and miners. Said corps shall be composed 
 of not exceeding three members, either officers or private firemen, 
 of each company in said Fire Department, and said members shall 
 be appointed by said Commissioner, upon the nomination of the 
 Chief of Department. The said Commissioner shall appoint 
 a suitable officer, who shall be skilled in the use of explos- 
 ives, whose duty it shall be to instruct and drill said corps in 
 
 349 
 
the use of explosives, and to give said corps such other instruction 
 as may be required to qualify them to eflfectually discharge the 
 duties imposed upon them by this title. Such officer shall receive 
 an annual salary of two thousand dollars, and such salary shall be 
 raised and paid in the same manner as the salaries of the other offi- 
 cers appointed by said Commissioner. 
 
 Id.: duties of . 
 
 Sec. 752. Whenever, under and by virtue of the Acts relating 
 to the extinguishment of fires in the City, the destruction or pulling 
 down of any building or buildings shall be deemed necessary and 
 shall be ordered by the officer in command at any fire in said city, 
 it shall be the duty of said corps, or any member or members there- 
 of, by the direction of said officer in command at such fire, to level 
 and destroy such building or buildings by the use of explosives, 
 for the purpose of arresting the spread of such fire, and it shall 
 be lawful for them to enter and take possession of tihe same for 
 such purposes. 
 
 Explosives : depots for storage of. 
 
 Sec. 753. The Fire Commissioner shall establish in The City of 
 New York, one or more depots for the storage and safe-keeping oi 
 such explosives as may be required for the use of said corps, and 
 may limit the quantity of any such explosives to be kept at any one 
 of such depots. 
 
 Pulling down buildings to prevent spread of fire. 
 
 Sec. 754. When any building or buildings in The City of New 
 York shall be on fire, it shall be lawful for the Fire Commissioner 
 to direct and order the same, or any other building which he may 
 deem hazardous, and likely to take fire, or to convey the fire to 
 other buildings, to be pulled down or destroyed. Upon the appli- 
 cation of any person interested in such building so pulled down or 
 destroyed, to the Supreme Court, in the judicial department 
 within which such building is situated, it shall be its duty to issue 
 
 350 
 
a precept for a jury to inquire into and assess the damages which 
 the owners of such building and all persons having an estate or 
 interest therein have respectively sustained by the pulling down 
 or destruction thereof; which precept shall be issued, directed, 
 executed, returned and proceeded upon, and the proceedings 
 thereon shall take effect, as nearly as may be, in such manner as 
 is provided in the case of land taken for public purposes; and, the 
 said inquiry and assessment having been confirmed by the Court, 
 the sums assessed by the jury shall be paid by the City of New 
 York to the respective persons in whose favor the jury shall have 
 assessed the same, in full satisfaction of all demands of such per- 
 sons respectively, by reason of the pulling down or destruction of 
 such building; and the Court before whom such process shall be 
 returnable shall have power to compel the attendance of jurors and 
 witnesses upon any such assessment of damages. 
 
 Idle persons, etc., may be removed from fires. 
 
 Sec. 755. During the actual prevalence of any fire, it shall and 
 may be lawful for the officers of the Police and Fire Departments 
 to remove, or cause to be removed and kept away from the vicinity 
 of such fire, all idle and suspicious persons, and all persons not fit 
 to be employed or not actually and usefully employed, in their judg- 
 ment, in aiding the extinguishment of such fire or in the preserva- 
 tion of property in the vicinity thereof. 
 
 Title 3. 
 
 prevention of fires — explosives and combustible mate- 
 RIALS. 
 
 Shavings: hozv to be stowed aivay. 
 
 Sec. 760. All carpenters or others in said city making or 
 using shavings, shall, at the close of each day, cause the same to 
 
 351 
 
be securely stowed in some safe place remote from danger by- 
 fire, under the penalty of five dollars for each omission to do so. No 
 person shall kmdle any fire nor furnish the materials, nor in any 
 way authorize or allow any fire to be made in any street, road, al- 
 ley, lane, or upon any pier, wharf, or bulkhead in the City, except 
 under such regulations as shall be established by the Fire Com- 
 missioner, under a penalty of ten dolkrs for each and every such 
 offense. If any chimney, stove-pipe, or flue within the City shall 
 take fire, the occupant of the premises to which such chimney, 
 stove, or flue appertains shall forfeit the sum of five dollars. 
 
 Hoistways, iron shutters, etc., to be closed. 
 
 Sec. 761. All hoistways, well-holes, trap-doors, and iron shut- 
 ters shall be closed at the completion of the business of each day by 
 the occupant of the building having use or control of same, and in. 
 case of a violation of this provision, such occupant having the use 
 or control thereof shall forf-^it and pay a penalty of fifty dollars 
 for each and every neglect or omission so to do. And for any ac- 
 cident or injury to life and limb, resulting directly or indirectly 
 from any neglect or omission to properly comply with any of the 
 requirements of this section, the person or persons culpable or 
 negligent in respect thereto shall be liable to pay any officer, agent, 
 or employee of said Fire Department injured, or whose life may be 
 lost (resulting from such neglect or omission) while in the discharge 
 or performance of any duty imposed by said Commissioner, or to 
 the wife and children, or to the parents, or to the brothers and sis- 
 ters, being the surviving heirs-at-law of any deceased person thus 
 having lost his life, a sum of money, in case of injury to person, not 
 less than one thousand dollars, and in case of death not less than 
 five thousand dollars, such liability to be determined and such 
 sums recovered in an action to be instituted by said Fire Commis- 
 sioner for and in behalf of any person injured, or the family or rela- 
 tives of any person killed as aforesaid; and any and all persons for 
 any fire, resulting from his or their wilfull or culpable negligence 
 or criminal intent or design, shall, in addition to the present pro- 
 
 352 
 
visions of law for the punishment of persons convicted of arson, 
 be liable in a civil action for the payment of any and all damages 
 to the person and property, the result of such fire, and also for the 
 payment of all costs and expenses of said Fire Department incurred 
 in and about the use of employees, apparatus, and materials in the 
 extinguishment of any fire resulting from such cause, the amount 
 of such costs and expenses to be fixed by said Commissioner, and 
 when collected shall be paid into the relief fund of said department 
 herein created; and shall also be liable for injury to person or loss 
 of life of any officer, agent, or employee of said Fire Department in 
 the same manner and like extent, and to be sued for in like manner 
 as in the preceding part of this section provided for. 
 
 Lights, precautions against fire and use of aisles in places of amusement. 
 
 Sec. 762. All lights used in theatres and other places of pub- 
 lic amusement, manufactories, stores, hotels, lodging-houses and 
 in show windows shall be properly protected by globes or glass 
 coverings, or in such other manner as the Fire Commissioner shall 
 prescribe. The owners and proprietors of all manufactories, hotels, 
 tenement-houses, apartment-houses, office buildings, boarding 
 and lodging-houses, warehouses, stores and offices, theatres 
 and music halls, and the authorities or persons having charge 
 of all hospitals and asylums, and of the public schools and 
 other public buildings, churches and other places where large 
 numbers of persons are congregated for purposes of worship, 
 instruction or amusement, shall provide such means of com- 
 municating alarms of fire, accident or danger, to the Police 
 and Fire Departments respectively as the Fire Commissioner 
 or Police Board may direct, and shall also provide such fire 
 hose, fire extinguishers, buckets, axes, fire hooks, fire doors and 
 other means of preventing and extinguishing fires as said Fire 
 Commissioner may direct. In every building used or occupied 
 as a hotel, lodging-house, or public or private hospital or asylum, 
 there shall be employed by the owner or proprietor, or other person 
 
 353 
 
or persons having the charge or management thereof, one or more 
 watchmen, whose exclusive duty it shall be to visit every portion of 
 such building, at regular and frequent intervals, under rules and 
 regulations to be established by the Fire Commissioner, for the pur- 
 pose of detecting fire or other sources of danger, and giving timely 
 warning thereof to the inmates of the building. In every room in 
 each of said buildings there shall be posted a card, upon which 
 shall be printed a diagram showing the exits, halls, stairways, ele- 
 vators and fire-escapes, and in the halls and passageways, signs shall 
 be posted indicating the location of the stairs and fire-escapes. In 
 each of the said buildings there shall be placed and provided elec- 
 trical or other alarms and time detectors, to be approved by the 
 Fire Commissioner,by means of which the movements of said watch- 
 man may be recorded, and through which alarms of fire or other 
 danger may be instantly communicated, by means of bells or gongs, 
 to every portion of the building. Said electrical apparatus, and all 
 other appliances placed or kept within any of said buildings for the 
 purpose of preventing or extinguishing fires, or for affording means 
 of escape therefrom in case of fire, shall be kept at all times in good 
 working order and proper condition for immediate use, and any 
 member of the uniformed force of said department may enter any 
 of the said buildings at any time for the purpose of inspecting said 
 apparatus or appliances. The Fire Commissioner may detail, not 
 to exceed two members of the uniformed force of said department, 
 at each and every place of amusement where machinery and scen- 
 ery are in use, while such place is open to the public, whose duty 
 it shall be to guard against fire, and who shall have charge and 
 control of the means provided for its extinguishment, and shall 
 have control and direction of the employees of the place to which 
 they may be detailed for the purpose of extinguishing any fire which 
 may occur therein. It shall also be the duty of such member or 
 members of the uniformed force of said department to inspect every 
 portion of the building or buildings to which they may be detailed, 
 during public performances therein, for the purpose of guarding 
 and protecting the occupants from fire or panic. Whenever any 
 
 354 
 
member of the uniformed force of said department shall discover 
 in any inside aisle or passageway in any such place of amusement 
 any camp stools, chairs, sofas or other obstructions, or any person 
 or persons standing or sitting therein, during any public perform- 
 ance, it shall be the duty of such member of the uniformed force 
 forthwith to notify the proprietor or manager of such place of 
 amusement, or any usher, agent or other employee of such proprie- 
 tor or manager then present, to cause such obstruction to be forth- 
 with removed, or to cause the person or persons standing or sitting 
 in such aisles or passageways to forthwith vacate the same. If the 
 manager or proprietor, or such usher, agent or employee shall cause 
 or permit any camp stool, chairs, sofas or other obstructions to be 
 placed or remain in any aisle or passageway, in any such place of 
 amusement, or shall cause, or permit any person to stand or sit 
 therein, during any public performance, or, having been so notified, 
 shall neglect or refuse to cause such obstruction to be forthwith re- 
 moved, or to cause such person or persons to forthwith vacate said 
 aisles or passageways, they shall each severally be deemed to have 
 violated the provisions and requirements of this title and the regula- 
 tions or orders duly made thereunder, and shall be subject to the 
 penalties prescribed in this Act. In all places of public amuse- 
 ment or entertainment, not included in the foregoing provisions, 
 except in fire-proof buildings, there shall be employed, by the 
 owner or proprietor thereof, one or more watchmen whose ex- 
 clusive duty it shalJ be to protect and guard the inmates of such 
 buildings from fire and other sources of danger. 
 
 Gunpowder and other explosives: sales thereof regulated. 
 
 Sec. 763. No person shall manufacture, have, keep, sell, or 
 give away any gunpowder, blasting-powder, gun-cotton, nitro- 
 glycerine, dualin, or any explosive oils or compounds within the 
 corporate limits of the City of New York, except in the quantities 
 limited, in the manner and upon the conditions herein provided, 
 and under such regulations as the Fire Commissioner shall pre- 
 scribe; and said Commissioner shall make suitable provision for 
 
 355 
 
the storage and safe-keeping of gunpowder and other dangerous 
 and explosive compounds or articles enumerated under this title, 
 beyond the interior line of low water-mark in the City 
 of New York. The said Commissioner may issue Hcenses to per- 
 sons desiring to sell gunpowder or any of the articles mentioned 
 under this section at retail, at a particular place in said city to be 
 named in said license (provided that the same shall not be in a 
 building used m any part thereof as a dwelling, unless specially 
 authorized by said license), and persons so licensed may have on 
 their premises, if actually kept for sale, a quantity not exceeding 
 at any one time, of nitro-glycerine, five pounds ; of gun-cotton, five 
 pounds; of gunpowder, fourteen pounds; blasting-powder, twenty- 
 five pounds ; and all of said articles shall be put up in tight metallic 
 canisters, containing, or capable of containing, not more than 
 one pound each; and the persons so licensed shall place on some 
 conspicuous part of the front of the stores or buildings in which 
 they may be licensed to sell powder, or any of the articles named 
 under this section, a sign on which shall be distinctly printed, in 
 characters legible to persons passing such stores or buildings, the 
 words, "licensed to sell gunpowder," or designating such other of 
 the articles herein named as is there offered for sale; and every bar- 
 rel, cask, canister, bottle, can, vessel, box or parcel, in which the 
 same is sold, or into which the same is delivered on being sold, 
 shall be distinctly labeled w4th a printed sign or label, printed upon 
 or firmly affixed thereto, describing the article contained therein, 
 with the word " danger" distinctly printed below the same. No 
 nitro-glycerine, dualin, or gunpowder shall be manufactured in said 
 city, and no quantities of nitro-glycerine, dualin, or gunpowder 
 greater than above provided shall be kept, carried, or conveyed 
 within said city; except that for the purposes of distribution to or 
 delivery from stores and buildings in said city a quantity not more 
 than five quarter casks may be carried at any one time, during the 
 daytime, for the purpose of transportation from any vessel or send- 
 ing the same to said stores or buildings, or any vessel or place with- 
 out said city; provided, that in the carrying or conveying the same 
 
 356 
 
it shall be protected by being completely and securely covered 
 with a leather or canvas cover or case, and marked "gunpov^der." 
 The commander, owner or owners of any ship or other vessel ar- 
 riving in the harbor of New York, and having more than twenty- 
 eight pounds of gunpowder, dualin, or nitro-glycerine on board, 
 shall, within forty-eight hours after the arrival, and before such ship 
 or vessel shall approach nearer than three hundred yards of any 
 wharf, pier or slip, to the southward of a line drawn through the 
 center of Seventy-third street, immediately give written notice to 
 the said Commissioner of the fact that such powder or nitro-glyce- 
 rine is on such vessel;. but it shall be lawful either to proceed with 
 such ship or vessel to sea within forty-eight hours after her ar- 
 rival, or to tranship such gunpowder, dualin, or nitro-glycerine 
 from one ship or vessel to another, for the purpose of immediate 
 transportation, without landing the same; provided, however, that 
 the provisions of this section shall not apply to any vessel receiving 
 gunpowder on freight on any one day, provided such vessel do not 
 remain at any wharf of the said city, or be within three hundred 
 yards thereof after sunset. All gunpowder, gun-cotton, blasting- 
 powder, dualin, nitro-glycerine, or other explosive compound, 
 found in violation of this section shall be forthwith seized and safe- 
 ly stored, and be sold, upon three days' notice to the owner or 
 claimant; and the proceeds of such sale, after deducting all ex- 
 penses, shall be forfeited and paid over to and for the use and bene- 
 fit of the relief fund of the Fire Department of the City of New 
 York. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to 
 apply to any ship or vessel of war in the service of the United States 
 or of any foreign government, while lying distant three hundred 
 yards or upwards from the wharves, piers, or slips of the said city, 
 nor to any ship or vessel of war in the service of the United 
 States while lying at any part of the Navy Yard in the Borough 
 of Brooklyn. 
 
 Fireworks and explosive compounds : manufacture and sale thereof. 
 Sec. 764. No fireworks, detonating works, cartridge, powder 
 
 357 
 
train, percussion caps, collodion, nitrate of soda, nitrate of silver,- 
 ether, phosphorus, matches, or explosive compounds shall here- 
 after be manufactured, stored, or kept upon sale in the City, except 
 at such places, in such manner, and in such quantities as shall be 
 determined by the said Commissioner in the exercise of his discre- 
 tion, under a permit by him granted therefor, and subject to be 
 revoked at any time by said Commissioner. Fireworks, consisting 
 of Chinese crackers, rockets, blue lights, candles, colored pots, 
 lance wheels, and other works of brilliant-colored fires may be kept 
 upon sale intervening the tenth day of June and the tenth day of 
 July, in each year, by retail dealers, under such reasonable regu- 
 lations as said Commissioner may prescribe, under a permit issued 
 therefor. No quantity of the following-named chemicals, acids, 
 and combustible materials, greater than as hereinafter enumerated, 
 shall be stored or kept in or upon any one building within the 
 City, namely: sulphur, one thousand pounds; manufactured match- 
 es, five hundred pounds; saltpetre, nitrate of soda, five hundred 
 pounds in the whole; nitrate o' silver, collodion, ether, phosphor- 
 us, fifty pounds in the whole ; aqua fortis, muriatic acid, nitric acid, 
 and sulphuric acid, not exceeding one thousand pounds in the 
 whole; tar, pitch, rosin, turpentine, one hundred barrels in the 
 whole, except the same shall be stored and kept in such building 
 and manner as said Commissioner may require, under a special per- 
 mit by them issued therefor. 
 
 Petroleum and coal oils, etc.: sale thereof. 
 
 Sec. 765. No person shall have, keep on sale, or store in any 
 place or building within the corporate limits of the City, any crude 
 petroleum, coal or any similar oil, nor any of their products, either 
 oi which shall emit an inflammable vapor at a temperature below 
 one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, except under the following 
 provisions : or any of their products may be stored in detached and 
 properly ventilated warehouses, the outer walls of which shall be 
 stone, brick, or iron, especially adapted for the purpose by having 
 raised sills, at least two feet high, or the ground floor of which shall 
 
 358 
 
be at least two feet below the level of the street or adjoining yard, 
 or so constructed as to actually prevent the overflow of such sub- 
 stances beyond the premises where the same may be kept stored; 
 which said warehouses shall not be occupied in any part as a dwell- 
 ing; and if less than fifty feet from any adjacent dwelling the same 
 must be separated by a brick or stone wall, at least ten feet in 
 height and sixteen inches thick, constructed in such manner as 
 said Commissioner may prescribe, but the same may be stored in 
 such other manner as said Commissioner may designate under a 
 special permit issued therefor. No refined petroleum, kerosene, 
 coal or similar oil, or earth or rock oil, or machinery oil, or any 
 product thereof to be used for illuminating or heating purposes 
 which shall emit an inflammable vapor at a temperature below one 
 hundred degrees Fahrenheit,shall be kept upon sale or stored within 
 the corporate limits of the City. All said articles shall be tested and 
 their quality determined by sanitary surveyors authorized by said 
 Commissioner, using G. Tagliabue's instruments, or such other 
 instruments as may be designated by said Commissioner, the barrels 
 or packages containing the same to be legibly stamped or marked 
 with said inspector's official stamp or mark. No refined petroleum, 
 kerosene, gasoline, naphtha, or benzine, benzole, camphene, or 
 burning fluid, or products or compounds containing any of said 
 substances, when temporarily placed above the cellar or basement 
 of any building, and in barrels of not over forty-five gallons each, 
 or in metallic vessels or tanks, shall exceed in the whole quantity 
 the contents of fifty of said barrels; provided, however, that the 
 whole quantity of said refined oils that may be so kept or stored 
 over night shall not exceed the contents of ten of said barrels, unless 
 stored m the manner provided for storing crude petroleum; and 
 when stored in cellars or basements, surrounded by walls of brick 
 or stone, and at least two feet below the level or grade of the side- 
 walk, street, or land adjacent, the whole quantity shall not exceed 
 the contents of one hundred and fifty barrels, unless stored in 
 warehouses specially adapted for that purpose, as required for the 
 storage of crude petroleum under this section; provided, also, that 
 
 359 
 
no quantity of said oils greater than one barrel shall be stored or 
 kept in any building occupied in any part thereof as a dwelling. No 
 refined petroleum, kerosene, gasoline, naphtha, benzine, benzole, 
 camphene, burning fluid, or products or compounds containing any 
 of said substances, shall be kept or stored on or above the first 
 story or floor of any building, exceeding in the whole quantity the 
 contents of five barrels, of forty gallons each. In no case shall 
 any of the articles named in this section be allowed to remain on 
 the sidewalk beyond the front line of any building, or in or upon 
 the streets, docks, piers, bulkheads, slips, highways, or public places 
 a longer time than is actually necessary for the removal or loading 
 of the same, and said Commissioner may establish and enforce gen- 
 eral regulations and issue such orders and special directions rela- 
 tive to the handling, lightering, carting, loading, and transporta- 
 tion of the several articles named under this section as in his discre- 
 tion shall be deemed necessary for the public protection, and said 
 Commissioner may issue special permits authorizing the keeping 
 of any of the articles enumerated under this section in buildings, 
 tanks or structures fire-proof throughout, in such quantities, in 
 such manner, and subject to such regulations as shall tend to se- 
 cure the same against danger. 
 
 Id.: continued. 
 
 Sec. 766. No person shall sell at retail or give away any kero- 
 sene, or other product of petroleum, or any similar oil to be used 
 for heating or illuminating purposes, without first obtaining a li- 
 cense therefor from the Fire Commissioner, under such rules and 
 regulations as he may prescribe, which license shall be for the term 
 of one year and shall not be transferable, and for every such license 
 and for every renewal of the same the said Commissioner shall de- 
 mand and receive the sum of ten dollars. Said licenses shall be 
 posted in a conspicuous place in the store of the person or persons 
 to whom the same is issued, and may be revoked for cause by said 
 Commissioner. Any person who shall sell any of the compounds 
 above mentioned in this or the last section, without first obtaining 
 
 360 
 
a license therefor, shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty-five dol- 
 lars. But licenses for this purpose may be granted in the 
 Boroughs of Queens and Richmond without the payment of the 
 license fee in this section prescribed. 
 
 Criminal liability if death results from violation of foregoing rules. 
 
 Sec. 767. In case any person is burned by the explosion of any 
 compound, the sale of whic^h is prohibited by any section of this 
 title, or which 'has not been subjected to sanitary survey, or licensed 
 as therein provided, and death ensues therefrom, the person found 
 guilty of selHng the same shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, 
 upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one 
 thousand dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, or by im- 
 prisonment in the State prison for a term not less than one year 
 nor more than five years; and in case of a bodily injury the party 
 injured may maintain an action for damages against the party vio- 
 lating the provisions of this title. Any dealer who shall pre- 
 sent and deliver for sanitary survey a sample of oil difTerent from, 
 and which does not represent the quality of oil actually kept by him 
 or her for sale, and not taken from the actual stock being ofifered 
 for sale, and of the same quality therewith, shall forfeit and pay 
 the sum of fifty dollars. If any fire insurance company, 
 organized under the laws of this State, or any insurance company 
 of any other State, or any foreign insurance company authorized 
 to do the business of insurance in this State, shall indorse upon any 
 policy issued by them the right or privilege to keep, deal in, give 
 away, sell, or use any article or compound of a combustible or ex- 
 plosive character, the sale of which is made unlawful by any Act 
 of the Legislature of this State, or shall cause or permit such in- 
 dorsement to be made by others upon their policies of insurance, 
 they shall for each and every such oflfense forfeit and pay a fine of 
 five hundred dollars. 
 
 Fires and lights on vessels transporting petroleum. 
 
 Sec. 768. It shall be unlawful for the owner, or for any of the 
 
 361 
 
officers, employees, or crew of any ship, vessel, canal boat, barge, 
 lighter, boat, or other craft lying at or within one hundred and 
 fifty feet of any warehouse, yard, shed, dock, pier, bulkhead, wharf, 
 or other place within the City of New York, at, in, or on which pe- 
 troleum oil, or any of its products, is stored, or kept for export, or 
 in quantities exceeding ten thousand gallons; or, for any other per- 
 son or persons, to bring, keep, have, or use, or suffer or permit to 
 be brought, kept, had, or used on board of any such ship, vessel, 
 canal boat, barge, lighter, boat, or other craft, or at, in, or on any 
 sudh warehouse, shed, yard, dock, pier, bulkhead, wharf, or other 
 place, any lighted match, or lighted cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or 
 any fire or hght of any kind, without, or otherwise than in strict 
 conformity with, the written permission of the owner, lessee, or su- 
 perintendent of such warehouse, shed, yard, dock, pier, bulkhead, 
 wharf, or other place, specifying the fire or light to be kept, had, or 
 used, the particular purpose for, and the place or spot at which the 
 same may be so kept, had, or used, and the particular manner of 
 keeping, having, or using the same. This section shall not apply 
 to steam tugs while transacting their ordinary business, nor to 
 steam fire engines engaged in extinguishing fires. Every violation 
 of this section shall be a misdemeanor, triable before the Court 
 of Special Sessions. 
 
 Storage of certain chemicals regulated. 
 
 Sec. 769. Except upon the approval of the Fire Commis- 
 sioner, no quantity of the following named chemicals and 
 combustible materials greater than is hereinafter enumerated shall 
 be stored or kept in or upon any one building within the City, name- 
 ly: Hemp or flax, unbaled, two thousand pounds in the whole; 
 varnish, rosin, twenty barrels in the whole; alcohol, pure spirits, 
 camphene, burning fluid, five barrels in the whole; unslacked lime, 
 ten barrels; vitriol, five carboys in the whole; loose wood shavings, 
 one hundred pounds; except the same shall be stored and kept upon 
 an open space of ground, surrounded by a wall constructed entirely 
 of fire-proof materials, at least twelve feet high and twelve inches 
 
 362 
 
thick; or within a fire-proof building remote or distant at least fifty 
 feet from any adjacent building. 
 
 Id.: of certain vegetable products. 
 
 Sec. 770. No quantity of cotton, hay, straw, flax, hemp, husks, 
 rushes, oakum, rags, seaweed, jute, on other vegetable fibre when 
 pressed or baled, greater than twenty tons in the whole, shall be 
 stored or kept in any building within the City of New York, 
 unless kept in a building fire-proof throughout, or upon an open 
 space of ground surrounded by a wall constructed entirely of fire- 
 proof materials, at least twelve feet high, and twelve inches thick, 
 or within a fire-proof building, remote or distant at least fifty feet 
 from any adjacent building, or in a building approved by the 
 New York Board of Underwriters or the Fire Commissioner, 
 and of which approval a certificate shall have been issued by 
 said Board or Commissioner, and shall not have been revoked ; 
 and none of the articles enumerated in this section, when loose 
 or not baled, shall be kept as aforesaid in quantity exceeding 
 one thousand pounds in the whole; excepting in a private stable, 
 in which may be kept such loose hay and straw in quantity not ex- 
 ceeding twenty-five hundred pounds in the whole, except 
 upon the approval of the Fire Commissioner. No person 
 shall have, put, or keep any hay or straw uncovered in any stack 
 or pile, or in any other way exposed, within one hundred yards of 
 any building in said city, or shall have, put or keep within said city 
 any hay, straw, hemp, flax, shavings, or rushes in any building not 
 built of stone, or brick, or iron, or covered with tile or slate, or other 
 fire-proof material, which is or shall be within ten feet of any dwell- 
 ing house or chimney whatsoever, except upon like approval. 
 
 Right to enter buildings, etc., for purposes of examination. 
 
 Sec. 771. The Commissioner and his officers or agents, under 
 the direction of the Commissioner, or either of them, are hereby 
 empowered at any and all times to enter into and examine all build- 
 ings, dwelling houses, livery and other stables, hay boats, or ves- 
 sels, and places where any merchandise, gunpowder, hemp, flax, 
 
 363 
 
tow, hay, ru&hes,firewood, boards, shingles, shavings, or other com- 
 bustible materials may be lodged, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 all violations of any of the provisions of this title, and also the places 
 where ashes may be deposited, and upon finding that any of them 
 are defective or dangerous, or that a violation of this title exists 
 therein, may deliver a written or printed notice, containing an ex- 
 tract from this title, of the provisions in reference thereto, and no- 
 tice of any violation thereof, and notice to remove, amend, or secure 
 the same within a period to be fixed therein. And in case of neglect 
 or refusal on the part of such occupant or of the possessor of such 
 combustible materials, or any of them, so to remove, amend, or 
 secure the same within the time and in the manner directed by the 
 said Commissioner in such notice, the party offending shall forfeit 
 and pay, in addition to any penalty otherwise imposed, the sum of 
 twenty-five dollars, and the further sum of five dollars for every 
 day's neglect to remove, amend, or secure the same after being so 
 notified. All the expenses of any removal, alteration or amend- 
 ment as aforesaid, shall be paid in the first instance by the occupant, 
 but shall be chargeable against the owner of such dwelling house 
 or other building, and shall be deducted from the rent of the same, 
 unless such expense be rendered necessary by the act or default of 
 such occupant, or unless there be a special agreement to the con- 
 trary between the parties. 
 
 Infortnation to be furnished by holders of permits. 
 
 Sec. 772. All persons or corporations who shall be required 
 to have and obtain permits shall furnish such information as may be 
 required, touching the condition of any building and the business 
 therein proposed to be conducted, preliminary to obtaining such 
 permits. 
 
 Fines and penalties. 
 
 Sec. 773. Any person, persons, or corporations, for the viola- 
 tion of, or non-compliance with, any of the several provisions of 
 the several sections of this title, when the penalty is not therein 
 specially provided, shall severally forfeit and pay a fine or penalty 
 
 364 
 
in the sum of fifty dollars for each and every offense, or shall for- 
 feit and pay the penalties respectively imposed under any of said 
 sections, and shall also be severally liable for any costs or expenses 
 that may be incurred by any violation of, or non-compliance with 
 any requirement under said sections, and s;hall also be severally 
 liable for the payment of the further penalty of the sum of fifty dol- 
 lars for any violation of, or non-compliance with, any regulation, 
 order or special direction issued by said Commissioner, or for failure 
 to attend and testify as required by any subpoena issued, as au- 
 thorized under this chapter. Said Commissioner may, in his dis- 
 cretion, pay a portion of a fine, or penalty, when collected, not to 
 exceed one-half thereof, to any person giving information of any 
 such violation. All suits and proceedings authorized by this title, 
 or to recover any penalty for the violation of or failure to comply 
 with any law or any rule, regulation, order or requirement of, or 
 made pursuant to the provisions of any law, the enforcement of 
 w^hich is charged upon said department or any of the several bu- 
 reaus thereof, shall be brought by and in the name of the Fire Com- 
 missioner of the City of New York, but no fees or costs shall be 
 demanded of said department in any such suit or proceeding. Any 
 person who shall wilfully violate, or neglect or refuse to comply 
 with, any provision or requirement of this title, or any regulation, 
 order or special direction duly made thereunder, s^hall also be guilty 
 of a misdemeanor. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 FIRE MARSHALS AND INVESTIGATION OF ORIGIN OF FIRES. 
 
 Investigation of fires, etc. 
 
 Sec. 779. The Fire Commissioner is hereby authorized to 
 appoint and remove a Fire Marshal for the Boroughs of Man- 
 hattan, The Bronx and Richmond, and a Fire Marshal to be 
 seated in Brooklyn and to exercise his powers^within the Boroughs 
 
 365 
 
of Brooklyn and Queens. Said Fire Marshals shall, within such 
 Boroughs, respectively, to which they may be assigned, have and 
 possess all the powers heretofore conferred by law upon the Fire 
 Marshal of the Corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Alder- 
 men, and Commonalty of the City of New York. The salary of 
 each of said Fire Marshals shall be three thousand dollars a 
 year. The Fire Commissioner, himself or by said Marshals, is 
 hereby authorized and empowered to investigate, examine, and in- 
 quire into the origin, details and management^^of^fires in the city, 
 and also of any supposed cases of violations of any of the provisions 
 of this chapter, or of any of the several regulations, orders, or special 
 directions issued by the Fire Commissioner for the purpose of the 
 discovery of any delinquency in the non-performance of duty or 
 violation of discipline on the part of any officer, agent, or employee 
 of said Fire Department, or any supposed cases of arson or incendiar- 
 ism, which may be brought to his notice; and said Fire Commis- 
 sioner in and about any examination, investigation or inquiry before 
 him or his Marshals, touching any matter or thing therewith 
 connected, may subpoena and compel the attendance of any 
 person or persons, and the production of any books, papers, 
 archives, or documents in his or their possession, or under his or 
 their control, in the judgment of the Fire Commissioner con- 
 nected with and necessary to such examination, investigation, or 
 inquiry, before him or his Marshals, at the time and place therein 
 named ; and for the purpose aforesaid, the Corporation Counsel 
 may, at any time, obtain to be issued subpoenas out of the 
 Supreme Court, tested under the name of a Justice of said court, 
 in like form and with like effect as though issued by said Justice in 
 any action pending in a court of record, and said subpoena may 
 be served, and proof of such service may be made, in the same man- 
 ner as now by law provided for the service of subpoenas out of said 
 court; and upon proof of service and proof of non-compliance, fail- 
 ure to attend and testify on the part of any person or persons, as 
 required by said subpoena, or failure or refusal on the part of any 
 person or persons to produce any such books, papers, archives, or 
 documents, in his or their possession, or under his or their control, 
 or a failure or refusal on his or their part to answer any question 
 
 366 
 
put to him or them, and pertinent thereto, upon any examination, 
 inquiry, or investigation as aforesaid, apphcation may be made 
 before any justice of said court, who shall, in case he shall decide 
 such question pertinent and proper to be answered, thereupon 
 cause to be arrested, and may punish as for a contempt of the 
 orders of said court, the person or persons named in said subpoena, 
 and in such case the laws, rules, and proceedings relating to punish- 
 ment for contempts, and usual in said court, or before any justice 
 thereof, shall be applicable thereto. Said Commissioner and Fire 
 Marshals, in conducting any examination or inquiry as aforesaid, 
 are hereby authorized to administer any oath or affirmation in the 
 matter, and any false swearing under said oath or affirmation thus 
 administered shall be perjury, and punishable as such in such man- 
 ner as now provided under the laws applicable thereto; and said 
 examination or investigation may be continued and adjourned by 
 the said Commissioner or Fire Marshal conducting the same, 
 from time to time, and at such time and place as shall be designated, 
 and any person subpoenaed as aforesaid shall attend and testify 
 upon said adjourned day or days, and at the time and place 
 designated, and of which they shall have been notified, as though 
 the same had been named in said subpoena, and with like effect as 
 to any failure to appear and answer under the requirements therein 
 contained ; provided, that any testimony or evidence taken as afore- 
 said shall be for the information and instruction of said Fire Com- 
 missioner in the discharge of his duties, and in the prevention of 
 future fires, and the protection of property, and shall be carefully 
 kept in the archives and possession of said Fire Department, and 
 shall in no manner be used in any criminal proceeding or action, 
 but may be placed before any grand jury in said City of New York. 
 Such investigations in relation to the subject matter hereinabove 
 defined within the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, shall be 
 carried on by the Deputy Commissioner and Fire Marshal seated 
 in the Borough of Brooklyn, under the direction of said Fire 
 Commissioner. 
 
 367 
 
Fire Marshals may enter buildings to examine them. 
 
 Sec. 780. It shall be the duty of a Marshal, or his 
 officers and agents, when authorized by him in writing so to do, 
 to enter into any building or premises within said city for the 
 purpose of examining, or causing to be examined, the stoves and 
 pipes thereto, ranges, furnaces, and heating apparatus of every 
 kind whatsoever, including the chimneys, flues, and pipes with 
 which the same may be connected, engine rooms, boilers, ovens, 
 kettles, and also all chemical apparatus, or other things which in 
 his opinion may be dangerous in causing or promoting fires, or 
 dangerous to the firemen or occupants in case of fire; and upon 
 finding any of them defective or dangerous, or in any manner ex- 
 posed or liable to fire from any cause, he shall report the same to 
 the Commissioner, who may thereupon issue orders or special 
 
 ' directions, either printed or written, directing the owner or occupant 
 to alter, remove, or remedy the same in such manner and within 
 such reasonable time as may be necessary, and in respect thereto 
 may authorize and direct the use of such materials and appliances 
 as shall be deemed proper and necessary; and in case of neglect or 
 refusal so to do within the time prescribed by such orders or 
 
 directions, such Fire Marshal, under the direction of said Com- 
 missioner, shall cause said alteration, removal, or other necessary 
 
 act or work to be done and the expense thereof shall be charged 
 to the party so offending, to be sued for and recovered in the man- 
 ner herein provided for the recovery of fines and penalties under 
 this chapter. 
 
 Id.: to trace the cause of fires: arrest of suspected persons. 
 
 Sec. 781. It shall be the duty of a Fire Marshal to examine 
 into the cause, circumstances, and origin of fires occurring in said 
 city, by which any building, vessels, vehicles, or any valuable 
 personal property shall be accidentally or unlawfully burned, de- 
 stroyed, lost or damaged, wholly or partially; and to especially 
 inquire and examine whether the fire was the result of careless- 
 ness or the act of an incendiary. Such Fire Marshal shall take the 
 testimony, on oath, of all persons supposed to be cognizant of any 
 
 368 
 
fact or to have means of knowledge in relation to the matters herein 
 required to be examined and inquired into, and cause the same 
 to be reduced to writing, verified and transmitted to the Fire Com- 
 missioner with his report in writing, embodying his opinion and 
 conclusions in relation to the matter investigated. Such Fire 
 Marshal shall report in writing to the Fire Department, to the Police 
 Department, to the District Attorney, to the New York Board of 
 Fire Underwriters, to the owners of property, or other persons in- 
 terested in the subject matter of investigation, any facts and circum- 
 stances which he may have ascertained by such inquiries and in- 
 vestigations which shall, in his opinion, require attention from or 
 by either of said departments, officers or persons; and it shall be the 
 duty of such Fire Marshal, whenever he shall be of opinion that 
 there is evidence sufficient to charge any person with the crime of 
 arson, to cause such person to be arrested and charged with such 
 ofifense, and furnish to the District Attorney all the evidences of 
 guilt, with the names of witnesses, and all the information obtained 
 by him, including a copy of all pertinent and material testimony 
 taken in the case; and he shall specially report to the Fire Com- 
 missioner, as often as such Commissioner shall require, his pro- 
 ceedings, and the progress made in all prosecutions for arson, and 
 the result of all cases which are finally disposed of. 
 
 Id. : may compel attendance of witnesses. 
 
 Sec. 782. A Fire Marshal shall have power to issue a notice 
 in the nature of a subpoena, in such form, and subscribed in such 
 manner, as the Fire Commissioner shall prescribe, to compel the 
 attendance of any person as a witness before him, to testify in rela- 
 tion to any matter which is, by the provisions of this title, a subject 
 of inquiry and investigation by the said Marshal. The said Marshal 
 shall be, and is hereby authorized to administer and verify oaths 
 and affirmations to persons appearing as witnesses before him; and 
 false swearing in any matter or proceeding aforesaid shall be deemed 
 perjury and shall be punishable as such. Upon the presentation 
 of satisfactory proof of due service of any such notice in the nature 
 
 369 
 
of a subpoena, upon any such witness, and of a failure by such 
 witness to obey the same, it shall be the duty of the Fire Com- 
 missioner to make an order that the said witness be arrested and 
 brought before said Marshal, to testify what such witness may 
 know in relation to the subject matter of inquiry. Such order may 
 be executed by any memlber of the police force, by arresting and 
 bringing such witness before the said Marshal, but such witness 
 shall not be detained longer than is necessary to take such test- 
 imony. The Fire Marshals shall have authority at all times of the 
 day or night, in performance of the duties imposed by the provisions 
 of this title, to enter upon and examine any building or premises, 
 when any fire shall have occurred, and the buildings and premises 
 adjoining and near to that in which the fire occurred. 
 
 Id.: Commissioner may supervise investigations by. 
 
 Sec. 783. It shall be the duty of the Fire Commissioner to 
 supervise and direct, whenever he shall be of opinion that the public 
 mterest will be subserved thereby, the investigations, examinations, 
 and proceedings of said Marshals, and make all needful and proper 
 rules and regulations in relation to the duties of the office, and the 
 manner of performing the same. 
 
 Title 5. 
 
 RELIEF FUND AND PENSIONS. 
 
 Of what fund consists: ofHcers and investment. 
 
 Sec. 789. The New York Fire Department Relief Fund 
 shall consist of: 
 
 1. The capital, interest, income, dividends, cash deposits, 
 securities and credits formerly or now belonging to said funds in 
 any of the municipal and public corporations, or parts thereof, 
 hereby consolidated into The City of New York. 
 
 370 
 
2. All forfeitures and fines imposed by the Fire Commissioner, 
 from time to time, upon any member or members of the fire depart- 
 ment force by way of discipline. 
 
 3. All rewards, in money, fees, gifts, testimonials and emolu- 
 ments that may be paid or given for account of extraordinary 
 services by any member of the fire department force, except such 
 as have been or shall be allowed by the Fire Commissioner, to be 
 retained by said member or members, and such as have been or shall 
 be given to endow a medal or other permanent or competitive 
 reward. 
 
 4. All proceeds of suits for penalties, under title three of this 
 chapter, and all license fees payable under the same. 
 
 5. All proceeds of sales of condemned horses and other 
 personal property in use by said department. 
 
 6. All moneys, pay, compensation or salary, or any part thereof 
 forfeited, deducted or withheld from any member or members of 
 the fire department force, for or on account of absence from duty, 
 to be paid monthly to the treasurer of the said relief fund, by the 
 Comptroller of the City of New York, and the Fire Commissioner 
 is authorized and empowered, in his discretion, to deduct and with- 
 hold pay, salary or compensation from any member or members 
 of said force, for or on account of absence from duty, except when 
 such absence shall be caused by sickness or disability, for which 
 leave of absence shall have been granted, in accordance with the 
 rules of said department. 
 
 7. Ten per centum annually of all excise moneys or license fees 
 belonging to the City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, and derived or received by any Commissioner of Excise 
 or public officer, from the granting of licenses, or permis- 
 sion to sell strong or spirituous liquors, ale, wine or beer, 
 in the City of New York, under the provisions of any law of this 
 State authorizing tne granting of any such licenses or permission; 
 the said ten per centum thereof to be paid quarterly by the 
 
 371 
 
Comptroller of said city, who is hereby authorized and required to 
 pay the same to the treasurer of the said relief fund, for the benefit 
 thereof, wihout any action of authority of or from the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment, such sum to amount in each and every 
 year to not more than one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars. The Commissioner of the Fire Department of 
 the City of New York is hereby constituted and declared 
 to be the trustee of the New York Fire Depart- 
 ment Relief Fund, shall receive all moneys appHcable to the same 
 and deposit the same, as such treasurer, to the credit of such relief 
 fund, in banks or trust companies to be selected by him, and con- 
 tinue to receive and deposit the funds applicable to the same, as 
 received, to the credit of said fund, or to invest the same in bond 
 and mortgage on improved property worth twice the amount 
 loaned, or in public stocks, as said trustee may deem most advan- 
 tageous for the object of such fund, and said trustee is empowered 
 to make all necessary contracts, and to take all necessary remedies 
 in the premises. The treasurer of said fund shall give a bond, 
 with one or more sureties, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, 
 for the faithful performance of his duties, said bond to be approved 
 by the Comptroller and filed in his office. And the said trustee 
 for and on behalf of the uses and purposes of said fund, shall be 
 entitled to receive, and there shall be paid to him all duties, taxes, 
 allowances, fines, penalties and fees to which the Fire Department 
 of the City of New York, as at any time heretofore established, has 
 been or is now entitled, except as in this Act otherwise specially 
 provided, and the said trustee may take, by gift, grant, devise or 
 bequest, any money, real or personal property, right of property for 
 other valuable thing, the annual income of which shall not exceed 
 thirty thousand dollars in the whole ; and in any year, when the con- 
 dition of the said rehef fund shall render it, in the judgment of the 
 said trustee, necessary, he may receive from the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment of the City of New York, a sum not exceeding 
 ten thousand dollars, to be included in the annual estimate of the 
 Fire Commissioner and drawn and collected by him in like manner 
 
 372 
 
as the other moneys applicable to his expenses ; and such amounts 
 so obtained shall, in like manner, be paid to and applied by the 
 treasurer to the uses of said fund, by deposit or investment as herein- 
 before provided, as the trustee thereof shall direct; provided, that 
 the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, which may be received 
 and accumulated under the provisions of this title, shall be reserved 
 and retained as a permanent fund, the annual income of which may 
 be made available for the uses and purposes of said relief fund. 
 
 Retiring members of Fire Department; pensions, etc. 
 
 Sec. 790. The Fire Commissioner shall have the power 
 to retire from all service in the said Fire Department, or to 
 relieve from service at fires, any officer or member of the uni- 
 formed force of said department, who may, upon an examination 
 by the medical officers, ordered by the said Fire Commissioner, be 
 found to be disqualified, physically or mentally, for the perform- 
 ance of his duties; and the said officer or member so retired from 
 service shall receive from said relief fund an annual allowance as 
 pension in case of total disqualification for service, or as com- 
 pensation for limited service in case of partial disability; in every 
 case, the said Fire Commissioner is to determine the circumstances 
 thereof, and said pension or allowance so allowed is to be in lieu of 
 any salary received by such officer or member at the date of his be- 
 ing so relieved or retired from fire duty in said department, and the 
 said department shall not be held liable for the payment of any 
 claim or demand for services thereafter rendered, and the amount of 
 such pension or allowance shall be determined upon the following 
 conditions : In case of total permanent disability, at any time, caused 
 in or induced by the actual performance of the duties of his position, 
 or which may occur after ten years' active and continuous service in 
 the said Fire Department, the amount of annual pension to be al- 
 lowed shall be one-half of the annual compensation allowed such 
 officer or member as salary at the date of his retirement from the 
 service, or such less sum in proportion to the number of officers and 
 members so retired as the condition of the fund will warrant. 
 But should permanent disability caused by injuries received in 
 
 373 
 
the active discharge of his duties disqualify him only from per- 
 formino- active duty in the uniformed force, he shall be employed 
 at the salary received when such disability occured in some posi- 
 tion in the Department not requiring active service as a fireman. In 
 case of total permanent disability not caused in or induced by the 
 actual performance of the duties of his position, or which shall have 
 occurred before the expiration of ten years' active and continuous 
 service in the said Fire Department, the amount of annual pension 
 to be allowed shall be one-third of the annual compensation allowed 
 such officer or member as salary at the date of his retirement from 
 the service, or in proportion to the number of officers and members 
 so retired, as the condition of the fund will warrant. In case of par- 
 tial permanent disability, caused in or induced by the actual per- 
 formance of the duties of his position, or which may occur after ten 
 years' active and continuous service in the said Fire Department, 
 the oflficer or member so disabled shall be relieved from active ser- 
 vice at fires, but shall remain a member of the uniformed force, sub- 
 ject to the rules governing said force, and to the performance of 
 such light duties as the medical officer of the said Fire Department 
 may certify him to be qualified to perform ; and the annual allowance 
 to be paid such member or officer shall be one-half of the annual 
 compensation allowed as salary at the date of his being so relieved, 
 or such less sum, in proportion to the number of officers and mem- 
 bers so retired, as the condition of the fund will warrant. In case of 
 partial permanent disability, not caused or induced by the actual 
 performance of the duties of his position, or which may occur before 
 ten years' active and continuous service in the said Fire Depart- 
 ment, the officer or member so disabled shall be relieved from active 
 service at fires, but shall remain a member of the uniformed force, 
 subject to the rules governing said force and to the performance of 
 such light duties as the medical officer of said department may cer- 
 tify him to be qualified to perform, and the annual allowance to be 
 paid such officer or member shall not exceed one-third of the annual 
 compensation allowed as salary at the date of his being so relieved, 
 or such less sum as the Fire Commissioner may, in his discre- 
 
 374 
 
tion, determine, or as the condition of the fund will warrant. 
 Any officer or member of the uniformed force of the said Fire 
 Department of the City of New York, who has or shall have 
 performed duty therein for a period of twenty years or upwards, 
 shall upon his own application in writing, or upon a certificate 
 of the Board of Medical Officers showing that such member 
 is permanently disabled, physically or mentally, so as to be unfit 
 for duty, be retired and dismissed from said force and service, and 
 placed on the roll of the relief or pension fund, and awarded and 
 granted, to be paid from the said relief or pension fund, an annual 
 pension during his life-time of a sum not less than one-half the 
 full salary or compensation of such member so retired. The 
 pensions granted under this section shall be for the natural life 
 of the pensioner, and shall not be revoked, repealed or dimin- 
 ished ; provided, however, that no member of either of the uni- 
 formed Fire Departments by this Act consolidated, having 
 a right to retire on pension at the time this Act takes effect, 
 shall be deprived of such right by reason of his remaining a 
 member of said Fire Department, or of anything in this Act 
 contained. 
 
 Trustee of relief fund: when to pay pensions. 
 
 Sec. 791. The trustee of the refief fund is authorized and em.- 
 powered, from time to time, to pay a pension out of said relief 
 fund to the widow, child or children or dependent parent or parents 
 of any deceased officer or member of the uniformed force of the said 
 Fire Department, if the death of such officer or member occur 
 during his service in the said uniformed force, or after he was retired 
 from service in said uniformed force; provided, that the amount of 
 any such pension to be paid by the said trustee to each of the sev- 
 eral representatives of such officer or member as aforesaid (in case 
 there shall be more than one), may be, from time to time, deter- 
 mined by the said trustee according to the circumstances of each 
 case, and that such pension may be ordered to cease and terminate 
 at any time if, in the opinion of the trustee, the circumstances should 
 warrant the same; and further provided, that not more than three 
 hundred dollars shall be paid in any one year to the representative 
 
 375 
 
or representatives of such officer or member, and that no part of 
 such sum shall be paid to any such widow who shall marry again, 
 after her remarriage, or to any child after it shall have reached the 
 age of sixteen years. In case any officer or member of 
 the uniformed force of said department is hereafter killed 
 while actually engaged in the performance of dut},-, or if death 
 ensues as the immediate effect of injuries so received the trus- 
 tee of said relief fund shall have the power to award to the 
 widow of such officer or member an annual allowance as a pen- 
 sion, to be paid out of the said relief fund, in amount not to 
 exceed one-half of the salary or compensation of such officer 
 or member at the date of his decease. If such officer or 
 member dying leaves no widow surviving him, but leaves a child 
 or children, under the age of eighteen years, or dependent parent 
 or parents, the said trustee shall have the power, to award to 
 the legal guardian of such child or children, or dependent 
 parent or parents, for its or their support and maintenance, an an- 
 nual allowance out of said relief fund, in amount not to exceed one- 
 half of the salary or allowance of such officer or member at the date 
 of the decease. The amount of such annual allowance to any such 
 widow shall not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars, and shall 
 cease upon her death or remarriage, or if she shall have been guilty 
 of conduct which, in the opinion of said trustee, renders further 
 payment inexpedient. The amount of such annual allowance to 
 any one such child, or dependent parent or parents, shall not exceed 
 the sum of five hundred dollars, and in every case such payment 
 shall cease upon the. death or marriage of such child, or upon its 
 reaching the age of eighteen years. If such payment to the widow 
 of any such officer or member shall cease by reason of her death, 
 remarriage or misconduct, the said trustee shall have power to 
 make payments to the child or children or dependent parent or 
 parents of such officer or member, if any, as though he had died 
 without leaving a widow surviving him. The widows and or- 
 phans and retired members of the Brooklyn Fire Department, 
 or of any other Fire Department of any of the municipal and 
 public corporations or parts thereof hereby consolidated, shall 
 
 376 
 
be entitled to receive from the fire department pension fund 
 herein created the amounts which they would respectively have 
 been legally entitled to receive on the 31st day of December, 
 1897, from any fire department pension or relief fund heretofore 
 existing in any of said municipal corporations or parts thereof. 
 
 Life Insurance Fund. 
 
 Sec. 792. The Life Insurance Fund shall consist of all moneys 
 that are now to the credit of the New York Fire Department Life 
 Insurance Fund, and the Brooklyn Fire Department Widows' 
 and Orphans' Relief Fund ; and all persons who have paid into 
 the said respective funds, and who shall continue to pay 
 into the Life Insurance Fund, shall receive the benefits 
 of said Fund as provided in this Chapter. There shall be 
 deducted from the monthly pay of each officer and fireman 
 of said department, and from the monthly pension of retired 
 members of said department, and from the pay of such other 
 employees of said department as shall heretofore have availed 
 themselves of this provision, the monthly sum of one dollar, 
 which shall be received and held by the treasurer of the relief fund, 
 in the like manner as the other moneys herein provided to be paid to 
 him, and which shall be known as the New York Fire Department 
 Life Insurance Fund; and in case of the death of any member or 
 employee of said department in the service thereof, who has 
 avaiiled himself of this provision, or of any pensioned or 
 retired member of said department, and so conitributing, 
 there shall be paid to the widow, or if there be no widow, then to 
 the legal representatives of such deceased member, or employee, or 
 pensioned and retired member, the sum of one thousand dollars 
 out of the moneys so assessed ; and in case, by reason of the number 
 of deaths, the aggregate amount of money so provided to be as- 
 sessed and collected should prove inadequate to make such pay- 
 ment, then the assessment may, in the discretion of said trustee, be 
 increased to not exceeding the sum of two dollars m each month's 
 pay, or each month's pension of pensioned and retired members of 
 said department. None but members of the uniformed force shall 
 
 377 
 
hereafter be eligible to membershap in this fund. If in 
 any year, owing to an excessive mortality in the uni- 
 formed force, the condition of said life insurance fund shall 
 render it, in the judgment of the said trustee, necessary, a sum 
 not exceeding five thousand dollars may be transferred and paid 
 over from the said relief to the said life insurance fund for the use 
 and purpose of said life insurance fund. 
 
 Title 6. 
 
 tax upon foreign insurance companies. 
 
 Corporations liable to taxation. 
 
 Sec. 798. Any corporation or association created by or organ- 
 ized under the laws of any government other than the States of this 
 Union, and having assets, funds, or capital, not less in amount than 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, invested in this State, shall 
 be liable to taxation upon such assets, funds, or invested capital, as 
 the same is levied or assessed yearly by law, which tax shall be paid 
 as follows: Such an amount thereof as would be equal to two per 
 cent.Mpon its gross premiums received for insurance uiion property, 
 
 in the City of New York, shall, except as otherwise in this title pro- 
 vided, be paid annually to the Fire Commissioner as Treas- 
 urer of the Fire Department and the residue of said tax 
 requisite to make up the full amount of taxation upon its 
 capital shall be paid to The City of New York, as in the case 
 of ordinary taxation ; and the payments so made as afore- 
 said shall exempt such corporation or association making the same 
 from any and all further taxation upon its premiums, capital or as- 
 sets; and whenever such capital shall be reduced below said sum of 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or withdrawn entirely, then, 
 £Wid in either event, such corporation or association shall be liable to 
 pay the tax upK)n its premiums as heretofore provided in this title. 
 
 378 
 
Moneys paid to department by insurance companies, etc. 
 
 Sec. 799. There shall be paid to the Fire Commissioner 
 as Treasurer of the Fire Department, for the use and bene- 
 fit of said Fire Department, on the first day of February, 
 in each year, by every person who shall act in the City 
 of New York, as agent for or on behalf of any individual 
 or association of individuals, not incorporated by the laws of this 
 State, to effect insurance against losses or injury by fire in the City 
 of New York, although such individuals or association may be in- 
 corporated for that purpose by any other state or country, the sum 
 of two dollars upon the hundred dollars, and at that rate upon the 
 amount of all premiums which, during the year ending on the next 
 preceding first day of September, shall have been received by such 
 agent or person, or received by any other person for him, or shall 
 have been agreed to be paid for any insurance against loss or in- 
 jury by fire in the City eflfected, or agreed to be eflfected, or prom- 
 ised by him as such agent. 
 
 Account of premiums by city agent. 
 
 Sec. 800. Every person who shall act in the City as 
 agent as aforesaid shall, on the first day of February, in each 
 year, render to the Fire Commissioner as Treasurer of the 
 Fire Department a just and true account, verified by his 
 oath, on all such premiums which, during the year end- 
 ing on the first day of September preceding, shall have been re- 
 ceived by him, or by any person for him, or which shall have been 
 agreed to be paid for any such insurance effected, or agreed to be 
 effected, or promised by him. 
 
 Undertaking. 
 
 Sec. 801. No person shall, as agent or otherwise, effect, or 
 agree to effect, or procure to be effected, any insurance upon which 
 the duty above m.entioned is required to be paid, until he .shall have 
 executed and delivered to the said Fire Commissioner as Treas- 
 urer, an undertaking, under seal, to the Fire Department, with 
 such sureties as the said treasurer, on the first day of February, 
 
 379 
 
in each year, a just and true account, verified by his oath, of all 
 such premiums, which, during the year ending on the first day 
 of September preceding, shall have been received by him, or by 
 any person for him, or which shall have been agreed to be paid 
 for any such insurance effected, or agreed to be effected, or 
 promised by him, and that he will annually, on the first day of 
 February in each year, pay to the said Fire Commissioner as 
 Treasurer two dollars upon every hundred dollars, and at that 
 rate upon the amount of such premiums. 
 
 Id.; renewal of. 
 
 Sec. 802. Whenever, by reason of the failure of the sureties 
 or either of them, or for any other cause, an undertaking given 
 under the last preceding section shall have or may be deemed in- 
 sufificient by the said Fire Commissioner as Treasurer to secure 
 a return of the account and the payment of the duty aforesaid, 
 or either of them, the said Commissioner as Treasurer, at his 
 election, but not oftener than once in each year, may require 
 such undertaking to be renewed. 
 
 Id.; penalty for not executing. 
 
 Sec. 803. Every person who shall effect, agree to effect, prom- 
 ise or procure any insurance mentioned in the preceding sections 
 of this title, without having executed and delivered the undertaking 
 hereinbefore required, shall, for each offense, forfeit one thousand 
 
 dollars, for the use of the said Fire Department; and every person 
 who shall [have been required by the Fire Commissioner as 
 Treasurer to renew his undertaking, pursuant to the last preced- 
 ing section, who shall effect, agree to effect, promise or procure 
 any such insurance, without having executed ai)d delivered the 
 renewed undertaking, shall for each offence forfeit one thousand 
 dollars, for the use of the said Fire Department. 
 
 Demand for accounts. 
 
 Sec. 804. It shall be lawful for the Fire Commissioner as treas- 
 urer of the Fire Department, on or after the first day of February 
 in each year, by written or printed demand, signed by him, to re- 
 
 380 
 
quire from every person who shall act in the city as agent, as afore- 
 said, the account provided for in this title, and payment of 
 the duty provided for; such demand may be delivered per- 
 sonally to such agent, or at his office or place of business 
 to any person having charge thereof, or who shall, for ten 
 days after such demand, neglect to render the account or to 
 pay the duty demanded, or either of them, shall forfeit fifty 
 dollars, for the use of the said Fire Department ; and he 
 shall also forfeit for their use twenty-five dollars in addition for 
 every day that he shall so neglect, after the expiration of said ten 
 days, and such additional penalty may be computed and recovered 
 up to the time of any suit for the recovery thereof. 
 
 Place of business to be reported. 
 
 Sec. 805. Every person who shall act in the City as agent, as 
 aforesaid, shall, on the first day of February in each year, or within 
 ten days thereafter, and as often in each year as he shall change 
 his place of business in the city, report in writing, under his 
 proper signature, to the Comptroller of this State, and also to 
 the Fire Commissioner as Treasurer of the said Fire Department, 
 the street and the number thereof in the said city, of his place 
 of business as such agent, designating in such report the indi- 
 vidual or individuals and association or for any breach of the 
 undertakings, or either of them, provided for associations for 
 which he shall be such agent. And in the case of default in any 
 of these particulars, such person shall forfeit for every offence the 
 sum of one thousand dollars, for the use of the said Fire Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Suits for violations. 
 
 Sec. 806. The duty provided to be paid by this title, the dam- 
 ages for any breach of the undertakings, or either of them, provi- 
 ded for therein, and the pecuniary penalties imposed therein, or 
 any or either of them, may be sued for and recovered, with costs 
 of suit, in any court of record within this State, by the Fire Com- 
 missioner, for the use of said Department. 
 
 381 
 
Arrest of defendant. 
 
 Sec. 807. The defendant in any action to be brought for the 
 recovery of any penalty incurred, or any duty or sum of money 
 payable under this title, may be arrested, if he is not a resident of 
 this State, or is aibout to remove therefrom. An order for the arrest 
 of the defendant must be obtained from a judge of the court in 
 which the action is brought, or from a county judge. The order 
 shall be made when it shall appear to the judge, by affidavit, that 
 a sufficient cause of action exists under this title, and that the 
 defendant is not a resident of this State, or is aibout to remove 
 therefrom. 
 
 Tax on receipts of foreign fire insurance companies. 
 
 Sec. 808. The Corporation known as "The Trustees of the 
 Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund of the City of New York," 
 shall be entitled to collect, and there shall be paid to it until the 
 seventeenth day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, the 
 
 percentage or tax on the receipts of the foreign fire insurance 
 companies doing business in the City of New York, as heretofore 
 constituted, as provided by this title, except as to business done 
 by said foreign fire insurance companies in that part or portion 
 of said City, known and designated as the twenty-third and 
 twenty-fourth wards, and all returns and undertakings required 
 by this title, except as to sudh business in the said twenty-third 
 and twenty-fourth wards, shall, during such period, be made 
 to the treasurer of the trustees of such corporation. The Trustees 
 of the Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund, of the City of 
 New York, shall render to the Fire Commissioner of The City of 
 New York and to the Treasurer of the Firemen's Association of the 
 State of New York, quarterly, in each year, a sworn statement in 
 detail of the amounts collected and received, and from whom and 
 from what source, on account of said tax, during each quarter; and 
 shall, at the same time, pay over to said Fire Commissioner, as 
 Treasurer, forty-five per centum of the amount so collected and 
 received in each quarter year, for the use and benefit of the Relief 
 Fund of the Fire Department of the City of New York, and to the 
 
 382 
 
Treasurer of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, 
 ten per centum of the amount so collected and received, for the 
 endowment, benefit and maintenance of the Volunteer Firemen's 
 Home, at Hudson, Columbia county. New York, and the moneys 
 so received by the treasurer of such association shall be paid by 
 him to the treasurer of the Volunteer Firemen's Home Associa- 
 tion, upon the order of the Board of Trustees thereof, as provided 
 by the by-laws of the said Home Association ; and the balance of 
 said fund shall be applied to the uses and purposes of said corpora- 
 tion, as defined and provided by chapter fifteen of the laws of eig-h- 
 teen hundred and eig-hty-six. The said corporation may maintain 
 in its corporate name any action or actions in any court of record 
 of this State to recover the tax or percentage aforesaid during such 
 period, and also to recover for the breach of any bond or under- 
 taking, which has been given or may be given to it pursuant to the 
 provision of this title, or any penalty imposed thereby. The corpora- 
 tion known as "The Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund Associa- 
 tion of the twenty-third Ward of theCityof the NewYork(latetown 
 of Morrisania, in the county of Westchester), in the County of New 
 York," shall be entitled to collect, and there shall be paid to it until 
 the seventeenth day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, the 
 percentage or tax on receipts of the foreign fire insurance companies 
 in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth wards of the City of New 
 York, as provided for by this title, and all returns for such business 
 in said twenty-third and twenty-fourth wards shall, during such 
 period, be made to the treasurer of said last-named corporation. 
 The said last-named corporation shall, during said period, render 
 to the Fire Commissioner of the City of New York, and to the 
 treasurer of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, 
 quarterly, in each year, a sworn statement in detail of the amounts 
 collected and received, and from whom and from what source, on 
 account of said tax, during each quarter, and shall, at the same 
 time, pay over to said Fire Commissioner, as treasurer, forty- 
 five per centum of the amount so collected and received in each 
 quarter year, for the use and benefit of the Relief Fund of the Fire 
 
 383 
 
Department of the City of New York, and to the treasurer of the 
 Firemen's Association of the State of New York, ten per centum of 
 the amount so collected and received, for the endowment, benefit and 
 maintenance of the Volunteer Firemen's Home, at Hudson, 
 Columbia county. New York, and the moneys so received by the 
 treasurer of such association shall be paid by him to the treasurer 
 of the Volunteer Firemen's Home Association, upon the order of 
 the Board of Trustees thereof, as provided by the by-laws of said 
 Home Association, and the balance of the moneys so collected and 
 received by it during such period shall be applied to the uses and 
 purposes of said corporation, as defined and provided by chapter 
 four hundred and ninety-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred 
 and seventy-five. The said last-named corporation may maintain 
 in its corporate name any action or actions in any court of record 
 of the State of New York, to recover the tax on percentage afore- 
 said upon such business done in said twenty-third and twenty-fourth 
 wards during such period, and also to recover for the breach of 
 bond or undertaking which has been or may be given to it pursuant 
 to the provisions of this title, or any penalty imposed thereby. From 
 and after the seventeenth day of January, nineteen hundred and 
 seven, the said percentage of tax shall be collected by the 
 treasurer of the Fire Department of The City of New 
 York, as provided in this title, and thereafter until the 
 seventeenth day of January, nineteen hundred and seven- 
 teen the treasurer of said Fire Department shall render 
 to the said corporation known as the "Trustees of the Exempt 
 Firemen's Benevolent Fund, of the City of New York," and to the 
 treasurer of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, 
 quarterly, in each year, a sworn statement in detail of the amounts 
 collected and received, and from whom and from what source, on 
 account of said tax, during each quarter, excepting the amounts 
 collected in that portion of said city, known as the twenty-third and 
 twenty-fourth wards, and shall, at the same time, pay over to the 
 said treasurer of the corporation known as "The Trustees of the 
 Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund of the City of New York," 
 
 384 
 
forty-five per centum of the amount so received in each quarter 
 year, for the use and benefit of the said benevolent fund, and to the 
 treasurer of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York 
 ten per centum of the amount so received in each quarter year, 
 for the endowment and maintenance of the said Volunteer Fire- 
 men's Home; and the money so received by the said treasurer 
 shall be paid over to the treasurer of said Volunteer Firemen's 
 Home in the manner aforesaid. The said Treasurer of 
 the Fire Department shall appropriate and apply the 
 remainder of the moneys so to be collected and 
 received to the uses and purposes of the relief fund of 
 said Department. Until the seventeenth day of January, nine- 
 teen hundred and seventeen, the treasurer of said Fire Department 
 shall render to the treasurer of the corporation known as the 
 trustees of "The Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund Association 
 of the twenty-third and thirty-fourth Ward of the City of New 
 York (late town of Morrisania, in the County of Westchester), in 
 the County of New York," and to the treasurer of the Firemen's 
 Association of the State of New York, quarterly, in each year, a 
 sworn statement in detail of the amounts collected and received, 
 and from whom and from what source, on account of said tax, 
 during each quarter, in that portion of the said city known as the 
 twenty-third and twenty-fourth wards, and shall, at the same time, 
 pay over to the said treasurer of the said corporation known as the 
 Trustees of "The Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund Association 
 of the twenty-third Ward of the City of New York (late town of 
 Morrisania, in the County of Westchester) in the County of New 
 York," forty-five per centum of the amount so received in each 
 quarter year, for the use and benefit of the said corporation, and 
 to the treasurer of the said Firemen's Association of the State of 
 New York, ten per centum of the amount so received in each 
 quarter year, for the endowment and maintenance of said Volunteer 
 Firemen's Home, and the moneys so received by said treasurer 
 shall be paid over to the treasurer of said Volunteer Firemen's 
 Home in the manner aforesaid. The said Treasurer of the Fire 
 Department shall appropriate and apply the remainder of the 
 
 385 
 
moneys so to be collected and received by it to the uses and 
 purposes of the Relief Fund of said Department. The said 
 corporations known respectively as "The Tru^ees of the 
 Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Fund Association of the City 
 of New York," and ''The Exempt Firemen's Benevolent 
 Fund Association of the twenty-third Ward of the City of 
 New York (late town of Morrisania, in the County of West- 
 chester), in the County of New York," shall each make an annual 
 report to the Comptroller of the State of New York, on or before 
 the first day in January in each year, duly verified by the president 
 and treasurer thereof, of the amount of money received during the 
 year, and from whom and from what source received, and giving 
 in detail the names and residences of all persons to whom and for 
 what purposes any moneys were paid, with the amount paid to each 
 recipient, and of the amount of money on hand, and how invested. 
 No trustee, officer or agent of either of said corporations shall 
 g^ant or give to any beneficiary or other person any greater sum 
 than shall have been determined by the Board of Trustees of such 
 corporation by a vote of a majority of such trustees, after due in- 
 vestigations of the circumstances of each case, and all payments of 
 pensions or donations shall be made by the treasurer upon such 
 order of the trustees of the corporation, and for all such payments 
 the treasurer shall take receipts from the beneficiaries receiving 
 the same, which receipts shall be filed with his report to the trustees 
 of the corporation. 
 
 Tax on receipts of foreign fire insurance companies doing busi- 
 ness in the Borough of Brooklyn. 
 
 Sec. 809. There shall be paid to the Fire Commissioner, 
 until the seventeenth day of January in the year nineteen hun- 
 dred and seventeen, the percentage or tax upon the receipts of 
 foreign fire insurance companies doing business in the Borough 
 of Brooklyn ; and said Commissioner shall cause the moneys so 
 paid to him to be paid out and disposed of as follows : 
 
 1. To the New York Fire Department Relief Fund 
 forty-five per centum. 
 
 386 
 
2. To the Treasurer of the Firemen's Association of 
 the State of New York, who shall pay over the same to 
 the Treasurer of the Volunteer Firemen's Home at Hud- 
 son, N. Y., ten per centum. 
 
 3. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans Fund 
 of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the Western 
 District of the late city of Brooklyn, twenty per centum. 
 
 4. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans Fund 
 of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the Eastern 
 District of the late city of Brooklyn, thirteen and one- 
 third per centum. 
 
 5. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans Fund 
 of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the former 
 town of New Lots, three and one-third per centum. 
 
 6. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans Fund 
 of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the former 
 town of Flatbush, two and one-third per centum. 
 
 7. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans 
 Fund of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the 
 former town of Gravesend, two and one-third per centum. 
 
 8. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans 
 Fund of the late Volunteer Fire Department of the 
 former town of New Utrecht, two per centum. 
 
 9. To the Treasurer of the Widows and Orphans 
 Fund of the Volunteer Fire Department of the former 
 town of Flatlands, one and two-thirds per centum. 
 
 The Fire Commissioner shall quarterly in each year render 
 to each of the foregoing associations a sworn statememt in detail 
 of the amounts collected and received by him as aforesaid, and 
 from whom and from what source on account of said tax during 
 each quarter. 
 
 And the custodian or trustees receiving moneys under the 
 provisions of this Act in the Borough of Brooklyn shall annually 
 make and render to the Fire Commissioner in the month of 
 January a sworn statement as to the expenditure of said funds, 
 
 387 
 
and upon failure so to do the Fire Commissioner may withhold 
 the said percentage and it shall be paid over to the New York 
 Fire Department Relief Fund, and any use of said percentage 
 for purposes other than provided by law shall be a misdemeanor 
 and be punishable as such. 
 
 ' Sec. 810. The corporation known as the Veteran Firemens' 
 Association of the North Shore Fire Department of Staten Island, 
 in the Borough of Richmond, shall be entitled to collect a per- 
 centage or tax of two per cent, on receipts of foreign Fire Insur- 
 ance Companies, located and doing business in the Borough of 
 Richmond. The said Association shall be subject to the same 
 laws and possess the same privileges as The Exempt Firemens' 
 Benevolent Association, of the twenty-third Ward, of the City 
 of New York (late town of Morrisania, County of Westchester), 
 for the term of twenty years, beginning with the establishment 
 of a paid fire department over said Borough. 
 
 388 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DOCKS, PIERS, HARBOR, PORT, AND WATERS. 
 
 Title 1. Department of Docks and Ferries. 
 
 2. Piers, Slips and Wharfage. 
 
 3. General Provisions. 
 
 Title 1. 
 department of docks and ferries. 
 
 Board of Docks, Commissianers, Appointment, Term of Office, 
 President and Salaries. 
 
 Section 816. The head of the Department of Docks and 
 Ferries shall be called the Board of Docks. The Board of Docks 
 shall consist of three persons, to be known as Commissioners of 
 Docks. They shall be residents of The City of New York, and 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor, and hold their respective offices 
 as provided in Chapter IV of this Act. Said Commissioners 
 shall elect one of their number President of said Board. The 
 salary of the President shall be six thousand dollars a year, and 
 the salary of each of the other two Commissioners shall be five 
 thousand dollars a year. 
 
 Extension of jurisdiction to new territory. 
 
 Sec. 817. All the powers and duties heretofore vested in and 
 devolved upon the Department of Docks, of the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, are devolved upon 
 and vested in the Department of Docks and Ferries hereby created, 
 and, in addition thereto, the powers and duties of said depart- 
 ment are hereby extended so as to include all the water front, 
 wharf property, lands under water, wharves, piers, bulkheads and 
 
 389 
 
structures thereon situate, within the City of Brooklyn; the 
 County of Richmond, and that portion of Queens County by this 
 Act consolidated with the corporation known as the Mayor 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York; and the 
 said Board of Docks shall have the same powers, subject to the 
 approval of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, to adopt 
 and execute a plan or plans for the water front of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act, and to fix and establish 
 the line of solid filling, bulkheads and pier head lines, the 
 distances between piers, methods and character of construction 
 of wharves and piers within the entire territory of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act, that the said Department 
 of Docks possessed, at the time this Act takes effect, within the 
 territory of the City of New York, as heretofore known and 
 bounded. 
 
 Jurisdiction, powers and duties. 
 
 Sec. 818. The Board of Docks shall have exclusive charge 
 and control, subject in the particulars hereinafter mentioned to the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, of the wharf property 
 belonging to the Corporation of The City of New York, as con- 
 stituted by this Act, including all the wharves, piers, bulkheads, 
 and structures thereon, and waters adjacent thereto, and all the 
 slips, basins, docks, waterfronts, land under water and structures 
 thereon, and the appurtenances, easements, uses, reversions, and 
 rights belonging thereto which are now owned or possessed by 
 the said corporation or to which said corporation is, or may 
 become entitled, or which said corporation may acquire under 
 the provisions hereof, or otherwise ; and said Board shall have 
 exclusive charge and control of the repairing, building, rebuilding, 
 maintaining, altering, strengthening, leasing, and protecting said 
 property, and every part thereof, and of all the cleaning, dredg- 
 ing, and deepening necessary in and about the same. Said 
 Board is also hereby invested, except as otherwise expressly 
 stated in this] Act, with the] exclusivej government and regu- 
 lation of all wharf property, wharves, jpiers, bulkheads, and 
 structures thereon, and waters adjacent thereto, and all the 
 basins, slips and docks, with the] land 'under water in said city 
 
 390 
 
not owned by said corporation. The Board of Docks shall not 
 have power to change the exterior line of piers and bulkheads, 
 established by law. 
 
 The Board of Docks shall also have exclusive charge and con- 
 trol, subject in the particulars hereinafter mentioned to the Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund, of all ferries and ferry property 
 belonging to the corporation of The City of New York, as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 Plans for water fronts. 
 
 Sec. 819. The plan or plans for the whole or any part of 
 the water front of The City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, including the water front on the westerly side of the 
 Harlem River from the easterly line of the Third avenue where 
 said line strikes said river along the water front from said line 
 to the northerly side of Eighty-sixth street on the East river 
 determined upon by the Department of Docks, of the City of 
 New York, as heretofore known and bounded, adopted and certi- 
 fied to by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, and filed, in 
 the oflfice of said Department of Docks, in accordance with the 
 provisions of the third subdivision of section ninety-nine of 
 chapter one hundred and thirty-seven of the laws of eighteen 
 hundred and seventy as amended by section six of chapter five 
 hundred and seventy-four of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
 seventy-one, and such plan or plans as may be determined upon 
 pursuant to section 817 of this Act, by the Board of Docks 
 created by this Act, adopted and certified toby the Commissioners 
 of the Sinking Fund and filed, or that may be filed, in the office 
 of said Board of Docks shall be and continue to be the sole plan 
 or plans, according to which any wharf, pier, bulk-head, basin, 
 dock, slip or any wharf structure or superstructure shall be laid 
 out or constructed within the territory or district embraced, or 
 that may hereafter be embraced in and specified upon said plan 
 or plans, and shall be the sole plan or plans and authority for 
 solid filling in the waters surrounding The City of New York, 
 and on said Harlem river, and for extending piers into said 
 waters and erecting bulk-heads around said city, and on the 
 westerly side of the Harlem river, and all other provisions of law 
 
 391 
 
regulating solid filling and pier and bulkhead lines in said 
 waters, are to be deemed to be repealed whenever said plan or 
 plans is or are inconsistent with such provisions of law, and all 
 laws giving any power or authority as to said water front in the 
 territory embraced in this section, to any other department of 
 the City of New York, as heretofore known and bounded, or to 
 any department of any municipal or public corporation which, or 
 part of which, is consolidated by this Act with the Mayor, 
 Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, are 
 hereby repealed. No wharf, pier, bulkhead, basin, dock, slip, 
 exterior street, or any wharf, structure, or superstructure shall 
 be laid out, built or rebuilt, within such territory or district 
 except in accordance with such plan or plans, provided that 
 said Board of Docks, with the consent and approval of 
 the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, may, from time 
 to time, change the width or location of the piers laid down 
 on said plan or plans; and provided, also, that said Board 
 of Docks may build, or rebuild, or license, or permit the build- 
 ing or rebuilding, of temporary wharf structures, and said Board 
 may lease land covered with water belonging to The City of New 
 York for the purpose thereof, such lease, license or permit to con- 
 tinue and remain at the will and pleasure of said Board, or for a 
 time not longer than until the wharves, piers, bulkheads, basins, 
 docks, or slips to be built or constructed according to such plan 
 or plans, shall in the judgment of said Board, require and need 
 to be built or constructed ; and provided, further, that the Board 
 of Docks with the consent and approval of the Commissioners of 
 the Sinking Fund may alter and extend the present pier head 
 line, as now established on the Hudson River, between Battery 
 Place and Seventieth Street, and establish a new pier head line 
 between these points, and may authorize the construction of new 
 piers out to said pier head line, and may extend those piers 
 already built out to said line ; and may build new piers, or extend 
 piers already built, out to such pier head lines as are now or 
 may hereafter be established by the Secretary of War under Act 
 of Congress. The Board of Docks is hereby authorized and 
 empowered, with the consent and approval of the Commis- 
 sioners of the Sinking Fund, to alter and amend the plans of the 
 
 392 
 
fiivsEsiiy; 
 "^^^ 
 
 improvement of the water front determined upon by the Depart- 
 ment of Docks, and approved by the Commissioners of the Sink- 
 ing Fund of the City and County of New York, in eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-one, between the Battery and Grand Street 
 on the East River, and between the Battery and West Sixty- 
 Second Street on the North River. Whenever the plan so 
 determined upon and adopted, or hereafter to be determined 
 upon and adopted, shall include the widening of an exterior 
 street or avenue, or the opening and construction of a new 
 exterior street or exterior avenue, or the abandonment or clos- 
 ing of such street or avenue already in existence, the power 
 to widen, open, construct, abandon or close the same shall 
 exclusively reside with the said Board of Docks, which is hereby 
 authorized to take such steps as may be necessary in that 
 regard, and after the same shall have been so widened or opened, 
 the right to maintain the widened portion of a street or avenue 
 already opened, and such new street or avenue shall also reside 
 with the said Board of Docks ; but the street or avenue so 
 widened to the extent of the part so widened, or such new street 
 or avenue opened under this plan shall not be a public street, 
 but shall be a marginal wharf, and shall be used in that regard 
 in such manner from time to time as the Board of Docks shall, 
 by resolution, determine. The Board of Docks shall have exclu- 
 sive power to regulate the use of marginal streets so that the 
 land and buildings upon all such marginal streets may be used 
 to the best advantage in connection with the wharves and bulk- 
 heads ; and the Board of Docks shall have the power to regulate, 
 by license or by any other suitable means, the transfer of goods 
 and merchandise upon, over or under all such marginal streets ; 
 except that the said Board of Docks shall not under this section 
 have any power in respect to, or jurisdiction over the public 
 driveway authorized by and constructed under chapter one hun- 
 dred and two of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, 
 and Acts amendatory thereof. 
 
 Surveys of water front. 
 
 Sec. 820. The Board of Docks is authorized to cause to be 
 made the necessary surveys, soundings and other examinations of 
 
 393 
 
the water front of The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, where the same has not already been determined, and to 
 ascertain the capacities and requirements of said water front 
 for adaptation to commercial and other uses. 
 
 Construction of piers and docks regulated. 
 
 Sec. 821. In executing the plan or plans mentioned in section 
 819 of this Act, the Board of Docks shall proceed, according 
 to said plan or plans, to lay out, establish and construct wharves, 
 piers, bulkheads, basins, docks or slips in the territory or 
 district embraced in such plan or plans, and in and upon or 
 about the property owned by The City of New York, without 
 interfering with the property or rights of any other person except 
 so far as may be necessary to, insure the safety and stability of the 
 wharves, piers, bulkheads, basins or slips so to be constructed. 
 And said Board may commence and carry on such construction 
 in sections of said territory or district from time to time, so as 
 not to seriously incommode the commerce of said city. The 
 work of said construction under such plan or plans shall, unless 
 ordered to be otherwise performed by the affirmative vote of all 
 the Commissioners of Docks, be performed as follows : The said 
 Board of Docks shall prepare full and minute specifications 
 for such work, and advertise for proposals for doing said work 
 under said plan or plans, and according to such specifications ; 
 proposals therefor shall be signed by the bidders for the said 
 work and be sent to the said Board within the time specified 
 in such advertisement, accompanied by a bond in the form set 
 forth in said specifications, duly executed. The said Board of 
 Docks shall open said proposals on a day to be specified in such 
 advertisement, and shall examine them, and unless the said 
 Board shall deem it for the interest of the City to reject all bids, 
 shall award the contract for said work to the lowest responsible 
 bidder complying with such plan or plans and specifications ; such 
 contract shall be executed by the said Board of Docks on behalf 
 of The City of New York, and shall always contain provisions as 
 to the time of commencing and completing said work, and for 
 the retention of at least one-fourth of its contract price, until the 
 completion of said work, as security for its performance, and 
 
 394 
 
for the forfeiture of said contract for non-performance of the 
 terms thereof. Said Board of Docks may, upon the forfeiture 
 of any such contract, proceed to complete the work thereunder 
 without contract or may readvertise for proposals to complete 
 said work and award a new contract therefor in the same manner 
 as provided herein for awarding the original contract ; but no bidder 
 under this section shall be entitled to a contract until his bid be 
 approved and accepted by said Board of Docks, provided, how- 
 ever, that repairs may be done by days' work, and without con- 
 tract, whenever in the judgment of the Board of Docks it is 
 expedient so to do. 
 
 Purchase of wharf property for Corporation: proceedings to acquire. 
 
 Sec. 822. The Board of Docks is authorized to acquire in the 
 name and for the benefit of the Corporation of The City of New 
 York any and all wharf property in The City of New York, 
 as constituted by this Act, to which the Corporation of 
 The City of New York then has no right or title, and any rights, 
 terms, easements and privileges pertaining to any wharf property 
 in The City of New York, and not owned by said corpora- 
 tion ; and said Board of Docks may acquire the same either 
 by purchase or by process of law, as herein provided. Said 
 Board of Docks may agree with the owners of any such prop- 
 erty, rights, terms, easements, or privileges, upon a price for 
 the same, and shall certify such agreement to the Commis- 
 sioners of the Sinking Fund, and if the said Commissioners 
 approve of such agreement, said Board of Docks shall take 
 from such owners, at such price, the necessary conveyances 
 and covenants for vesting said property, rights, terms, easements, 
 or privileges in, and assuring the same to The City of New York 
 forever, and said owner shall be paid such price from the City 
 treasury, as provided in this Act. If the said Board of Docks 
 shall deem it proper and expedient that the said corporation should 
 acquire possession of such wharf property, rights, terms, ease- 
 ments, or privileges, for which no price can be agreed upon be- 
 tween said Board and the owner or owners thereof, the said Board 
 of Docks may direct the Corporation Counsel of said City to 
 take legal proceedings to acquire the same for the City, and the 
 
 395 
 
said Corporation Counsel shall take the same proceedings to ac- 
 quire the same as are by law provided for the taking of private 
 property in said City for public streets or places, and the 
 provisions of law relating to the taking of private property 
 for public streets or places in said city are hereby made applic 
 able, as far as may be necessary, to the acquiring of the said 
 property, rights, terms, easements and privileges, and the said 
 Board of Docks is also empowered to acquire in like manner the 
 title to such lands under water and uplands, within The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act, as shall seem to said 
 Board of Docks necessary to be taken for the improvement of 
 the water front. 
 
 The just compensation to which the owner of property taken 
 under the foregoing provisions is entitled shall be ascertained 
 and determined upon the following principles. If all of the 
 property of such owner is taken, the compensation awarded 
 shall be the fair and just value of the said property. If the 
 property of the riparian proprietor has been built upon or 
 improved, and if such buildings or improvements are upon a 
 single tract contiguous to or adjoining lands under water, or 
 which were originally under water, and used in connection 
 therewith, and part only of such property is proposed to be 
 taken, the fair and just value of the entire premises shall first 
 be ascertained, and then there shall be ascertained the like value 
 of the premises in the condition in which they will be after the 
 part is taken, and the difference in value, be it more or less 
 than the separate value of the part taken, shall constitute the 
 measure of compensation. 
 
 Provided that said Board of Docks, with the approval 
 of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, hereby is em- 
 powered to agree, license and permit private owners of any 
 bulkheads, piers or water rights, to make the necessary improve- 
 ments upon their bulkheads, piers or water rights, so as to con- 
 form to the plan already adopted by the Department of Docks, 
 and approved by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the 
 City of New York, as heretofore known and bounded, or to be 
 hereafter adopted and approved, pursuant to this chapter, during 
 the period which shall intervene prior to the extinguishment 
 
 396 
 
of such private ownerships by The City of New York, such 
 improvements to be made by such owners under the super- 
 vision of the Board of Docks, or by the Board of Docks 
 itself, as may be agreed upon, at the cost and expense of 
 such private owners, in the first instance, and upon such reason- 
 able terms as to reimbursing said private owners for such improve- 
 ments, and as to wharfage and other riparian rights thereon and 
 therefrom, as may be agreed upon. All agreements, and licenses 
 or permits heretofore made or entered into between the Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York and any 
 private owners, as to the making of like improvements upon their 
 property, are hereby ratified, comfirmed and made valid. 
 
 Acquirement of certain wharf property on North and East Rivers. 
 
 Sec. 823. In all proceedings taken by the Board of Docks of 
 The City of New York for the acquirement of wharf property, 
 rights, terms, easements, or privileges, or lands under water 
 and uplands in The City of New York, if said wharf prop- 
 erty or lands under water, or wharf property to which said 
 rights, terms, easements, or privileges are appurtenant, is, 
 or are, situated between the southerly side of Bethune 
 Street and the northerly side of Gansevoort Street, upon 
 or adjacent to the North River in The City of New York, 
 or between the southerly side of East Eighteenth Street and the 
 southerly side of East Twenty-first Street, upon or adjacent to 
 the East River, it shall not be necessary for the said Board of 
 Docks to make any attempt to agree with the owners of any such 
 property, rights, terms, easements, privileges, uplands or lands 
 under water, upon a price for the same, before commencing the 
 proceedings authorized by section 822 of this Act. 
 
 In a proceeding brought for the acquirement of any such 
 wharf property, rights, terms, easements, or privileges, or up- 
 lands, or lands under water situate, as in this section set forth, 
 the title to the said wharf property, uplands and lands under 
 water, rights, terms, easements, and privileges shall vest in The 
 City of New York four months after the filing in the office of 
 the clerk of the Supreme Court, in the First Judicial District, of 
 the oaths of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment in 
 
 397 
 
said proceeding appointed, and all of the rights, title and inter- 
 est of any and all of the owners or persons interested in the said 
 wharf property, rights, terms, easements, and privileges or lands 
 under water, or uplands, shall cease and determine and be ex- 
 tinguished at such time. All the awards made in such proceed- 
 ing for the value of property acquired or interests extinguished, 
 shall draw interest from the time of the vesting of the title in 
 The City of New York. 
 
 Acquirement of wharf property in which City has some interest. 
 
 Sec. 824. In all proceedings by the Board of Docks of The 
 City of New York, for the acquirement of the interests of any 
 person or corporation who is an owner in common or a joint- 
 tenant with The City of New York, of any wharf property, 
 rights, terms, easements, or privileges, or lands under water 
 and uplands, it shall not be necessary for the said Board of 
 Docks to make any attempt to agree with said person or cor- 
 poration who is a tenant in common or joint-tenant as aforesaid 
 with The City of New York, upon a price for the same, before 
 commencing the proceedings authorized by section 822 of this 
 Act. 
 
 In a proceeding brought for the acquirement of any such 
 right, title, or interest in or to any such wharf property, rights, 
 terms, easements, or privileges, or uplands, or lands under 
 water, owned as in this section set forth, the title of the person 
 or corporation who, or which is, the tenant in common or joint- 
 tenant with The City of New York to the said wharf property, 
 uplands and lands under water, rights, terms, easements, and 
 privileges, shall vest in The City of New York four months after 
 the filing in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court, in the 
 First Judicial District, of the oaths of the Commissioners of 
 Estimate and Assessment in said proceeding appointed, and all 
 of the rights, title, and interest of, in and to the said owners, 
 persons or corporations interested in said wharf property, rights, 
 terms, easements, privileges, or lands under water or uplands, 
 shall cease, determine and be extinguished at such time. All 
 the awards made in such proceeding for the value of property 
 
 398 
 
acquired or interest extinguished shall draw interest from the 
 time of vesting of the title in The City of New York. 
 
 Wharfage and dockage charges. Leasing property . Oyster business; 
 designation of water-front for. 
 
 '. Sec. 825. When any of the wharves, piers, bulkheads, slips, 
 docks, and basins constructed under the provisions of this chap- 
 ter [shall be open to the public use, the Board of Docks shall, 
 subject to the provisions of law, regulate the charges for wharf- 
 age, cranage and dockage of all vessels admitted thereto, and 
 may alter such charges from time to time as the public trade 
 may authorize and the said Board of Docks deem proper ; pro- 
 vided that the rates of wharfage on boats navigating the canals 
 of the State shall not be increased beyond the rates in force on 
 April eighteenth, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, 
 except as hereinafter specifically provided, and no restriction of 
 the amount of wharf and slip room occupied by them shall be 
 made ; and said Board of Docks may appropriate any of such 
 wharves, as the owners thereof may apply to have so designated 
 orgappropriated to the sole use of special kinds of commerce, or 
 of steamboats, or of any other class or description of ships or 
 vessels, and may restrain and prohibit any ship, steamboat, or 
 any other vessel or water craft whatever from coming into, or 
 lying, mooring, or anchoring at or within any such wharf, pier, 
 or slip of said The City of New York, except such as may be 
 so designated for their use respectively. Said Board of Docks 
 may, in the name of and for the benefit of the Corporation of The 
 City of New York lease any or all of such property, and any and 
 all wharf property belonging to The City of New York, as con- 
 stituted by this Act, for a term not exceeding ten years, and 
 covenant for renewal or renewals at advanced rents of such 
 leases for terms of ten years each, but not exceeding in the ag- 
 gregate fifty years. The Board of Docks may set aside, desig- 
 nate and appropriate a suitable location on the waterfront in The 
 City of New York, for the sole use of the oyster business. Such 
 designation or appropriation shall be subject at any time to 
 revocation by said Board. 
 
 399 
 
Ferries; Leasing of. 
 
 Sec. 826. The Board of Docks shall have power and is au- 
 thorized to lease in the name of and for the benefit of The City 
 of New York, in the manner provided by law, the franchise of 
 any ferry or ferries belonging to said City for the highest mar- 
 ketable price or rental, at public auction or by sealed bids, and 
 always after public advertisement and appraisal under the 
 direction of said Board but not for a term longer than ten years, 
 nor for a renewal for a longer term than ten years, And said 
 Board shall also possess the power and is hereby authorized to 
 lease, in like manner along with the franchise of a ferry or ferries" 
 belonging to said City, such wharf property, including wharves, 
 piers, bulkheads and structures thereon and slips, docks and 
 water fronts adjacent thereto, used or required for the purposes 
 of such ferry or ferries, now owned or possessed, or which may 
 hereafter be owned or acquired by said City, or to which the 
 said City is or may become entitled, or of which it may become 
 possessed. But said Board shall make no lease authorized by 
 this Section, unless the terms of said lease are approved by the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, The proceeds of said leas- 
 ing shall on receipt thereof after paying all necessary charges be 
 immediately paid to the credit of the Sinking Fund. But noth- 
 ing in this section contained shall be held to apply to that por- 
 tion of the East River which is, by law, exclusively set apart for 
 the use of canal boats engaged in the transporation of freights 
 in the Hudson River coming to tidewater from the canals of 
 this state. 
 
 To establish rides for government : penalties. 
 
 Sec. 827. The Board of Docks shall establish and enforce 
 all needful rules and regulations for the government and proper 
 care of all the property placed in its charge and under its control 
 by the provisions of this chapter, relating thereto, and shall fur- 
 nish a copy of such rules and regulations to all the owners and 
 occupants of such property, and shall make all needful orders 
 necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter relating 
 thereto into effect, and fix penalties for disobeying such rules, 
 
 400 
 
regulations, or orders, and shall publish such orders. The viola- 
 tion of or disobedience to any rule, regulation or order of said 
 Board of Docks, shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine 
 not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not 
 exceeding thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 
 on complaint of such Board of Docks. The penalties aforesaid 
 may be recovered by suit in the name of The City of New York, 
 and such suit shall be prosecuted by the Corporation Counsel 
 when directed by the Board of Docks, and no defendant in any 
 such suit shall be permitted to plead ignorance of any such order, 
 rule or regulation. All rents, fines and penalties, and all other 
 money collected by said Board or by its direction, shall belong 
 to the treasury or said City, and be paid into the sinking fund 
 for the redemption of the City debt. The Board of Docks shall 
 hold stated meetings, at times to be specified in its by-laws, 
 which said Board shall prepare and may alter from time to time. 
 
 Offices and officers : duties and salaries. 
 
 Sec. 828. The Board of Docks shall have power to furnish 
 and supply offices, provided in accordance with law, for the trans- 
 action of the business of the Department of Docks and Ferries. 
 The Board of Docks shall appoint a secretary and other 
 officers, clerks and agents to assist said Board in the per- 
 formance of its duties and the exercise of its powers ; and 
 also the necessary employees for the work of construction, 
 repairs and maintenance ; and shall fix the compensation 
 of all persons so appointed. But the annual expenses of said 
 Department for rent, furniture, supplies, and compensation 
 of secretary and subordinate officers, clerks, and agents shall 
 not exceed in the aggregate the sum of one hundred thousand 
 dollars, except with the consent of the Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund. The president of the Board of Docks shall be 
 elected annually by the members thereof, and shall preside at all 
 meetings of said Board, and in case of his absence a temporary 
 president may be elected by the Board to preside. Any mem- 
 ber may resign his office by written resignation sent to the 
 Mayor. If any member of said Board of Docks shall cease to 
 
 401 
 
reside in The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, his 
 office as a member of said Board shall become vacant. 
 
 Annual report : contents. 
 
 Sec. 829. The Board of Docks shall annually present to the 
 mayor of the city a report containing ; 1. The name, occupa- 
 tion, and compensation of all officers, clerks and agents ap- 
 pointed and employed by said Board. 2. A statement of the 
 actions of the Board of Docks for the past year, classified with 
 reference to the various subjects and duties which have engaged 
 its attention. 3. A list of the orders and rules made by said 
 Board of Docks, and a description of the contracts made by said 
 Board, the payments made by said Board, and the purposes and 
 amounts thereof, and the leases made by said Board, for what 
 term, at what rent, to whom, and for what property. Said 
 Board of Docks shall at the time it presents its said annual re- 
 port to the Mayor also file with the Civil Service Supervisory 
 and Examining Boards of The City of New York a complete 
 statement of the name, address and salary, or compensation of 
 all persons employed in any capacity by said Board of Docks, 
 which shall be published in the City Record and the corporation 
 newspapers. 
 
 Seal. 
 
 Sec. 830. The Board of Docks may adopt a common seal 
 for said Department of Docks and Ferries, and direct its use. 
 Said seal shall be a device of the arms of The City of New York 
 surrounded by the words, ' ' Department of Docks and Ferries. 
 The City of New York," engraved upon a metal disk two and 
 one-quarter inches in diameter, and the same may be renewed 
 whenever necessary. An impression of such seal made directly 
 on paper shall be as valid as if made on a wafer or on wax. 
 
 Every lease, contract or other instrument, executed in pur- 
 suance of any authority conferred on said Board of Docks by 
 law, and sealed with such seal, attested and proved according to 
 law by the secretary appointed by said Board, shall be received 
 in evidence, and may be recorded in the proper recording offices 
 in the same manner and with the like effect as if sealed with the 
 
 402 
 
seal of the corporation of The City of New York, attested and 
 proved by the City Clerk thereof. 
 
 Lands under water owned by State. 
 
 Sec. 831. The Commissioners of the Land Office are hereby 
 authorized to convey by proper instruments, in writing, neces- 
 sary for the purpose, all the property, right, title and interest of 
 the people of the State of New York, in and to the land under 
 water, which the Board of Docks may deem necessary for the 
 construction of wharves, docks, piers, bulkheads, basins, and 
 slips, under this chapter, whenever said Commissioners may be re- 
 quired by said Board of Docks to make such conveyance to The 
 City of New York, But such conveyances shall be made after 
 compliance with such reasonable rules and regulations as the 
 said Commissioners of the Land Office are now empowered to 
 make by law ; and nothing in this chapter shall be so construed 
 as to remove or limit the powers and duties of the said Com- 
 missioners as now conferred upon them by the statutes of the 
 State and as prescribed in other sections and provisions of this 
 Act. 
 
 May deepen water adjoining wharf, etc. 
 
 Sec. 832. It shall be lawful for the Board of Docks to order 
 and direct that the water near and adjoining any private wharf, 
 pier, dock, bulkhead or land within the limits of The City of 
 New York, be deepened by excavating or removing the earth, 
 mud, dirt, or sand therefrom, and to cause the same to be 
 done in such places and at such times as the said Board may 
 deem necessary and proper. 
 
 Property and wharf property defined. 
 
 Sec. 833. The terms "property" and " wharf property " 
 whenever used in this chapter, shall be taken to mean not only 
 all wharves, piers, docks, bulkheads, slips and basins, but the 
 land beneath the same, and all rights, privileges and easements 
 appurtenant thereto, and such upland or made land adjacent 
 to the said wharves, piers, docks, bulkheads, slips and basins, 
 jurisdiction over which said upland and made land may be 
 
 403 
 
assigned to the Department of Docks and Ferries by the Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund. 
 
 Sites for floating baths. 
 
 Sec. 834. The Board of Docks shall, upon the requisition of 
 the Commissioner of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, 
 furnish free of charge, in the vicinity of such location as shall 
 be designated by said Commissioner accessible, convenient, and 
 safe berths for mooring the free floating baths, authorized by 
 law. 
 
 Public markets and wharves. 
 
 Sec. 835. It shall be lawful for The City of New York, in 
 case it shall find it necessary, to cause public markets to be 
 erected and kept over the waters of the East and North riveis 
 adjoining to any of its docks or wharves; provided, that such 
 markets shall not interfere with the flow of the waters of the 
 said rivers, nor be built beyond the pier or bulkhead line estab- 
 lished by law. 
 
 Docks to be set apart for Street Cleaning Department and Board 
 of Health. 
 
 Sec. 836. The Board of Docks shall designate and set apart 
 for the use of the Department of Street Cleaning, the Board of 
 Health and other City Departments, suitable and sufficient 
 wharves, piers, bulkheads, slips and berths in slips for the use 
 of said Departments. 
 
 Setting apart piers for recreation. 
 
 Sec. 837. The Board of Docks is hereby authorized to set 
 apart the following piers in The City of New York to wit : A pier 
 at or near the foot of Perry street, on the Hudson river, and 
 such other piers along the Hudson river water front and the 
 East river water-front of the said city, as the said Board of 
 Docks shall deem, from time to time, necessary for the use of 
 the inhabitants of The City of New York, as hereinafter provided, 
 and for the convenience of dealers in country produce and other 
 merchandise transported to The City of New York for sale. 
 
 404 
 
The purpose of this section is to afford the inhabitants of 
 The City of New York greater opportunity for healthful recrea- 
 tion than they now possess, and to accomplish such end the 
 said Board of Docks is hereby authorized to construct or rebuild 
 the piers set apart under the provisions of this section for public 
 use in such manner as shall provide a platform or upper story 
 thereof, and the approaches thereto shall be constructed under 
 the direction of a skilled architect, who shall be employed by 
 said Board of Docks for that purpose. The intention hereof 
 being to permit the upper story of each one of the piers herein 
 authorized to be set apart for public use wholly free to the 
 inhabitants of said city for the purpose aforesaid without inter- 
 ference with business occupations, and the said piers on the 
 lower stories thereof shall be open to use to boats and vessels 
 plying upon canals, rivers and lakes of this State which may 
 bring merchandise to the city for sale therein. The occupation 
 of positions by boats at the piers herein mentioned shall be 
 under the control of the Board of Docks, and order shall be 
 maintained by the Police authorities of The City of New York 
 in and around such portions of the said docks as may be set 
 apart for recreation purposes aforesaid. Except as hereinbefore 
 provided, no wharf, pier, bulkhead or shed shall be required by 
 the Board of Docks to be so constructed as to admit of the free 
 public use of the roof thereof for purposes of resort and recreation. 
 
 Water-front to be set apart for use of Fire Department. 
 
 Sec. 838. The Board of Docks, with the consent and 
 approval of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, is hereby 
 authorized to set apart, for the permanent and exclusive use of 
 the Fire Department of The City of New York, so much of the 
 water front owned by said City as shall be deemed necessary for 
 the exclusive use of the said Fire Department of The City of 
 New York. 
 
 405 
 
Title 2. 
 
 piers, slips and wharfage. 
 
 Sheds for protection of property upon piers or bulkheads : construc- 
 tion of the same regulated by Board of Docks. 
 
 Sec. 844. Whenever any person, company or corporation, 
 engaged in the business of steam transportation, shall be owner 
 or lessee of any pier or bulkhead in The City of New York, 
 and shall use and employ the same for the purpose of regu- 
 larly receiving and discharging cargo thereat, it shall be law- 
 ful for such owner or for such lessee, with the consent of the 
 lessor, to erect and maintain, upon such pier or bulkhead, 
 sheds for the protection of property so received or dis- 
 charged, provided they shall have obtained from the Board of 
 Docks, in said city, license or authority to erect or maintain the 
 same, and subject to the conditions and restrictions contained in 
 such license or authority ; but when such license or authority 
 has been granted and has been acted upon, it shall not be re- 
 voked by said Board without the consent in writing of the 
 Mayor and of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, after due 
 hearing of such licensee. All sheds or structures erected or 
 maintained upon any wharf or pier in the City of New York, as 
 heretofore known and bounded, under any license or permit 
 heretofore granted by the Department of Docks of said city, or 
 hereafter erected or maintained upon any wharf or pier in The 
 City of New York, under any license or permit granted 
 by the Board of Docks of said city, are declared to be 
 lawful structures, subject to the terms and conditions of 
 the license or permit authorizing the same. Such sheds here- 
 after shall be constructed subject to the regulations and 
 under the authority of the Board of Docks. Any such owner or 
 lessee of a pier, or of a pier and bulkhead, or a part thereof, in 
 respect to which the Board of Docks shall have granted the 
 license or authority herein specified, shall be entitled to the use 
 of the premises so owned or leased by them and no vessel shall 
 be placed in any berth on such pier, or bulkhead, or part there- 
 of, without the consent of such owner or lessee, during the 
 
 406 
 
continuance of such license. The Board of Docks shall have 
 power to build the above structures on any wharf or bulkhead 
 velonging to The City of New York, and shall have power to 
 ease the same ; and any lessee thereof shall have all the rights 
 and privileges above granted. Provided that all sheds or struct- 
 ures lawfully erected or maintained at the time this Act takes 
 effect upon any wharf or pier in any part of the territory em- 
 braced within The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, are hereby declared to be lawful structures. 
 
 Wharves, slips, etc., not to be used as dumping grounds. 
 
 Sec. 845. It shall not be lawful to permit the use as a dump- 
 ing ground of any wharf, pier or slip, or bulkhead adjacent 
 thereto in the navigable waters of the East River, in The City 
 of New York, which has heretofore been used for the load- 
 ing and discharging of sailing vessels regularly employed in 
 foreign commerce and having a draught of more than eighteen 
 feet of water. 
 
 Storehouses, booths, shops, etc., on sheds not authorized. 
 
 Sec. 846. Nothing in the two preceding sections contained 
 shall be construed to authorize the erection or maintenance on 
 any pier of any storehouses, booths, shops, or other structures 
 than the sheds mentioned in the last section but one, with the 
 proper doors and gates appertaining thereto, nor to impair any 
 powers conferred upon the Board of Docks, except as provided 
 by said section. 
 
 Offices abolished. 
 
 Sec. 847. The offices of Captain of the Port of New York and 
 of harbor masters of the port of New York are hereby abolished. 
 The Dock Masters appointed by the Board of Docks of The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this act, shall be vested with 
 all the powers and shall perform all the duties conferred or im- 
 posed upon the Dock Masters appointed by the Commissioners of 
 Docks of the City of New York, as heretofore known and bounded, 
 by Chapter 199 of the laws of 1888 and the acts amendatory 
 thereof, and supplementary thereto. 
 
 407 
 
Dock Masters : certain powers of 
 
 Sec. 848. The Dock Masters appointed by the Board of Docks 
 of The City of New York shall be vested with all the powers and 
 perform all the duties conferred on or imposed upon the Harbor 
 Masters of the Port of New York by a certain act, entitled, "An 
 " Act to provide for the appointment of a Captain of the Port 
 " of New York, and harbor-masters of the Port of New York, 
 ** and defining and regulating the powers and duties and 
 " compensation of said officers, and repealing chapter four 
 " hundred and eighty-seven of the Laws of eighteen hun- 
 " dred and sixty-two," passed May 4, 1883, and known as chap- 
 ter three hundred and fifty-seven of the laws of eighteen hun- 
 dred and eighty-three. 
 
 Nothing in this section contained shall entitle the said Dock 
 Masters to any additional compensation for performing the 
 duties and exercising the powers hereby imposed and conferred. 
 Each of said Dock Masters shall personally perform the duties 
 assigned to him by the Board of Docks. He shall not appoint 
 any deputy, or assistant, or delegate the powers of his office to 
 any person or persons whatever. He shall not collect any fees 
 except such as are now or may be authorized by law, and which 
 shall be specified by the Board of Docks. He shall not take or 
 receive, directly or indirectly, any money, or value, thing, or 
 compensation for his services, or on account of the exercise of 
 his powers of office, except as now provided, or which may here- 
 after be provided, by law and the regulations of the Board of 
 Docks. 
 
 Any Dock Master violating any of the provisions of this sec- 
 tion shall, upon conviction thereof by any court of record, be 
 punished by a fine of five hundred dollars, and in addition thereto 
 may, in the discretion of the Court, be imprisoned in the County 
 Jail for a term not exceeding thirty days. 
 
 Removal of obstructions, etc., from piers, etc. 
 
 Sec. 849. Whenever any pier, wharf, or bulkhead in The 
 City of New York, shall be incumbered or obstructed in its 
 free use by merchandise, or by any material not affixed to 
 such pier, wharf, or bulkhead, the Board of Docks is here- 
 
 408 
 
by authorized to require the owner, consignee or person in 
 charge of such merchandise or material, to remove the same 
 without any unnecessary delay, and the said Board shall have 
 power, from time to time, to make such general rules and regu- 
 lations and give such directions as will secure dispatch in load- 
 ing and unloading vessels, and the prompt removal of the same 
 from the piers as soon as completed, and also such as shall be 
 necessary to prevent any unnecessary accumulation of freight or 
 merchandise upon any pier or wharf, while any vessel shall be 
 engaged in receiving or discharging her cargo ; provided, how- 
 ever, that the power hereinbefore conferred shall not be exer- 
 cised in reference to any obstruction or incumbrance upon any 
 pier or wharf occupied by any regular line of steamboats or 
 steamships, or by any railroad company, except upon the writ- 
 ten request of the occupant or lessee of such pier or wharf. 
 
 Expense of carrying out last section. 
 
 Sec. 850. Whenever the Board of Docks shall make any or- 
 der to give any direction in pursuance of the power conferred 
 by the last preceding section, it shall be the duty of the owner, 
 consignee or person in charge of the merchandise, property, or 
 vessel in reference to which such order or direction is given, to 
 comply with the same without any unreasonable delay, or, in 
 default thereof, the said Board of Docks may employ such 
 laborers and assistance as may be necessary to carry out such 
 order or direction, by the removal of the material, merchandise, 
 or vessel in reference to which the same was given ; and all ex- 
 penses actually and necessarily incurred in effecting such re- 
 moval shall be paid by the owner, consignee, or person in charge 
 of the material, merchandise, or vessel so removed, and the 
 amount thereof shall be a lien upon the same in favor of the 
 Board of Docks and may be enforced in the same manner and 
 by the same proceedings as liens on vessels are enforced by 
 warrant of attachment, under and pursuant to the provisions of 
 the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the collection of de- 
 mands against ships and vessels," passed April twenty-fourth, 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and all the provisions of said 
 Act, so far as the same can be made applicable, shall apply to 
 
 409 
 
the Hens hereby created; and the said Board shall, for the pur- 
 poses of this section, be deemed a creditor of said owner, con- 
 signee, or person in charge, and each of them, for the amount 
 of the expenses so incurred, and may have and maintain an 
 action against them, or either of them, to recover the same. 
 
 Removal of obstructions, continued. 
 
 Sec. 851. Whenever any pier or bulkhead or marginal 
 street, wharf or place in The City of New York, shall be 
 incumbered, or its free use interfered with by merchandise, 
 lumber, trucks, wagons or any other obstruction, whether 
 of loose materials or built upon or affixed to the pier or bulk- 
 head or marginal street, wharf or place without authority of 
 law, it shall be the duty of the Board of Docks to notify the 
 person or persons placing or keeping such merchandise or other 
 obstructions on such pier or bulkhead or marginal street, wharf 
 or place, to remove such merchandise or other obstructions within 
 twenty-four hours after such notice ; and in case of failure to 
 comply with such notice and to remove such merchandise or ob- 
 struction, the person or persons so notified shall be liable to pay 
 to the Board of Docks the sum of twenty-five dollars for each and 
 every day during which such merchandise or obstruction shall re- 
 main on such pier or bulkhead or marginal street, wharf or place. 
 And the Board of Docks shall have power, in its discretion, to 
 remove any merchandise, lumber, trucks, wagons or any other 
 obstruction so incumbering any pier or bulkhead, or marginal 
 street, wharf or place, and to store the same in a warehouse or 
 other proper receptacle, and a sum equal to the amount of the 
 expenses of removal, together with the charges for storage, shall 
 be paid by the owner of such merchandise to the Board of 
 Docks, and shall be a lien on such merchandise until paid. 
 
 Storage of obstructions. 
 
 Sec. 852. Whenever merchandise discharged from a vessel 
 and incumbering a bulkhead or pier, in the port of New York, 
 shall not, in the judgment of the said Board of Docks, be of suf- 
 ficient value to pay the expenses of removal and storage, as pro- 
 
 410 
 
vided in the last preceding section, such merchandise shall be 
 removed and stored at the expense of the owner, consignee, or 
 master of the ship or vessel from which such merchandise shall 
 have been discharged. 
 
 Unclaimed merchandise to be advertised. 
 
 Sec. 853. At the expiration of every six months it shall be 
 the duty of said Board of Docks to advertise, for one week in the 
 City Record and the corporation newspapers the merchandise, 
 lumber, trucks, wagons or other obstruction which they have 
 stored and which has remained unclaimed, setting forth the 
 marks and numbers of each package, or parcel, the description 
 of the merchandise, or material, the pier whence such merchan- 
 dise was removed, and the date of such removal, and if any of 
 such merchandise or material so advertised shall remain there- 
 after unclaimed for three months, said Board of Docks may 
 then sell the same, after further advertisement for one week 
 in the City Record and the corporation newspapers, at public 
 auction, to the highest bidder, to pay the expenses which have 
 been incurred on such merchandise, lumber, trucks, wagons or 
 other obstruction, and the remainder shall be held in trust by 
 the said Board for the owner or owners thereof, for twelve 
 months, when, if not claimed, it shall be paid over to the Com- 
 missioners of the Sinking Fund. 
 
 Canal boats : territory appropriated to. 
 
 Sec. 854. All that part of the water adjacent to the wharves 
 of the City of New York, as heretofore known and bounded, 
 from the west side of pier number three, to and including the 
 east side of pier number eight. East river, shall hereafter from 
 the twentieth day of March to the thirty-first day of December 
 in each year, be set apart, kept, and reserved for the exclusive 
 use and accommodation of canal boats and barges engaged in 
 the business of transporting property on the Hudson river, or 
 coming to tide water from the canals of the State, arriving in 
 said city from the City of Albany or any part or place north or 
 west thereof, and for the use of lighters engaged in loading or 
 
 411 
 
unloading such boats or barges ; and it shall be the duty of the 
 Board of Docks and of all officers who now are or hereafter shall 
 be empowered by law, or by any ordinance of The City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act, to regulate or station ships 
 and vessels in the harbor of said city, to prohibit, and prevent 
 alljother boats, ships, or vessels from entering any of the slips 
 or approaching or lying at any of the wharves between the piers 
 aforesaid, during the period above specified, when such slips or 
 the wharves connected therewith shall be required for the use 
 and accommodation of the canal boats and barges hereinbefore 
 mentioned ; and the said Board of Docks, or other officers, 
 aforesaid, shall assign such other accommodations for said canal 
 boats and barges in other parts of the port of New York, as 
 may, from time to time, be necessary in receiving or discharging 
 their cargoes. 
 
 Derricks for unloading canal boats authorized. 
 
 Sec. 855. It shall be lawful for the proprietors of any regular 
 line of canal boats or barges using the waters within the limits 
 aforesaid, or any other limits to which they may be assigned, as 
 provided in the preceding section, to erect and maintain upon 
 any of the piers, or wharves adjacent thereto, suitable derricks, 
 to be used by said proprietors and their employees inUoading and 
 unloading said canal boats and barges ; no derrick or structure so 
 erected shall be deemed an obstruction or incumbrance upon 
 such pier or wharf, within the meaning of any statute or ordi- 
 nance prohibiting the incumbering or obstructing any such pier 
 or wharf, or authorizing the removal of obstructions or incum- 
 brances upon the same. 
 
 Occupation of waters by ships not entitled thereto. 
 
 Sec. 856. Whenever any portion of the waters mentioned in 
 the last section but one shall be occupied by any ship or vessel not 
 entitled to occupy the same according to the provisions of that 
 section, and the proprietor or proprietors or person in charge of 
 any of the canal boats or barges specified in said section, shall 
 desire to use the berth or slip occupied by such ship or vessel, it 
 shall be the duty of said Board of Docks, upon the request 
 
 412 
 
of the proprietor or consignee or person in charge of said cana\ 
 boat or barge forthwith to remove such ship or vessel as far as 
 may be necessary to accomodate such canal boat or barge. If 
 the said Board of Docks to which such request is made shall 
 neglect or refuse to comply with the same, the members thereof 
 shall, for each such neglect, or refusal, jointly forfeit and pay 
 to the proprietor or proprietors of the canal boat or barge, in 
 reference to which request was made, the sum of fifty dollars, 
 to be sued for and recovered by and in the name of such pro- 
 prietor or proprietors, for his or their use and benefit in any 
 court of competent jurisdiction. 
 
 Failure to remove when ordered : penalty. 
 
 Sec. 857. Any person in command or in charge of any ship 
 or vessel which the Board of Docks is authorized and required 
 to remove, as specified in the last preceding section, who shall 
 neglect or refuse to comply with any order or direction of the 
 said Board in reference to the removal thereof, or who shall re- 
 sist or obstruct the removal of such ship or vessel, shall, for 
 every such offence, forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars, to be 
 sued for and recovered, with costs, by and in the name of 
 said Board of Docks in any court of competent jurisdiction. 
 
 Certain docks and piers set apart for garden produce. 
 
 Sec. 858. The docks, piers and bulkheads on the Hudson 
 river from Gansevoort street to Little West Twelfth street, shall 
 be set apart by the Board of Docks, or such department as shall 
 have control thereof, and kept for the use of boats, barges and 
 other vessels engaged in the business of transporting farm and 
 garden produce, at such rates of wharfage as have been, or shall 
 be lawfully established, and said Board of Docks, or other de- 
 partment, having control of said docks, piers and bulkheads, 
 may, from time to time, when said docks, piers or bulkheads are 
 not in actual use for the purposes above mentioned, allow the 
 same to be used for other and additional purposes, and they are 
 hereby authorized and empowered at any such time to designate 
 and appropriate any or all of said docks, piers or bulkheads for 
 
 413 
 
any public or general use, and such designation or appropriation 
 shall be subject at any time to revocation by said Board or de- 
 partment making the same. 
 
 Wharfage and dockage rates enumerated. 
 
 Sec. 859, It shall be lawful to charge and receive, within 
 The City of New York, wharfage and dockage at the fol- 
 lowing rates, namely : From every vessel that uses or makes 
 fast to any pier, wharf, or bulkhead within said city or 
 makes fast to any vessel lying at such pier, wharf, or bulk- 
 head, or to any other vessel lying outside of such vessel, 
 for every day or part of a day, except as hereinafter provided, 
 as follows : From every vessel of two hundred tons bur- 
 den and under, two cents per ton : and for every vessel over 
 two hundred tons burden, two cents per ton for each of the 
 first two hundred tons burden, and one-half of one cent per 
 ton for every additional ton, except that, save as hereinafter 
 provided, vessels known as North River barges, market boats 
 and barges, sloops employed upon the rivers and waters of 
 this State, and schooners exclusively employed upon the 
 rivers and waters of this State shall pay for every such ves- 
 sel under the burden of fifty tons, at the rate of fifty 
 cents per day ; for every such vessel of the burden of fifty 
 tons, and under the burden of one hundred tons, at the rate 
 of sixty-two and a half cents per day ; for every such vessel 
 of the burden of one hundred tons, and under the burden of one 
 hundred and fifty tons, at the rate of seventy-five cents per day; 
 for every such vessel of the burden of one hundred and fifty tons, 
 and under the burden of two hundred tons, at the rate of eighty- 
 seven and a half cents per day ; and for every such vessel of the 
 burden of two hundred tons, and under the burden of two hun- 
 dred and fifty tons, at the rate of one hundred cents per day, 
 for every such vessel of the burden of two hundred and fifty tons, 
 and under the burden of three hundred tons, at the rate of one 
 hundred and twelve and a half cents per day ; for every such 
 vessel of the burden of three hundred tons, and under the bur- 
 den of three hundred and fifty tons, at the rate of one hundred 
 and twenty-five cents per day ; for every such vessel of the bur- 
 
 414 
 
den of three hundred and fifty tons, and under the burden of 
 four hundred tons at the rate of one hundred and thirty-seven 
 and a half cents per day ; for every such vessel of the burden of 
 four hundred tons, and under the burden of four hundred and 
 fifty tons, at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per day ; for 
 every such vessel of the burden of four hundred and fifty tons, 
 and under the burden of five hundred tons, at the rate of one 
 hundred and sixty-two and a half cents per day ; for every such 
 vessel of the burden of five hundred tons, and under the burden 
 of five hundred and fifty tons, at the rate of one hundred and 
 seventy-five cents per day ; for every such vessel of the burden 
 of five hundred and fifty tons, and under the burden of six hun- 
 dred tons, at the rate of one hundred ^nd eighty-seven and 
 one-half cents per day ; for every such vessel of the burden of 
 six hundred tons and upwards, to pay twelve and a half cents, in 
 addition for every fifty tons in addition to the rate last men- 
 tioned, for every day such ship or vessel shall use or be made 
 fast to any of the said wharves ; but no boat or vessel over fifty 
 tons burden shall pay less than fifty cents for a day or a part of 
 a day, and the class of sailing vessels now known as lighters shall 
 be at one-half the first above rates. Every other vessel making 
 fast to a vessel at any pier, wharf, or bulkhead within said city, 
 or to another vessel outside of such vessel, or at an anchor within 
 any slip or basin, when not receiving or discharging cargo or 
 ballast, one-half the first above rates; and from every vessel or 
 floating structure, other than those above named, or used for 
 transportation of freight or passengers, double the first above 
 rates, except that floating grain elevators shall pay one-half the 
 first above rates ; and every vessel that shall leave a pier, wharf, 
 bulkhead, slip or basin, without first paying the wharfage or dock- 
 age due thereon, after being demanded of the owner, consignee, 
 or person in charge of the vessel, shall be liable to pay double 
 the rates established by this section. 
 
 Id.: on vessels in clam or oyster trade. 
 
 Sec. 860. Vessels of two hundred tons burden, and under, 
 which shall be actually engaged in the clam or oyster trade, and 
 which shall make fast to any pier, wharf or bulkhead within The 
 
 415 
 
City of New York, shall pay one and one-half cents per 
 ton per day, and every such vessel which shall make fast 
 to another vessel lying at any such pier, wharf or bulkhead, 
 or to any vessel lying outside of such vessel, or that shall 
 anchor within any slip or basin in said city shall pay one 
 cent per ton per day ; provided, however, that no vessel 
 shall pay less than twenty-five cents nor less than one day's 
 wharfage, nor shall more than one day's wharfage be charged 
 unless for a continuous use of the pier, wharf, bulkhead, slip or 
 basin of more than twenty-four hours. The Board of Docks 
 may grant permits for vessels or floating structures engaged in 
 the oyster business and used for the receipt, preparation and 
 opening of oysters and other shell-fish to remain continuously 
 moored to or at any of the docks, piers and bulkheads within 
 The City of New York, not otherwise specifically appro- 
 priated by law to the sole use of other kinds of com- 
 merce, upon such terms as to wharfage and otherwise, and 
 subject to such regulations as said Board may prescribe. 
 All permits so granted by such board shall be subject at 
 any time to revocation by it. Upon any such permit 
 being granted the person or persons, or corporation receiving 
 the same, shall be entitled to moor such vessels or floating struc- 
 tures, continuously and until such permit shall be revoked, to or 
 at the dock, pier or bulkhead designated in such permit for that 
 purpose subject to the terms of such permit ; provided, however, 
 that where The City of New York, is not the owner of the 
 dock, pier or"bulkhead designated in such permit, the consent 
 of the owner or owners of the same, or of the person or persons 
 entitled to collect wharfage therefrom, shall have been obtained. 
 
 Id. : canal boats and vessels carrying brick. 
 
 Sec. 861. Every canal boat, and any vessel engaged in 
 freighting brick on the Hudson river occupying a berth next to 
 any pier, wharf, or bulkhead in The City of New York, 
 and engaged in delivering cargo upon said pier, wharf, 
 or bulkhead, or receiving cargo therefrom, shall pay wharf- 
 age at the rate of fifty cents for every day or part of a 
 day while so engaged ; but when unloaded such canal boats 
 
 416 
 
or vessels aforesaid shall pay wharfage at the rate of thirty 
 cents per day or part thereof; but no canal boat or vessel 
 lying in any slip between two adjacent piers shall be required to 
 pay full wharfage to the owners or lessees of both said piers for 
 the same day, notwithstanding such canal boat or barge may, 
 during said day, have changed her location between said piers ; 
 provided that they shall pay one-half rates to each owner or 
 lessee when they have changed their locations between said 
 piers; and the word "day," whenever it occurs in this and the 
 last preceding section, shall be taken and construed to mean 
 twenty-four hours. 
 
 Rates for goods, etc. , remaining on pier or wharf. 
 
 Sec. 862. It shall be lawful for the owners or lessees of any 
 pier, wharf, or bulkhead within The City of New York, 
 to charge and collect the sum of five cents per ton on 
 all goods, merchandise, and materials remaining on the 
 pier, wharf, or bulkhead owned or leased by him, for every 
 day after the expiration of twenty-four hours from the 
 time such goods, merchandise, and materials shall have been 
 left or deposited on such pier, wharf, or bulkhead, and the 
 same shall be a lien thereon. 
 
 Rates to he printed in wharfage bills. 
 
 Sec. 863. It shall be the duty of every person owning or 
 having charge of any pier, wharf, bulkhead, or slip in The City 
 of New York, to cause to be printed on the backs of all 
 bills, presented by them for wharfage, section 859 of 
 this Act, and the owner, consignee, or person in charge 
 of any vessel shall not be required to pay the wharfage 
 or dockage due on such vessel, unless upon his demand 
 the bill printed in conformity with this section is pre- 
 sented to him. Any person owning or having charge of any 
 pier, wharf, bulkhead, or slip as aforesaid, who shall receive for 
 wharfage any rates in excess of those now authorized by law, 
 shall forfeit to the party aggrieved treble the amount so charged 
 as damages, to be sued for and recovered by the party aggrieved. 
 
 417 
 
What waters included in port of New York. 
 
 Sec. 864. The port of New York, wherever the same is 
 mentioned or referred to in this Chapter, shall be deemed and 
 taken to include, unless otherwise expressly stated, all the waters 
 of the North river and East river and the harbor embraced 
 within or adjacent to or opposite to the shores of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Additional accommodations for canal boats. 
 
 Sec. 865. The Board of Docks shall, in addition to the 
 piers and waters especially assigned thereto by law, assign such 
 accommodations for canal boats and barges engaged in the busi- 
 ness of transporting property on the Hudson river, or coming to 
 tide water from the canals of the State, or arriving in said port 
 from Albany or any place north or west thereof, as may from 
 time to time be necessary in receiving and discharging their 
 cargoes. 
 
 Penalty for vessels wrongfully entering canal boat territory. 
 
 Sec. 866. No vessel, other than canal boats, barges or 
 lighters receiving or delivering property from or to said canal 
 boats or barges, shall use or enter into for the purpose of 
 using any part of the port of New York set apart for the use 
 of canal boats and barges without the written consent of the 
 Board of Docks had and obtained therefor, and then only 
 between the first day of January and twentieth day of March 
 in each year, and when not occupied by canal boats, under a 
 penalty of one hundred dollars for every day that such vessel 
 shall remain in said part of said port so set apart after being 
 notified to leave by the said Board, and said penalty shall be 
 a lien upon any such vessel, and be enforced by proceedings 
 against it, instituted by and in the name of the said Board of 
 Docks, according to the provisions of the laws of this State 
 concerning attachments against vessels. 
 
 Powers of dock-masters to assign atid regulate stations for ves- 
 sels; penalty for refusing to obey direction. 
 
 Sec. 867. Each dock-master appointed by the Board of Docks 
 
 418 
 
shall have power, within the district assigned to him, subject to 
 the other provisions of this Act, to provide and assign suitable 
 accommodations for all ships and vessels, and regulate them in 
 the stations they are to occupy at the wharves or in the stream, 
 and to remove from time to time such vessels as are not employed 
 in receiving or discharging their cargoes, to make room for such 
 others as require to be more immediately accommodated for the 
 purpose of receiving or discharging their cargoes, and shall have 
 power to determine as to the fact of their being fairly and in 
 good faith employed in receiving or discharging their cargoes, 
 and shall have authority to determine how far and in what in- 
 stance it is the duty of the master and others having charge of 
 ships and vessels to accommodate each other in their respective 
 situations. And if any master or any person having charge of 
 any vessel, canal boat, barge, or lighter, shall refuse or neglect 
 to move his vessel, canal boat, barge, or lighter when ordered 
 to do so by a dock-master, or shall resist or forcibly oppose 
 said officer in the discharge of his duties, such master or per- 
 sons so refusing, neglecting, resisting, or opposing, shall, for 
 every such offense, forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars to be 
 recovered with costs of suit, by and in the name of the Board of 
 Docks before any court having cognizance thereof. 
 
 False personation of dock-master . 
 
 Sec. 868. Any person who shall falsely represent himself to 
 be a dock-master, or wrongfully perform the duties of dock- 
 master, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
 viction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a term 
 not exceeding sixty days, and fined, in the discretion of the 
 court, a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars. 
 
 Violations to be reported. 
 
 Sec. 869. It shall be the duty of the dock-masters appointed 
 by the Board of Docks to report to said Board all violations 
 of any of the provisions of this Chapter, and of the rules and 
 regulations of the Board of Docks which may come to the 
 knowledge of said dock-masters, or which may be known to 
 them by complaint or otherwise. 
 
 419 j J 
 
Floating docks authorized. 
 
 Sec. 870. It shall be lawful for the floating docks of the 
 New York Balance Dock Company and of the New York Float- 
 ing Dry Dock Company to be used, with the consent of the 
 owners of the piers or bulkheads, respectively occupied for such 
 use, or of the persons entitled to collect wharfage for such piers 
 or bulkheads, for the purpose of taking up ships and vessels for 
 repair, coppering, or finishing, in the manner heretofore practiced 
 in the port of New York, subject to the authority established by 
 this Act to regulate by ordinance the use of the slips, piers and 
 wharves of The City of New York. 
 
 Title 3. 
 general provisions. 
 
 Grants of land under water restricted. 
 
 Sec. 876. No grants of land under water shall be made by the 
 Municipal Assembly of The City of New York, or by any of- 
 ficer, board or department thereof, beyond the exterior lines of 
 the City of New York, as fixed by an Act of the Legislature, pass- 
 ed April seventeenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, entitled : 
 "An Act to establish bulkhead and pier lines for the port of 
 New York," as amended by subsequent Acts, unless as expressly 
 authorized by Acts passed subsequent thereto. 
 
 Time for improving lands adjacent to water on Harlem River. 
 
 Sec. 877. The period of time fixed for the appropriation to 
 the purposes of commerce by the construction of a dock or 
 docks, and filling in the same, in all letters-patent issued by the 
 people of the State of New York to the owners of the adjacent 
 upland for lands under water and between high and low water 
 mark in front of and adjacent to the lands of the said owners of 
 the adjacent upland on the easterly shore of the Harlem River, 
 
 420 
 
is extended until two years after the time when plans for the 
 improvement of said river shall have been or shall be completed 
 by the proper authorities, and copies of such plans, filed, one in 
 the office of the register of the county of New York, and one in 
 the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, 
 
 Dumping Snow and Ice front Piers. 
 
 Sec. 878. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Street 
 Cleaning to cause to be dumped, or authorize to be dumped, 
 snow and ice between the piers near their inshore ends, into 
 the waters of the East and North or Hudson rivers. 
 
 Injuries to vessels lying at exterior end of wharf. 
 
 Sec. 879. It shall not be lawful for any vessel, canal-boat, 
 barge, lighter or tug to obstruct the waters of the harbor by 
 lying at the exterior end of wharves in the waters of the North 
 or East River, except at their own risk of injury from vessels 
 entering or leaving any adjacent dock or pier; any vessel, canal- 
 boat, barge, lighter or tug so lying shall not be entitled to claim 
 or demand damages for any injury caused by any vessel entering 
 or leaving any adjacent pier. 
 
 Certain substances not to be dumped in port of New York. 
 
 Sec. 880. The placing, discharging or depositing, by 
 any process or in any manner, of refuse, dirt, ashes, cinders, 
 mud, sand, dredgings, sludge acid, or any other refuse matter, 
 floatable or otherwise, in the tidal waters of the port of New 
 York as defined by this Act, except under permit of the United 
 States Supervisor of the Harbor, is hereby strictly forbidden, 
 and every person violating the foregoing provisions shall be 
 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof 
 shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred and 
 fifty dollars nor less than five dollars, or imprisonment for not 
 more than six months nor less than ten"^ days, one-half of said 
 fine to be paid to the person or persons giving information 
 which shall lead to convictionjof such misdemeanor. 
 
Scows to receive ashes, etc. , from steam tugs and vessels. 
 
 Sec. 881. The various scows employed by the City of New 
 York, or by the contractors for removing ashes, garbage and refuse 
 of said city, while moored at the various dumping boards of said 
 city are hereby designated and required to receive directly any 
 and all ashes or rubbish from any steam tug or steam vessel in 
 the harbor, and in addition to the foregoing provisions two or 
 more scows shall be located at such points within the harbor as 
 the Supervisor of the Harbor may direct for the special use of 
 boats and vessels wishing to discharge ashes or rubbish. 
 
 422 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS. 
 
 Title 1. Department of Taxes and Assessments ; Powers and 
 Duties. 
 
 2. Assessments for local improvements other than those 
 
 confirmed by a Court of Record. 
 
 3. Vacating and Modifying Assessments for local im- 
 
 provements other than those confirmed by a Court 
 of Record. 
 
 4. Opening Streets and Parks. 
 
 5. Sales of Lands for Taxes, Assessments and ^Water 
 
 Rates. 
 
 Title 1. 
 department of taxes and assessments, powers and 
 
 DUTIES. 
 
 One of the Departments of the City. 
 
 Sec. 884. The Department of Taxes and Assessments shall 
 be one of the Departments in said city. 
 
 Department : horv composed. Term and salaries. 
 
 Sec. 885. The head of the Department of Taxes^and Assess- 
 ments shall be called the Board of Taxes and Assessments. Said 
 board shall consist of a president, who shall be designated in his ap- 
 pointment, and four other persons, one of whom at least shall Be 
 a person learned in the law, who shall be called Conimissicners of 
 Taxes and Assessments. The president, unless sooner removed, 
 shall hold his offioe for the term of six years, and until his successor 
 
 423 
 
shall be appointed and has qualified. The other Commissioners 
 shall, unless sooner removed, hold their respective offices for 
 the term of four years, and until their successors shall be ap- 
 pointed and have qualified. The Commissioners first appointed 
 under this Act shall hold office by designation of the Mayor for 
 terms of one, two, three and four years respectively. The Com- 
 missioners thereafter appointed shall hold office for the term of 
 four years. The salary of the president shall be eight thousand 
 dollars a year, and the salary of each of the other Commissioners 
 six thouand dollars a year. 
 
 Devolution of power. 
 
 Sec. 886. All of the rights, powers and duties heretofore de- 
 volved by law upon the Board of Taxes and Assessments in the 
 City of New York, upon the Department of Assessment of the City 
 of Brooklyn, and upon like departments, boards or officers of taxes 
 and assessments other than for street improvements in the other 
 municipal and public corporations or parts of municipal and public 
 corporations consolidated by this Act with the municipal corpora- 
 tion known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the City 
 of New York are hereby devolved, unless otherwise herein 
 expressly provided, upon and vested in the Board of Taxes and 
 Assessments in The City of New York. 
 
 Deputy Tax Cotnmissioners : how appointed : their duties, term, of 
 office and salary. 
 
 Sec. 887. The Board of Taxes and Assessments shallappoint 
 persons to be known as Deputy Tax Commissioners, not exceed- 
 ing forty in number, who shall perform, under the direction and 
 supervision of the Board of Taxes and Assessments, such duties 
 as the said Board shall prescribe. The said Board shall give such 
 directions to the Deputy Tax Commissioners as it shall think ex- 
 pedient to secure in all the Boroughs and parts of the city equality 
 of valuations of property for the purposes of taxation. Such Deputy 
 Tax Commissioners shall hold their office during the pleasure of 
 the said Board of Taxes and Assessments, and shall be subject to 
 
 424 
 
removal by the said Board as deputies in the other city depart- 
 ments. The number of Deputy Tax Commissioners above pre- 
 scribed may from time to time be increased by the appointment 
 of the Board of Taxes^and Assessments, provided such increase 
 is authorized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. 
 The salary of each of said Deputy Tax Commissioners shall be 
 two thousand, seven hundred dollars a year. 
 
 Apportionment of Deputy Tax Commissioners among the Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 888. In making theappointmentsofthe Deputy Tax Com- 
 missioners the head of the Department of Taxes and Assessments 
 shall apportion such appointments as nearly as may be, among 
 persons residing in the several Boroughs created by this Act, 
 according to the population of the several Boroughs; and the 
 persons performing similar duties in the several Boroughs, when 
 this Act takes effect, shall, so far as the Board shall deem them 
 fit and competent, be preferred for the said appointments first 
 to be made hereunder. 
 
 Deputy Tax Commissioners: duties of in assessing taxable property. 
 
 Sec. 889. It shall be the duty of the Deputy Tax Commission- 
 ers, under the direction of the Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments, to assess all the taxable property in the several districts that 
 may be assigned to them for that purpose by said Board, 
 and they shall furnish to the said Board, under oath, a de- 
 tailed statement of all such property, showing that said deputies 
 have personally examined each and every house, building, lot, pier, 
 or other assessable property, giving the street, lot, ward, town 
 and map number of such real estate embraced within said dis- 
 tricts, together with the name of the owner or occupant, if 
 known; (also, in their judgment, the sum for which said property 
 under ordinary circumstances would sell), with such other infor- 
 mation in detail relative to personal property or otherwise, as 
 the said Board may, from time to time require. Such deputies 
 shall commence to assess real and personal estate on the first 
 Tuesday of September in each and every year. 
 
 425 
 
Offices of tJie Department in the Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 890. There shall be an office of the Department of Taxes 
 and Assessments in the Borough of Brooklyn, a like office of the 
 department in the Borough of Queens, a like office of the depart- 
 ment in the Borough of Richmond, and a like office of the 
 Department in the Borough of The Bronx; at which the duties 
 of the Department of Taxes and Assessments pertaining to 
 the assessment of property in the said several Boroughs shall, 
 under the direction of the Board of Taxes and Assessments, be 
 performed by such number of the Deputy Tax Commissioners or 
 other employees of the Department of Taxes and Assessments 
 as the said Department may decide to be necessary and assign 
 to such duties. Such offices shall in law be a part of the main office, 
 and the main office of the Department of Taxes and Assessments 
 shall be maintained in the Borough of Manhattan. The books, 
 maps, assessment rolls, files and records pertaining to the Depart- 
 ment of Taxes and Assessments of the municipality heretofore 
 designated as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the City of 
 New York, of the Department of Assessment of the City of Brook- 
 lyn and of each and every of the like offices in any of the municipal 
 and public corporations, or parts of municipal and public cor- 
 porations consolidated by this Act with the municipal corporation 
 of the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the City of New York, 
 shall be delivered into and thereafter be in the custody and control 
 of the Department of Taxes and Assessments hereby constituted, 
 to be kept in such of the offices of the said department as may be 
 most convenient to the taxpayers and suitable to the proper dis- 
 charge of the business of such department, and shall be public rec- 
 ords, and at all reasonable times open to public inspection. 
 
 Surveyor. 
 
 Sec. 891. The said Department of Taxes and Assessments shall 
 appoint a surveyor from one of the city surveyors, whose duty it 
 shall be to make necessary surveys and corrections of the ward 
 maps, and also to make all new maps which may be required for 
 the more accurate assessment of real estate within the territory 
 
 426 
 
consolidated by this Act with the municipal corporation known 
 as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the City of New 
 York. He shall hold his ofifice at the pleasure of the Depart- 
 ment of Taxes and Assessments, and may have such assistants 
 as the said Department may decide to be necessary and provide. 
 
 Annual record of assessed valuation: what to contain and when to be 
 open for examination and correction. 
 
 Sec. 892. There shall be kept in the several offi ces established 
 by the Department of Taxes and Assessments, books to be called 
 "The Annual Record of the assessed valuation of real and personal 
 estate of the Boroug'h of ," in which shall be entered in de- 
 tail the assessed valuations of such property within the limits of the 
 several Boroughs of the City of New York, as established by this 
 Act, which said books shall be open for examination and correc- 
 tion from the second Monday in January until the first day 
 of May, in each year; but on said last mentioned day the 
 same shall be closed to enable the Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments to prepare assessment rolls of the several Boroughs for 
 delivery to the Municipal Assembly. The said Board pre- 
 vious to and during the time the said books are open as afore- 
 said for inspection, shall advertise the fact in the City Record, and 
 in the corporation newspapers and in such other newspaper or 
 newspapers published in the several Boroughs created by 
 this Act as may be authorized by the Board of City Record ; 
 provided, however, that for the year 1898 it shall be sufficient if 
 said books be kept open from the first Monday of February to 
 the first day of May of that year. 
 
 Annual record of assessed valuation of real and personal estate of cor- 
 porations to be kept in main office. 
 
 Sec. 893. The Department of Taxes and Assessments shall cause 
 to be prepared and kept in the main ofifice of the Department of 
 Taxes and Assessments, books to be called "The Annual Record 
 of the assessed valuations of real and personal estate of corpora- 
 tions," and it shall be the duty of the Deputy Tax Commissioners 
 in the several districts in the several Boroughs which may be as- 
 
 427 
 
signed to them for that purpose by the Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments, to furnish to the Department of Taxes and Assessments, un- 
 der oath at their main office, at the time that such statement is filed 
 in any office of the Department of Taxes and Assessments 
 in any Borougfh other than in the main office in the Borough 
 of Manhattan, a duplicate detailed statement of the assessable 
 property of corporations, both real zmd personal, which said 
 statements of said Deputy Tax Commissioners shall be en- 
 tered upon the books to be kept in the main office of the Depart- 
 ment of Taxes and Assessments, to be known as the "Annual 
 Record of the assessed valuation of real and personal estate of 
 corporations." 
 
 Assessed valuation of personal property: how to he entered. 
 
 Sec. 894. The assessed valuation of all personal property shall 
 be entered by said Deputy Tax Commissioners, or by such other 
 persons as may be assigned to that duty by the Department of 
 Taxes and Assessments in its several offices, in books or rolls, in 
 alphabetical order, of the names of persons and corporations sub- 
 ject to taxation. No tax or assessment shall be void by reason of 
 the name of the rightful owner or owners, whether individuals or 
 corporations, of real estate in any of the said Boroughs not being in- 
 scribed in the assessment rolls or lists ; but in such case no tax shall 
 be collected except from the real estate so assessed. The assessed 
 valuation of all real and personal property of corporations shall be 
 entered in duplicate in the office in the Borough where the same 
 is assessed and in the main office of the Department of Taxes and 
 Assessments in the Borough of Manhattan. 
 
 Applications for correction of assessment. 
 
 Sec. 895. During the time that books shall be open to public 
 inspection as aforesaid application may be made by any person 
 or corporation claiming to be aggrieved by the assessed valuation 
 of real or personal estate, to have the same corrected. If such appli- 
 cation be made in relation to the assessed valuation of real estate, it 
 must be made in writing, stating the ground of objection thereto. 
 
 428 
 
The Board of Taxes and Assessments shall examine into 
 the complaint, as herein provided, and if in their judgment the 
 assessment is erroneous they shall cause the same to be corrected. 
 If such application be made in relation to the assessed valuation 
 of personal estate, the applicant shall be examined under oath by 
 a Commissioner of Taxes and Assessments or a Deputy Tax 
 Comimissioner, as herein provided, who are hereby authorized to 
 administer such oath, and if the assessment as hereinafter provided 
 be determined by the Board of Taxes and Assessments to be 
 erroneous, it shall cause the same to be corrected, and fix the 
 amount of such assessment as the Board of Taxes and Assessments 
 may believe to be just, and declare its decision upon such appli- 
 cation within the time and in the manner hereinafter provided. But 
 the Commissioners of Taxes and Assessments may, during the 
 month of May in any year, act upon applications for the reduction 
 of assessments upon either real or personal property filed in their 
 offices on or before the 30th day of April preceding, and cause the 
 amount of any assessment as corrected by the Board of Taxes and 
 Assessments to be entered upon the assessment rolls for the year 
 in which such correction may be made. 
 
 When assessed valuation may be increased or diminished. 
 
 Sec. 896. The Board of Taxes and Assessment may increase 
 at any time before the 1st day of May in each year, or may 
 diminish at any time before the closing of the books of "Annual 
 Record," on the 1st day of May in each year, the assessed val- 
 uation of any real or personal estate of any individual or corpo- 
 ration, as in its judgment may be just or necessary for the equal- 
 ization or taxation ; but it shall not increase such valuations of 
 the property of any individual or corporation after said books 
 are opened for correction and review, except upon notice given 
 to the individual or corporation affected by such increase at least 
 ten days before the fifteenth day of May in each year. 
 
 Power of the Board to remit or reduce a tax. 
 
 Sec. 897. The Board of Taxes and Assessments is hereby in- 
 vested with power to remit where in thej opinion of the Cor- 
 
 429 
 
poration Counsel lawful cause therefor is shown. It may 
 reduce if found excessive, a tax imposed upon real or personal prop- 
 erty. It shall require a majority of the Commissioners of Taxes 
 and Assessments to remit or reduce the assessed valuation of 
 personal property, and no tax on personal property shall be re- 
 mitted, cancelled or reduced unless the person aggrieved shall satisfy 
 the Board of Taxes and Assessments that illness or absence from 
 the city had prevented the filing of the complaint or making the 
 application to the said Board within the time allowed by 
 law for the correction of taxes. Any remission or deduc- 
 tion of taxes upon the real estate of individuals or corporations 
 must be made within six months after the delivery of the books 
 to the receiver of taxes for the collection of such tax. 
 Applications for revision and cancellation of assessment in the several 
 Boroughs : when and how made. 
 
 Sec. 898. The Board of Taxes and Assessments from 
 the whole number of persons appointed as Deputy Tax 
 Commissioners shall for each of the Boroughs wherein one 
 of the ofifices of the Department of Taxes and Assessments 
 is established and maintained, designate one or more Deputy 
 Tax Commissioners, who shall, between the second Monday 
 of January in each year and the first day of May following, 
 receive applications for the revision and cancellation of any assess- 
 ments entered in the books of Annual Record of the assessed valu- 
 ation of real and personal estate in that Borough, take testimony 
 on such applications and reduce the same to writing, and when so 
 reduced to writing transmit such applications and testimony, with 
 his recommendation, to the Board of Taxes and Assessments 
 at their main office, in the Borough of Manhattan, or to 
 any office of the Department of Taxes in any Borough as the 
 Board of Taxes and Assessments may prescribe. Such 
 Deputy Tax Commissioners as may be designated for 'the 
 purposes and as prescribed in this section, are hereby author- 
 ized between the second Monday of January and the first 
 day of May to administer oaths for the purpose of taking testi- 
 mony upon all applications for the revision or cancellation of assess- 
 ments, and they are hereby required and directed to transmit the 
 
 430 
 
evidence so taken and reduced to writing, within ten days after the 
 evidence upon any application is taken, with their recommenda- 
 tion, as hereinbefore described. The Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments shall hear at their main office all applications of corporations 
 for revision and cancellation of assessments ; and as to all other 
 applications, the said board may prescribe the time and place of 
 hearing thereof in the several Boroughs and give such public 
 notice thereof in the City Record and in at least one news- 
 paper in each Borough as they may designate, and the 
 Board may make such rules and regulations as may be ap- 
 propriate and expedient to the end that the taxpayers of 
 each Borough other than corporations, may have a hearing 
 in the Borough in which they reside or in which their property 
 assessed is situated. All testimony taken by the Board of 
 Taxes and Assessment by any Commissioner or by Deputy Tax 
 Commissioners as herein prescribed, shall be reduced to writing 
 and shall constitute part of the record of the proceedings upon any 
 assessment. The decision of the Board of Taxes and Assessments, 
 upon any application for the revision, reduction or cancellation of any 
 assessment and upon the evidence taken thereunder, shall, where 
 the evidence is taken by the Board of Taxes and Assessments be 
 rendered within thirty days after the hearing upon such application 
 is closed. And where the evidence upon any application is taken 
 by any Commissioner or a Deputy Tax Commissioner, the de- 
 termination of the Board of Taxes and Assessments shall be rend- 
 ered within thirty days after the application and the testimony there- 
 under shall have been filed with the Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments, at the main ofKce of the Department in the Borough of 
 Manhattan. 
 
 Deputy Tax Commissioners to make up aggregate amount of assessed 
 valuation in the Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 899. It is hereby declared to be the duty of the Deputy Tax 
 Commissioners, or of such other persons as may have been as- 
 signed to the charge and direction of any one of the offices of the 
 Department of Taxes and Assessments in the several Boroughs, to 
 compute from the Annual Record of the assessed valuations of real 
 
 431 
 
and personal estate in each of the said several offices, the total ag- 
 gregate amount of the assessed valuation of real and personal prop- 
 erty appearing on said books for each of the said Boroughs on the 
 second Monday of January in any year, and to transmit a statement 
 of such aggregate amounts of assessed valuations of real and per- 
 sonal property in the said several Boroughs to the Department 
 of Taxes and Assessments at their main office in the Borough 
 of Manhattan on or before the second Monday of January 
 in each year. The Board of Taxes and Assessments are 
 hereby invested with the power and charged with the duty 
 before opening the books for the public inspection as herein 
 prescribed, to fix such valuations of property for the pur- 
 poses of taxation throughout The City of New York at such sums 
 as will, in their judgment, establish a just and equal relation be- 
 tween the valuations of property in each Borough and throughout 
 the entire city. To this end the Board of Taxes and Assessments 
 is authorized to require the Deputy Tax Commissioners to transmit 
 a report to them of the assessed valuation of real and personal prop- 
 erty in the several Boroughs at such time prior to the second Mon- 
 day of January in each year as chc Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments may prescribe. 
 
 Comptroller to submit to Municipal Assembly a statement showing the 
 amounts necessary to be raised. 
 
 Sec. 900. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller of said city to 
 prepare and submit to the Municipal Assembly, at least four weeks 
 before its annual meeting in each and every year for the purpose 
 of imposing the annual taxes, a statement setting forth the amounts 
 by law authorized to be raised by tax in that year, on account of the 
 corporation of The City of New York, as hereby constitu ted, or f o 
 city purposes within said city as created by this Act, and purposes 
 for which said city is liable, and also an estimate of the prob- 
 able amount of receipts into the City Treasury during the then 
 current year from all the sources of revenue of the general 
 funds, including surplus revenue from the sinking funds of the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York and 
 of any of the municipal and public corporations, or parts of muni- 
 
 432 
 
cipal and public corporations, by this Act consolidated with the muni- 
 cipal corporation known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty 
 of the City of New York, other than the surplus of revenues of any 
 such sinking funds for the payment of interest on the city debt of 
 the municipal corporation known as the mayor, aldermen and com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, or the like debts of the municipal 
 and public corporations by this Act consolidated as aforesaid, 
 and the said Municipal Assembly is hereby authorized and 
 directed to deduct the total amount of such estimated receipts 
 from the aggregate amount of all the various sums which, by 
 law, they are required to order and cause to be raised by tax 
 in said year, for the purposes aforesaid, and to cause to be 
 raised by tax only the balance of such aggregate amount after 
 making such deductions. 
 
 Special provision for taxes of 1897-1898, 
 
 Sec. 901. Inasmuch as the amounts due in the way of 
 taxes for State and Municipal purposes for the year 1898 
 will have been levied in the Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens 
 and Richmond, prior to the first day of January, 1898, but 
 not in the City of New York, now, in order to prevent double 
 taxation of property outside of the limits of the present City of 
 New York, for the year 1898, it is hereby provided t4ia>t in said year 
 1898 the balance so caused to be raised by tax sihall be 
 raised exclusively from property within the limits of the 
 corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York; but it is further provided 
 that in case it shall transpire that the amount levied or collected from 
 any Borough outside of the present City of New York, and available 
 to the uses of the City, as constituted by this Act, for the year 1898, 
 shall be more or less than its due proportion of the expenses for the 
 year 1898 of the City as constituted by this Act, such excess or de- 
 ficit shall be equalized and adjusted in the Budget of the following 
 year; to the end that each Borough shall bear its fair proportion of 
 the expenditures of the City for the year 1898. The Municipal 
 Assembly shall have full power, by appropriate ordinances, to en- 
 
 433 
 
force this provision, and is hereby invested with power to make such 
 equalization and adjustment by different rates of taxation, or other- 
 wise, in the several Boroughs, to the end that taking the years 
 1898 and 1899, together, each Borough shall pay its proper pro- 
 portion of the general expenses of the City for both years. 
 
 How County charges and expenses in New York, Kings and Richmond 
 Counties and that part of Queens County within the City are to be 
 paid. 
 
 Sec. 902. In the statement submitted by the Comptroller to 
 the Municipal Assembly as above provided in this chapter, he 
 shall each year include and state specifically the sum or sums 
 necessary to be raised to pay during the current year the salaries of 
 the County officers and fhe other County charges and expenses in 
 the Counties of New York, Kings, and Richmond, respectively, 
 and the sum or sums which should be paid for like purposes by 
 that part of Queens County included within the City ; and the 
 Municipal Assembly is hereby authorized and directed to levy 
 upon and collect from the taxable property within each of said 
 Counties and part of County, respectively, the sum or sums so 
 necessary to be raised to pay the salaries of County officers and 
 other County charges and expenses of such County or part of 
 county ; to the end that each of said Counties and said part of 
 Queens County shall ultimately bear and pay all expenses neces- 
 sary to be incurred within the County or part of County for 
 County as distinguished from City purposes. 
 
 Permits for buildings, etc.: copies of to be sent to the Department of 
 Taxes and Assessments. 
 
 Sec. 903. Whenever any permit shall be granted by the proper 
 officer of the city government as created by this Act for the erection 
 of any building, pier or bulkhead within said city, a copy of such 
 permit shall be within five days after its issue furnished by the officer 
 gfranting the same to the Department of Taxes and Assessments. 
 
 Exemptions. 
 
 Sec. 904. The exemption from taxation of every building for 
 
 434 
 
public worship, and every school house or other seminary of lea.rn- 
 ing under the provisions of subdivision 3, of section 4, title i, chapter 
 XIII. of Part First of the Revised Statutes or amendments there- 
 of, shall not apply to any such building or premises within the 
 limits of the City of New York, as defined by this Act, unless 
 the same shall be exclusively used for such purpose, and be 
 exclusively the property of a religious society. 
 
 Exemptions, continued. 
 
 Sec. 905. Nothing in this chapter shall effect any existing and 
 valid exemptions from taxation hertofore created by law respect- 
 ing any property, real or personal, within the limits of The City 
 of New York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Certiorari to review final determination of the Department. 
 
 Sec. 906. A certiorari to review or correct on the merits any 
 final determination of the Board of Taxes and Assessments 
 shall be allowed by the Supreme Court or any justice thereof directed 
 to the Commissioners of Taxes and Assessments on the verified 
 petition of the party aggrieved, but only on the grounds which must 
 be specified in such petition, that the assessment is illegal, and giv- 
 ing the particulars of the alleged illegality, or is erroneous by reason 
 of over valuation, or in case of real estate, that the same is er- 
 roneous by reason of inequality in that the assessment has been 
 made at a higher proportionate valuation than the assessment of 
 other real estate on the tax rolls of the City for the same year, 
 specifying the instances in which such inequality exists, and the 
 extent thereof, and stating that he is or will be injured thereby. 
 
 When assessment rolls to be made and delivered to the Municipal 
 Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 907. Beginning with the first day of May in each year the 
 Board of Taxes and Assessmenis shall cause to be prepared from the 
 books of Annual Record of assessed valuations of real and personal 
 estate in the several offices of the Department: of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments in the several Boroughs, assessment rolls for each of said 
 several Boroughs, and shall, as soon as such rolls are 
 completed, annex to each of said rolls their certificates 
 
 4S5 
 
 vaS^ Of THB -r^ 
 FOHIVBRSIIT] 
 
that the same is correct in accordance with the entries in said several 
 books of record. The rolls so certified must, on the first Monday 
 of July in each year be delivered by the Board of Taxes and Assess- 
 mesits to the Municipal Assembly, which shall meet at noon on that 
 iay at the City Hall, or usual place of meeting, in the Borough 
 of Manhattan, for the purpose of receiving the same, and for the 
 purpose of performing such other duties in relation thereto as 
 are prescribed by law ; except that whenever said first Monday 
 in July shall fall on a legal holiday, said rolls shall be delivered 
 by said Board of Taxes and Assessments on the next succeeding 
 day thereafter to the Municipal Assembly, which shall meet at 
 noon on such next succeeding day, at the place and in the man- 
 ner and for the purposes hereinafter specified. 
 
 Meaning of the words " Board of Taxes and Assessments " in this 
 cJiapter. Majority Clause. ■ 
 
 Sec. 908. Whenever any act is required or authorized to be 
 done or anv determination or decision made by the Board of Taxes 
 and Assessments, or any other body or Board, then in the 
 absence of express provision to the contrary, any such act, if 
 done, or any such determination or decision, if made by a majority 
 of the body or Board shall, within the meaning of this Act be 
 held to be the act, determination or decision of the body or Board. 
 
 Assessment rolls to remain in custody of Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 909. The tax or assessment rolls, when finally submitted 
 to the Municipal Assembly on the first Monday of July in each 
 year, shall remain in the custody of said Assembly, but the Presi- 
 dent of the Council may, by written permission, permit access 
 to them, and he is hereby, in the name of the Municipal Assembly 
 and as its act, authorized and directed to cause to be properly esti- 
 mated and computed the taxes annually imposed, and cause the 
 same to be properly set down or extended in the several assessment 
 rolls or tax books, as required by the next section. It shall also be 
 the duty of said president to cause the items of said taxes to be care- 
 fully added, and to set down the amount of the same therein; and 
 
 436 
 
the duty of said President to cause the items of said taxes to be 
 carefully added, and to set down the amount of the same therein ; 
 and when completed to deliver the tax books relating to real 
 estate to the collector of assessments and arrears, in order 
 that the unpaid water rents of each preceding year may 
 be entered therein. After such completion of the assessment 
 rolls or tax books it shall be the duty of the City Clerk 
 to procure the proper warrants authorizing and requiring the re- 
 ceiver of taxes to collect the several sums therein mentioned ac- 
 cording to law, and such warrants need be signed only by the Presi- 
 dent of the Council and the President of the Board of Aldermen 
 and countersigned by the City Clerk, and immediately thereafter 
 the President of the Council shall deliver the said assessment rolls, 
 
 with the warrants aforesaid annexed thereto, to the receiver of 
 taxes, at the same time notifying the Comptroller of the amount of 
 taxes in each book, in order that he may cause the proper sum to be 
 charged to the receiver for collection. 
 
 Id. : duties of Municipal Assembly respecting. 
 
 Sec. 910. At such annual meeting the Municipal Assembly 
 must make such alterations in the description of real property 
 belonging to non-residents as may be necessary to render such 
 descriptions conformable to the provisions of law; and if such 
 alterations cannot be made, they must expunge the descriptions 
 of such real property, and the assessment thereon from the 
 assessment rolls. They must also estimate and set down in a 
 fifth column, to be prepared for that purpose in the assessment 
 rolls, opposite to the several sums set down as the valuation of 
 real and personal property, the respective sums, in dollars and 
 cents, to be paid as a tax thereon, rejecting the fractions of a 
 cent. They must also add up and set down the aggregate 
 valuations of the real and personal property in the several 
 Boroughs as corrected by them ; and must transmit to the Comp- 
 troller of this State by mail a certificate of such aggregate valuations, 
 showing separately the aggregate amount of the real and personal 
 property in each Borough, as corrected by the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 437 
 
Corrected roll to be delivered to Receiver of Taxes. 
 
 Sec. 911. They must also cause the assessment rolls of each 
 Borough, when corrected according to law, and finally completed, 
 or a fair copy thereof, to be delivered to the receiver of taxes in 
 and for the city on or before the first day of September thereafter, 
 with the proper warrant or warrants annexed, signed by the Presi- 
 dent of the Council and the President of the Board of Aldermen 
 and countersigned by the City Clerk, directing and requiring him to 
 collect from' the several persons named in the assessment rolls the 
 several sums mentioned in the last column of such roll, opposite to 
 their respective names, and to pay the same from time to time, 
 when so collected, to the Chamberlain of the city. 
 
 Penalty for Municipal Assembly's neglect. 
 
 Sec. 912. If the Municipal Assembly shall wilfully refuse or 
 neglect to perform any of the duties required of them by the two 
 preceding sections, each member so refusing or neglecting shall 
 forfeit to the City of New York the sum of five hundred dollars, to 
 be recovered in a civil action; and shall also be punishable for a 
 misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall forfeit his office. 
 
 Where taxes due and payable. 
 
 Sec. 913. The receiver of taxes upon receiving the assessment 
 rolls and warrants shall immediately cause the assessment rolls 
 and warrants for each of the several Boroughs wherein he shall, 
 under the designation of the Municipal Assembly, have an office, to 
 be delivered at and filed in such office, and shall thereafter proceed 
 to collect and receive said taxes from the several individuals and 
 corporations assessed in the said assessment rolls in the manner here- 
 after prescribed. 
 
 Receiver of taxes to give public notice. 
 
 Sec. 914. The receiver of taxes shall, immediately after he shall 
 have received the assessment rolls, give public notice in the City 
 Record and the corporation newspapers and in such newspaper 
 or newspapers published in the several Boroughs as may be des- 
 
 438 
 
ignated by the Board of City Record, or in default of any news- 
 paper being published in any Borough, in such newspaper or 
 newspapers having a general circulation in such Borough as the 
 Board of City Record shall direct, that said assessment rolls have 
 been delivered to him and that all taxes are then due and pay- 
 able at his office in the said respective Boroughs, and that in 
 case of payment on or before the first day of November there- 
 after the persons so paying shall be entitled to the benefits 
 mentioned in the next section. 
 
 Rebate for prompt payment. 
 
 Sec. 915. If any person who shall be assessed in any of the said 
 assessment rolls shall pay the amount of his taxes on or before 
 the first day of November, succeeding the delivery of the said assess- 
 ment rolls and warrants to the said receiver, it shall be the duty 
 of the receiver or any of his deputies to receive the same, and to 
 deduct therefrom interest, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, 
 between the day of such payment and the first day of December 
 then next succeeding. 
 
 Interest on unpaid taxes. 
 
 Sec. 916. If any such tax shall remain unpaid on the said first 
 day of December, it shall be the duty of the receiver of 
 taxes to charge, receive, and collect upon such tax so remain- 
 ing unpaid on that day, in addition to the amount of such tax, one 
 per centum on the amount thereof, and to charge, receive, and 
 
 collect upon such tax so remaining unpaid on the first day ot Jan- 
 uary thereafter, interest upon the amount thereof, at the rate of 
 
 seven per centum per annum, to be calculated from the day on 
 
 which said assessment rolls and warrants shall have been delivered 
 to the receiver of taxes to the date of payment; and such increase 
 
 or percentage shall be paid over and accounted for by such receiver 
 from time to time, as a parti of the tax collected by him. 
 
 Id.: continued. 
 
 Sec. 917. It shall be the duty of the said receiver, in person or 
 by his deputies, to charge, collect, and receive upon all taxes re- 
 
 439 
 
maiming unpaid on and after the said first day of January, in- 
 terest at a rate of seven per cent, per annum, to be calculated from 
 the day on which the said assessment rolls and warrants shall have 
 been delivered to the receiver^ 
 
 Duty of receiver where taxes remain unpaid on the -first of November 
 following the delivery of assessments and warrants. 
 
 Sec. 918. If any taxes of any year shall remain unpaid on the 
 first day of November next after the assessments and warrants to 
 collect such taxes have been delivered to the receiver of taxes at hit 
 office in the Borough of Manhattan, it shall be the duty of the re- 
 ceiver to give notice by advertisement for at least ten days in the 
 City Record and the corporation newspapers, and in such daily 
 paper having a general circulation in any Borough as the Board 
 of City Record shall designate, that unless the same shall be paid 
 to him at his office on or before the first day of December in 
 any such year, he will immediately thereafter proceed to collect 
 such unpaid taxes as provided herein. 
 
 Public notice to be given by receiver after December ist in each year. 
 
 Sec. 919. The receiver of taxes shall immediately after the first 
 day of December, in each year, give public notice in the City Rec- 
 ord, and the corporation newspapers, and in such daily paper 
 having a general circulation in any Borough as the Board of City 
 Record may designate, at least ten days, notifying all persons or 
 corporations who have omitted to pay their taxes to pay the 
 same to him at his office in the Borough of Manhattan, or to his 
 several deputies in the several Boroughs. 
 
 Undivided parts of taxes: payment of. 
 
 Sec. 920. If a sum of money in gross has been or shall be taxed 
 upon any lands or premises, any person or persons claiming any 
 divided or undivided part thereof may pay such part of the sum of 
 money so taxed, also of the interest and charges due or charged 
 thereon, as the said Comptroller may deem to be just and equitable; 
 and the remainder of the sum of money so taxed, together with the 
 interest and charges, shall be a lien upon the residue of the land and 
 
 440 
 
premises only, which residue may be sold to satisfy the residue of 
 such tax, interest, or charges, in the same manner as though the 
 residue of said tax had been imposed upon the residue of said lands 
 or premises. 
 
 Corporations: tax for, how collected. 
 
 Sec. 921. The said receiver of taxes shall proceed in enforc- 
 ing the collection and payment of taxes against corporations or 
 associations, and their officers and directors, or trustees, in the 
 same manner as against individuals ; such taxes shall be paid 
 out of the funds of the company and shall be ratably deducted 
 from the dividends of those stockholders whose stock was taxed, 
 or shall be charged upon such stock, if no dividends be after- 
 ward declared. 
 
 Daily statement of taxes received to be rendered to Chamberlain. 
 
 Sec. 922. The receiver of taxes shall enter into suitable books, 
 to be kept by him for that purpose, the sums received by him for 
 taxes, and at the expiration of the office hours for each day, and 
 before three o'clock thereof, shall render a statement of the same 
 to the Chamberlain and at the same time on each day pay over to 
 said Chamberlain the amount received on such day; he shall also 
 thereupon receive from the said Chamberlain a voucher for the 
 payment of such sums, which he shall forthwith, on the same day, 
 exhibit to the Comptroller of the said city. But the duty by 
 this section imposed may, in respect to the Borough of Brook- 
 lyn, be discharged by the deputy receiver of taxes and the 
 deputy Chamberlain located in the Borough of Brooklyn, and 
 likewise by similar deputy officers for the Borough of The Bronx, 
 the Borough of Queens, and the Borough of Richmond. 
 
 Receiver's account of taxes received: how to be kept. 
 
 Sec. 923. It shall be the duty of the receiver, and of deputy re- 
 ceivers, from time to time to enter in a column, to be made for 
 that purppse, upon the assessment rolls in his possession, opposite 
 to the names of the persons mentioned therein, and who shall pay 
 their tax, as aforesaid, to the receiver of taxes, personally or by 
 
 441 
 
deputy, the fact of such payment, the amount thereof, and the day 
 when paid, and to enter into suitable books, to be kept for that 
 purpose, on each day such payment, and the names of the parties re- 
 spectively on whose account the same were paid; and at the ex- 
 piration of the office hours, and on the same day, he shall furnish 
 to the Comptroller of the said city, personally or by deputy, a de- 
 tailed statement of such sums of the Borough for which received, 
 and the names of the parties respectively on whose account the 
 same have been paid, which shall be filed by the said Comptroller in 
 his office. The Comptroller shall, on each day, immediately after 
 receiving from said receiver or deputy the statement, compare the 
 same with a voucher furnished to him by the Chamberlain for the 
 payment thereof to the Chamberlain, and if the aggregate amounts 
 thereof shall correspond, shall credit the said receiver of taxes in 
 his book with such amount. 
 
 Penalty for failure to report to Chamberlain. 
 
 Sec. 924. If the receiver of taxes, or any deputy receiver shall 
 on any day, omit or neglect to furnish to the Chamberlain or to the 
 Comptroller, respectively, the statements and vouchers required 
 by law, or to make the daily payments hereinbefore prescribed, it 
 shall be the duty of the Comptroller forthwith to suspend from 
 office the party delinquent. In case of such suspension, the Comp- 
 troller shall appoint a suitable person to perform the duties of the 
 officer so suspended, who shall continue to act as such officer, with 
 all the powers conferred upon him by this title, until the parties 
 suspended shall be restored, or another person shall have been ap- 
 pointed. On making such temporary appointment, the Comptroller 
 shall be required to take from the party so appointed a bond, with 
 two sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Chamberlain, and filed 
 with the said Comptroller, in such penal sum as the said Chamber- 
 lain may deem just, conditioned for the faithful performance of the 
 duties of the office during the continuance of the person so ap- 
 pointed therein; and all the provisions of this title prescribing the 
 duties of the receiver of taxes, and the deputy receiver, shall 
 apply to the person or persons so appointed in their stead by the 
 Comptroller. 
 
 442 
 
Provision in case of sickness. 
 
 Sec. 925. In case of inability of the receiver to perform the 
 duties of his office by reason of sickness or absence from the 
 city, the Comptroller shall designate some suitable person to per- 
 form the duties of his office during such inability or absence, 
 and shall, in his discretion, take from such person a bond, with suffi- 
 cient sureties, in the manner prescribed in the preceding section. 
 
 Collection of unpaid personal tax by distress and sale. 
 
 Sec. 926. It shall be lawful for the said receiver, if any tax for 
 personal property and the interest thereon, as hereinbefore pro- 
 vided, shall remain unpaid on the fifteenth day of the month of 
 January, succeeding the receipt by him of the rolls, to issue his 
 warrant under his hand and seal directed to any marshal com- 
 manding him to levy the said tax, with interest thereon at the rate 
 of seven per cent, per annum from the day of the delivering of the 
 assessment rolls and warrants to the said receiver to the time when 
 the same shall be paid by distress and sale of the goods and chattels 
 of the person against whom the said warrant shall be issued, or 
 of any goods and chattels in his or her possession, wheresoever the 
 same shall be found within the said city, and to pay the same to the 
 said receiver, and return such warrant within thirty days after the 
 date thereof. For the purposes of this section the jurisdiction of the 
 marshal is co-extensive with The City of New York. The Comp- 
 troller of The City of New York, however, may from time to time 
 as may be necessary to insure prompt collection of said tax, extend 
 or renew such warrant, but no single extension or renewal thereof 
 shall in any event exceed sixty days. 
 
 Id. : may add costs of distress and sale. 
 
 Sec. 927. In all cases where the said receiver shall'proceed by 
 distress and sale of the goods and chattels of any person for the 
 payment of any tax due and payable, it shall be lawful for him to 
 authorize and empower the officer making such distress and sale to 
 collect, in addition to the tax and the interest thereon, the costs of 
 such distress and sale, which costs shall be in addition to any dis- 
 
 443 
 
bursements five cents for every dollar collected to the amount of 
 one hundred dollars, and two and one-half cents for every dollar 
 collected over one hundred dollars. 
 
 Id. : sale to be advertised. 
 
 Sec. 928..|^The marshal to whom a warrant for the collection 
 of any tax is issued shall give public notice at the time and place 
 of sale of any property distrained by virtue thereof, and of the prop- 
 erty to be sold, at least six days previous to the sale, by advertise- 
 ments to be posted up in at least three public places in the ward 
 where such sale shall be made. The sale shall be by public auction. 
 
 Id. : disposition of surplus. 
 
 Sec.]929. If the property distrained shall be sold for more than 
 the amount of the tax, the surplus shall be returned to the person 
 in whose possession such property was when the distress was made, 
 if no claim be made to such surplus or any other person. If any 
 other person shall claim such surplus, on the ground that the prop- 
 erty sold belonged to him, and such claim be admitted by the person 
 for whose tax the same was distrained, the surplus shall be paid 
 to such ov.-ner; but if si:ch claim be contested by the person for 
 whose tax the property was distrained, the surplus moneys shall be 
 retained by the said marshal until the rights of the parties shall 
 be judicially determined. 
 
 Enforcing payment of personal taxes; fine may be imposed. 
 
 Sec. 930. In case of the refusal or neglect of any person to pay 
 any tax imposed on him for personal property, if there be no goods 
 or chattels in his possession upon which the same may be levied by 
 distress and sale according to law, and if the value of the property 
 assessed shall be the sum of one thousand dollars, the said re- 
 ceiver, if he has reason to believe that the person taxed has debts, 
 credits, choses in action, or other personal property not taxed else- 
 where in this State, and upon which the levy cannot be made ac- 
 cording to law, may thereupon, in his discretion, make application 
 to the Supreme Court, within one year from the date of the return 
 
 444 
 
of the warrant by the marshal, to enforce the payment of such 
 tax. The Court may impose a fine for the misconduct men- 
 tioned in this section, sufficient in amount for the payment of the 
 tax assessed, and ten dollars, costs of motion, together with ex- 
 penses of the proceedings authorized by this title, to enforce such 
 payment or to punish such misconduct ; and the amount of such tax 
 shall be paid out of such fine to the said receiver, who shall pay over 
 the same in like manner as the tax was required to be paid; and 
 costs and expenses of such proceedings shall be paid out of such 
 fine to the sai^ receiver who made the application to enforce the 
 payment of the tax. 
 
 Id.: order to prosecute: when operates as assignment of bond. 
 
 Sec. 931. Whenever any bond taken under the proceedings re- 
 ferred to in the last preceding section shall be ordered to be prose- 
 cuted, such order shall operate as an assignment of the bond to 
 the said receiver, who shall be authorized to prosecute the same in 
 any court of record, in his name as such receiver, as the assignee 
 of the officer to whom the bond was given, in the same manner as 
 in other actions on bonds with conditions to perform covenants 
 other than for the payment of money ; and the measure of damages 
 in such action shall be the extent of such tax, and the costs and ex- 
 penses of the proceedings to enforce the payment thereof, and shall 
 be applied and paid in like manner as the fine mentioned in the next 
 preceding section is therein directed to be applied and paid, and in 
 all such actions, if the plaintiff recovers, he shall recover all costs 
 against the defendant. 
 
 Id.: cases to be sent to Corporation Counsel. 
 
 Sec. 932. It shall be the duty of the receiver of taxes to send 
 or cause to be sent to the Corporation Counsel, monthly, all 
 cases of personal taxes embraced in the assessment rolls, when 
 the assessment is one thousand dollars or more, and upon 
 which a warrant to any of the marshals of said city 
 has been issued and unsatisfied for a period of 
 sixty days, or returned unsatisfied in whole or part, and of all other 
 cases of personal taxes, except in those cases where the Comptroller 
 
 445 
 
may extend the warrant, when application to any court may be made 
 for the collection of the tax, and the said Counsel is authorized 
 to make requisitions upon the said receeiver for all such cases. 
 
 Id. : duties of Corporation counsel. 
 
 Sec. 933. The Corporation Counsel shall be charged with the 
 prosecution of all suits or proceedings, in any court having jurisdic- 
 tion, for the collection of all cases of personal taxes sent to him by 
 the receiver of taxes, or where, by any law of this State, any suit or 
 proceeding may be instituted by such receiver, or any marshal acting 
 under a tax warrant, in any court for the collection of any tax or 
 personal property, and shall, subject to such control, act as counsel 
 to the receiver of taxes, and to any marshal acting under the warrant 
 of said receiver in the collection of any tax for personal property. 
 
 Court to dismiss proceedings if satisfied that taxes on personal prop- 
 erty cannot be paid. 
 Sec. 934. The court in which any proceeding may be com- 
 menced to enforce the payment of any tax for personal property, 
 may dismiss the proceedings absolutely without costs, or con- 
 ditionally, upon the payment of costs, or may, on the facts, in 
 its discretion, dismiss such proceedings on the payment of such 
 part of the tax and costs as shall be just, in any case where 
 it shall be satisfied that the person or persons taxed are 
 unable, for want of property, or other reason, to pay any 
 tax. In cases where any proceedings shall be dismissed 
 under this section, on payment of a portion of the tax, 
 a copy of the order of the court shall be filed with the re- 
 ceiver of taxes, and a note of the contents of such order entered 
 upon the assessment roll, and it shall be the duty of said Counsel 
 to report all cases dismissed on account of the inability of the per- 
 son to pay the tax to the Commissioner of Taxes and Assess- 
 ments, annually, on the thirty-first day of December in each year; 
 and said commissioner is hereby authorized to strike the names of 
 all such persons from the assessment rolls for the succeeding year. 
 Counsel to keep register, etc. 
 
 Sec. 935. The Corporation Counsel shall keep, in proper books 
 to be provided by the corporation of said city for that purpoce, a 
 
 446 
 
register of all actions oi proceedings prosecuted, and upon the 
 expiration of his term of office, or his resignation thereof 
 or removal therefrom, the Corporation Counsel shall deliver 
 to ihis successor in office all books and papers in his hands 
 belonging to his office, or delivered to him by the receiver of taxes, 
 or any marshal of said city, and in any way connected with his 
 office, or any business pertaining thereto. The said counsel or any 
 marshal shall pay over, under oath, to the receiver of taxes of said 
 city, monthly, or oftener if required, all taxes collected by him. 
 
 Receiver; when may sue for personal taxes. 
 
 Sec. 936. Any tax duly imposed for personal property upon 
 any person or corporation in the City of New York, which shall 
 remain unpaid and in arrears on the fifteenth day of January suc- 
 ceeding the year in which it shall have been imposed, may be 
 recovered with interests and costs, by the receiver of taxes of 
 said city in the name of the City, in an action in any court of 
 record in this State. 
 
 Unpaid Taxes and Assessmejtts, levied prior to January 1st, 1898 : 
 Special Provision. 
 
 Sec. 937. All taxes and assessments, levied before the first 
 day of January, 1898, by lawful authority, in any of the mun- 
 icipal and public corporations hereby consolidated, including the 
 Counties of Kings and of Richmond, and that part of the County 
 of Queens included within The City of New York, as hereby con- 
 stituted, and which shall remain due and unpaid on said first day 
 of January, 1898, shall become and be due and payable to and 
 collectable by said city, and all tax and assessment lists in the 
 possession of any officer of any of said municipal and public 
 corporations and counties, on the 31st day of December, 1897, 
 shall be transmitted to and deposited with the Comptroller 
 on or immediately after the first day of January, 1898, and the 
 Comptroller shall thereupon transmit the same to the Collector 
 of Assessments and Arrears, for collection by suit, or under and 
 pursuant to the laws in force when the said taxes were levied, 
 or in force when this Act takes effect. 
 
 447 
 
Title 2. 
 
 assessments for local improvements other than those 
 confirmed by a court of record. 
 
 Assessment — Term How Construed. 
 
 Section 942. The word assessment, wherever used in this 
 title and in the next succeeding one, shall be construed to mean 
 an assessment for any local improvement wb.ich may be law- 
 fully confirmed in any other manner than by a Court of 
 Record. 
 
 Mayor to Appoint a Board of Assessors ; salary; subordinates. 
 
 Sec. 943. The Mayor shall appoint five persons, who shall 
 constitute the Board of Assessors. The salary of each mem- 
 ber of said Board shall be three thousand dollars a year. 
 The said Board shall be charged with the duty of making all 
 assessments, other than those required by law to be confirmed 
 by a Court of Record, for local improvements for which 
 assessments may be legally imposed in any part of The City 
 of New York as hereby constituted. The said Board shall 
 appoint a secretary and such clerks and subordinates as may be 
 necessary, and shall fix their salaries, not exceeding in the 
 aggregate the appropriation made for such purpose in the final 
 estimate. 
 
 The secretary, clerks and subordinates of the Board of 
 Assessors of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the 
 City of New York, shall be and act as secretary, clerks and 
 subordinates of the Board of Assessors herein provided for 
 until and unless they shall be removed or superseded by the 
 last-mentioned Board of Assessors. 
 
 The Board of Revision of Assessments. 
 
 Sec. 944. The Comptroller, Corporation Counsel and Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Public Improvements shall constitute the 
 Board of Revision of Assessments. The said Board, or a majority 
 thereof, shall have and perform all the powers and duties rela- 
 tive to the revision, correction and confirmation of assessments 
 specified in the various laws and ordinances relating to assess- 
 ments in any part of TheCity of New York, as hereby constituted, 
 
 448 
 
other than assessments made by Commissioners appointed by a 
 Court of ^Record, and other than those confirmed by the Board 
 of Assessors; said Board shall have power to consider, on the 
 merits, all objections made to any such assessment, and to sub- 
 poena and examine witnesses in relation thereto, and to confirm 
 said assessment, or to refer the same back to the Board of 
 Assessors for revisal and correction in such respects as it may 
 determine. The revision of such assessments shall be made 
 without delay, so that unless the same are referred back for 
 revisal and correction they shall be confirmed within thirty 
 days from the time they shall, respectively, be presented for 
 confirmation, and if not so confirmed or referred back they 
 shall be deemed to be confirmed at the expiration of thirty 
 days from the time they shall be, respectively, so presented 
 for confirmation. All such assessments, immediately upon 
 confirmation, shall be transmitted to the Comptroller for entry 
 and collection. 
 
 Powers of the two Boards. 
 
 Sec. 945. In addition to the powers herein specifically con- 
 ferred upon the Board of Assessors and the Board of Revision, 
 the said Boards shall have and exercise, as to the whole terri- 
 tory embraced in The City of New York, each and every power 
 and authority conferred upon and exercised by the Board of 
 Assessors, and the Board of Revision and Correction of As- 
 sessments, respectively, of the corporation heretofore known 
 as The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York. 
 
 Certificates on which Assessments are Made. 
 
 Sec. 946. All assessments shall be made by the Board of As- 
 sessors on the following ceitificates, to wit: 
 
 1. The officer or head of the Board or Department charged 
 with the execution of the work in question, shall certify to the 
 Board ot Assessors the total amount of all the expenses which 
 shall have been actually incurred by The City of New York oti 
 account thereof. 
 
 2. The Comptroller shall certify to the Board of Assessors 
 the amount of the interest, at the legal rate, upon the several 
 
 449 
 
instalments advanced or payments made on account of such 
 work, from the time of such payment or advance, by the City, 
 to a day sixty days after the date of such certificate. There- 
 after the Board of Assessors shall assess upon the property 
 benefited, in the manner authorized by law, the aggregate 
 amount of such certificates, or such proportion thereof as is 
 authorized by law, and the said Board shall not in any way be 
 enjoined, restrained, hindered or delayed in the performance 
 of this duty, provided that nothing contained in this section 
 shall be construed to affect the powers of the Board of Revis- 
 ion of Assessments. 
 
 Assessment not to exceed one -half the valuation. 
 
 Sec. 947. The Assessors shall in no case assess any house 
 or lot, improved or unimproved lands, more than one-half the 
 fair value of such house, lot, improved or unimproved lands. 
 
 Assessment for repaving : when forbidden. 
 
 Sec. 948. Unless it shall be petitioned for by a majority of 
 the owners of the property (who shall also be the owners of a 
 majority of the front feet), on the line of the proposed improve- 
 ment, no assessment shall be imposed for the paving of any 
 street,"or any portion thereof, which has been once paved, and 
 the expense thereof_jpaid by_the^owners of the adjoining pro{>- 
 erty. This section, however, shall apply only to the streets 
 within the territory of the corporation formerly known as the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York. 
 
 How property shall be described by the Assessors. 
 
 Sec. 949. In all cases the Assessors shall describe in the as- 
 sessment the property assessed by the same ward or block 
 numbers, or other designations as shall be used to designate 
 the said property on theltax books of The City of New York. 
 They shall also describe the houses and lots assessed by their 
 street numbers, if any. The Assessors shall also state the 
 name of the owner or owners and occupant or occupants, if 
 they be known to the Assessors, and it shall be their duty to 
 ascertain, as far as may be, by inquiry'from the Commissioners 
 of Taxes and Assessments or others, such ownership and 
 
 450 
 
occupation, and such Commissioners shall afford the requisite 
 information. 
 
 Notice of completion of assesssments to be given. 
 
 Sec. 950. It shall be the duty of the Board of Assessors, 
 when it has completed any proposed assessment, to give notice 
 of the fact and that it is proposed to lay the same to the owner 
 or owners; such notice shall be published daily in the "City 
 Record" and the corporation newspapers, for at least ten days suc- 
 cessively. The notice shall describe the limits within which it is 
 proposed to lay the said assessment, and shall contain a request 
 for all persons whose interests may be affected thereby, and who 
 may be opposed to the same, to present their objections, in writing, 
 to the Secretary of the Assessors within thirty days from the date 
 of such notice, and specifying a time and place after the expiration 
 of the said thirty days when and where the said objections will 
 be heard and testimony received in reference thereto if after 
 hearing and examining such objections and testimony, the assess- 
 ors shall not deem it proper to alter their assessment, or having 
 altered it there shall still be objections to the same, it shall be 
 their duty to present such objections with the proposed assess- 
 ment to the Board of Revision of Assessments. 
 
 If no objections shall be received, or if the Board of Assess- 
 ors shall alter the assessment so as to satisfy the objectors, said 
 Board shall forthwith declare the said assessment confirmed, 
 and shall transmit the same to the Comptroller] for entry 
 and collection. 
 
 An assessment so confirmed shall be of the same force and 
 effect as if confirmed by the Board of Revision. 
 
 Award of damages for changes of grade ; liability in such cases. 
 
 Sec. 951. All cases where a change of grade of any street 
 or avenue has been made prior to the taking effect of this Act, 
 shall, as to the liability to make compensation for damages 
 caused by such change of grade, be governed by the laws in 
 force at the time such change of grade was made. After the 
 taking effect of this Act there shall be no liability to abutting 
 owners for originally establishing a grade ; nor any liability 
 for changing a grade once established by lawful authority, 
 except where the owner^of the abutting property has subse- 
 
 451 
 
quently to such establishment of grade built upon or otherwise 
 mproved the property in conformity with such established 
 grade, and such grade is changed after such buildings or 
 improvements have been made. In such cases damages occa- 
 sioned by such change of grade to such buildings and improve- 
 ments shall be ascertained and assessed in connection with and 
 as a part of the expenses of grading or otherwise improving 
 the street or avenue in conformity with the grade as changed. 
 A grade shall be deemed established by lawful authority within 
 the meaning of this section where it was originally adopted 
 b)" the action of the public authorities, or where the street or 
 avenue has been used by the public as of right for twenty 
 years and been improved by the public authority at the expense 
 of the public or of the abutting owners. 
 
 All laws inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. 
 In case the grade of any such street shall be changed, and 
 the same shall have been regulated and graded according ta 
 the new grade, after the certificate of the cost of such regu- 
 lating and grading shall have been received by the Board of 
 Assessors, it shall be the duty of the said Board to 
 cause to be published in the "City Record" and the 
 corporation newspapers, for at least ten days successively, 
 a notice which shall contain a request for all persons claim- 
 ing to have been injured by the said change of grade to 
 present, in writing, to the Secretary of the Board of Assessors, 
 their claims, specifying a place where and a time when the 
 said Board will receive evidence and testimony of the nature 
 and extent of such injury. 
 
 After hearing and considering the said testimony and 
 evidence the Board of Assessors shall make such awards for 
 such loss and damage, if any, as it may deem proper. The 
 amount of the said awards shall be included in the assessment 
 for the regulating and grading of the street in question, as a 
 part of the expense thereof, and the said award, and the 
 proceedings of the Assessors in relation thereto, shall be subject 
 to review by the Board of Revision of Assessments. 
 
 Foregoing Section — How Construed. 
 
 Sec. 952. The foregoing section shall not be construed to 
 
 452 
 
authorize the making of an award for loss or damage caused by 
 change of grade in any case in which an award could not legally 
 be made under laws existing immediately previous to the pas- 
 sage of this Act, and affecting any part of the territory of The 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of New York 
 nor shall it be construed to affect the powers of any commission 
 acting under any laws of this State. 
 
 Awards — When to be paid ; Action for Default. 
 
 Sec. 953. The City of New York shall, within four months 
 after confirmation of any assessment, including awards made in 
 pursuance of the last section but one, pay to the respective par- 
 ties entitled thereto the amount of such awards, and in case of 
 its neglect or failure to pay the same at the expiration of the 
 said period,and after demand, it shall be lawful for the persons 
 entitled to the same to sue for and recover the amount of their 
 awards. In case any such award or compensation shall be paid 
 to any person not entitled thereto, when the same ought to 
 have been paid to some other person, it shall be lawful for the 
 person to whom the same ought to have been paid to sue for 
 and recover the same with interest and costs, as so much money 
 had and received to his use by the person or persons respect- 
 ively to whom the same shall have been so paid ; provided that 
 when the name or names of the owner or owners, party or 
 parties, are not set forth in the report of the Assessors, or where 
 the said owners, parties or persons -respectively being named 
 therein shall be insane, a married woman, under the age of 
 twenty-one years, or absent from the city, or after diligent 
 search cannot be found, or their title to receive such awards 
 disputed, it shall be lawful for The City of New York to pay 
 the sum mentioned in said report, or that would be coming to 
 such owners, parties nnd persons respectively, to the Chamber- 
 lain, to be secured, disposed of and invested as the Supreme 
 •Court shall direct, and such payments shall be as valid and 
 effectual in all respects as if made to the said owners, parties 
 and persons respectively themselves, according to their just 
 rights, if they had been known andhadbeenpersonsoff.il 
 age, single women and of sound mind. 
 
 Assessments for deepening water in docks, etc. 
 
 Sec. 954. The expense of conforming to any order or direc- 
 
 453 
 
tion made in accordance with section 832 of this Act, or of car- 
 rying the same into effect, shall be estimated and assessed by 
 the Board of Assessors upon or among the owner or owners of 
 any or every wharf, pier, dock, bulk-head, piece of land, water- 
 right, or privilege, near or adjacent to which any such water 
 may be deepened, and which may in any manner be benefited 
 thereby, in proportion, as nearly as may be, to the advantage 
 which each shall be deemed to acquire. Every such estimate 
 and assessment, after confirmation, shall be binding and conclu- 
 sive upon the owners thereby assessed respectively, and shall be 
 a lien or charge upon the property or premises in respect to 
 which the same may have been made. 
 
 Title 3. 
 
 VACATING AND MODIFYING ASSESSMENTS FOR LOCAL IMPROVE- 
 MENTS OTHER THAN THOSE CONFIRMED BY 
 A COURT OF RECORD. 
 
 Remedies limited. 
 
 Section 958. No suit or action in the nature of a bill in equity or 
 otherwise shall be commenced for the vacation of any assessment 
 in said city, or to remove a cloud upon title; but owners of property 
 shall be confined to their remedies in such cases to the proceedings 
 under this title. 
 
 Petition to the Supreme Court in case of fraud or substantial error. 
 
 Sec, 959. If in the proceedings relative to any assessment or as- 
 sessments for local improvements, or in the proceedings to collect 
 the same, any fraud or substantial error shall be alleged to have 
 been committed, the party aggrieved thereby may apply to a Jus- 
 tice of the Supreme Court in special term or in vacation, who shall 
 thereupon, upon due notice to the Corporation Counsel, pro- 
 ceed forthwith to hear the proofs and allegations of the parties. If, 
 upon such hearing, it shall appear that the alleged fraud or substan- 
 tial error, other than such errors as are specified in the next section, 
 
 454 
 
has been committed as provided in this title, the said assessment 
 shall be vacated or modified, and the lien created thereby, or by 
 any subsequent proceedings, shall cease. If, upon such hearing, it 
 shall appear that, by reason of any alleged irregularity, the expense 
 of any local improvement has been unlawfully increased, the judge 
 may order that such assessment upon the lands of said aggrieved 
 party be modified by deducting therefrom such sum, as is in the same 
 proportion to sudh assessment as is the whole amount of such un- 
 lawful increase to the whole amount of the expense of such local im- 
 provement. Any order that may be made by a Justice under 
 authority of this section shall be filed in the office of the County 
 Clerk of the County in which the lands are situated, and after 
 the filing of a certified copy thereof with the officer having 
 charge of the assessment, it shall be his duty to cancel or re- 
 duce the assessment as required by the order, or do any other 
 act required thereby. 
 
 Assessments not to be set aside for certain irregularities and technicali- 
 ties. 
 
 Sec. 960. No assessment heretofore made or imposed, or 
 which shall hereafter be made or imposed for any local improve- 
 ment or other public work, already completed or now being 
 made or performed, or which shall hereafter be made, done, or 
 performed, shall hereafter be vacated or set aside for or by reason 
 of any omission to advertise, or irregularity in advertising any ordi- 
 nance, resolution, notice, or other proceeding relative to, or auth- 
 orizing the improvement or work for which such assessment shall 
 have been made or imposed, or for proposals to do the work, or for 
 or by reason of the omission of any officer to perform any duty im- 
 posed upon him, or for or by reason of any defect in the authority 
 of any department or officer upon whose action the assessment shall 
 be in any manner or to any extent dependent, or for or by reason of 
 any omission to comply with or carry out any detail of any law or or- 
 dinance, or for or by reason of any irregularity or technicality, ex- 
 cept only in cases in which fraud shall be shown and in case of 
 an assesssment for repaving any street or public place, upon prop- 
 erty for which an assessment has once been paid for paving the same 
 
 455 
 
street or public place ; and all property in said city benefited by any 
 improvement or other public work already completed, or now being 
 made or performed, and hereafter made, done, or performed, except 
 as aforesaid, shall be liable to assessment for such improvement or 
 work, and all assessments for any such improvement or other pub- 
 lic work shall be valid and binding notwithstanding any such omis- 
 sion, irregularity, defect in authority, or technicality. No assess- 
 ment shall be vacated by reason of fraud or irregularity in the 
 proceedings to collect the same by sale of the assessed premises ; 
 but, upon proof of such fraud or irregularity, such sale shall be 
 set aside and the respective rights and liabilities of the assessed 
 person and of the City of New York shall become and be the 
 same as if such sale had not been made. 
 
 All claims may be embraced in one proceeding. 
 
 Sec. 961 . Any person applying for relief, under the provisions 
 of this title, may embrace in one proceeding any or all assessments 
 for local improvements in which he is interested. 
 
 Power of court to vacate or reduce assessments limited and qualified. 
 
 Sec. 962. No court shall vacate or reduce any assessment 
 in fact or apparent, whether void or voidable, on any property 
 for any local improvement, otherwise than to reduce any 
 such assessment to the extent that the same may be shown 
 by parties complaining thereof to have been in fact increased in 
 dollars and cents by reason of fraud or substantial error ; and in no 
 event shall that proportion of any such assessment, which is equivar 
 lent to the fair value or fair cost of any actual local improve- 
 ment, with interest at the rate of three per centum per annum 
 from the date of confirmation to the date of the final order of 
 reduction, and seven per centum thereafter, be disturbed for 
 any cause. 
 
 The provisions of this section shall apply to actions to recover 
 money paiid for assessments, and the amount recovered sihall be 
 limited to the excess over the fair value or fair cost of the 
 improvement. 
 
 456 
 
When proceeding to vacate, etc., to be brought. 
 
 Sec. 963. All proceedings to vacate or reduce assessments 
 in the City of New York must be brought within one year after 
 the confirmation thereof. 
 
 jRe-assessment. 
 
 Sec. 964. Any lands which may be discharged from any lien for 
 an assessment for any local improvement maybe again assessed, in 
 the manner provided by law, for such amount as would have been 
 justly chargeable if fraud or irregularity had not been committed; 
 and the amount so assessed shall be a lien on said lands until paid, 
 and shall be collectable in the manner provided by law for the col- 
 lection of assessments, but all proceedings to make a new assess- 
 ment shall be at the expense of the City. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 OPENING STREETS AND PARKS. 
 
 Authority to open streets. 
 
 Sec. 970. The City of New York is authorized to acquire 
 title for the use of the public to all or any of the lands required 
 for streets, parks, approaches to bridges and tunnels, sites or 
 lands above or under water for bridges and tunnels, and sites or 
 lands above or under water, for all improvements of the navi- 
 gation of waters within or separating portions of the City of 
 New York, or of the water fronts of the City of New York, or 
 part or parts thereof, heretofore duly laid out upon the map 
 or plan of the City ot New York, of the City of Brooklyn, of 
 Long Island City or of any of the territory by this Act con- 
 solidated with the City of New York, or hereafter duly laid out 
 upon the map or plan of The City of New York, as herein con- 
 stituted, and to cause the same to be opened. The Board of 
 
 457 
 
Public Improvements is authorized to direct the same to be 
 done whenever and as often as it shall deem it for the public 
 interests so to do. The lands, tenements and hereditaments 
 that may be required for such purposes may be taken therefor, 
 and compensation and recompense made to the parties and 
 persons, if any such there shall be, to whom the loss and damage 
 thereby shall be deemed to exceed the benefit and advantage 
 thereof, for the excess of the damage over and above the value 
 of said benefit. 
 
 The City of New York is authorized to make application, or 
 to cause application to be made, to the Supreme Court of this State 
 in the first or second Judicial Departments, as the case may be, for 
 the appointment of Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment to 
 ascertain and determine the compensation and recompense which 
 should justly be made to the respective owners, lessees, parties and 
 persons respectively entitled unto or interested in the lands, tene- 
 ments, hereditaments and premises proposed to be taken for any of 
 the purposes aforesaid, and to assess the cost of such improvement, 
 of such proportion thereof as the Board of Public Improvements 
 directs, upon such parties and persons, lands and tenements as may 
 be deemed to be benefited thereby. Streets or portions thereof 
 which are continuations of each other in the same general direction 
 may be embraced in the same proceeding. The moneys collected 
 tipon the assessment of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assess- 
 ment shall be paid into the city treasury. The damages awarded 
 by the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment sliall become 
 due and payable immediately upon the confirmation of the report 
 of said Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment. 
 
 Removal of buildings. 
 
 Sec. 971. The Board of Public Improvements may permit 
 any building which shall be either partly or wholly included 
 within the limits of any such street, or park laid out in the said 
 City, and so to be opened as aforesaid, to remain unremoved 
 for such time or times as they shall think proper. 
 
 458 
 
Columbia College, St. John's College and University of the City of 
 New York: streets not to be opened through grounds of. 
 
 Sec. 972. It shall be unlawful to open any streets through 
 the grounds belonging to the corporation of St, John's College, 
 in ifts actual occupation at what was formerly known as Fordham, 
 or through or upon any part of the land and premises now owned 
 by the University of the City of New York, extending from Sed*g- 
 wick avenue to Aqueduct avenue, in the City of New York, and 
 lying immediately south of and adjacent to One Hundred and 
 Eighty-first street, sometimes called University avenue, so long 
 as the same shall be owned or occupied for educational purposes 
 by the said university; provided, however, that nothing in this 
 section contained shall be construed to interfere with the opening 
 of One Hundred and Eighty-first street, between Andrews avenue 
 and Aqueduct avenue, at any time hereafter, and provided that the 
 said University of the City of New York shall dedicate without 
 claim or reward for damages all of the land required for East One 
 Hundred and Eighty-first street, between Andrews avenue and 
 Aqueduct avenue. No street from One Hundred and Sixteenth 
 street to One Hundred and Twentieth street, or from Amsterdam 
 avenue to the Boulevard shall at any time be opened through the 
 grounds of Columbia College, so long as such grounds are owned or 
 occupied for educational purposes. 
 
 Application for the appointment of commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 973. Whenever the opening of any street shall have been 
 duly authorized and directed, as provided in this Act, it shall be the 
 duty of the Corporation Counsel immediately to institute a proceed- 
 ing to acquire title for the use of the public to the land required 
 for such street, and upon due notice by advertisement duly pub- 
 lished in the " City Record " and the corporation newspapers 
 for ten days, and by causing copie;^ of the same in hand- 
 bills to be posted for the same space of time in three con- 
 spicuous places adjacent to the property to be affected by the in- 
 tended improvement, to make application to the Supreme Court, 
 
 459 
 
in the appropriate department thereof within the City, and in the 
 manner appropriate to proceedings for the appointment of commis- 
 sioners of estimate and assessment, indicating in such application 
 the land required for that purpose by reference to the maps on file 
 in his office. 
 
 Upon such an application it shall be lawful for the said court 
 to nominate and appoint three discreet and disinterested persons, 
 being citizens of the United States, Commissioners of Estimate and 
 Assessment in said proceeding, for the performance of the duties 
 in this chapter mentioned. The Corporation Counsel may nominate 
 three discreet and disinterested persons to said court, of whom it 
 may designate one 'who may be appointed. Any person who 
 may be interested in the property which will be affected by the in- 
 tended improvement, which interest for this purpose shall be de- 
 cided by his own affidavit stating the nature and extent of such in- 
 terest, may present to the court the name of one or more persons 
 whose names shall form a list out of which, if a majority in in- 
 terest of the persons so interested shall agree upon the name of 
 one person, that person may be appointed; but if a majority shall 
 not agree upon one person, then the court may appoint one person 
 out of the names on such list, after which the said court may appoint 
 a third person out of the names so presented by the Corporation 
 Counsel and by the parties interested; all of which persons so named 
 shall be subject to the right of challenge on the ground of inter- 
 est, incapacity or disqualification to be exercised by the Corporation 
 Counsel or by any person having an interest in the said proceed- 
 ings; and if any of them be rejected for good cause, or refuse to 
 serve, then another may be nominated in his stead by the same party. 
 
 Amendment of defects. 
 
 Sec. 974. Said court shall have power at any time to amend any 
 defect or informality in any special proceeding authorized by this 
 ■title, that may be necessary, or to cause property to be affected 
 thereby to be excluded, or other property to be included therein by 
 amendment, upon ten days' notice published and posted as afore- 
 said, and to direct such further notices to be given to any party in 
 
 460 
 
interest as it deems proper, and also to appoint other commissioners 
 in place of any who shall die, or refuse, or neglect to serve, or 
 be incapable of serving, or be removed. If, in any particu- 
 lar, it shall, at any time be found necessary to amend any peH- 
 tion, pleading, proceeding or order, or to supply any defect 
 therein, arising in the course of any special proceeding author- 
 ized by this title, the same may be amended or supplied in such 
 manner as shall be directed by the Supreme Court, which is hereby 
 authorized to make such amendment or corrections. 
 
 Vacancies among commissioners: how filled. 
 
 Sec. 975. Incase of the death, resignation, refusal to act, or fail- 
 ure to qualify within ten days after his appointment of any such Com- 
 missioner of Estimate and Assessment, to be appointed under and by 
 virtue of this title, for any such aforesaid purpose, it shall and may be 
 lawful for the court aforesaid, or of any of the justices thereof, on the 
 application of the City, on notice only to any person interested who 
 may have appeared on the prior application, as often as such event 
 shall happen, to appoint a discreet and disinterested person, being a 
 citizen of the United States, in the place and stead of such commis- 
 sioner so dying, resigning, refusing to act, or failing to qualify, and 
 the surviving or acting commissioners, as the case may be, shall have 
 power to proceed in the execution of the duties of their appointment, 
 until a successor of the commissioner so dying, resigning, or refus- 
 ing to act, or failing to qualify, shall be appointed. 
 
 Two commissioners may act. 
 
 Sec. 976. In all and every.case of the appointment of commis- 
 sioners by the court aforesaid, for any of the purposes aforesaid, it 
 shall be competent and lawful for any two of such said commissioners 
 so to be appointed, to proceed to and execute and perform the trusts 
 and duties of their said appointment, and their acts shall be as valid 
 and effectual as the acts of all the commissioners so to be appointed 
 for such said purpose if they had acted therein would have been. In 
 all cases the acts, decisions, and proceedings of the major part of such 
 
 461 
 
of the commissioners to be appointed for any of the purposes afore- 
 said as shall be acting in the premises, shall always be as binding, 
 valid and effectual as if the said commissioners named and appointed 
 for such purpose had all concurred and joined therein. 
 
 Oath of commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 977. Commissioners when they are appointed and before 
 they enter upon the performance of the duties of their appointment, 
 snail severally take and subscribe before some person authorized by 
 law to administer oaths, the following oath or affirmation: "I do 
 solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will suppKDrt the Constitution of the 
 United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and 
 that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of commissioner 
 accordmg to the best of my ability." Such oath or affirmation shall 
 D€ filed in the office of the clerk of the county in which the order ap- 
 pointing the said cominiissioners has been entered. 
 
 Commissioners to view and give notice of their appointment. 
 
 Sec. 978. It shall be the duty of the said commissioners when 
 
 appointed in a proceeding, to view the lands, tenements and premises 
 to be thereby acquired, and lands, tenements, hereditaments, and 
 premises adjacent thereto, if they shall deem such view to be neces- 
 sary or useful. They shall cause to be published in the "City 
 Record" notice of their appointment, containing a brief statement of 
 the purposes for which they have been appointed, and requiring all 
 parties and persons interested in the real estate taken or to be taken 
 for the purpose of opening, extending, enlarging, straightening, 
 altering or otherwise improving the said street or park affected 
 thereby, and having any claim or demand on account 
 thereof, to present the same to them duly verified, with such 
 affidavit or other proof as the owners or claimants may 
 desire, within twenty days after the date of such notice, and stating a 
 time and place after the expiration of said twenty days when the 
 said parties and persons shall be heard in relation thereto by the 
 said commissioners. At the time and place fixed by said notice, or 
 
 462 
 
at any such further or other times and places as the said commis- 
 sioners may appoint, the said commissioners shall hear such owners 
 and examine the proof of such claimant or claimants, or such ad- 
 ditional proof and allegations as may then be oflfered by such 
 owners, or on behalf of the City of New York. 
 
 Certain Pozvers of Commissioners. 
 
 Sec. 979. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Estimate 
 and Assessment duly appointed in proceedings authorized by this 
 title to administer oaths. And the said commissioners may, as a 
 condition for the opening of a default, require the party applying 
 therefor to pay the fees of the commissioners, and the clerical 
 expenses of the commissioners, for the additional meeting or meet- 
 ings of the commissioners made necessary by the fault of such par- 
 ty. They shall reduce any testimony taken before them to writing. 
 They may cause such maps or diagrams to be prepared, if they deem 
 the same necessary, as will enable or assist them to hear and de- 
 termine the claims or interests of the said owners and persons inter- 
 ested. From the surveys and maps furnished to or prepared by them 
 and such other information as the said commissioners shall possess 
 or obtain, they shall cause diagrams to be prepared which shall dis- 
 tinctly indicate, by separate numbers, the names of the owners of or 
 the claimants to the respective plots or parcels of land to be taken or 
 assessed by such proceeding, and which shall also specify, in figures, 
 with sufficient accuracy, the dimensions and bounds of each said 
 tracts or parcels. 
 
 The said commissioners, before the completion of their esti- 
 mate and assessments, may obtain from the City of New York a 
 profile or plan, if they shall deem the same useful, showing the in- 
 tended regulation of the street, or part of a street, with 
 regard to the opening of which they have been appointed, as to 
 the elevation or depression thereof, after the same shall be opened, 
 extended, enlarged, straightened, altered, or otherwise improved, as 
 the case may be; and also profiles or plans, if they shall deem the 
 same useful, showing the intended regulation of the adjacent street 
 
 463 
 
or streets, as to the elevation or depression thereof, after such im- 
 provement. 
 
 The said commissioners may require any board, department, or 
 officer of the City of New York to furnish to them such surveys and 
 maps as may be required by them. 
 
 Commissioners to ascertain damages and benefit. 
 
 Sec. 980. After hearing such testimony and considering such 
 proofs as may be offered, the commissioners, or a major- 
 ity of them, all having considered the same, or having had an oppor- 
 tunity to be present, shall, without unnecessary delay, ascertain and 
 estimate the compensation which ought justly to be made by the City 
 of New York to the respective owners, lessees, parties and persons 
 respectively entitled unto or interested in the lands, tenements, 
 hereditaments and premises so required for the improvement; and 
 make a just and equitable estimate and assessment also of the value 
 of the benefit and advantage of such improvement to the respective 
 owners, lessees, parties and persons respectively entitled unto or in- 
 terested in the lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises not re- 
 quired for the said improvement, and prepare an abstract of their 
 estimate and assessment. They shall not, in making their estimate 
 and assessment of the value of the benefit and advantage of the said 
 improvement, be confined to any definite limit, but shall and 
 hereby are authorized to extend such estimate and assessment to any 
 and all such lands, tenements and hereditaments and premises as 
 they may deem to be benefited by the improvement, and which they 
 may judge expedient to include in their report in the premises. The 
 Board of Public Improvements may in any case determine whether 
 any, and, if any, what proportion of the cost and expense thereof 
 shall be borne and paid by the City of New York, and the re- 
 mainder of such cost and expense shall be assessed upon the 
 property deemed to be benefited thereby. 
 
 The said commissioners shall in no case assess any house, lot, 
 improved or unimproved lands, more than one-half the \alue of such 
 house, lot, improved or unimproved land, as valued by them. It 
 shall be lawful for the said commissioners, if they shall deem it just 
 
 464 
 
and equitable under the circumstances to do so, but not otherwise, 
 to assess any part, not exceeding one-third part of the estimated 
 value of any building or buildings taken in the proceeding, but not 
 of any other improvement, upon the City of New York. If the said 
 commissioners of estimate and assessment shall judge that any in- 
 tended regulation will injure any building or buildings not required 
 to be taken for the purpose of opening, extending, enlarging, 
 straightening, altering, or improving such street or part of a street, 
 they shall proceed to make, together with the other esti- 
 mates and assessments required by law to be made by them, a just and 
 equitable estimate and assessment of the loss and damage which will 
 accrue, by and in consequence of such intended regulation, to the 
 respective owners, lessees, parties and persons, respectively, en- 
 titled unto or interested in the said building or buildings so to be 
 injured by the said intended regulation; and the sums or estimates 
 of compensation and recompense for such loss and damage shall be 
 included by the said commissioners in their report and included in 
 the assessment for benefit. 
 
 Abstract of estimate and assessment to be deposited. 
 
 Sec. 981. The said commissioners shall deposit in the Bureau 
 of Street Openings in the Law Department their said abstract of their 
 estimate and assessment at least thirty days before their report shalf 
 be presented to the court for confirmation, which abstract shall be 
 accompanied by copies of the diagrams used by them and which shall 
 refer to the numbers thereby indicated, and state the several sums 
 respectively estimated for or assessed upon each of said parcels with 
 the name or names, claimant or claimants, so far as ascertained by 
 said commissioners. They shall also deposit all the affidavits and 
 proofs used by them in making theirreport. Theyshall also publish 
 a notice for fifteen days in the '' City Record" and in the corpora- 
 tion newspapers, and when authorized pursuant to this Act, in not 
 more than one newspaper published in the Borough in which the 
 property is located, stating their intention to present theirreport for 
 confirmation to the said court at a time and place to be specified in 
 said notice, and that all persons interested in such proceedings, or 
 
 465 
 
in any of the lands affected thereby, having objections thereto, shall 
 file the same, in writing, duly verified, with said commissioners with- 
 in twenty days after the first publication of said notice, and that the 
 said commissioners will hear parties so objecting at a place and at 
 a time after the expiration of said twenty days, to be specified in sai'd 
 notice. Similar notice for at least ten days shall be given of any 
 new, supplemental or amended abstract. At the time and place 
 named in said notice the said commissioners shall hear the person 
 or persons who have objected to the said abstract, and who may 
 then and there appear, and shall have power to adjourn from time 
 to time until all such persons shall be fully heard. 
 
 Amendment of abstract. 
 
 Sec. 982. It shall not be lawful for Commissioner of Estimate 
 and Assessment to alter or amend any abstract or report, or supple- 
 mental or amended abstract or report, after the same shall have been 
 deposited for inspection as required by law, by increasing the amount 
 of any assessment for benefit, or diminishing any award for damage, 
 unless the person or persons, party or parties, affected by such in- 
 crease or diminution shall have had notice thereof and an opportunity 
 of being heard before said commissioners before their report shall be 
 presented to the court for confirmation. 
 
 Witness: how compelled to testify. 
 
 Sec. 983. Upon the application of any person or persons whose 
 rights may be affected by the said estimate or assessment, veri- 
 fied by the oath or affirmation of such applicant or his agent, that 
 any witness, residing or being in the City of New York, whose 
 affidavit to verify or oppose any objection to the said estimate or 
 assessment is material or necessary to such party, refuses voluntarily 
 to appear before any officer authorized to take such affidavit, to 
 testify or affirm to such matter as he may know, touching such ob- 
 jection, any one of the said commissioners of estimate and assess- 
 ment in the proceeding may issue a subpoena, under his hand, re- 
 quiring such witness to appear and testify to such matters as he 
 
 466 
 
may know touching the said estimate or assessment, at such time 
 and place as the said commissioner may designate in such subpoena. 
 And every person, who, being served with such subpoena, shall, 
 without reasonable cause, refuse or neglect to appear, or appearing, 
 shall refuse to answer, under oath or affirmation, touching the mat- 
 ters aforesaid, shall forfeit to the party injured one hundred dollars; 
 and may also be committed to prison by any justice of the Supreme 
 Court upon application duly made on behalf of the commissioner 
 who issued such subpoena, there to remain, without bail 
 and without the liberties of the jail, until he shall submit 
 to answer, under oath or affirmation as aforesaid. The testimony of 
 such witness when given shall be reduced to writing in the presence 
 of and be sworn or affirmed to before such commissioner. 
 
 Commissioners to present report to court. 
 
 Sec. 984. After considering the objections, if any, and 
 making any correction or alteration of their estimate or 
 assessment, which said commissioners, or any two of them 
 shall find to be just and proper, the said commissioners 
 shall file the said report, signed by them or a majority of them, in 
 the office of the clerk of the county where the lands are situated at 
 least five days before the time mentioned in said notice for the pre- 
 sentation of said report to the court for confirmation, or the date 
 to which the same shall have been duly adjourned. The said com- 
 missioners, or any person interested in said proceeding, shall noti^ 
 the Corporation Counsel and all persons who have filed their objec- 
 tions as aforesaid, or who have theretofore appeared as soon as the 
 said report shaill have been filed. The Corporation Counsel may 
 present the same for confirmation, or in case of his neglect or refusal, 
 any person interested in the lands taken or required for said im- 
 provement may present the same, upon notice to the Corporation 
 Counsel. 
 
 Report: what to contain. 
 
 Sec. 985. The report of the commissioners shall consist of the 
 diagram hereinbefore referred to, duly corrected, when necessary, 
 
 467 
 
with a tabular abstract of the estimate and assessment, with any 
 corrections or alterations thereof by said commissioners, showing 
 fully and separately to the said court the amount of loss and damage, 
 and of benefit and advantage to each and every owner, lessee, party 
 and person entitled or interested in any lands, tenements, heredita- 
 ments, or premises aflfected by the improvement. In said report 
 the commissioners who shall make the same shall set forth the names 
 of the respective owners, lessees, parties and persons entitled unto 
 or interested in the said lands, tenements, hereditaments, and prem- 
 ises mentioned in the said report, and each and every part and parcel 
 thereof, as far forth as the same shall be ascertained by them, and 
 an apt and sufficient designation or description of the respective 
 lots or |>arcels of land and other tenements, hereditaments and 
 premises that may be required for the purpose of opening such 
 street or park, or part thereof so to be opened, or laying out and form- 
 ing or extending and enlarging or otherwise improving such street or 
 park so to be laid out and formed, or so to be extended, enlarged 
 or otherwise improved, as the case may be, and also of the said re- 
 spective lots or parcels of land and other tenements, hereditaments 
 and premises not included within, but deemed to be benefited by the 
 same, and so assessed by the said commissioners for the said benefit 
 as aforesaid. It shall refer to the number of the tracts and parcels 
 indicated by said diagrams, and state the several sums respectively 
 estimated for or assessed upon each of said tracts or parcels, with 
 the name or names of the owners or claimants of each, if ascertained 
 by said commissioners. Whenever the said commissioners shall be 
 unable to ascertain with sufficient certainty the name of any owner 
 of any parcel of said lands, they shall indicate such parcel upon the 
 diagram embracing it, as belonging to unknown owners. It shall 
 not be necessary in said repyort to describe any of the said tracts or 
 parcels by metes and bounds, but only by reference to the said dia- 
 grams. It shall also set forth the several and respective sums esti- 
 mated and assessed as and for the compensation and recompense, or 
 the allowance to be made for the loss and damage, or for the bene- 
 fit, as the case may be, of the respective owners of the fee or inherit- 
 
 468 
 
ance of such lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises respec- 
 tively, and for the loss and damage, or for the benefit, as the ca&e may 
 be, of the respective owners of the leasehold estates or other interests 
 therein separately; but in all, and each and every case and 
 cases where the owners and parties interested, or their respective 
 estates and interests are unknown, or not fully known to the said 
 commissioners, it shall be sufficient for them to estimate and assess, 
 and to set forth and state in their said report, in general terms, the 
 respective sums to be allowed and paid to or by the owners and pro- 
 prietors generally of such said lands, tenements, hereditaments and 
 premises, and parties interested therein for the loss and damage, or 
 for the benefit and advantage, as the case may be, to such owners, 
 proprietors, and parties interested in respect of the whole estate and 
 interest of whomsover may be entitled to, unto or interested in the 
 said lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises respectively, by 
 and in consequence of the said operation and improvement of open- 
 ing, laying out, and forming or extending, enlarging or otherwise 
 improving tlhe said street or park or section thereof so to be opened or 
 so to be laid out and formed or extended, enlarged, or otherwise 
 improved, as the case may be, without specifying the names 
 of the estates or interests of such owners and proprietors 
 and parties interested, or of any or either of them. Said 
 Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment may, in their 
 discretion, or when required by the Board of Public Improvements 
 make up and file a preliminary abstract of their estimate of 
 damages, separate and apart from their estimate of assessments for 
 benefit, embracing either the entire lands, tenements, hereditaments, 
 and premises to be acquired or successive sections or parcels there- 
 of, and ascertain and estimate the compensation to be made thereon 
 and make a separate report with reference thereto. Such separate 
 or partial report shall be made in the same form and manner, and 
 such proceedings shall be had in respect thereto, as in respect to th^ 
 report of the commissioners relative to the entire lands taken and 
 assessed as herein provided for, except that the final or last separate 
 report shall contain the assessment for benefit. 
 
 469 [ 
 
Proceedings upon presentation of report for confirmation. 
 
 Sec. 986. The application for the confirmation of the report 
 shall be made to the Supreme Court, at a term thereof held within 
 The City of New York as constituted by this Act, and in the 
 Judicial Department within which the lands are situated. 
 Upon the coming in of the said report, signed by the said 
 commissioners, or any two of them, and upon the hearing 
 of the application for the confirmation thereof, if title to said 
 lands shall not have been theretofore vested in the City of 
 New York, or if said lands are not being condemned for a 
 pubHc park, parkway, public square or place, and if persons who ap- 
 pear by the said report to be interested, either iby assessment for 
 benefit or award for damages, to the amount of a majority in amount 
 of the whole assessments and awards, shall appear and object to fur- 
 ther proceedings upon the said report, the court shall order the pro- 
 ceeding to be discontinued; otherwise the said court shall by rule 
 or order, after hearing any matter which may be alleged against the 
 same, either confirm the said report in whole, or in part, or refer 
 the same, or a part thereof, to the said commissioners for revisal and 
 correction, or to new commissioners, to be appointed by the said 
 court to reconsider the subject matter thereof, and the said commis- 
 sioners to whom the said report or part thereof shall be so referred 
 shall return the same report or such part thereof, corrected and re- 
 vised, or a new report to be made by them in the premises to the said 
 court without unnecessary delay ; and the same on being so returned 
 shall be confirmed or again '•eferred by the said court in 
 manner aforesaid, as right and justice shall require, and so 
 from time to time until a report Shall be made or re- 
 turned in the premises, which the said court shall wholly 
 confirm, and such report, when so confirmed by the said 
 court, shall, unless set aside or reversed on appeal, be final and 
 conclusive, as well upon the City of New York as upon the 
 owners, lessees, persons, and parties interested and entitled unto 
 the lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises mentioned in 
 the said report ; and also upon all other persons whomsoever. 
 
 470 
 
Duplicate copies of report to be filed. 
 
 Sec. 987. Duplicate copies of said report signed by the said 
 commissioners, or any two of them, shall be filed by the Corporation 
 Counsel of said City, one in the office of the Comptroller, and the 
 other in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court, where the order 
 confirmmg said report is entered. 
 
 Appeals. 
 
 Sec. 988. The City of New York or any party or person 
 affected by the said proceeding and aggrieved by the said 
 report when confirmed as aforesaid, may appeal to the Ap- 
 pellate Division of the said court. Such appeal shall be 
 taken and heard in the manner provided by the code of Civil 
 Procedure and the rules and practice of the said court in rela- 
 tion to appeals in special proceedings, and such appeal shall be 
 heard and determined by such Appellate Division upon the merits 
 both as to matters of law and fact. But the taking of an appeal by 
 any person or persons shall not operate to stay the proceeding's 
 under this Act, except as to the particular parcel of real estate with 
 which the appeal is concerned ; and the order confirming the said re- 
 port shall be deemed to be final and conclusive upon all parties and 
 persons affected thereby who have not appealed. Such appeals 
 shall be heard upon the evidence taken before the said commis- 
 sioners, or such part or portion thereof as the court at special term 
 may certify, or the parties to said appeal may agree upon as sufficient 
 to present the merits of the questions in respect to which such ap- 
 peal shall be had, and on affidavits as to irregularities which have 
 been presented to the court at special term upon the coming in of 
 such report of said commissioners. When an order confirming a re- 
 port shal'l be reversed upon appeal, the commissioners to whom 
 such report shall be referred for amendment, correction, or revisal, 
 shall have power to make such additional assessment as may be 
 necessary. 
 
 Appeal to Court of Appeals authorized. 
 
 Sec. 989. An appeal to the Court of Appeals may be taken 
 
 471 
 
by the city or any person or party interested in the said proceed- 
 ing and aggrieved by the order of the Appellate Division. 
 
 Such appeal may be taken within sixty days, and heard in 
 the manner provided by the Code of Civil Procedure and the 
 rules and practice of the Court of Appeals, in relation to appeals 
 in special proceedings. The Court of Appeals may affirm or 
 reverse the order appealed from, and may m;ike such order or 
 direction as shall be appropriate to the case, whether for a 
 rehearing of the same before the Commissioners, or for final 
 confirmation of the report or otherwise. If the report is con- 
 firmed, the Court of Appeals shall enter a final order in the 
 proceedings which shall be binding upon all persons having any 
 interest in the property or franchises condemned, and directing 
 that compensation be made, pursuant to the determination of 
 the Commissioners, and the city shall thereupon be entitled to 
 take and hold forever the property and franchises condemned for 
 the public use. Payment of the compensation into the court to 
 the credit of any person or corporation mentioned in said order, 
 in case tender thereof shall have been refused by such person 
 or corporation, shall be deemed a payment within the provisions 
 of this Act. 
 
 Vesting of title. 
 
 Sec. 990. Should the Board of Public Improvements at any 
 time deem it for the public interest that the title to the lands and 
 premises required for any street or park heretofore or hereafter 
 laid out, widened, altered, extended, or otherwise improved, 
 should be acquired by the City of New York at a fixed or spec- 
 ified time, the said Board of Public Improvements may direct, by 
 resolution, where no buildings are upon such lands, that upon the 
 date of the filing of the oath of the Commissioners of Estimate and 
 Assessment, as provided for in this chapter, or upon a specified 
 date thereafter, and where there are buildings upon such lands, that 
 upon a date not less than six months from the date of the filing of 
 said oath, the title to any piece or parcel of land lying within the 
 lines of any such street or park, shall be vested in the City 
 of New York. Thereafter, when the said Commissioners shall 
 
 472 
 
have taken and filed said oath, upon the date of such fihng or 
 upon such subsequent date as may be specified where no build- 
 ings are upon such lands, and where there are buildings upon such 
 lands upon the date specified by said Board of Public Improve- 
 ments, either before or after the filing of such oath, the same being 
 not less than six months from the date of said filing, the City of New 
 York shall become and be seized in fee of said lands, tenements, and 
 hereditaments in the said resolution mentioned, that shall or may be 
 so required as aforesaid, the same to be held, appropriated, con- 
 verted, and used to and for such purpose accordingly, in like manner 
 as are other public streets and parks, respectively, in the said City. 
 In such cases interest at the legal rate upon the sum or sums to 
 which the owners, lessees, parties or persons are justly entitled 
 upon the date of the vesting of title in the City of New York, 
 as aforesaid, from said date to the date of the report of the com- 
 missioners shall be allowed by the Commissioners as a part of the 
 compensation to which such owners, lessees, parties, or persons 
 are entitled. In all other cases, title, as aforesaid, shall vest in the 
 City of New York upKjn the confirmation by the court of the report 
 of the Commissioners. Upon the vesting of title the City of New 
 York, or any person or persons acting under its authority, may im- 
 mediately, or at any time thereafter, take possession of the same, or 
 any part or parts thereof, without any suit or proceeding at law for 
 that purpose. 
 
 The title acquired by the City of New York to lands and prem- 
 ises required for a street, shall be in trust, that the same be appro- 
 priated and kept open for, or as part of a public street, forever, in like 
 manner as the other streets in the City are and of right ought to be. 
 The title acquired by the City of New York to lands and premises 
 acquired for a park shall be a fee simple absolute. 
 
 Within what time proceedings to be completed: removal of commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 Sec. 991. The commissioners appointed in pursuance of this 
 title shall complete said proceedings on their part within six months 
 from the time of their appointment, unless further time be allowed 
 
 473 
 
by the Supreme Court. At least five days' notice of the application 
 for such extension shall be given by the Corporation Counsel to 
 all persons who have appeared in said proceedings, and have special- 
 ly requested that notice of any such application be served upon them. 
 Upon such application, the court shall have power to make such 
 order in the premises in respect to the time and manner of completing 
 the report of said commissioners, and in respect to the taking and 
 submission of tihe proofs of the parties interested, as will enable or 
 require the commissioners to complete said proceeding on their 
 part with reasonable dispatch; and if it shall appear that the said 
 proceeding has been delayed by reason of the inattention, neglect 
 or refusal of said commissioners, or any of them, to act or attend, 
 or of the failure of a majority of them to agree upon a 
 report, the court may remove the commissioner or commis- 
 sioners so neglecting or refusing, or the commissioners fail- 
 ing to agree, and appoint a suitable person or persons in his 
 or their place. And the said court may, at any time, remove any 
 of said Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment who, in its judg- 
 ment, shall be incapable of serving, or who shall, for any reason. >" 
 its judgment, be an unfit person to serve as such commissioner. 
 The cause of such removal shall be specified in the order making 
 the same. 
 
 Owners may convey to the City. 
 
 Sec. 992. The owners of land and of all the estate therein em- 
 braced within the lines of any street laid down and shown 
 on the map or plan of the City of New York, and comprising all the 
 land within said lines in an entire block in extent, may, without 
 compensation, and at their own expense, convey all their right, 
 title, and interest therein, providing the same shall be free from in- 
 cumbrances inconsistent with the title to be acquired by the City, 
 to the City of New York, and upon the delivery of such convey- 
 ances to the Corporation Counsel of said City, with the money neces- 
 sary to record such conveyances, and affidavits made by all such 
 owners to the effect that the persons making them, are the owners 
 
 474 
 
of the estates in such lands so conveyed by them, respectively, and 
 stating- their interests, and that such estates in such lands are free 
 of all incumbrances, except as aforesaid, together with abstracts of 
 title and complete searches, if desired by such Corporation Counsel, 
 it shall be the duty of such Corporation Counsel to examine such 
 conveyances and papers, and if such titles shall not be rejected for 
 good cause, by such CorjxDration Counsel, he shall cause the said 
 conveyances to be recorded in the ofBce in which conveyances of 
 real estate are recorded in' the county in which such lands are located, 
 within sixty days after their delivery to him., and file them 
 with the comptroller of such City, and thereupon the City of New 
 York shall become vested with the title to said lands to the same 
 effect and extent as if they had been acquired by a proceeding taken 
 for the opening of that portion of said street; after the 
 making and acceptance of such conveyances, no proceedings to 
 open the lands so conveyed shall be taken or maintained, nor shall 
 the lands fronting on that portion of the street so con- 
 veyed, and extending to the center of the block on either side of 
 such portion of said street so conveyed, be chargeable 
 with any portion of the expenses of opening the residue or any 
 portion of the residue of such street, except the due and fair propor- 
 tion of the awards that may be made for buildings as aforesaid. 
 
 Subdivision of plots. 
 
 Sec. 998. If, at any time after the filing of the maps showing 
 the laying out of streets by proper municipal authority, the 
 owner or owners of any plot of land bounded on all sides 
 by streets, and not laid out as and for a public square, 
 place or park, shall desire to subdivide such plot and 
 give public right of way into or through such plot, he, she, 
 or they may submit two sets of maps, plans, or surveys of such plot 
 and of such proposed right of way, showing the width, which shall 
 not be less than thirty feet, and the location, extent, and direction 
 of the same, and the proposed grade therefor, to thelBoard of Pub- 
 lic Improvements, for approval ; and if the same shall be approved 
 
 475 
 
and the owner or owners aforesaid shall immediately thereafter con- 
 vey in such form as shall be approved by the Corporation Counsel, 
 the title to the land required for such right of way, free and clear 
 from all incumbrances, to the City of New York in trust as and for a 
 public street, the same shall from that time be and become an opened 
 public street, the same as if it had been laid out and opened as 
 other streets are or ought to be ; and the maps, plans, or surveys 
 thereof, and of the grades therefor, aforesaid, shall immediately 
 thereafter be certified by the city clerk, and one set thereof shall 
 be filed in and remain of record in the office in which convey- 
 ances of real estate are recorded in the county in which such land 
 is located, and the other set thereof in the office of the Corpora- 
 tion Counsel of said City. 
 
 City may agree with owners. 
 
 Sec. 994. It shall be lawful for the City at any time or times, 
 either before or after the appointment of commissioners in the 
 premises, for any of the purposes aforesaid, to agree with the own- 
 ers, lessees, parties, or persons entitled unto or interested in the 
 lands, tenements, hereditaments, and premises, that either will be 
 benefited by, or may be required for the purpose of, making the 
 operation and improvement intended to be made, or with any 
 or with either of such owners or other parties interested 
 therein, for and about the cession of the lands, tenements, 
 hereditaments, and premises required of him, her, or them, 
 respectively, for the purpose of making such said intended 
 operation and improvement, and for and about the com- 
 pensation and recompense to be made to him, her, or them, 
 for the same, or for and about the allowance, or sum or sums to be 
 allowed and paid by such owners and parties, respectively, or by any, 
 or eithei, of them, for the benefit and advantage of the street or park 
 or section thereof so to be opened, or laid out and formed, or the 
 extension, enlargement, or other improvement of the street or park 
 so to be extended, enlarged, or otherwise improved, to him, iher, or 
 them, over and above the value of the lands, tenements, heredita- 
 ments, and premises, that may be required if any lands, tenements, 
 
 476 
 
hereditaments or premises shall be required of nim, her, or 
 them, for the purpose of opening, laying out, and forming or 
 extending, enlarging, or otherwise improving the same, and in 
 case of any such agreement or agreements, with part only of the 
 said owners and parties entitled unto and interested in the said 
 knds, tenements, hereditaments, and premises so required for the 
 purpose of making any such operation and improvement as afore- 
 said, or to be benefited thereby, the same shall be valid and binding 
 upon the parties thereto, and the said commissioners shall, never- 
 theless, enter upon and make or proceed with their said estimate 
 ri-d assessment, and make report to the said court, as to the residue 
 of the said lands, tenements, hereditaments, and premises required 
 for the said purpose of making such said operation and improve- 
 ment, or to be benefited thereby, concerning which the owners 
 thereof and parties interested therein shall not agree; and the said re- 
 port, when confirmed, shall be of like force and effect in regard to the 
 matters comprised therein, as if no such agreement as to the part of 
 the premises had been made. 
 
 City entitled to compensation and liable to assessment. 
 
 Sec. 995. If any lands, tenements, hereditaments, or premises 
 belonging to the City of New York, or wherein it may be interested, 
 shall be required for any of the purposes aforesaid, or shall be 
 benefited by any such operation and improvement as hereinbefore 
 mentioned, the City shall be entitled to compensation and recom- 
 pense for the loss and damage it may sustain, and shall be bound 
 to allow and pay for the benefit and advantage it may be deemed 
 to acquire thereby, in like manner as other owners and proprietors 
 of lands and premises required for the purpose of making the said 
 operation and improvement, or deemed to be benefited thereby; 
 and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners of Estimate and 
 Assessment, and they are hereby directed in such, each and every 
 case, to estimate and assess upon the principles, and in the manner 
 herein aforesaid; and to report the sum or sums which, in their 
 opinion, ought to be allowed and paid to or by the City for the said 
 
 477 
 
loss and damage, or for the said benefit or advantage, as the case 
 may be, to the City, by and in consequence of such said operation 
 and improvement of opening the said street or park, or section there- 
 of so to be opened, or laying out, or forming, or extending, enlarg- 
 ing, or otherwise improving the same, so to be laid out and formed, 
 or extended, enlarged or otherwise improved, as the case may be. It 
 shall not, however, be lawful to lay or impose any assessment what- 
 ever on any public park, square, or place, or street, road or avenue, 
 but all such assessments which may be properly payable by the 
 City shall be assessed against it in a gross sum in each and every 
 of such proceedings. 
 
 Contracts of landlord and tenant: how affected. 
 
 Sec. 996. In all cases where the whole of any lot or parcel of 
 land or other premises, under lease or other contract, shall be taken 
 for any of the purposes aforesaid, by virtue of this title, all the cove- 
 nants, contracts, and engagements between landlord and tenant, or 
 any other contracting parties, touching the same, or any part there- 
 of, shall, upon the vesting of the title in the City of New York, cease 
 and determine and be absolutely discharged ; and in all cases where 
 part only of any lot or parcel of land, or other premises, so under 
 lease or other contract, shall be so taken for any of the purposes 
 aforesaid, all contracts and engagements respecting the same shall, 
 upon such vesting of title, cease, determine and be absolutely dis- 
 charged as to the part thereof so taken, but shall remain valid 
 and obligatory as to the residue thereof, and the rents, considera- 
 tions and payments reserved or payable, and to be paid, for or in 
 respect to the same, shall be so apportioned as that the part thereof 
 justly and equitably payable, or that ought to be paid, for such said 
 residue thereof, and no more shall be demanded or paid, or re- 
 coverable, for or in respect of the same. • 
 
 Corporation Counsel to represent interests of City before Commis- 
 sioners, and provide clerks a?id offices: expenses. 
 
 Sec. 997. It shall be the duty of the Corporation Counsel 
 
 478 
 
to furnish the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment who 
 may be appointed in any proceeding to open, widen, extend, 
 alter, or close any street, park or parkway in said City, such 
 necessary clerks and other employees, and to provide such suit- 
 able offices as they may require to enable them to fully and 
 satisfactorily discharge the duties imposed upon them by 
 this chapter; the Corporation Counsel shall, either in person or by 
 such assistant or counsel as he shall designate for the purpose, ap- 
 pear for and protect the interests of the City in all proceedings in 
 court and before the commissioners. All expenses for searcher's 
 or surveyor's fees, and such other necessary expenses and dis- 
 bursements which the City of New York shall incur under the pro- 
 visions of this section shall be paid by the comptroller out of the 
 fund for street and park openings, provided for by existing laws, 
 and shall be borne and reimbursed and paid to the City of New 
 York by the parties and persons interested and entitled, as owners 
 or otherwise, unto and in the lands, tenements, hereditaments, and 
 premises deemed to be benefited thereby, and the same shall be in- 
 cluded in and taxed by the court, upon due proof of the services 
 rendered, and disbursements charged as part of the necessary costs 
 and expenses of the said proceedings; but such expenses and dis- 
 bursements shall not be included in the assessments for benefit 
 until after they have been taxed before a justice of the Supreme 
 Court, in the appropriate department. 
 
 Other costs and charges. 
 
 Sec. 998. Except as hereinbefore otherwise provided, no costs 
 or charges of the said commissioners or others shall be paid or al- 
 lowed for any service performed under this title, unless the same 
 shall be taxed by the said court after notice given as provided in 
 the following section. Upon such taxation, due proof of the nature 
 and extent of the services rendered and disbursements charged 
 shall be furnished, and no unnecessary cost or charges shall be al- 
 lowed. Each of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment 
 shall receive six dollars for each day upon which the said commis- 
 sioners shall meet and be actually and necessarily employed in the 
 
 479 
 
performance of the duties imposed upon them by this Act. All such 
 costs, fees, and expenses or disbursements, which by law are re- 
 quired to be taxed as in this chapter provided, shall be stated in 
 detail in the bill of costs and charges and expenses, and shall be 
 accompanied by such proof of the reasonableness and necessity 
 thereof, as is now required by law and the practice of the said court 
 upon taxation of costs and disbursements in other special proceed- 
 ings or actions in said court; provided, however, that in any pro- 
 ceeding of an unusually difficult or extraordinary character, the 
 said court, may, upon tSxing said costs or expenses, make such 
 additional allowances to the said commissioners as may to it ap- 
 pear just and equitable, upon such proof as may be submitted of 
 the nature and extent of the services rendered by said commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 Taxation of costs. 
 
 Sec. 999. A bill of said costs, charges, and expenses shall be 
 filed in the office of the clerk of the county m which the order ap- 
 pointing the isaid commissioners has been entered, at least ten days 
 before the same shall be presented for taxation. There shall be an- 
 nexed a statement of the aimounts, if any, previously taxed, to whom 
 the same were payable, and the date of such taxation. A notice of 
 at least ten days shall be published in the "City Record," 
 and the corporation newspapers, and served upon the 
 Corporation Counsel, of the time and place of taxing 
 said costs, charges, and expenses, which shall be there- 
 upon taxed by a justice of the Supreme Court, or a referee 
 under his spvecial order, and before the report of said commission- 
 ers shall be presented for confirmation. On said final taxation there 
 may be a retaxation of any bill previously taxed in the same pro- 
 ceeding, if sufficient reason therefor be made to appear. 
 
 Discontinuance of proceedings. 
 
 Sec. 1000. The Board of Public Improvements is authorized 
 and empowered to discontinue any and all legal proceedings taken 
 
 480 
 
for opening, widening, straightening, extending altering, or closing 
 streets or parks, or parts thereof, at any time before title to the 
 lands and premises to be thereby acquired shall have vested in 
 the City of New York, if, in its opinion, the public interest 
 requires such discontinuance, and with power to cause new pro- 
 ceedings to be taken in such cases for the appointment of new 
 commissioners. 
 
 Damages for land taken: when to be paid. 
 
 Sec. 1001. All damages awarded by the Commissioners of Esti- 
 mate and Assessments with interest thereon from the date of said 
 report, and all costs or expenses which may be taxed, shall be paid by 
 the City of New York to the respective persons and bodies politic or 
 corporate mentioned or referred to in said report, or in whose favor 
 such costs or expenses shall be taxed. Interest shall cease to run on 
 sums awarded as damages six months after the date of the confirma- 
 tion of said report unless within that time demand therefor be made 
 upon the Comptroller. Said damages, costs, and expenses shall be 
 paid from the fund for street and park openings provided for 
 in this Act, and by existing laws. The person or persons to 
 whom awards shall be made in such proceedings, and 
 the person or persons in whose favor costs and expenses 
 may be taxed, shall not have an action at law against 
 the City of New York for such awards, costs, or expenses, but the 
 court in which said proceedings have been had, upon the application 
 of any such person or persons, in case of the failure of the Comp- 
 troller of said City to pay the same within thirty days after demand 
 therefor, shall require and direct the Comptroller to pay said awards, 
 costs, and expenses from the said fund, and enforce said order or 
 mandate in the same manner as other orders and mandates of said 
 court are enforced. Provided, however, that whenever the amount 
 of damages awarded in any report, together with the costs of the 
 commissioners, shall exceed the balance remaining in said fund 
 after deducting all outstanding claims against said balance, the 
 comptroller shall and he is hereby authorized to raise, by the issue 
 and sale of revenue bonds, such amounts as shall be necessary to 
 
 481 
 
pay such damages, costs, and expenses, and said court, upon the 
 application of any person or persons in whose favor, or to whom 
 awards shall be made in such proceeding, and the person or per- 
 sons in whose favor costs and expenses may be taxed, may require 
 or direct the Comptroller to raise the money necessary to enable 
 him to pay such awards, costs and expenses, and from such fund 
 to pay the same, except that when any sum or sums shall in said re- 
 port be made to unknown owners, the Supreme Court shall, upon 
 the application of said City of New York, or of any person entitled 
 to, or claiming to be interested in the lands, tenements, or here- 
 ditaments for which said awards have been made, or any part there- 
 of, either direct the same to be retained by the Comptroller, or to be 
 paid into the Supreme Court, until the title thereto, or of the re- 
 spective estates and interests of all parties therein shall be deter- 
 mined by said court, and upon such application, the said court may 
 take the proof and testimony of the claimant or claimants, or parties 
 interested in the lands for which said awards have been made, or re- 
 fer the matter to a referee idt- such purpose. 
 
 Moneys of persons under disability: how disposed of: moneys paid to 
 
 wrong person. 
 
 Sec. 1002. Whenever the owners and proprietors of any such 
 lands, tenements, hereditaments, and premises so to be taken for any 
 of the purposes aforesaid, or the party or parties, person or persons 
 interested therein, or any, or either of them, the said owners, pro- 
 prietors, parties or persons in whose favor any such sum or sums, 
 or compensation shall be so reported, shall be under the age of 
 twenty-one years, non compos mentis, femme covert, or absent from 
 the City of New York, and also in all cases where the name or names 
 of the owner or owners, parties or persons entitled unto or inter- 
 ested in any lands, tenements, hereditaments, or premises that may 
 be so taken for any of the purposes aforesaid, shall not be set for£h 
 or mentioned in the said report, or where the said owners, parties, 
 or persons, respectively, being named therein, cannot upon dili- 
 gent inquiry be found, it shall be lawful for the City to pay the sum 
 or sums mentioned in the said report, payable, or that would be 
 
 482 
 
coming to such owners, proprietors, parties, and persons, respect- 
 ively, into the said Supreme Court, to be secured, disposed of, and 
 improved as the said court shall direct, and such payment shall be 
 as valid and effectual, in all respects, as if made to the said owners, 
 proprietors, parties, and persons, respectively, themselves, accord- 
 ing- to their just rights, as if they had been known and had all been 
 present, of full age, discovert, and compos mentis; and, provided 
 also, that in all, and each, and every case and cases, where any 
 such sum or sums, or compensations, so to be reported by the safd 
 commissioners in favor of any person or persons, or party or par- 
 ties whatsoever, whether named or not named in the said report, 
 shall be paid to any person or persons, or party or parties whom- 
 soever, when the same shall of right belong, and ought to have been 
 paid, to some other person or persons, or party or parties, it shall be 
 lawful for the person or persons, or party or parties, to whom 
 the same ought to have been paid, to sue for and recover the same, 
 with lawful interest and costs of suit, as so much money had and re- 
 ceived to his, her, or their use, by the person or persons, party or 
 parties, respectively, to whom the same shall have been so paid. 
 
 Sums to be equally and proportionately assessed. 
 
 Sec. 1003. All moneys paid under the provisions of this 
 title by the City, except such part thereof as the Board of. Public 
 Improvements shall direct to be borne and paid by the City of 
 New York, shall be assessed equally and proportionately, as far 
 as the same may be practicable, upon the lands and premises 
 benefited by the improvement, and shall be a lien and charge 
 thereon, and shall be applied, levied and collected in the man- 
 ner provided by law for the assessment, levy, and collection of 
 similar expenses and disbursements for the reimbursement of 
 the city treasury. 
 
 Sums assessed to be Kens. 
 
 Sec. 1004. The respective sums or assessments so to be assessed 
 and reported by the said Commissioners of Estimate and Assess- 
 ment, as and for the allowance to be made by the parties and per- 
 
sons, respectively, in the said report mentioned or referred to, and in- 
 tended as owners and proprietors of, or parties interested in, lands 
 and premises deemed to be benefited, for the benefit and advan- 
 tage of the street or park or section thereof, or of the ex- 
 tension, enlargement, or other improvement of the street or park 
 mentioned in the said report, shall be a lien or charge on the lands, 
 tenements, hereditaments, and premises, in the said report of the 
 said commissioners mentioned, or upon the estate and interests 
 of the respective owners, lessees, and parties interested in such said 
 lands, tenements, hereditaments, and premises for or on account of 
 which the said respective suths shall be so assessed by the said com- 
 missioners upon the said respective owners and proprietors thereof, 
 or parties interested therein. The owners, proprietors and parties 
 interested therein, and also the occupants, and each and every of 
 them, shall, moreover, be respectively liable to pay on demand 
 the respective sum or sums or assessments mentioned in the said 
 report of the commissioners, at which the respective lands, tene- 
 ments, hereditaments and premises so owned or occupied by him, 
 her, or them, or wherein he, she, or they are so interested, or at 
 which the owners and proprietors thereof shall be so assessed, to 
 such person or persons as the city shall appoint to receive the same. 
 The said respective sums or assessments, with interest as in this 
 Act provided, may be recovered with all costs and charges by the 
 City from and against the parties assessed, or the owner or owners 
 of the respective lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises 
 whereon or in respect of which the same may be assessed, or set 
 forth in the said report of the commissioners, or from or against 
 any or either of the said parties or owners, without joining any other 
 Of others of them, the said parties or owners therein, by action; 
 provided, that nothing herein contained shall affect any agreement 
 between landlord and tenant, or any other contracting parties re- 
 specting the payment of any such assessment or charges, but they 
 shall be answerable to each other in the same manner as if the pro- 
 visions in this title contained concerning the same had never been 
 made; and if any money so to be assessed, be paid by or collected 
 
 484 
 
or recovered from any person or persons when by agreement or 
 by law the same ought to have been borne and paid by some otHer 
 person or persons, it shall be lawful for the person or persons 
 paying the same, or from whom the same shall be recovered, by 
 suit or otherwise, to sue for and recover the money so paid by or 
 recovered from him or them, with interest and costs, as so much 
 money paid for the use of the person or persons who ought to 
 have paid the same, and the said report of the commissioners, with 
 proof of payment, shall be conclusive evidence in such suit. 
 
 Comptroller to publish notice of confirmation of assessment, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1005. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to give public 
 notice, by advertisement, for at least ten days, in the "City 
 Record" and the corporation newspapers, immediately after the 
 confirmation of any assessment for a street or park opening, that 
 the same has been confirmed, specifying the title of such assess- 
 ment, the date of its confirmation by the Supreme Court, and 
 also the date of entry in the record of titles of assessment kept 
 in the bureau for the collection of assessments and of arrears of 
 taxes and assessments, and of water rents, notifying all persons, 
 owners of property affected by any such assessment, that, unless 
 the amount assessed for benefit on any person or property shall 
 be paid within sixty days after the date of said entry of any such 
 assessment, interest shall thereafter be collected thereon as pro- 
 vided in the following section ; and all provisions of law or ordinance 
 requiring any other or different notice of assessments and interest 
 thereon are repealed. 
 
 Interest to be charged if not paid in sixty days. 
 
 Sec. 1006. If any such assessment shall remain unpaid for the 
 period of sixty days after the date of entry thereof in the said rec- 
 ord of titles and assessments, it shall be the duty of the officer 
 authorized to collect and receive the amount of such assessment, to 
 charge, collect and receive interest thereon, at the rate of seven 
 per centum per annum ; to be calculated from the date of such entry 
 to the date of payment. 
 
 485 
 
Interest limited to excess in certain cases. 
 
 Sec. 1007. Whenever an estimate and assessment for loss and 
 damage, and for benefit and advantage shall be made by the com- 
 missioners of estimate and assessment relative to the same person 
 or persons, no interest shall be demanded from such person or per- 
 sons upon the amount assessed for benefit and advantage, except on 
 the excess of the amount he is to pay over and above the amount 
 he is to receive for or in consequence of any intervening time be- 
 tween the period fixed for the receipt of the amount of benefit and 
 advantage and the payments of the amount of loss and damage. 
 
 Notices in proceedings to open streets: how published. 
 
 Sec. 1008. Any notice now required, or hereafter to be required, 
 by law to be published in any proceeding for the opening, ex- 
 tending, widening or altering any street or park in said city, 
 shall hereafter be published in the "City Record," and the 
 corporation newspapers. Whenever handbills now or hereafter 
 may be required by law to be posted in any such proceeding, they 
 shall be posted or affixed with paste or other adhesive substance in 
 three conspicuous places upon or near the lands to be taken in such 
 proceeding, and proof of such posting shall be sufficient evidence 
 without further proof of said notice having remained posted during 
 the whole of the period required by law. 
 
 Sec. 1009. Nothing contained in title 3 of this chapter re- 
 lating to the vacating and reduction of assessments shall apply to 
 assessments made pursuant to this Title. 
 
 Sec. 1010. Whenever the word "street," or the plural thereof, oc- 
 curs in this chapter it shall be deemed to include all that is 
 included by the terms, ** street, avenue, road, alley, lane, high- 
 way, boulevard, concourse, public square and public place," or 
 the plurals thereof, respectively. 
 
 Sec. 1011. It shall be the duty of the Corporation Counsel, 
 within ten days after the entry of an order appointing commis- 
 
 486 
 
sioners in a proceeding authorized by this Title, to file a copy of 
 such order in the office of the Register or County Clerk of the 
 County in which the land to be acquired is located. There 
 shall be endorsed upon such copy order a reference to the 
 section and block or the sections and blocks on the land 
 map of such county which include the land to be taken by 
 such proceeding or abut thereon. The Register or County 
 Clerk with whom such copy order shall be filed shall index in 
 the index of conveyances on each block so endorsed on said copy 
 order a statement giving the title of said proceeding and the 
 date of the entry of said order. 
 
 Title 5. 
 sales of lands for taxes, assessments an*d water rates. 
 
 When taxes and %vater rents to be liens on lands assessed. 
 
 Sec. 1017. All taxes and all assessments for local improvements 
 and all water rents, and the interest and charges thereon, which may, 
 in the City of New York, as by this Act constituted, hereafter be 
 laid or may have heretofore been laid, upon any real estate now 
 in said City, shall continue to be, until paid, a lien thereon, and shall 
 be preferred in payment to all other charges. No assessments for 
 any local improvement shall be deemed to be fully confirmed, so as 
 to be due and be a lien upon the property included in the assess- 
 ment, until the title thereof, with the date of confirmation shall be 
 entered with the date of such entry, in a record of the titles of assess- 
 ments confirmed, to be kept in the office of the collector of 
 assessments and arrears. 
 
 Comptroller to publish notice of confirmation of assessments. 
 
 Sec. 1018. It shall be the duty of the Comptrollerto give public 
 notice, by advertisement, for at least ten days, in the City Record 
 and the corporation newspapers, duly designated for any Borough, 
 in which the property is situated, immediately after the confirma- 
 
 487 
 
tion of any assessment, for a local improvement, that the same has 
 been confirmed, specifying the title of such assessment, and the date 
 of its confirmation, and also the date of entry in the record of titles 
 of assessments kept in the office for the collection of assessments 
 and of arrears of taxes and assessments, and of water rents, 
 notifying all persons, owners of property aflfected by any 
 such assessments, that unless the amount assessed for bene- 
 fit on any person or property shall be paid within sixty days after 
 the date of said entry of any such assessment, interest shall be there- 
 after collected thereon as provided in the following section; and all 
 provisions of law or ordinance requiring any different or other notice 
 of assessments and interest thereon, are hereby repealed. 
 
 Interest to be charged if assessment unpaid for sixty days. 
 
 Sec. 1019. If any such assessment shall remain unpaid for the 
 period of sixty days after the date of entry thereof on the said 
 record of titles of assessments, it shall be the duty of the officer au- 
 thorized to collect and receive the amount of such assessment to 
 charge, collect and receive interest thereon, at the rate of seven per 
 centum per annum, to be calculated from the date of such entry to 
 the date of payment. 
 
 Sec. 1020. Interest shall hereafter be charged and collected at 
 the rate of seven per centum per annum on all arrears of taxes and 
 assessments returned to the collector of assessments and arrears 
 from the time they become due until the date of payment, or in 
 case a sale has taken place, as provided in section 1027, until the 
 date of the certificate mentioned in said section, and on the 
 rents and charges for water from the time the taxes become 
 due, to which they may be added as required by section 1025, 
 until the same date respectively. 
 
 Apportionment of assessment. 
 
 Sec. 1021. If a sum of money in gross has been or shall be as- 
 sessed for local improvements upon any lands or premises in the 
 City of New York, any person or persons claiming any divided or 
 undivided part thereof may pay such part of the sums of money so 
 
 488 
 
assessed,also of the interest and charges due or chargfed thereon, as 
 the Comptroller may deem to be just and equitable; and the remain- 
 der of the sum of money so assessed, together with the interest and 
 charges, shall be a lien upon the residue of the land and premises 
 only, which residue may be sold in pursuance of the provisions of 
 this Act, to satisfy the residue of such assessment, interest, or 
 charges, in the same manner as though the residue of said assess- 
 ment had been imposed upon the residue of said land or premises. 
 
 Commissioner of Water Supply to transm.it separate account for 
 each ward : penalty for wasting water. 
 
 Sec. 1022. The Commissioner of Water Supplyshall, annually, 
 at the time the tax levy in each year is confirmed by the Municipal 
 Assembly, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the col- 
 lector of assessments and arrears a separate account for each 
 ward of all lots on which the water rents for that year, including 
 the extra charges to be included in said rents, as provided by 
 this Act, may remain unpaid, with the amount due on each lot, 
 and shall, at the same time, notify the Comptroller of the aggre- 
 gate amount of such water rents so returned, and shall thereafter 
 receive, no payment on account of the same, but may, neverthe- 
 less, certify to the collector of assessments and arrears any 
 overcharges, which shall, upon said certificate, be remitted by the 
 collector of assessments and arrears at any time before settle- 
 ment. The said Commissioner of Water Supply is hereby 
 authorized to prescribe a penalty, not exceeding the sum 
 of five dollars for each offense, for permitting water to 
 be wasted, and for any violation of such reasonable rules 
 as he may from time to time prescribe for the prevention of the 
 waste of water; such fines shall be added to the water rents. 
 
 Receiver of taxes to return arrears to the collector. 
 
 Sec. 1023. The receiver of taxes shall, on the first day 
 of June, in each year, make a return to the collector of 
 assessments and arrears, of all taxes on real estate and of 
 water rates and rents, which] j^have been added thereto, 
 remaining unpaid, and shall notify the Comptroller of the 
 
 489 
 
aggregate amount of arrears so returned, and balance on his books 
 the accounts of the arrears so returned, by charging the amount 
 thereof to the said collector, and shall thereafter receive no pay- 
 ments on account of arrears so returned, but may nevertheless cer- 
 tify to the collector of assessments and arrears any errors, which 
 shall, upon such certificate, be corrected by the said collector 
 any time before settlement. 
 
 Water rents to he provided for in assessment rolls. 
 
 Sec. 1024. There shall be ruled in the yearly assessment rolls 
 of each ward a column headed "water rents" in which immediately 
 after the confirmation of such assessment rolls, the collector of assess- 
 ments and arrears shall cause to be entered opposite the ward and 
 block numbers of the property on which the said arrears may be due, 
 the amounts due for "water rents," as transmitted to him by the 
 Commissioner of Water Supply, in accordance with the law, and the 
 same shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner 
 with the taxes to which they shall be added. 
 
 Arrears likewise to he provided for. 
 
 Sec. 1025. There shall be ruled in the yearly assessment rolls of 
 the taxes In each ward, a column headed "arrears," in which the 
 collector of assessments and arrears shall, annually, before any taxes 
 for the year are collected, cause to be entered the word "arrears" 
 or "sold," according as the fact maybe, opposite to the ward, 
 lot, town and map numbers on which any arrears of taxes, 
 or of taxes with the water rent added, shall be due, or on 
 which any assessment shall remain unpaid which was due or 
 confirmed thirteen months prior to the first of June, then last 
 past, or which may have been sold for assessments, taxes, or 
 water rents, and yet be redeemable. 
 
 Bills for taxes to show arrears. 
 
 Sec. 1026. There shall be ruled a column for "arrears" 
 in every bill rendered for taxes for lots on which said arrears 
 or assessments, or taxes with water rents added, may be 
 due as aforesaid, or may have been sold and yet be redeem- 
 able, in which shall be written opposite the entry of the ward, 
 
 490 
 
lot, town and map number of said lot, "arrears" or "sold 
 according as the fact may be ; and it is hereby declared to 
 be the duty of the receiver of taxes to cause a record to be kept of 
 the ward and block numbers of all lots so noted in said bill as in ar- 
 rears, or sold, when said bills are presented for settlement, and at 
 the bottom of said bill shall be printed: "the columns for arrears in- 
 dicate lots sold for arrears, or to be sold therefor; arrears to be 
 paid and lots redeemed at the office of the collector of assess- 
 ments and arrears." 
 
 Sales of lands for taxes and assessments: proceedings. 
 
 S3i:c. 1027. Whenever any tax on lands or tenements, 
 or any assessments on lands or tenements for local improve- 
 ments, shall remain unpaid for the term of three years from 
 the time the same shall have been confirmed, and also when- 
 ever any rents for water in said city shall have been due and 
 unpaid for the term of four years from the time the same shall 
 have been due, it shall and may be lawful, for the collector of 
 assessment and arrears, under the direction of the Comptroller, to 
 advertise the said lands and tenements or any of them for sale, and 
 by such advertisement the owner or owners of such lands and tene- 
 ments respectively shall be required to pay the amount of such tax, 
 assessment, or water rents so remaining unpaid, together with the 
 interest thereon ait the rate of se7>en per cent, per annum to the time 
 of payment, with the charges of such notice and advertisement, to 
 the said collector, and notice shall be given by such advertisement 
 tliat if default shall be made in such payment such lands and tene- 
 ments will be sold at public auction at a day and place therein to be 
 specified, for the lowest term of years ait which any person or per- 
 sons shall offer to take the same in consideration of advancing the 
 said tax, assessment, or water rents, as the case may be, and the in- 
 terest thereon as aforesaid to the time of sale, and the 
 charges of the above mentioned notices and advertisement and all 
 other costs and charges accrued thereon; and if, notwithstanding 
 such riotice, the owner or owners shall refuse or neglect to pay such 
 tax, assessment, or water rents, with the interest as aforesaid, and 
 
 491 
 
the charges attending such notice and advertisement, then it shall 
 and may be lawful for the said collector under the direction of 
 the said Comptroller, to cause such lands and tenements to be sold 
 at public auction for a term of years, for the purpose and in the 
 manner expressed in the said advertisement, and such sale shall be 
 made on the day and at the place for that purpose mentioned in the 
 said advertisement, and shall be continued from time to time, if 
 necessary, until all the lands and tenements so advertised shall be 
 sold ; and the said collector shall give to the purchaser or pur 
 chasers of any such lands and tenements a certificate of sale, in writ- 
 ing, describing the lands and tenements so purchased, the term of 
 years for which the same shall have been sold, the sura 
 paid therefor, and the time when the purchaser will be 
 entitled to a lease of the said lands and tenements. But 
 no houses or lots, or improved or unimproved lands, in the 
 City of New York, shall be hereafter sold or leased at pub- 
 lic auction for the non-payment of any tax, assessment, or water 
 rents which may be due thereon, unless notice of such sale shall have 
 been published once in each week successively for three months im 
 the City Record and the corporation newspapers, which adver 
 tisement shall contain, appended to said notice, a particular and 
 detailed statement of the property to be sold for taxes, assess- 
 ments or water rents ; or the said detailed statement and descrip 
 tion, instead of being published in the City Record and the cor- 
 poration newspapers, shall, at the option of the said Comptroller, 
 be printed in a pamphlet, in which case copies of the pamphlet 
 shall be deposited in the ofifice of the said collector, and shall 
 be delivered to any person applying therefor. And the notice pro- 
 vided for in this section to be given of the sale of houses and lots 
 and improved and unimproved lands shall also state that the de- 
 tailed statement of the taxes, assessments, or water rents, and the 
 ownership of the property taxes assessed, and on which the water 
 rents are unpaid, is published in the City Record and the cor- 
 poration newspapers, or in a pamphlet, as the case may be, and 
 that copies of the pamphlet are deposited in the ofifice of the 
 said collector, and will be delivered to any person applying for 
 
 492 
 
the same. No other notice or demand of the tax, assessment, 
 or water rent shall be required to authorize the sale of any lands 
 and tenements as hereinbefore provided. 
 
 Contiguous lots to be advertised as one parcel. 
 
 Sec. 1028. In advertising houses and lots and improved or 
 unimproved lands to be sold for the non-payment of taxes and 
 assessments, or water rents, it shall be the duty of the collector 
 of assessments and arrears to advertise all the houses and lots or 
 other lands lying contiguous to each other and belonging to the 
 same owner in one parcel, unless otherwise requested by such 
 owner, but he may sell separately the said houses and lots as the 
 same may have been assessed. 
 
 Postponement of sales. 
 
 Sec. 1029. It shall be lawful for the Comptroller to suspend or 
 postpone any sale or sales of lands and tenements or any portion 
 thereof which shall have been advertised for sale, to any time not 
 exceeding fifteen months from the day specified in any such adver- 
 tisement. All sales which shall be so postponed or suspended shall 
 be made without further advertisement, other than a general notice 
 of such postponement to be published in the City Record and 
 the Corporation newspapers. 
 
 Sa/es for taxes and assessments to be conducted by the collector of 
 Assessments and Arrears : provision for repayment of purchase 
 money when the sale is vacated. 
 
 Sec. 1030. The collector of assessments and arrears or his as- 
 sistant shall conduct the sales hereinabove provided to be made, 
 and no auctioneer other than said collector or his assistant shall 
 be employed to make such sale, and no auctioneer's fees shall be 
 charged thereon. Certificates or sale shall be made and delivered 
 to the purchaser without charge. In case any sale shall be 
 vacated or cancelled, the purchaser, his legal representative or 
 assign, shall be repaid the amount paid by him at such sale, 
 with interest thereon from the time of such payment. 
 
 493 
 
Corporation may bid in property. 
 
 Sec. 1031. It shall be lawful for the collector of assessments and 
 arrears, at any sale of lands and tenements in the City of New 
 York, for taxes, assessments, or water rents, to bid in, for the 
 City of New York, every lot and premises so put up for sale for 
 which no person shall offer to bid, and certificates of such sales 
 shall be made by the said collector to the City of New York, in the 
 form and manner prescribed for individuals. All such purchases 
 shall be subject to the same rights of redemption as purchases 
 by individuals ; and if the lands and tenements sold shall not be 
 redeemed, or shall not have been assigned, the Comptroller of the 
 City shall execute a lease therefor to the City of New York, with 
 the same effect as in cases of leases to individuals in this title 
 provided. 
 
 Id.: how assigned. 
 
 Sec. 1032. It shall be the duty of said collector, in all 
 cases of purchases of lands and tenements by the City of New 
 York for taxes, assessments, or water rents, to assign any and all 
 such purchases to any person who shall at any time within one year 
 from the time when such purchases were made, offer to take the 
 same, upon his or her paying to the said collector of assessments 
 and arrears, for the use of the City, the purchase money, with 
 seven per cent, interest thereon. The person so receiving the 
 assignment shall be entitled, upon the redemption of the prop- 
 erty, to receive the amount so paid by him or her in the City 
 with interest from the time of such payment at the rate and in 
 the same manner as if he or she had purchased the property at 
 a sale for taxes, assessments or water rents. 
 
 Certificates where consolidated municipality has bid in property. 
 
 Sec. 1033. In cases where lands within the boundaries of any of 
 the municipal corporations or pants of municipal corporations by 
 this Act consolidated with the corporation known as the Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, have been 
 sold for taxes and assessments and the title upon such sales has 
 pa'>sed to either of said municipal corporations or parts of muni- 
 
 494 
 
cipal corporations, such title is hereby transferred to and 
 vested in the Corporation of The City of New York as con- 
 stituted by this Act; and said corporation shall have all the rights, 
 privileges, and property of its predecessor in said title and the same 
 powers and privileges in respect to the enforcement of the same or 
 the sale or lease thereof, and the Comptroller of the City shall con- 
 trol the same in all respects, as by statute in such cases already 
 made and provided. 
 
 Redemption of lands purchased by Corporation. 
 
 Sec. 1034. In all cases of lands and tenements purchased by the 
 City of New York for taxes, assessments, or water rents, in which 
 the same shall not have been assigned, any person claiming title 
 to such lands and tenements, or any other person, may redeem 
 the same in like manner and to the same effect as in cases of indi- 
 vidual purchases, by paying, in the manner provided by law, for 
 the use of the said City, the purchase money with seven per cent, 
 interest thereon, together with any and all expenses which shall 
 have accrued since the sale ; and in all cases where lands and 
 tenements shall be conveyed to the said City pursuant to the 
 provisions of this title, it shall be the duty of the said collector 
 in the name of the said City, to cause notices to be served in the 
 manner in this title provided. 
 
 Corporation to take possession of unclaimed lands. 
 
 Sec. 1035. It shall be lawful for the City of New York, and it 
 is hereby authorized and empowered, to take peaceable possession 
 of, or sue for and recover, and to hold, occupy, and enjoy all lots 
 or pieces or parcels of land, situate, lying, and being in the City 
 which have or w'hich may be sold for a term of time for the pay- 
 ment of any taxes or assessments in the said City, after the expira- 
 tion of the term from w^hich the samie may have been or shall be so 
 sold, provided the rightful owner of the same shall not then claim 
 possession of the same, and to have, hold, and occupy the same un- 
 til the rightful owner shall claim possession of the same, and shall 
 pay all sums which may be due thereon for taxes, assessments, and 
 
 495 
 
also the value of the improvements which may be made, or erected 
 upon the same by the City of New York, over and above all the 
 rents, issues, and profits which may be received by the 
 City of New York for or on account of the rents, is- 
 sues, and profits of any such premises; provided always, 
 that the City of New York shall not be entitled to demand any 
 sum of money for any such improvements, unless it shall have 
 caused to be published, in the City Record and the corporation 
 newspapers for at least three months previous to the making 
 of such improvements, a notification to the owners of the said 
 lots, to appear and take possession of their said premises ; and, furth- 
 er, that in no case shall the owners of the said premises be compelled 
 to pay for any such improvements a sum exceeding two-thirds of 
 the value of their said lots of land. The City shall account for and 
 pay over to the rightful owner of any such lots of land all the rents, 
 issues, and profits which the City of New York may receive on ac- 
 count of such premises over and above the amount of all taxes and 
 assessments due for or on account of the said premises, and over and 
 above the value of all such improvements thereon as shall be made 
 after the notification mentioned in this section, and as shall not ex- 
 ceed two-^;hirds of the value of said lots of land. 
 
 Mortgagees to be notified of sale before the time to redeem expires. 
 
 Sec. 1036, In cases of sales of real estate for the non-pay- 
 ment of taxes or assessments, it shall be the duty of the 
 collector of assessments and arrears, sixty days before the 
 time limited by law for the redemption of any real estate 
 from the effect of such sales, to cause notice to be 
 given to all mortgagees of the real estate so sold, their assignees or 
 personal representaitives, and to all owners, lessees, or persons other- 
 wise interested, or their legal representatives, who shall at any time, 
 at least one month before the time for the giving of such notice, 
 have filed in the ofifice of the Register or County Clerk of the 
 County in which said real estate is situated a memorandum 
 of such mortgage and of such real estate, containing a brief ab- 
 stract, designating the property, with the street number, if there 
 be any, or such definite description or diagram as will enable the 
 
 496 
 
said collector of assessments and arrears to designate the said 
 premises upon the City maps, and the name and residence of 
 such mortgage, assignee, or personal representive, and such 
 owner, lessee, or person represented. 
 
 How such notice shall be given. 
 
 Sec. 1037. Such notice shall be given by putting into the post 
 office in the City of New York, directed to such mortgagees, as- 
 signees, or personal representatives, at their places of residence, if 
 known to the collector of assessments and arrears, and 
 such owners, lessees, or persons otherwise interested, a 
 printed list describing all the property sold for taxes and 
 remaining unredeemed. Such description shall name the 
 street or avenue on which the property may be situate, the side of 
 the street or avenue, and between what streets or avenues, with the 
 map or si reel numbers of the property, and in whose name assessed^ 
 together with the term of years and amount for which the same 
 shall have been sold, and the day or days on which the time limited 
 for the redemption of the property will expire, with a notice that 
 unless the property shall be redeemed on or by such days^ by the 
 payment of the sums for which the same were sold, with all interest 
 and expenses allowed by law, that leases will be given to the pur- 
 chasers, in accordance with the statute in such case made and pro- 
 vided. . , - 
 
 Amdavit of service. 
 
 Sec. 1038. An affidavit of the service of such notice as is re- 
 quired in the two preceding sections, before any officer authorized 
 to take affidavits to be read in a court of record, and filed in the 
 office of the said Register or County Clerk or a certified copy- 
 thereof under the signature of such Register or County Clerk, 
 shall be evidence of the fact of such notice. 
 
 Register to record memoranda. 
 
 Sec. 1039. It shall be the duty of the said Register or 
 County Clerk to keep in his office a book, alphabetically ar- 
 ranged, for the registering of all such memoranda as aforesaid^ 
 which book shall be open to the inspection of any person desir- 
 
 497 
 
ing to examine the same, without charge. The said Register or 
 County Clerk shall be entitled to receive twenty-five cents for 
 registering the memorandum of each mortgage, as above pro- 
 vided. 
 
 Mortgagee's right to redeem. 
 
 Sec. 1040. Such mortgagees or their assignees or personal rep- 
 resentatives, and such owners, lessees, or persons otherwise inter- 
 ested, or their legal representatives, shall be entitled to redeem the 
 property sold from the efifect of such sale, at any time within two 
 years from the date of such sale, and such mortgagees, assignees, 
 or personal representatives shall have a lien on the property for the 
 amount paid, with the interest which may thereafter accrue thereon, 
 at the rate of seven per centum per annum, in like manner as if the 
 same had been included in such mortgage. 
 
 Notice of expiration of time to redeem to he published: lease to he exe- 
 cuted to purchaser on default to redeem. 
 
 Sec. 1041. The collector of assessments and arrears under 
 direction of the Comptroller of the City, shall cause an ad- 
 vertisement to be published at least twice in each week, 
 for six weeks successively in the City Record and the cor- 
 poration newspapers, in such form as he shall deem best 
 calculated to give notice of such sale, that unless the lands 
 and tenements sold be redeemed by a certain day, they will 
 be conveyed to the purchaser. If the person or persons claim- 
 ing title to the said lands and tenements, or some other persons, shall 
 not, within two years from the date of the before mentioned certifi- 
 cate, pay to the said collector, for the use of the purchaser 
 or purchasers, his, her, or their heirs, executors, administrators, or 
 assigns, the sum mentioned in such certificate, together with the 
 interest thereon, at the rate of fourteen per centum per annum, from 
 the date of such certificate, the said Comptroller, in the name of the 
 City of New York, at the expiration of the said two years, shall exe- 
 cute to tTie purchaser or purchasers, his, her, or their heirs, exec- 
 utors, administrators, or assigns, a lease, under the common seal of 
 
 498 
 
the City, of the lands and tenements so sold for such term of years 
 as the same shall have been sold, and the execution thereof shall 
 be witnessed by the said collector. At the time of receiving the 
 lease the purchaser shall pay the sum of two dollars and fifty cents 
 to the said collector for the expense of drawing said lease, and also 
 the expense of advertising the notice to redeem ; and all such leases 
 executed by the said Comptroller and witnessed by the said collec- 
 tor shall be presumptive evidence that the sale and all proceedings 
 prior thereto, from and including the assessments on said lands and 
 tenements, for taxes or assessments or water rents, and all notices 
 required by law to be given previous to the expiration of the two 
 years allowed to redeem, were regular and according to the provi- 
 sions of the statute in such cases made and provided ; and such pur- 
 chaser or purchasers, his, her, or their heirs, executors, administra- 
 tors, or assigns, shall, in virtue thereof and of this title, lawfully 
 hold and enjoy the said lands and tenements in said lease mentioned 
 for his, her, or their own proper use against the owner or owners 
 thereof, and all claiming under him, her, or them, until such pur- 
 chaser's term therein shall be fully complete and ended ; and the said 
 purchaser or purchasers, his , her, or their heirs, executors, admin- 
 istrators, or assigns, shall be at liberty to remove all the buildings or 
 miajterials which he, she, or they shall erect or place thereon during 
 the said term, within one month after the exipration of the 
 said term, but leaving tHe lands and tenements, with the streets 
 fronting the same, in the order required by the regulations of the 
 Municipal Assembly; provided that such lease shall not be executed 
 and delivered until the expiration of six months after the publica- 
 tion of the notice last herein above mentioned. 
 
 Redeeming a portion of lands sold. 
 
 Sec. 1042. In all cases where pieces or parcels of land shall 
 have been sold for taxes, assessments or water rents, and any 
 person shall claim to redeem any portion of the same within the 
 time limited for redemption, he shall be permitted to do so on pay- 
 ing the apportionment of the tax, assessment or water rents for 
 which the property was sold, together with the interest on the same, 
 
 499 
 
and an equitable proportion of the expense, the apportionment to 
 be made by the Comptroller. 
 
 Sale of lands actually occupied: notice to be served. 
 
 Sec. 1043. Whenever any lands or tenements sold for taxes, 
 assessments, or water rents, and conveyed, as in this title provided, 
 shall, at the time of conveyance, be in the actual occupancy of any 
 person, the grantee to whom the same shall have been conveyed, 
 or the person claiming under him, shall serve a written notice on 
 the person occupying such lands or tenements, and in all cases on 
 the person owning the property so conveyed, whether the property 
 be in occupancy or not, provided such owner resides in the City of 
 New York, or in any adjoining county; in case the owner does not 
 reside in the City of New York, or in an adjoining county, said no- 
 tice shall be sent to his or her post-office address by mail. All such 
 notices shall state in substance the sale and conveyance, the person 
 to whom made, and the amount of consideration money mentioned 
 in the conveyance, with the addition of forty-two per centum on 
 such amount as the said lands or tenements were struck off for at 
 the time of the sale, and the further addition of the sum paid for the 
 lease and advertisement; and stating, also, that unless such consid- 
 eration money, and the said forty-two per centum, together with 
 the sum paid for the lease and advertisements, shall be paid to said 
 collector of assessments and arrears, for the benefit of the gran- 
 tees, within six months after the service of such notice, the 
 said conveyance will become absolute, and the owner, occupant, 
 and all others interested in the lands or tenements be barred 
 from all right and title thereto during the term of years for 
 which such lands or tenements shall have been conveyed. And 
 no conveyance made in pursuance of this title shall be recorded 
 until the expiration of such notice, and the evidence of the 
 service of such notice shall be recorded with such conveyance. 
 
 Id.: mode of service. 
 
 Sec. 1044. Such notice shall be served personally or by leaving 
 the same at the dwelling house of the occupant and of the person 
 
 500 
 
owning the property conveyed, with any person of suitable age and 
 discretion belonging to his or her family, and the name of the person 
 on whom served shall be stated in the affidavit of service hereinafter 
 mentioned if the same can be ascertained, and if served by mail, 
 shall state tjhe time when the same was mailed. 
 
 Id. : affidavit thereof. 
 
 Sec. 1045. In every such case the grantee, or the person claim- 
 ing under him, in order to complete his title to the land conveyed, 
 shall file with the said collector of assessments and arrears 
 an affidavit of some person residing in the City of New York, 
 who shall be certified as credible by the officer before whom 
 such affidavit shall be taken, that such notice was duly served, 
 specifying the time of service, the mode and manner of service 
 and a copy of such notice shall be attached thereto. 
 
 Certificate of the Comptroller: effect thereof. 
 
 Sec. 1046. If the said Comptroller shall be satisfied by such affi- 
 davit that tfie notice has been duly served, and if the moneys re- 
 quired to be paid for the redemption of such lands or tene;ments shall 
 not have been paid as hereinbefore provided, he shall, under his hand 
 and seal, certify to the fact, and the conveyance shall thereupon be- 
 come absolute, and the owner and all others interested in the lands 
 or tenements shall be barred of all right thereto during the term of 
 years for which the same (shall have been conveyed. 
 
 Owner or occupant: when may redeem. 
 
 Sec. 1047. The owner, occupant, or any other person may, at 
 any time within ftihe six months named in such notice, redeem the 
 said lands and tenements by paying isuch purchase money, with the 
 addition of forty-two per cent, thereon, and the amount that shall 
 have been paid for the lease, and every such redemption shall be as 
 effectual as if made before the conveyance of the lands or tenements 
 sold. 
 
 Rate of interest: how to he calculated. 
 
 Sec. 1048. The rate of interest allowed by law to the purchaser 
 
 501 
 
at the time of redemption on the amount of the purchase money 
 shall be reduced to fourteen per cent, per annum; but no interest 
 shall be calculated on a less portion of time than one-quarter of a 
 year; and in all cases where the property shall be redeemed during 
 any fractional part of a year, the interest shall be calculated so as 
 to include the quarter in which suOh redemption shall be made, the 
 time to be computed from the day of sale. 
 Certificate of redemption to be furnished. 
 
 Sec. 1049. Upon such redemption, as provided for in the 
 two preceding sections, the said collector of assessments and 
 arrears shall give to the person redeeming, a certificate under 
 his hand and seal, stating the payment, the year in which the 
 sale was made, and showing what land such payment is intended 
 to redeem, and such certificate shall be evidence of such 
 redemption. 
 
 Lost certificate; delivery of lease in case of. 
 
 Sec 1050. Whenever any certificate given by the Collector 
 of Assessments and Arrears, as in this title provided, of lands 
 sold shall be lost, the said Comptroller may receive evidence of 
 such loss, and on satisfactory proof of the fact may execute and 
 deliver a lease to such person or persons who shall appear entitled 
 thereto of the lands and tenements described in the certificate, 
 and may also, in his discretion, require a bond of indemnity to 
 the City of New York. Each certificate shall be registered in 
 the record of sales to be kept in the bureau of said Collector of 
 Assessments and Arrears, and no transfer of such certificate shall 
 be valid until registered in said book. 
 
 Bills of Arrears of taxes and assessments to be furnished when 
 requested. 
 
 Sec. 1051. The Collector of Assessments and Arrears, 
 upon the requisition of any person, shall furnish a bill of all 
 arrears of taxes, and of taxes with the * 'water rents" added on 
 any lot or lots due prior to the first of June, then last passed ; 
 and of assessments which shall have been due twelve months or 
 over, including the amount necessary to redeem it or them, if 
 it or they have been sold for any arrears of assessments, taxes 
 or water rents and be yet redeemable ; and upon the payment of 
 
 502 
 
the said bill (which shall be called a "bill of arrears of assessments, 
 taxes and water rents and for redemption") his receipt thereon, 
 countersigned by the Comptroller, shall be conclusive evidence 
 of such payment. The Comptroller shall cause to be kept a 
 duplicate account of amounts so collected, and the certificate of 
 the Collector of Assessments and Arrears, countersigned by the 
 Comptroller, that there are no such Hens on said lot or lots, 
 shall forever free the said lot or lots from all liens of taxes, or for 
 taxes with water rates added, or for rents of water added to the 
 taxes prior to the first of June then last passed, and for all assess- 
 ments due thirteen months or over, prior to the date of the said 
 receipt or certificate, and from all liens in consequence of sales 
 for assessments, taxes, or water rents, or for all of them, when 
 the time allowed by law for redemption had not expired at the 
 date or time of said payment or certificate. 
 
 Id. : fees for searches. 
 
 Sec. 1052. Fees for the searches to be paid into the City 
 treasury shall be included in the bills mentioned in the preced- 
 ing section, and also charges for certificates, which shall be given 
 by said Collector of Assessments and Arrears, respecting lots on 
 which there may be no arrears when searches are required ; the 
 said fees to be regulated by ordinance of the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 Complete record of sales to be kept. 
 
 Sec. 1053. There shall be kept in the office of the Collector 
 of Assessments and Arrears a record of all sales made for taxes, 
 assessments, and water rents, which record shall show the amount 
 of the tax, the assessment, and the water rents, a description of 
 the premises sold, the date of the sale, the name of the person 
 to whom sold, the term of years for which such property was 
 sold, time of the delivery of the lease, to whom delivered, and 
 when the same shall expire. 
 
 Affidavits of publication of necessary notices to be preserved. 
 
 Sec. 1054. It shall be the duty of the Collector of Assess- 
 ments and Arrears to procure, preserve and register in his office, 
 affidavits of the publication of all the notices by this title required 
 to be published, and such affidavits shall be presumptive proof of 
 such publication in all the courts of this State. 
 
 503 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Title I. The Public Schools and their Management. 
 
 Title 2. The College of The City of New York. 
 
 Title 3. The Normal College. 
 
 Title 4. General Provisions. 
 
 Title i. 
 
 the public schools and their management. 
 
 Board of Education and School Boards : property under their care 
 and control : in what name suits brought. 
 
 Section 1055. The title to all property, real and personal, 
 now or that may hereafter be acquired for school or educational 
 purposes, except the State Normal School at Jamaica, and 
 also the title to all property, real and personal, purchased 
 for school or educational purposes with any school moneys, 
 whether derived from the issue of bonds, or raised by taxation 
 in The City of New York, shall be vested in The City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act, but shall be under the care 
 and control of the Board of Education and of the School Boards 
 of the various Boroughs, as provided in this Act, for the pur- 
 poses of public education. Suits in relation to such property 
 shall be brought in the name of the said Board of Education. 
 The said City of New York shall have power to take and hold 
 any property, real or personal, devised or bequeathed or trans- 
 mitted to it for the purposes of education in said City ; but 
 such property shall be under the care and control of the Board 
 of Education and of the School Boards of the various Boroughs, 
 as provided by this Act, for the purposes of public education 
 in said City. 
 
 504 
 
School age of children. 
 
 Sec. 1056. The schools of the said City under the manage- 
 ment and control of the Board of Education and of the several 
 School Boards established by this Act, shall be free to all per- 
 sons over five and under twenty-one years of age residing in 
 said City, but under such regulations not in conflict with the 
 general school law of the State, as the Board of Education or 
 the respective School Boards shall prescribe ; and where kin- 
 dergarten schools are established under the provisions of this 
 Act, they shall, in like manner, be free to children not less than 
 four years of age residing in said City. 
 
 Board of Education : succeeds to trusts of Public School Society. 
 
 Sec. 1057. All the trusts held by or vested in the Public 
 School Society of the City of New York, as organized and exist- 
 ing previous to its several acts, in compliance with the pro- 
 visions of an Act entitled, " An Act Relative to Common Schools 
 in the City of New York," passed the 4th day of June, one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and fifty-three, which have not been con- 
 veyed by the said society, and all the rights, powers and duties 
 of the said society, which yet remained therein, shall continue 
 and be vested in the Board of Education of the City of New 
 York, which board is, and shall be held to be the lawful succes- 
 sors of said society in the execution of every trust. 
 
 Board of Education and School Boards : succeed to duties and 
 powers of former boards, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1058. Subject to the provisions of this Act, and so far 
 as is consistent therewith, the Board of Education of The City 
 of New York, as created by the terms and provisions of this Act, 
 and the School Boards of the various Boroughs, as created by 
 the terms and provisions of this Act, shall respectively be sub- 
 ject to all the duties, possess all the rights and exercise all the 
 powers now respectively held by the Boards of Education, 
 Commissioners of Education and School Trustees existing at 
 the time of the passage of this Act, in and for the City of New 
 York, the City of Brooklyn, or Long Island City, or the school 
 districts of the County of Richmond, and the school districts 
 
 505 
 
of that part of the County of Queens, by this Act consolidated 
 into The City of New York, and such duties shall be deemed 
 under this section to be devolved upon the said Board of 
 Education or the School Boards in the same manner as similar 
 duties are devolved upon the said Board of Education or the 
 School Boards of the Boroughs, by this Act. 
 
 Money to conduct schools to be raised by taxation after 1898. 
 
 Sec. 1059. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment and 
 the Municipal Assembly of The City of New York may, in the 
 year eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and in each and every 
 year thereafter, raise and collect by tax, on the estates, real 
 and personal, liable to taxation in said City, such sum of money 
 as may be necessary to provide for the conduct of the schools 
 as called for by the budget adopted by the said Board and the 
 said Assembly pursuant to the provisions of this Act ; but 
 nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to limit or 
 restrict the power of the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment and the Municipal Assembly, to tix in their discretion, 
 and in such detail as they may deem expedient, the amounts 
 to be allowed to said Board of Education in the annual tax 
 levy. 
 
 Special attd General School Funds : all motleys to be received by 
 Board of Education . 
 
 Sec. 1060. All moneys raised for educational purposes in 
 the City of New York shall be raised in two funds, to be known 
 as the Special School Fund and the General School Fund, 
 respectively. The Special School Fund shall consist of all 
 moneys raised for the purchase of school sites, for the erection 
 and repairs of buildings, for the purchase and the leasing of 
 educational and school buildings ; for the purchase of all school 
 supplies, for the maintenance of the Nautical School, and for 
 the administrative purposes of the Board of Education. 
 
 And it shall be the duty of the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment and of the Municipal Assembly to indicate 
 in the budget in raising the Special School Fund the respective 
 amounts thereof which shall be available for use within the 
 
 506 
 
jurisdiction of each of the School Boards. The General School 
 Fund shall be raised in bulk, and for the City at large, and 
 shall contain and embrace all items for educational purposes 
 not comprised in the Special School Fund. The said Board 
 of Education shall have power to take and to receive, and 
 shall take and receive all moneys appropriated or available for 
 educational purposes in The City of New York. 
 
 School Board, how constituted : vacancies : members to hold no 
 other office except^ etc. 
 
 Sec. 1061. There shall be the following School Boards in 
 The City of New York : 
 
 (1). A School Board for the Boroughs of Manhattan and 
 The Bronx, to be composed of twenty-one members. The 
 Board of Education of the City of New York, as constituted 
 prior to the passage of this Act, shall be the School Board in 
 and for the said Boroughs, and the members of said Board of 
 Education shall serve out, as members of the School Board, 
 the terms for which they were respectively appointed as mem- 
 bers of the Board of Education of the City of New York. 
 Their powers, duties and functions as a Board of Education 
 shall cease and determine, and their powers, duties and func- 
 tions as a School Board under this Act shall commence on the 
 first day of February, 1898. 
 
 (2). A School Board for the Borough of Brooklyn, to be 
 composed of forty-five members. The Board of Education of 
 the City of Brooklyn shall be the School Board in and for the 
 Borough of Brooklyn, and the members of said Board of Edu- 
 cation shall serve out, as members of the School Board, the 
 terms for which they were respectively appointed as members 
 of the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn. Their 
 powers, duties and functions as a Board of Education shall 
 cease and determine, and their powers, duties and functions as 
 a School Board under this Act shall commence on the first day 
 of February, 1898. 
 
 The Mayor shall appoint successors to the members of the 
 School Board of the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx 
 
 507 
 
and of the School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn as their 
 terms shall respectively expire. 
 
 (3). A School Board for the Borough of Queens and a 
 School Board for the Borough of Richmond, each to be com- 
 posed of nine members, to be appointed as follows : On the 
 third Wednesday in January, 1898, the Mayor shall appoint 
 for each of the said Boroughs, nine persons to constitute the 
 School Board in the said Boroughs respectively ; three of 
 whom shall be appointed for one year, three for two years, and 
 three for three years, and their terms of office shall be desig- 
 nated in their letters of appointment. They shall take office, 
 and their terms shall commence on the first day of February 
 succeeding their appointment. As their terms respectively 
 expire, the Mayor shall appoint their successors for a full term 
 of three years. 
 
 The powers, duties and functions of the Board of Education 
 of Long Island City, and of all other Boards of Education within 
 the territory by this Act consolidated into The City of New 
 York, and of the Trustees of common schools for the school 
 districts included in The City of New York as constituted by 
 this Act, shall cease and determine, and their offices shall be 
 abolished on the first day of February, 1898 ; and the jurisdic- 
 tion and powers of School Commissioners within the territory 
 of The City of New York as constituted by this Act, shall cease 
 at the same time. 
 
 The term of office of all members of the School Boards, 
 save as in this section otherwise provided, shall be three years. 
 The members of each School Board shall be appointed from 
 the residents of the respective Boroughs in which they are to 
 serve. Vacancies in said Board, caused by death, resignation, 
 removal from the Borough, or otherwise, shall be filled by the 
 Mayor for the unexpired term. Members of the School Boards 
 shall hold no office of emolument under the city, county, state, 
 or national government, except the offices of Notary Public, or 
 Commissioner of Deeds, or offices in the National Guard. 
 
 Board of Education : how constituted ; President ; vacancies ; 
 inembers to serve without pay. 
 
 Sec. 1062. There shall be in The City of New York as con- 
 
 508 
 
stituted by this Act, a Board of Education, which shall have the 
 management and control of the public schools and of the public 
 school system of the city, subject only to the general statutes 
 of the State relating to public schools and public school instruc- 
 tion, and to the provisions of this Act. The Board of Educa- 
 tion of The City of New York, shall consist of nineteen mem- 
 bers', and shall be composed as follows : of the chairman of 
 each of the School Boards provided for by the last preceding 
 section, by virtue of his office, and of ten delegates elected by 
 the School Board of the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx, 
 and of five delegates elected by the School Board of the 
 Borough of Brooklyn, to be chosen from the membership of 
 said School Boards, respectively. The members of the Board 
 of Education so elected shall serve for one year and until their 
 successors are chosen. On the third Monday of February, in 
 the year 1898 and in every year thereafter, the said Board of 
 Education shall organize by electing one of its members as 
 President of the Board, who shall preside at its meetings, and 
 shall have the same power to vote thereat as any other mem- 
 ber, but who shall not have the power of veto. Any vacancy 
 in the office of members of the Board of Education, caused by 
 death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled for the unex- 
 pired term in the same manner as the officer whose office is 
 vacated was chosen or elected. Members of the Board of 
 Education and of the several School Boards shall serve with- 
 out pay. 
 
 Id.: to possess powers and privileges of a corporation. 
 
 Sec. 1063. For the purposes of this Chapter, the Board of 
 Education of the City of New York shall possess the powers 
 and privileges of a corporation. 
 
 Id.: to be Representative of school system : To require and revise 
 estimates frofn School Boards. To submit estimate for entire 
 school system. 
 
 Sec. 1064. The Board of Education shall represent the schools 
 and the school system of the City of New York before the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment, and before the Municipal As- 
 
 509 
 
sembly in all matters of appropriations in the budget of the 
 City ifor educational purposes, and in all other matters, and 
 shall, in general, be the representative of the school system of 
 the City in its entirety. The said board shall require from 
 each School Board estimates in detail of the moneys needed 
 for the administration of the Department of Education in its 
 Borough, and it shall be the duty of each School Board, when- 
 ever required by the Board of Education, to transmit such 
 estimates to the said Board. The Board of Education shall, 
 thereupon, restate, rearrange, revise, and verify such estimates 
 so as to form an estimate for the entire school system ot the 
 City, which it shall submit, properly divided into items under 
 the General School Fund and the Special School Fund, to the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment for its action. 
 
 Id. : administers special fund : apportions general fund and files 
 record with Comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 1065. The Special School Fund shall be administered 
 by the Board of Education. The General School Fund shall 
 be administered by the respective School Boards and shall be 
 apportioned by the Board of Education among the different 
 School Boards of the City as follows : 
 
 (1.) A distributive quota to each School Board of $ioo for 
 every qualified teacher, or for successive qualified teachers 
 who shall have actually taught in the schools under the charge 
 of the Board during a term of not less than thirty-two weeks 
 of five successive days each, inclusive of legal holidays. 
 
 (2.) The remainder of such General School Fund shall be ap- 
 portioned among the said School Boards by the said Board of 
 Education in proportion to the aggregate number of days of 
 attendance of the pupils resident in the Boroughs under their 
 charge, between the ages of five and eighteen years, at their 
 respective schools, during the last preceding school year, and 
 also of such pupils resident therein over four years of age, as 
 shall, during the last preceding school year, have attended any 
 kindergarten schools established under the direction of the 
 School Boards, or any of them, pursuant to the provisions of 
 this Act. The aggregate number of days in attendance of the 
 
 510 
 
pupils is to be ascertained from the records thereof kept by the 
 teachers, as hereinafter prescribed, by adding together the 
 whole number of days oi attendance of each and every such 
 pupil in the schools under the charge of the respective School 
 Boards. The Board of Education shall file a record of their 
 apportionment of the General School Fund and of all appro- 
 priations from the Special School Fund, with the Comptroller. 
 
 Id.: may direct Comptroller to withhold certain appropriations. 
 
 Sec. 1066. The Board of Education shall have power to 
 direct the Comptroller to withhold from any School Board 
 any part of the moneys apportioned to it upon the basis of 
 the number of teachers employed in any school under its 
 charge, whenever the City Superintendent of Schools shall 
 report in writing to said Board of Education that the pro- 
 visions of the State School Laws, or of this chapter, or of 
 the by-laws of the Board of Education in any way relating to 
 such school or to its teachers, are not being complied with ; 
 and when thereafter the City Superintendent shall report in 
 writing to the Board of Education that the provisions of the 
 State School Laws, or of this chapter, or of the by-laws of the 
 Board of Education, are being satisfactorily complied with 
 in said school, it shall be the duty of the Board of Education 
 to direct the Comproller to place at the disposal of the School 
 Board concerned, the school moneys so withheld. 
 
 Id.: to use and control certain premises. Housing the School Board 
 of the Borough of Manhattan and the other Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 1067. The Board of Education shall have power to use 
 and to control the premises known as the Hall of the Board 
 of Education, at the corner of Grand and Elm Streets in the 
 Borough of Manhattan, and any other buildings to be occu- 
 pied for like purposes therein, and to make all the repairs, 
 alterations and additions in and to the said building or build- 
 ings which the Board of Education may authorize and deem 
 advisable. And it shall be its duty to make provision for 
 housing the School Board of the Boroughs of Manhattan and 
 the Bronx in such building or in any other building which 
 
 611 
 
may be so occupied b}'^ the Board of Education. The Board 
 of Education of The City of New York shall provide a meet- 
 ing-room, and such other headquarters, offices, and rooms, as 
 they may deem advisable within the Boroughs of The City 
 of New York, for the administration of the powers and duties 
 of the School Boards of the other Boroughs. 
 
 Id.: to dispose of personal property. Disposition of proceeds. 
 
 Sec. 1068. The Board of Education shall have power, in the 
 name of The City of New York and for said city, to dispose 
 of such personal property used in the schools or other build- 
 ings under the charge of said Board, as the School Board of 
 the Borough concerned shall by resolution certify is no longer 
 required for use therein, and all moneys realized by the sale 
 thereof shall be paid into the city treasury and shall at once 
 be appropriated by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 to the Special School Fund of the Board of Education for use 
 in the Borough in which the property sold was situated. 
 
 Board of Education : to appoint certain officers, clerks, etc., and 
 fix their salaries. 
 
 Sec. 1069. The said Board of Education shall have power to 
 appoint a secretary of the board, a superintendent of school 
 buildings, who shall be an architect of experience and good 
 standing, and whose term of office shall be for six years; 
 a superintendent of school suppHes, whose term of office 
 shall be for six years; a city superintendent of schools 
 for the term of six years and one or more auditors, as may 
 be necessary in the judgment of the Board, upon whose 
 certificate accounts against the said board, or charges upon 
 either the Special or General School Fund may be paid when 
 countersigned b)'- the proper officers, as the by-laws of the said 
 Board of Education, with the approval of the Comptroller of 
 the City, may direct. The said board may appoint a chief 
 clerk and such other officers, clerks, or subordinates as it may 
 deem necessary for its administrative duties, and as are pro- 
 vided for by the proper appropriation. The city superintend- 
 ent of schools, the secretary of the board, the superintendent 
 of school buildings, the superintendent of school supplies, the 
 
 512 
 
auditor or auditors, and any other officers, clerks or subordi- 
 nates of the board, may, any or either of them, be removed for 
 cause at any time by a vote of three-fourths of all of the members 
 of the Board of Education. The said board shall fix -and regu- 
 late within the proper appropriation the salaries or compen- 
 sation of the secretary of said board ; of the superintendent of 
 school buildings ; of the superintendent of supplies ; of the 
 auditor or auditors; of the city superintendent of schools; of 
 members of the board of examiners, and of any other officers, 
 clerks or subordinates, and it may fill any vacancies in such 
 offices or positions. 
 
 Id.: power to enact by-laws^ rules and regulations. 
 
 Sec 1070. The Board of Education shall have power, subject 
 to the provisions of law and ol this Act, to enact by-laws, rules 
 and regulations for the proper execution of all duties devolved 
 upon the board, its members and committees ; for the trans- 
 action of all business pertaining to the same ; for defining the 
 duties of the city superintendent of schools, the superinten- 
 dent of school buildings, the superintendent of school supplies, 
 of its auditor or auditors, its clerks and subordinates ; for reg- 
 ulating the manner of making disbursements from any of the 
 funds apportioned to any Borough for school purposes, for the 
 proper execution of all powers vested in it by law, and for the 
 promotion of the welfare and best interests of the public 
 schools and public school system of the City in the matters 
 committed to its care. 
 
 Id.: secretary: duties: secretary and chief clerk may administer 
 oaths. 
 
 Sec. 1071. The secretary of the Board of Education shall 
 have charge of the rooms, books, papers, and documents of the 
 board, and shall, in addition to his duties as secretary of the 
 board, perform such other duties as may be required by its 
 members or committees. The secretary and the chief clerk of 
 said board are authorized to administer oaths and take affidavits 
 in all matters appertaining to the schools in the City of New 
 York, and for that purpose shall possess all the powers of a 
 
 513 
 
commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of the 
 fees or emoluments thereof. 
 
 Id.: provide for bureaus^ etc., in Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 1072. The Board of Education shall make provision for 
 the organization in the various Boroughs of such bureaus as 
 they may deem necessary in the departments of the Superin- 
 tendents of School Buildings and of School Supplies, and 
 shall make such provision by its by-laws as will enable each 
 School Board to secure prompt and efficient service for the 
 planning and erection of new buildings for school purposes, 
 and for the alteration and repair of existing buildings, and 
 for the regulation of the purchase and distribution of school 
 books and supplies, and for the preservation of all school 
 records. 
 
 Superintendent of school buildings : oath and security by: subject to 
 regulations of board: vacancy in office. 
 
 Sec. 1073. The superintendent of school buildings shall take 
 and subscribe before the secretary or the chief clerk of the 
 Board of Education, the oath prescribed by the Constitution 
 of this State, and give such security for the faithful perform- 
 ance of the duties of his office as the Board of Education may 
 direct; and the department under his charge shall be subject 
 to such rules and regulations as the Board may establish, one 
 of which shall prohibit the performance by him of an}- work, 
 on any other 2CCOuat, similar to that performed under the 
 regulations so established, except for the College of the City of 
 New York and the Normal College of the City of New York, 
 and like institutions in the Department of Education. Any 
 vacancy in the said office of superintendent of school buildings 
 shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. 
 
 Id.: deputy in each Borough. Plans for school buildings. 
 
 Sec. 1074. The superintendent of school buildings may 
 appoint a deputy superintendent for each of the Boroughs, who 
 shall be an architect or engineer of good standing, and, with 
 the authority of the Board of Education, he may empower a 
 
 514 
 
deputy superintendent in his place and stead to execute all the 
 duties of superintendent and such other duties as the Board of 
 Education may, by regulation, prescribe. All plans for new 
 school buildings, for additions to school buildings, and for 
 structural changes in old buildings, shall be passed upon, and 
 must be approved by the superintendent of school buildings, 
 who shall then submit such plans to the School Board of the 
 Borough wherein such buildings are to be erected or such addi- 
 tions or changes are to be made, who shall thereupon transmit 
 such plans with such suggestions, in writing, as they may see 
 fit to make, to the Board of Education, whose action thereon 
 shall be final. 
 
 Id,: Appointment and removal of janitors. 
 
 Sec. 1075. Janitors shall be appointed by the School Board 
 on the nomination of the superintendent of school buildings. 
 All such nominations shall be from a preferred list of duly 
 qualified persons certified to and on file in the office of superin- 
 tendent of school buildings. Janitors may be removed by the 
 School Board on complaint of the principal of the school, the 
 superintendent of school buildings, or a member of the School 
 Board. 
 
 Board of Education: purchase of a?td regulations regarding" 
 supplies. 
 
 Sec. 1076. The Board of Education shall provide for the pur- 
 chase of all books, apparatus, stationery, and other things neces- 
 sary and expedient to enable the schools of the city to be prop- 
 erly and successfully conducted. It shall cause to be furnished 
 all necessary supplies, and shall make regulations for the fur- 
 nishing thereof to the schools in the several Boroughs, and for 
 the accounting for the same by the several School Boards. 
 The Board of Education shall have power to enact by-laws 
 and resolutions for the government of the superintendent of 
 supplies, which by-laws and resolutions shall provide that all 
 supplies, as far as possible, shall be obtained by contract, for 
 which proposals shall be advertised for a period of at least 
 two weeks. 
 
 515 
 
Id. : advertising for contracts: security for performance. 
 
 Sec. 1077. The Board of Education shall have power by its 
 by-laws to prescribe the period of all advertising for contracts 
 to be entered into by or in behalf of the said board, the rules 
 which are to determine the acceptance or rejection of all bids 
 given for any work, labor, or materials advertised for, and the 
 security to be required to insure the performance of such con- 
 tract. 
 
 Superintendent of supplies : oath and security by : subject to regu- 
 lations of board: vacancy : deputy superintendents and 
 subordinates : depots of supplies. 
 
 Sec. 1078. The superintendent of school supplies shall take 
 and subscribe before the secretary or the clerk of the Board of 
 Education the oath prescribed by the Constitution of this State, 
 and shall give such security for the faithful performance of 
 the duties of his office as the Board of Education maydirect ; and 
 the department under his charge shall be subject to such rules 
 and regulations as the board may establish. Any vacancy in 
 the said office of superintendent of school supplies shall be filled 
 by appointment for the unexpired term. The superintendent of 
 school supplies may appoint such deputy superintendents and 
 such other subordinates as the by-laws of the Board of Educa- 
 tion may authorize and he may, with the authority of said 
 board, empower a deputy superintendent in his place and stead 
 to execute all the duties of the superintendent, and such other 
 duties as the Board of Education ma}'^ by regulation prescribe. 
 He shall establish such depots of supplies in any of the 
 Boroughs as may be authorized by the Board of Education. 
 
 City superintendent of schools : rights and duties. 
 
 Sec. 1079. The city superintendent of schools shall have the 
 right of visitation and inquiry in all of the schools of The City 
 of New York as constituted under this Act, and he shall report 
 to the Board of Education on the educational system of the 
 city, and upon the condition of any and of all the schools thereof, 
 but he shall have no right of interference with the actual 
 conduct of any school in The City of New York. He shall 
 
 516 
 
have a seat in the Board of Education, and the right to speak 
 on all matters before the board, but not to vote. 
 
 Id. : further duties : annual report : clerks of main office. 
 
 Sec. 1080. The city superintendent of schools, so often as he 
 can consistently with his other duties, shall visit the schools 
 of the City as he shall see fit, and inquire into their courses of 
 instruction, management, and discipline, and shall advise and 
 encourage the pupils, and teachers, and officers thereof ; sub- 
 ject to the by-laws of the Board of Education, he shall pre- 
 scribe suitable registers, blanks, forms and regulations for the 
 making of all reports, and for conducting all necessary busi- 
 ness connected with the school system not devolved upon the 
 borough superintendent by this Act, and he shall cause the 
 same, with such information and instructions as he shall deem 
 conducive to the proper organization and government of the 
 schools, and the due execution of their duties by school officers, 
 to be transmitted to the officers or persons entrusted with the 
 execution of the same. He shall submit to the Board of Edu- 
 cation an annual report containing a statement of the condi- 
 tion of the schools of the City, and all such matters relating to 
 his office and such plans and suggestions for the improvement 
 of the schools in the school system, and for the advancement 
 of public instruction in The City of New York as he shall deem 
 expedient, and as the by-laws of the Board of Education may 
 direct. He may appoint such clerks as he may deem neces- 
 sary, and as are authorized by the Board of Education, but 
 the compensation of such clerks shall not exceed in the aggre- 
 gate the appropriated provision therefor. He shall assign his 
 clerks to their various duties, and may suspend or discharge 
 them for cause, but in such case, the clerks shall have a right 
 of appeal to the Board of Education. 
 
 He shall report as often as the Board of Education shall 
 direct upon any matter, or matters, entrusted to his charge, 
 in such detail as shall be required of him. He shall maintain 
 his main office in the Borough of Manhattan, and in such 
 building as the Board of Education shall direct. He shall 
 have power, at any time, to call together all of the borough 
 superintendents and associate superintendents for consulta— 
 
 517 
 
tion. It shall further be his duty to report any case of gross 
 misconduct, insubordination, neglect of duty, or general in- 
 efficiency on the part of any borough superintendent or associ- 
 ate superintendent first to the School Board of the Borough 
 concerned, and, failing of remedy, then to the Board of Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 Board of Examiners : teachers licenses, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1081. A Board of Examiners is hereby constituted, whose 
 duty it shall be to examine all applicants requiring to be li- 
 censed in and for The City of New York, and to issue to those 
 who pass the required tests of character, scholarship and gen- 
 eral fitness, such licenses as they are found entitled to receive. 
 
 Such Board of Examiners shall consist of the City Superin- 
 tendent of Schools, together with four persons appointed by the 
 Board of Education upon the nomination of the City Superin- 
 tendent. The terms of the first four examiners so appointed 
 shall be one, two, three and four years, respectively, and as 
 their terms respectively expire, their successors shall be ap- 
 pointed for a full term of four years, which shall thereafter be 
 the full and regular term of office of said examiners. They 
 shall be paid such compensation for services actually rendered 
 as the Board of Education shall prescribe. 
 
 To be eligible to appointment as an examiner, an applicant 
 must possess some one of the following qualifications, to wit : 
 («) A degree or diploma of graduation from a college or uni- 
 versity recognized by the Regents of the University of the 
 State of New York, together with at least five years' successful 
 experience in teaching since graduation, {b) A State certi- 
 ficate obtained as the result of an examination held since 1875, 
 together with at least ten )'ears' successful experience in teach- 
 ing, {c) The highest certificate for a principal or superintend- 
 ent in force when this Act takes effect by any city included in 
 The City of New York as constituted by this Act, together with 
 at least ten years' successful experience in teaching. 
 
 No Borough Superintendent, Associate Superintendent, 
 principal or teacher in the City of New York shall be allowed 
 to serve on the Board of Examiners. 
 
 Each School Board, on the recommendation of the Borough 
 
 518 
 
Board of Superintendents, shall designate, subject to the re- 
 quirements of the State School Laws in force when this Act 
 takes effect or that may thereafter be enacted, the kinds or 
 grades of licenses to teach which may or shal! be used in the 
 Borough or Boroughs under its charge, together with the 
 academic and professional qualifications required for each kind 
 or grade of license, and shall certif}'^ the same to the City 
 Superintendent of Schools. 
 
 Each School Board, on the recommendation of the Borough 
 Superintendents, shall also designate, subject to the like limita- 
 tions, and shall certify in like manner, the academical and pro- 
 fesssional qualifications required for service in the Boroughs 
 under its charge of principals, branch principals, supervisors, 
 heads of departments, assistants and all other members of the 
 teaching staff. 
 
 The Board of Education, on the recommendation of the City 
 Superintendent, shall designate, subject to the requirements of 
 the State School Laws in force when this Act takes effect or that 
 may thereafter be enacted, the minimum requirements to pre- 
 vail throughout the city for all officers to be appointed to any 
 supervising or teaching position under any School Board. 
 
 The Board of Examiners shall hold such examinations as the 
 City Superintendent may prescribe, and shall prepare all neces- 
 sary eligible lists. The City Superintendent shall transmit to 
 each School Board the eligible lists that are available tor use 
 within its jurisdiction. 
 
 All licenses shall be issued in the name of the City Superin- 
 tendent of Schools and shall state on their face in what Borough 
 or Boroughs they are valid. 
 
 Graduates of colleges and universities recognized by the 
 Regents of the University of the Slate of New York, who have 
 pursued for not less than one year pedagogical courses there- 
 in ; graduates of schools and colleges for the training of 
 teachers, approved by the State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction ; and teachers holding a State certificate issued by 
 the State Superintendent of Public Instruction since the year 
 1875, or holding a college graduate's certificate issued by the 
 same authority, may be exempted, in whole or in part, from 
 such examination at the discretion of the City Superintendent. 
 The names of those to whom licenses have been granted, 
 
 519 
 
including those exempted from examination and those duly 
 licensed in the several Boroughs prior to the date on which 
 this Act takes effect, shall be entered by the City Superinten- 
 dent upon lists to be filed in his office, a separate list being made 
 for each grade or kind of license for which the Board of Edu- 
 cation shall b}^ its by-laws make provision ; and such lists shall 
 always be open to the inspection of the members of the Board 
 of Education, the members of the School Boards, the Borough 
 Superintendents, the Associate Superintendents, the Inspectors, 
 and the Principals of Schools. Except as Superintendent or 
 Associate Superintendent, as Supervisor or director of a special 
 branch, as principal of or teacher in a training school or high 
 school, no person shall be appointed to any educational 
 position whose name does not appear upon the proper 
 list. No person shall teach in any public school in the City 
 who has not such license, except as herein otherwise pro- 
 vided, nor shall any unlicensed teacher have any claim for 
 salary. Licenses to teach shall be issued by the City Superin- 
 tendent of Schools for a period of one year, which may be 
 renewed without examination in case the work of the holder 
 is satisfactor}' to the Borough Superintendent for two succes- 
 sive )'ears. At the close of the third year of continuous, suc- 
 cessful service, the City Superintendent may make the license 
 permanent. Authority to revoke any permanent license for 
 cause shall be vested in the State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction. 
 
 Id.: school officers not to be interested in contracts: removal of . 
 
 Sec. 1082. The Board of Education shall have power to 
 remove from office any school officer who shall have been 
 directly or indirectly interested in the furnishing of any sup- 
 plies or materials, or in the doing of any work or labor, or in 
 the sale or leasing of any real estate, or in any proposal, agree- 
 ment or contract for any of these purposes, in any case in which 
 the price or consideration is to be paid, in whole or in part, 
 directly or indirectly, out of any school moneys, or who shall 
 have received, from any source whatever, any commission or 
 compensation in connection with any of the matters aforesaid; 
 and any school officer who shall violate the preceding provisions 
 
 620 
 
of this section shall bs deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
 upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
 ing one thousand dollars or imprisonment in the city prison not 
 exceeding one year, or both, and shall also be ineligible to any 
 school office. The provisions of this section shall not apply to 
 authors of school books used in any of the public schools 
 JDecause of any interest they may have as authors in such 
 books. 
 
 Id. : public school teacJiers retirement fund. 
 
 Sec. 1083. The Board of Education is hereby given the gen- 
 eral care and management of the Public School Teacher's Re- 
 tirement Fund created by this Act. The Comptroller of The 
 City of New York shall hold any money belonging to said 
 fund, and by the direction of said Board of Education shall in- 
 vest and pay out the same. The Board of Education shall 
 have charge of and administer said Public School Teacher's 
 Retirement Fund as it shall deem most beneficial to said fund, 
 and is empowered to make all necessary contracts and take all 
 necessary and proper action and proceedings in the premises, 
 and to make payments from said fund of annuities granted in 
 pursuance of this Act ; and shall, from time to time, establish 
 such rules and regulations for the administration of said fund 
 as it may deem best ; which rules and regulations shall care- 
 fully preserve all rights inhering in the teachers of The City of 
 New York as constituted prior to the passage of this Act. 
 And the Comptroller of The City of New York shall 
 report in detail to the Board of Education of The City 
 of New York, annually, in the month of January, the con- 
 dition of said fund, and the items of the receipts and 
 disbursements on account of the same. The Public School 
 Teachers' Retirement Fund herein provided for shall consist 
 of the following, with the interest and income thereof : (i) All 
 money, pay, compensation, or salary, or any part thereof, for- 
 feited, deducted or withheld from any teacher or teachers for 
 and on account of absence from duty from any cause. The 
 secretary of the Board of Education shall certify monthly to 
 the Comptroller the amounts so deducted from the salaries of 
 teachers during the preceding month. (2) All moneys re- 
 
 521 
 
ceived from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise, 
 for and on account of said fund. (3) All such other methods 
 of increment as may be duly and legally devised for the in- 
 crease of said fund. On and after the passage of this Act the 
 Board of Education shall, by amending its by-laws relating 
 to the excuse of absence of teachers with pay, so provide 
 that the aggregate of the several sums deducted or forfeited on 
 account of absence from duty shall be fully adequate to meet 
 the demands made upon the Public School Teachers' Retire- 
 ment Fund for the payment of annuities as herein provided. 
 Said Board of Education shall have power, by a two-thirds 
 vote of all its members, and after a recommendation to that 
 effect shall have been made by the City Superintendent of 
 Schools, stating that the teacher is mentally or physically in- 
 capacitated for the performance of duty, to retire any female 
 teacher of the public schools, including special teachers 
 in the same, who shall have taught therein during a period 
 aggregating thirty years, and to retire any male teacher 
 of said schools who shall have taught therein during a period 
 aggregating thirty-five years. The Board of Education may 
 also, at its discretion, retire such teachers upon their own ap- 
 plication, after the like period of service. Any teacher so re- 
 tired shall thereafter be entitled to receive as an annuity one-half 
 the annual salary paid to said teacher at the date of said retire- 
 ment, not to exceed, however, in any case the sum of one thou- 
 sand dollars per annum. The said board is hereby given the 
 power to use both the principal and the income of said fund, 
 and to manage, accumulate and otherwise control the same as 
 said board shall provide by its by-lav/s, and to pay the annui- 
 ties hereinbefore mentioned, and it shall have power, from 
 time to time, to reduce the amount of annuities of all benefici- 
 aries of said fund, provided only that such reduction shall be 
 at the same rate per centum. None of the provisions of this 
 section shall apply, however, to any teacher in any school 
 in the Borough of Brooklyn, who is entitled to any benefit 
 under the fund mentioned in section 11 19 of this Act until 
 after his removal from said Borough. When a teacher is 
 transferred to the Borough of Brooklyn, a sum equal to one 
 per cent, of the amount paid to such teacher during said 
 
 522 
 
teacher's service in The City of New York as constituted prior 
 to the passage of this Act, since the date on which the Public 
 School Teachers' Retirement Fund of Brooklyn was created, 
 shall be paid into the said Brooklyn Retirement Fund and 
 inure to the teacher's benefit in that fund under the rules gov- 
 erning the same. 
 
 Id.: annual report to State Superint evident of Public Instruction. 
 
 Sec. 1084. The Board of Education shall, between the first 
 day of August and the 30th day of September in each year, 
 make and transmit to the State Superintendent of Public In- 
 struction a report in writing for the State school year ending 
 on the next preceding 31st day of July, which report shall be 
 in such form and shall state such facts as the State Superin- 
 tendent and the School Laws of the State shall require. 
 
 Id.: annual report to mayor : other reports to mayor. 
 
 Sec. 1085. The Board of Education shall, between the first 
 day of August and the 30th day of November in each year, 
 make and transmit to the Mayor of The City of New York a 
 report in writing, bearing date on the 31st day of July next pre- 
 ceding, stating the whole number of schools within their 
 jurisdiction, specially designating the schools for colored chil- 
 dren ; the schools or societies from which reports shall have been 
 made to the Board of Education, within the time limited for 
 that purpose ; the length of time such school shall have been 
 kept open ; the amount of public money apportioned or 
 appropiated to said school or society, the number taught in 
 each school, the whole amount of money drawn from the City 
 Chamberlain for the purposes of public education during the 
 year ending at the date of their report, distinguishing the 
 amount received from the General Fund of the State and from 
 all other sources ; the manner in which such moneys shall 
 have been expended ; and such other information as the 
 Mayor may from time to time require in relation to common 
 school education in The City of New York. The Board of 
 Education shall make such other reports to the Mayor as he 
 may call for, and at such times as he shall require. 
 
 523 
 
Continuation of yearly contracts with teachers in territory consoli- 
 dated. 
 Sec. 1086. All yearly school contracts by and between the 
 local school authorities of any school district whose territory is 
 so annexed and consolidated by this Act and the teachers in 
 such district, as such yearly contracts exist at the time when 
 this Act shall take effect, shall in all respects continue until 
 the expiration of the yearly term named therein, and shall be 
 so continued by the Board of Education of The City of New 
 York, through the proper school board. 
 
 Removals by mayor for neglect or misconduct after hearing. 
 
 Sec. 1087. Any member of the Board of Education, of a 
 Borough School Board, or any inspector of common schools 
 in The City of New York, may be removed by the Mayor of 
 said city, upon proof either of official misconduct in office, or 
 negligence of official duties, or of conduct in any manner con- 
 nected with his official duties, or otherwise, which tends to dis- 
 credit his office, or the school system, or for mental or physical 
 inabilit}' to perform his duties as member or inspector, but 
 before such removal of said member or inspector he shall re- 
 ceive due and timely notice in writing of the charges, and a 
 copy thereof, and shall be entitled to a hearing on like notice 
 before the Mayor, and to the assistance of counsel on said 
 hearing. 
 
 Oath of appointees to school office. 
 
 Sec. 1088. Every person appointed to a school office in said 
 city or in any Borough thereof, shall before entering upon the 
 duties of his office, and within fifteen days of the time of being 
 notified of his appointment to fill a vacancy, take and subscribe 
 before the secretary or the clerk of the Board of Education, 
 the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of the State, 
 and the school office as to which any person shall omit to take 
 the oath within the time, and in the manner above prescribed, 
 shall be vacant at and from the expiration of the fifteen days. 
 
 Id. : organization : secretary and employees : duties and bond of 
 secretary. 
 Sec. 1089. The School Board in each of the Boroughs shall 
 
 524 
 
organize on the second Wednesday of February next ensuing 
 after the appointment of its members, and choose a president 
 from its own members, and elect its delegates, if any, to the 
 Board of Education, and shall, from time to time, as may be 
 necessary, appoint and remove subject to the provisions of 
 this chapter, a secretary and such clerks, subordinates, and 
 employees as may be required for the administrative duties of 
 the Board, and as may be authorized by this chapter or by the 
 Board of Education of The City of New York, and be pro- 
 vided for by the proper appropriation. The Secretary shall 
 discharge such financial duties as may be prescribed by the 
 Board of Education and the Comptroller of The City of New 
 York, and he shall give a bond in such amount and in such 
 form to The City of New York, as the Board of Education of 
 said City, with the approval of the Comptroller, may by its 
 by-law or resolution require. 
 
 Id. : powers and duties. 
 
 Sec. 1090. Each School Board, subject to the direction and 
 control of thfe Board of Education and in accord with the by- 
 laws of the Board of Education, shall have the safe keeping of 
 all the premises and other property used for or belonging to 
 the schools in the Borough. A School Board shall have 
 power to choose and to determine the sites for all school build- 
 ings, and for additions thereto, within its jurisdiction, and it 
 shall be its duty to transmit from time to time such determina- 
 tions to the Board of Education, by resolutions which shall be 
 certified and transmitted in accordance with the by-laws 
 thereof. 
 
 Each School Board shall have power to adopt by-laws regu- 
 lating the exercise of all powers and duties vested in it by 
 law, which by-laws, however, shall not conflict with the by-laws 
 of the Board of Education which that Board may be authorized 
 by law to adopt in the premises, nor with the provisions of this 
 chapter. And the said School Board shall have power to 
 provide by such by-laws for the government and management 
 of the Schools in the Borough, for defining the duties and 
 regulating the exercise of the powers of its members and 
 committees and of all school officers, the Borough Superintend- 
 
 525 
 
ent and associate superintendents, principals or teachers, 
 clerks, assistants and employees, and for the regulation of all 
 disbursements from the General School Fund in the Borough, 
 and for the promotion and welfare and best interest of all mat- 
 ters committed to it concerning the Public Schools and the 
 Public School System of the City in said Borough. 
 
 Id. : power to fix salaries 
 
 Sec. 1091. Each School Board shall have power to adopt 
 by-laws fixing the salaries of the Borough and Associate Super- 
 intendents, of principals and branch principals, and of all other 
 members of the supervising and teaching staff, and such salaries 
 shall be regulated b)'' merit, by the grade of class taught, by 
 the length of service, or by the experience in teaching of the in- 
 cumbent in charge, or by such a combination of these con- 
 siderations as the School Board may deem proper. 
 
 Said salaries need not be uniform throughout all the several 
 Boroughs, nor in any two of them, nor throughout any one 
 Borough. The salaries fixed and established and duly payable 
 in the different schools of the territory hereby consolidated as 
 these salaries were on the first day of January, 1898, shall be 
 and remain the salaries in the schools of the several Boroughs 
 hereby constituted, until the same shall be changed or modified 
 as provided for in this section. 
 
 Id.: duties of secretary: chief clerk and secretary may administer 
 oaths. 
 Sec. 1092. The Secretary of a School Board shall have charge 
 of the rooms, books, papers and documents of the Board, and 
 shall, in addition to his duties as Secretary of the Board, per- 
 form such other duties as may be required of him by its mem- 
 bers or committees. The Secretary and the chief clerk of a 
 School Board are hereby authorized to administer oaths and 
 take affidavits in all matters pertaining to the Schools of The 
 City of New York in their Borough, and for that purpose shall 
 possess all the powers of a Commissioner of Deeds, but shall 
 not be entitled to any fees or emoluments thereof. 
 
 Id.: Power to establish kindergartens, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1093. A School Board shall have power, to establish 
 
 526 
 
kindergartens, manual training schools, trades schools and 
 truant schools. 
 
 Id.: Power to establish evening schools, etc.: may establish, discon- 
 tinue and consolidate schools in Boroughs. 
 
 Sec. 1094. A School Board shall have power to establish and 
 to conduct evening schools and schools for colored pupils, and 
 to regulate such schools, and shall have power to establish new 
 schools, to discontinue any school, or to consolidate schools in 
 its Borough, and to maintain free lectures for workingmen and 
 working worn en. 
 
 Id.: Power to establish special classes for persons who cannot use 
 the English language readily. 
 
 Sec. 1095. A School Board shall have power to provide 
 special classes, whose sessions shall be held at such times in the 
 day or evening as said Board may determine, for the purpose 
 of giving instruction in the English language to persons who 
 cannot use that language readily and whose avocations are such 
 as to prevent their attending the grammar, primary, or even- 
 ing schools. 
 
 Id.: Power to establish high schools.^ etc. 
 
 Sec. 1096. A School Board shall have power to provide one 
 or more high schools and training schools or classes for 
 teachers in the Borough or Boroughs under its charge, as it 
 may, from time to time, determine, and as the appropriations 
 may permit, and all training schools and all high schools here- 
 tofore established and maintained by the public school author- 
 ities and registered as high schools by the Regents of the State 
 of New York, shall be maintained in full efficiency. The said 
 training schools or classes shall be under the control of the Board 
 of Education and of the City Superintendent of Schools to the 
 extent that may be necessary to secure compliance with chap- 
 ter one thousand and thirt3'-one of the laws of eighteen hun- 
 dred and nine-five. The said high schools shall be so organized 
 as to furnish the benefit of further education to pupils of both 
 sexes who shall have finished the grammar school course, and 
 
 527 
 
to other residents of school age equally prepared, and the said 
 School Board shall have power to make, from time to time, for 
 the said high schools all needful rules and regulations, and to 
 prescribe conditions on which pupils shall be received and in- 
 structed therein and discharged therefrom. 
 
 Id.: Pozuer to create school inspection districts, discretionary. 
 Mayor appoints inspectors. Terms, organization^ etc., of 
 inspectors. 
 
 Sec. 109T. A School Board in its discretion may divide the 
 Borough or Boroughs under its charge into as many school 
 inspection districts as it may deem necessary, which districts 
 must be contiguous and, as near as may be,. of equal popula- 
 tion ; and at once upon the making of such districts it shall file 
 maps of the same, duly authenticated by the Chairman of the 
 School Board, in the office of the Mayor of The City of New 
 York. 
 
 School inspection districts existing in any of the Boroughs 
 at the time this Act takes effecti shall continue as such until 
 changed under the provisions of this section ; and all Inspect- 
 ors of Common Schools who have been duly appointed to serve 
 therein shall serve out the terms for which they were respec- 
 tively appointed and their successors shall be appointed by the 
 Mayor as their terms respectively expire, for the like period of 
 five years. 
 
 If any School Board, pursuant to the powers conferred 
 upon it by this chapter, shall have divided or re-divided its ter- 
 ritory into school inspection districts, then the Mayor shall, 
 within sixty days thereafter, appoint in and for each of the 
 school inspection districts of the Boroughs so divided, five in- 
 spectors of common schools, to hold office respectively as may 
 be designated in their letters of appointment, for one, two, 
 three, four and five years from the first day of October next 
 following their appointments. Upon the expiration of their 
 respective terms the Mayor shall appoint their successors for 
 the full term of five years. 
 
 Subject to the conditions of contiguity and equality of popula- 
 tion as hereinbefore prescribed, each School Board shall have 
 power every five years, if it shall have once divided its terri- 
 
 528 
 
tory into inspection districts, again to divide it into such dis- 
 tricts and to make changes in existing districts, or in their 
 number ; and if such number of districts be increased, the 
 Mayor shall forthwith appoint, in the same manner and with 
 like effect as herein provided, as many additional Inspectors of 
 Common Schools as may be necessary to afford five Inspectors 
 in each district. Such additional Inspectors shall be subject to 
 the same by-laws and regulations as govern the other Inspec- 
 tors in the same Borough, and shall perform the same duties. 
 All Inspectors of Common Schools shall serve without pay, 
 and shall be residents of the districts in and for which they are 
 appointed. Any vacancy in the office of Inspector of Common 
 Schools caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be 
 filled by the Mayor for the unexpired term. The inspectors, 
 appointed for the respective districts in any Borough shall. 
 organize in every year on the second Monday of October, by 
 the election of two of their members as chairman and secretary 
 respectively ; and they shall meet as often as may be necessary 
 for the efficient performance of the duties imposed upon them.. 
 
 Duties of inspectors of conwion schools. 
 
 Sec. 1098. The duties of the inspectors of common schools 
 are stated and fixed to be as follows, and not otherwise : In their 
 respective districts, they shall visit and inspect at least once in 
 every quarter, all the schools in the district, in respect to 
 punctual and regular attendance of the pupils and teachers,, 
 the number and fidelity of the teachers, the studies, progress^ 
 order and discipline of the pupils ; the cleanliness, safety, 
 warming, ventilation and comfort of school premises ; and 
 whether or not the provisions of the school laws in respect to 
 the teaching of sectarian doctrines or the use of sectarian books 
 have been violated, and shall call the attention of the Board of 
 Education, or of the proper School Board of the Borough, as 
 the case may be, without delay, to every matter requiring 
 official action. Every inspector shall, on or before the first 
 day of January, April, July, and October of each year, make a 
 written report to the proper School Board in respect to the 
 condition of the schools, the efficiency of teachers, and wants 
 of the district, especially in regard to schools and school 
 premises. 
 
 529 
 
School Boards m Boroughs to cause accounts and records to be 
 made and kept. 
 
 Sec. 1099. The School Boards shall cause to be kept, in con- 
 formity with the by-laws of the Board of Education, accurate 
 accounts of all moneys received and paid for or on account 
 of the schools in its Borough, and it shall not be lawful to 
 expend any money received for use from one of the School 
 Funds for purposes provided for in the other School 
 Fund, but all expenditures must be made conformable to 
 the purposes for which said funds were levied, collected, ap- 
 portioned and distributed, and said Board shall cause a state- 
 ment to be entered in said accounts in conformity with said 
 by-laws, of the movable property belonging to each school. 
 The Board of Education shall provide the proper book or books, 
 in form as required by said by-laws, and shall cause the class 
 teachers under the direction and supervision of the principal 
 teacher of each school and department to enter the names, 
 ages and residences of the scholars attending the school, the 
 name of the parent or guardian of each pupil and the days on 
 which the scholars shall have attended respectively, and the 
 aggregate attendance of each scholar during the year, and also 
 the day upon which the school shall have been visited by the 
 City Superintendent or by the Borough Superintendent, or by 
 associate superintendents, or by members of the Board of Edu- 
 cation, or by members of the School Board, or by the inspec- 
 tors of schools, if such there be in the Borough, or by any of 
 them, which entry shall be verified by such oath or affirmation 
 of principal teacher in such school or department as may be 
 prescribed by the Board of Education. The School Board 
 shall preserve these books as the property of the school, and 
 such books shall at all times be open to access by members of 
 the Board of Education, by members of the School Boards 
 and by the City Superintendent, or by any Borough Superin- 
 tendent, or associate superintendent, or any inspector of 
 schools, if such there be in the Borough. 
 
 Id.: to provide for payment of salaries to principals and teachers 
 and for disbursements. 
 Sec. 1100. A School Board in and for its own Borough or 
 Boroughs and subject to the by-laws of the Board of Educa- 
 
 530 
 
tion of The City of New York shall, by its by-law, provide for 
 the payment of the salaries of all principals and teachers of 
 the various schools under its charge ; and for all disburse- 
 ments chargeable to the General School Fund apportioned 
 to it for educational purposes therein. 
 
 Id. : Ann ual and other reports. 
 
 Sec. 1101. Each School Board shall make an annual report to 
 the Board of Education of such matters as the Board of Edu- 
 cation may, by its by-laws or regulations, require, and it shall 
 be the duty of any School Board to report to the Board of 
 Education from time to time upon any subject that the Board 
 of Education may by its resolution require. 
 
 Id. : Power to appoint and remove Borough Superintendents and 
 Associate Superintendents of Schools. Qualifications. 
 
 Sec. 1102. A School Board shall have power, by a vote of a 
 majority of its members in office, to appoint a Borough 
 Superintendent of Schools for six years. It shall have 
 power to appoint for a like term not more than one Asso- 
 ciate Borough Superintendent of Schools for the first 
 seven hundred teachers in the schools under its charge, and 
 not more than one additional Associate Borough Superin- 
 tendent for every additional three hundred and fifty teachers, 
 or fractional number thereof greater than one-half ; provided, 
 however, that there shall be, in any event, two Associate 
 Borough Superintendents in the Boroughs of Queens and 
 Richmond, respectively. 
 
 The Board of Education shall have power from time to 
 time to modify the basis of the number of teachers upon which 
 the Borough School Boards may appoint Associate Superinten- 
 dents ; and if the said Board of Education shall at any time so 
 change this basis, the respective School Boards shall have power 
 to appoint such number of Associate Superintendents as may be 
 provided for by the terms of such new basis. 
 
 The Superintendent of Schools appointed by a School Board 
 shall be known as the Borough Superintendent, and the Asso- 
 ciate Superintendents appointed by a School Board shall be 
 known as Associate Superintendents. Any Borough Superinten- 
 
 531 
 
dent or any Associate Superintendent may be removed for 
 cause at any time by a three-fourths vote of all of the members 
 appointed to the School Board by which he was appointed. 
 
 No person shall be eligible for election as City Superinten- 
 dent, Boroug-h Superintendent, or Associate Superintendent 
 who has not one of the following qualifications : {a) Gradua- 
 tion from a College or University recognized by the University 
 of the State of New York, together with at least five years of 
 successful experience in teaching or in supervision since 
 graduation ; (d) Ten years' successful experience as Superin- 
 tendent, Supervising Principal, or Teacher in a graded school. 
 
 J(/. : Appointment and resignation of principals and teachers. 
 
 Sec. 1103. Principals shall be appointed by the School 
 Boards in their respective Boroughs on the nomination of the 
 Board of Borough Superintendents. Principals, branch prin- 
 cipals, supervisors, heads of departments, teachers, assistants 
 and all other members of the teaching staff, shall be appointed 
 by the School Boards on the like nomination. Teachers shall 
 be promoted or transferred from one class to another by the 
 School Board, or in accordance with its by-laws, on the nomi- 
 nation of the Borough Board of Superintendents. For all 
 purposes affecting the appointment, promotion, or transfer of 
 the teachers in any school, the principal of such school shall 
 have a seat in the Borough Board of Superintendents, with a 
 vote on all propositions affecting his school. 
 
 The system or mode of nomination in this section provided 
 for shall not be held to deprive any School Board that has 
 been a Board of Education, of the right to appoint, to pro- 
 mote, and to transfer principals, teachers and other members 
 of the teaching staff without such nomination, in any Borough 
 in which, at the time this Act takes effect, said Board of 
 Education enjoys such right of appointment without nomina- 
 tion by superintendents, until the same shall have been adopted 
 by the School Board of such Borough. 
 
 The nominations thus provided for must be made from the 
 list of properly certificated principals and teachers and other 
 persons eligible for service in the schools of the Borough in the 
 positions to be filled. The time within which said School 
 
 632 
 
Board shall finally act upon said nominations, either by ap- 
 pointing such principal or teacher or other officer or by reject- 
 ing such nominations, is hereby fixed at forty days from the 
 date of the first regular meeting of the School Board next 
 after the filing of such recommendation in the office of the 
 Secretary of the Board. The failure on the part of a School 
 Board to confirm or to reject a nomination within the time 
 prescribed herein shall be held as equivalent to the appoint- 
 ment of the principal or teacher nominated. In case of a failure 
 or of repeated failures to appoint, other names shall be sub- 
 mitted to the School Board for its consideration within two 
 weeks after each failure, until an appointment is made. 
 
 Resignations of Borough Superintendents and of Associate 
 Superintendents shall be made to the School Board. Resigna- 
 tions of principals and teachers, and of all other members of 
 the teaching staff, shall be made to the Borough Super- 
 intendent. 
 
 Id.: Changing grades of schools and classes. Fixing standard of 
 qualification for principals and teachers. 
 
 Sec. 1104. A School Board shall have power to change the 
 grades of all schools and of all classes of any high school or 
 other school under its charge upon the written recommenda- 
 tion of the Borough Board of Superintendents, and upon the 
 same recommendation to adopt and modify courses of study 
 therefor. A School Board shall also have power to fix a 
 standard of qualification as a necessary requirement for the 
 service of all principals and teachers in the high schools and 
 schools of the Borough, which requirement may be higher, 
 but not lower than the minimum qualifications established by 
 the Board of Education of The City of New York. 
 
 Id. : By-laws governing transfers of principals and teachers. 
 
 Sec. 1105. A School Board shall have power to make by-laws 
 governing all transfers of principals or of teachers from one 
 school to another school in its Borough, and relative to the 
 reception of any teacher transferred from one Borough to 
 another Borough. 
 
 533 
 
Id. : Transfer of tinemployed principals or teachers. 
 
 Sec 1106. A School Board shall have power upon the written 
 recommendation of the Borough Superintendent to transfer 
 principals or teachers who may be unemployed by reason of 
 the closing or discontinuance of any school, to any other 
 school in the Borough where a vacancy may exist. 
 
 Id. : Board of Superintendents of the Boroughs ; how duties regu- 
 lated. 
 
 Sec. 1107. A Borough Superintendent and the Associate 
 Superintendents therein shall constitute the Board of Superin- 
 tendents for the Borough, to be known as the Borough Board 
 of Superintendents. A School Board in and for its Borough 
 shall have power to pass by-laws regulating the duties of its 
 Borough Superintendent, of its Associate Superintendents and 
 of the Board of Superintendents for the Borough. The Bor- 
 ough Superintendent shall preside over the Board of Superin- 
 tendents of the Borough, and all communications from the 
 Board shall be made in his name unless in an}^ special case he 
 may otherwise elect. 
 
 General duties of Borough Superintendents and Associate Superin- 
 tendents. 
 
 Sec. 1108. The Borough Superintendents and the Associate 
 Superintendents shall visit every school in their respective 
 Boroughs, and shall inquire into all matters relating to the 
 government, courses of study, methods of teaching, discipline 
 and conduct of such schools, and the condition of the school 
 houses and of the schools generally, and shall examine classes 
 when necessary. The Borough Superintendents shall report 
 the results of such inspections and examinations to the School 
 Board and to the City Superintendent, who shall transmit such 
 parts of said reports as he may consider necessary or proper 
 to the Board of Education of The City of New York, and they 
 shall also report to the City Superintendent at such times, con- 
 cerning such matters, and in such form as said Superintendent 
 shall require. It shall further be the duty of the Borough 
 Superintendent, and of each Associate Superintendent, through 
 
 534 
 
him, to report to the School Board of the Borough any case 
 of gross misconduct, neglect of duty, or general inefficiency 
 on the part of any principal or teacher or other member of 
 the educational staff within his jurisdiction. 
 
 Borough Board of Superintentents. Lists of principals, etc., to be 
 kept by. Where principals report. 
 
 Sec. 1109. The Borough Board of Superintendents shall 
 keep a list of all principals and other teachers in the service of 
 the Board of Education in the said Borough or Boroughs, with 
 the dates of their appointment, the grades and classes taught 
 by them, the results of all inspections and examinations, and 
 of their standing as regards regularity and punctuality in 
 attendance. Such lists shall be open to the inspection of 
 teachers (as to their own records only), of members of the 
 Board of Education, of the members of the School Board and 
 of principals. Principals shall report to the Borough Super- 
 intendent at such times upon such matters and in such form 
 as he may require. 
 
 Id.: Promotion of pupils : transfer of teachers by City Superintend- 
 ent of Schools : preferment where schools are consolidated 
 or discontinued. 
 
 Sec. 1110. Each Borough Board of Superintendents shall 
 establish for the schools under their charge rules and regula- 
 tions for the promotion of pupils from grade to grade, from 
 school to school, for graduation from all grades of schools, and 
 for the transfer of pupils from one school to another. 
 
 With the consent of the teacher and of the principal and 
 the School Board concerned, the City Superintendent of 
 Schools shall have power to transfer a teacher from a school 
 in one Borough to a school in another Borough, provided that 
 the teacher possess the qualifications to teach in the Borough to 
 which said teacher is to be transferred, as such qualifications are 
 prescribed both by the Board of Education and by the School 
 Board of the Borough concerned. All such transfers shall be 
 reported forthwith to the School Boards of the Boroughs in 
 which the schools affected are situated. 
 
 535 
 
In case of the consolidation of schools or of the discontinu- 
 ance of any school, principals and teachers of good standing, 
 who thereby ma}'^ be deprived of employment, shall be pre- 
 ferred in appointments to be made in any of the schools of the 
 Borough. 
 
 Id.: Recommendations of a7id requisitions for text books and scho- 
 lastic supplies. 
 
 Sec. 1111. The Borough Board of Superintendents may 
 recommend to the School Board text books, apparatus and 
 other scholastic supplies required in the schools of the Bor- 
 ough, which, when approved or modified by the School Board, 
 shall upon its requisition, or upon the requisition of the Bor- 
 ough Superintendent, made in conformity with its b3'-laws, be 
 supplied by the Board of Education. Requisitions may be 
 made by principals under regulations to be approved by the 
 School Board, and the same must be approved by the Bor- 
 ough Superintendent. 
 
 Miscellaneous provisions as to powers and duties of Borough Super- 
 intendent, Borough Board of Superintendents, and principals. 
 
 Sec. 1112. Subject to the by-laws of the School Board, the 
 Borough Superintendent, or other appropriate officer, shall 
 assign to their duties such special teachers in drawing, music, 
 physical culture, manual training, sewing, cooking, kinder- 
 garten work, or other special branches, as the School Board 
 of the Borough may appoint ; and such teachers shall be 
 responsible to the principal of each school to which they are 
 assigned for the performance of their duties therein, and shall 
 report to him and also to the Borough Superintendent as 
 these officers may respectively require, unless otherwise 
 ordered by the School Board. 
 
 Id.: Qualifications for special branches. 
 
 Sec. 1113. A Borough Superintendent shall have a seat in 
 the School Board of his Borough with the right to speak on 
 all matters before the Board, but not to vote. Subject to the 
 approval of the Borough Board of Superintendents and as the 
 
 536 
 
by-laws of such Board may prescribe, the principal of each 
 school shall direct the methods of teaching in all classes under 
 his charge except that the School Board may adopt by-laws to 
 govern in the case of special classes. The Board of Borough 
 Superintendents shall have the power from time to time to 
 issue syllabuses of the topics in the various branches taught 
 which shall be regarded as the minimum amount of work re- 
 quired in such branches. 
 
 The Borough Superintendent of the Boroughs of Queens 
 and of Richmond respectively is hereby authorized, with the 
 approval of the School Board of the respective Boroughs, to 
 designate certain principals as supervising principals to aid 
 the Board of Superintendents in their work of supervision. 
 
 No person shall be eligible for election as supervisor 
 of a special branch, as music, drawing, kindergarten, etc., 
 who is not {a) a graduate of a high school or of an institu- 
 tion of equal or higher scholastic rank ; and {b) a graduate 
 from a course of professional training of at least one year 
 in the special branch that he is to supervise or teach ; and 
 {c) a teacher of that special branch with at least three years 
 of successful experience. 
 
 Charges against principal and teachers and others ; proceedings 
 thereon. 
 
 Sec. 1114. A member of a School Board, a Borough Super- 
 intendent, or an Associate Superintendent may prefer charges 
 to the School Board against a principal, a branch principal, a 
 supervisor, a head of department, or any other officer exercis- 
 ing supervising powers in the schools under their charge, or 
 against a teacher in any of the schools under their charge, for 
 gross misconduct, insubordination, neglect of duty, or general 
 inefficiency. Pending trial, the School Board may suspend 
 said principal or teacher or other officer, with or without pay, 
 and appoint a substitute in his place. 
 
 In accordance with by-laws to be passed by the School 
 Board, the principal of any school shall have the like power 
 to suspend a teacher in his school, and shall forthwith report 
 such suspension to the Borough Superintendent, who shall 
 immediately report it to the School Board. Pending action 
 
 537 
 
by the School Board, the Borough Superintendent m'ay ap- 
 point a substitute in the place of any teacher so suspended. 
 
 The School Board, on receiving notice of charges under 
 the provisions of either of the foregoing paragraphs, shall im- 
 mediately proceed to try and determine the case, either in the 
 Board or by a committee of its body, and shall fix the fine, 
 penalty, or punishment, if any, that should be imposed for the 
 offence ; and such fine, penalty, or punishment shall consist of 
 a fine, in suspension for a fixed time without pay, or in dismis- 
 sal. The report of any committee holding such trial shall be 
 subject to final action by the Board, which may reject, con- 
 firm, or modify the conclusions of the Committee, and the de- 
 cision of the Board shall be final, except as as to matters in 
 relation to which, under the general school laws of the State, 
 an appeal may be taken to the State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction. In case the principal or other of- 
 ficer or teacher is acquitted, he shall be restored to his 
 position with full pay for the period of suspension. In all 
 trials authorized by this chapter, all testimony taken shall be 
 under oath, which the President of the Board or Chairman of 
 the Committee conducting the trial is hereby authorized to 
 administer, and the Supreme Court shall have power, upon 
 the application of such President or Chairman, to compel any 
 witness who may be summoned, to appear and testify before 
 said Board or Committee. 
 
 Powers of investigation. 
 
 Sec. 1115. TheBoard of Education or any School Board may 
 investigate, of its own motion or otherwise, either in the Board 
 or by a committee of its own body, any subject of which it has 
 cognizance or over which it has legal control, including the 
 conduct of any of its members or employees ; and for the pur- 
 pose of such investigation, such Board or its President, or 
 Committee and its Chairman, shall have and may exercise all 
 the powers which a School Board has or may exercise in the 
 case of a trial under Section 1 1 14 of this Act. Any action or 
 determination of a Committee appointed under the provisions 
 of this section shall be subject to approval or reversal by the 
 Board appointing it, which may also modify the determina- 
 
 538 
 
tion of the Committee in such way as the Board shall deem 
 proper and just, and the judgment of the Board thereon shall 
 be final. 
 
 Borough Superintendent. Enforcing compulsory education latv. 
 Nominatifig, assigning, suspending and discharging clerks. 
 
 Sec, J 116. The Borough Superintendent shall enforce the 
 compulsory education law, and shall nominate attendance 
 officers to the School Board, and shall direct such officers in 
 their duties. He may suspend or discharge any such officer 
 for cause, but such officer shall have the right of appeal to the 
 School Board. He shall nominate to the School Board such 
 clerks as may be required in his office and as may be author- 
 ized by the School Board, and he shall assign them to their 
 various duties. He may suspend or discharge them for cause, 
 but in such case the clerks shall have the right of appeal to the 
 School Board. 
 
 Continuation in office of all employees under the public school system 
 of any part of the territory consolidated. 
 
 Sec. 1117. All Superintendents, Assistant or Associate Su- 
 perintendents, and all principals, teachers and other members 
 of the educational staff in the public school system of any part 
 of The City of New York as constituted by this Act, shall 
 continue to hold their respective positions and to be entitled 
 to such compensation as is now provided or may hereafter be 
 provided by the various School Boards, subject to the limita- 
 tions of this Act and to re-assignment or to removal for cause, 
 as may be provided by law. On the first day of February, 
 1898, the City Superintendent of Schools in the City of New 
 York as constituted prior to the passage of this Act, shall be 
 and become the Superintendent of Schools of the Boroughs of 
 Manhattan and The Bronx ; and the Assistant Superintendents 
 of the City of New York as then constituted, shall be and be- 
 come Associate Superintendents of the Boroughs of Manhat- 
 tan and The Bronx ; the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
 of the City of Brooklyn as constituted prior to the passage of 
 this Act, shall be and become the Superintendent of Schools of 
 the Borough of Brooklyn; and the Associate Superintendents of 
 
 539 
 
the City of Brooklyn as then constituted, shall become Asso- 
 ciate Superintendents of the Borough of Brooklyn. The 
 duties of all of these officers, on and after February ist, 1898, 
 shall be entirely defined and limited by the provisions of this 
 Act. All persons transferred by this section to the service of 
 the consolidated city who hold office for definite terms, shall 
 be transferred for the remainder of their respective terms only. 
 
 School money appropriation by the State to the public schools of the 
 city. 
 
 Sec. 1118. Whenever the clerk of the city shall receive notice 
 from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the 
 amount of moneys apportioned to The City of New York for 
 the support and encouragement of common schools therein, he 
 shall immediately lay the same before the municipal assembly 
 of said city ; and the Chamberlain of the said city shall apply 
 for and receive the school moneys apportioned to the said city 
 as soon as the same becomes payable, and place the same in 
 the city treasury. 
 
 School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn to control and administer 
 the Public School Teachers ^ Retirement Fund created by Chap- 
 ter 6.56, Laws of 1895. Composition of fund. Retirement 
 and pensions of Teachers. 
 
 Sec. 1119. The School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn is 
 hereby given the full care and management of the Public 
 School Teachers' Retirement Fund, created by chapter six 
 hundred and fifty-six of the Laws of 1895. When a teacher is 
 transferred to another Borough having a Teachers' Retirement 
 Fund, his or her contribution may be paid into the said fund 
 and inure to the teacher's benefit in that fund under the rules 
 governing the same. 
 
 640 
 
Title 2. 
 
 the college of the city of new york. 
 
 To continue as a separate corporation. 
 
 Sec. 1127. The College of the City of New York, shall con- 
 tinue to be a separate and distinct organization and body corpo- 
 rate, and as such shall have the powers and privileges of a college, 
 pursuant to the Revised Statutes of this State, and be subject to the 
 provisions of the said statutes relative to colleges, and to the visita- 
 tion of Regents of the University, in like manner with the other 
 colleges of the State. 
 
 Trustees. 
 
 Sec. 1128. The members of the Board of Education of the City 
 of New York, togetherwith the president of the college, shall be ex- 
 ofiicio the Trustees of the said college, and shall have and possess 
 the powers conferred upon, and be subject to the duties required of 
 the trustees of colleges by the Revised Statutes. The president of the 
 college shall be a member of the executive committee of the said 
 trustees for its care, government, and management. 
 
 Laws applicable. 
 
 Sec. 1129. All Acts of the Legislature, which were in force 
 on March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in regard 
 to the Free Academy, and to its control, management, support, 
 and affairs, not since modified or repealed, and which are not incon- 
 sistent with the provisions of this Act, and all laws in force at 
 the time this Act takes effect relative to the College of the City 
 of New York not inconsistent with this Act are hereby declared 
 to be applicable to the said college. 
 
 Participation in State literature and other funds. 
 
 Sec. 1130. The College of the City of New York shall be en- 
 titled to participate in the distribution of the income of the literature 
 and other funds in the same manner and upon the same conditions 
 a« the other colleges of the State, and the Regents of the University 
 of the State of New York shall pay annually to the Comptroller 
 
 541 
 
of the City of New York, as trustee for said college, the distributive 
 share of the said funds to which the said College of the City of 
 New York shall, by law, be entitled, and which shall be applied 
 and expended for library books for the said college. 
 
 Duty of trustees to report. 
 
 Sec. 1131. It shall be the duty of the Trustees of said col- 
 lege, annually on or before the first day of September, to report 
 to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment such sum, not 
 exceeding one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in 
 any one year, as they may require for the payment of the 
 salaries of the professors and officers of said college; for 
 obtaining and fumis'hing scientific apparatus, books for the students 
 and all other necessary supplies therefor; for repairing and altering 
 the college buildings ; and for the support, maintenance, and general 
 expenses of said college; and the said board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portiomnent and the Municipal Assembly of the City of New York 
 are herby autihorized and directed in ^ch and every year to raise 
 and collect by tax on the estate, real and personal, liable to tax- 
 ation in said City, such sum of money, not exceeding the 
 amount aforesaid, as miay be reported to them by said trustees ; the 
 amount so to be raised and collected to be in addition to the sums 
 required for the purposes of common schools in the City of New 
 York under the Act entitled "An Act to amend, consolidate, and re- 
 duce to one Act the several Acts of the State of New York relative 
 to the common schools of the City of New York," passed July 
 third, 1851, and the several Acts amendatory thereto. 
 
 Upon the recommendation of the Trustees, the Board 
 of Estimate and Apjxirtionment and the Municipal Assembly may 
 increase, from time to time, the amount annually to be raised in 
 the tax levy for the maintenance of the College of the City of New 
 York. 
 
 Instruction to be furnished gratuitously: degrees and diplomas. 
 
 Sec. 1132. The Board of Education, as Trustees of said 
 college, shall continue to furnish, through the College of 
 
 542 
 
the City of New York, the benefit of education, gratuitously, 
 to boys who have been pupils in the common schools of 
 the City, and to all other male students who are actual 
 residents of said City, and who are qualified to pass the 
 required examination for admission to said college. And the 
 Trustees, upon the recommendation of the faculty of the said col- 
 lege, may grant the usual degrees and diplomas in the arts to 
 such persons as shall have completed a full course of study in 
 the said college. 
 
 Reports by Trustees to he furnished. 
 
 Sec. 1133. The Trustees of the College of the City of New 
 York shall make and transmit, annually, on or before the first day 
 of February in each year, to the Municipal Assembly, and also to 
 the Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University of the State 
 of New York, a report, dated on the thirty-first day of December 
 next preceding, which report shall state the names and ages of all 
 the pupils instructed in sudh college during the preceding year, and 
 the time that each was so instructed, specifying which of them have 
 completed a full course of study therein, and whidh have received 
 degrees, medals, and other special testimonials, a particular state- 
 ment of the studies pursued by each pupil since the last preceding 
 report, together with the books such student shall have studied, in 
 whole or in part, and if in part, what portion; an account or estimate 
 of the library, philosophical and chemical apparatus, and mathe- 
 matical or other scientific instruments belonging to such college; 
 the names of the instructors employed in said college, and the com- 
 pensation paid to each; what amount of moneys the Board of Ed- 
 ucation received during the year for the purposes of such college, 
 and from what sources, specifying how much from each, and the 
 particular manner, and the specific purposes for which such moneys 
 have been expended; and such other information in relation to edu- 
 cation in the said college, and the measures of the Board of Trus- 
 tees in the management thereof, as the Municipal Assembly, or the 
 Regents of the University of the State of New York may, from time 
 to time, require. 
 
 ^ fuiriVBESITT] 
 
 '^Mfht^ 
 
Title 3. 
 
 the normal college. 
 
 The Normal College of The City of New York, a corporation and college. 
 Sec. 1139. The Normal College of the City of New York is 
 hereby declared to be a separate and distinct organization and body 
 corporate, and as such shall have the power and privileges of a col- 
 lege pursuant to the revised statutes of this State, and be subject to 
 the provisions of the said statutes relative to colleges, and to the 
 visitation of theRegentsof the University, in like manner with the 
 other colleges of the State. 
 
 Id. : Trustees, powers and duties of trustees. 
 
 Sec. 1140. The members of the Board of Education of the 
 City of New York, together with the president of the Normal Col- 
 lege shall be ex-officio the trustees of said college, and shall have 
 and possess the powers conferred upon and be subject to the duties 
 required of the trustees of colleges by the revised statutes. The 
 president of the college shall be a member of the executive commit- 
 tee of the said trustees for its care, government and management. 
 
 Id. : Laws applicable to. Participation in State literature and other funds. 
 Sec. 1141. All acts of the Legislature now in force with regard 
 to the said Normal College, its control, management, support and 
 affairs, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby 
 declared to be appHcable to said college. The Normal College of 
 the City of New York shall be entitled to participate in the distri- 
 bution of the income of the literature, and other funds of the State 
 in the same manner, and upon the same conditions as the other col- 
 leges of the State, and the Regents of the University of the State of 
 New York, shall pay annually to the Comptroller of the City of 
 New York, as trustee for said college, the distributive share of the 
 said funds to which the said Normal College of the City of New 
 York shall by law be entitled, and which shall be applied and ex- 
 pended for library books for said college. 
 
 544 
 
Id. : Trustees to report annually the amount required to pay salaries, etc. 
 Such amount to be raised by taxation. Municipal Assembly may 
 increase amount named herein. 
 
 Sec. 1142. It shall be the duty of the Trustees of said col- 
 lege annually on or before the fifteenth day of October to 
 report to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment such 
 sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 in any one year, as they may require for the payment of the 
 salaries of the professors and officers of the said college, for obtain- 
 ing and furnishing scientific apparatus, books for the students and 
 all other necessary suppHes therefor, for repairing and altering the 
 college buildings, and for the support, maintenance and general ex- 
 penses of said college; and the said Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment, and the Municipal Assembly of the City of New 
 York are hereby authorized and directed, in each and every 
 year to raise and collect by tax on the estate, real and 
 personal, liable to taxation in said city and county, such 
 sum of money, not exceeding the amount aforesaid, as 
 may be reported to them by said trustees, the amount so to be 
 raised and collected to be in addition to the sums required for the 
 purposes of comimon schools in the City of New York, under the 
 act entitled "An act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act 
 the several acts of the State of New York, relative to common 
 schools of the City of New York", passed July third, eighteen hun- 
 dred and fifty-one, and the several acts amendatory thereto. Upon 
 the recommendation of the Trustees, the Board of Estimate 
 and Apportionment and the Municipal Assembly may increase 
 from timie to time the amount annually to be raised in the tax levy 
 for the maintenance of the Normal College. 
 
 Id.: Instruction to be furnished gratuitously. Degrees and diplomas. 
 
 Sec. 1143. The said Board of Education as trustees of said col- 
 lege shall continue to furnish through the Normal College of the 
 City of New York, the benefit of education gratuitously to girls 
 who have been pupils in the common schools of The City of New 
 York as constituted by this Act, for a period of time to be regulated 
 
 545 .. . .-•; 
 
by the Board of Trustees of said college, and to all other girls who 
 are actual residents of said city, and who are qualified to pass the 
 required exanimation for admission to said college ; and the Board 
 of Trustees upon the recommendation of the faculty of the said 
 college, may grant the usual degrees and diplomas in the arts to 
 such persons as shall have completed a full course of study in the 
 said college. The said Board of Trustees shall give normal instruc- 
 tion in manual training for the purpose of preparing teachers of 
 manual training for the common school. 
 
 Id.: Annual report of trustees. 
 
 Sec. 1144. The Trustees of the Normal College of the 
 City of New York shall make and transmit annually, on or 
 before the first day of February in each year, to the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly and also to the secretary of the Board of 
 Regents of the University of the State of New York, a report, 
 dated on the last secular day of December, next preceding, 
 which report shall state the names and ages of all the pupils 
 instructed in said college during the preceding year, and the 
 time that each was so instructed, specifying which of them have com- 
 pleted a full course of study therein, and which have received de- 
 grees, medals and other special testimonials; a particular statement 
 of the studies pursued by each pupil since the last preceding report 
 together with the books such student shall have studied, in whole or 
 in part, and if in part, what portions ; an account or estimate of the 
 library, philosophical and chemical apparatus and mathematical or 
 other scientific instruments belonging to said college; the names of 
 the instructors employed in said college and the compensation paid 
 to each; what amount of moneys the Board of Trustees received 
 during the year for the purposes of said college, and from what 
 source, specifying how much from each, and the particular manner 
 and the specific purposes for which such moneys have been ex- 
 pended, and such other information in relation to education in the 
 said college, and the measures of the Board of Trustees in the 
 management thereof, as the Board of Education or the Regents 
 of the University of the State of New York may from time to 
 time require. 
 
 546 
 
Id.: Money appropriated for to be expended when required by trustees. 
 Contracts by trustees. 
 
 Sec. 1145. The moneys apportioned to the Board of Education 
 of said City of New York by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment and MunicipalAssembly for the payment of the salaries of the 
 professors and officers of said college, for obtaiining and furnishing 
 scientific apparatus, books for the students and all other necessary 
 supplies therefor, for repairing and altering the college buildings, 
 and for the support, maintenance and general expenses of said col- 
 lege, shall be expended for said Normal College when required by 
 the Trustees of the Normal Collegeof the City of New York, with 
 the same right, power and authority as if the said college were under 
 the control of the Board of Education of the City of New York. 
 All contracts entered into, or liabilities incurred by said trustees in- 
 volving the expenditure of more than one thousand dollars, except 
 agreements for the payment of salaries, shall be entered into and in- 
 curred in the manner and subject to the restrictions and limitations 
 provided as to other expenditures of public moneys as provided for 
 in this Act. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 Religious sects and dogmatic books excluded: Bible retained. 
 
 Sec. 1151. No school shall be entitled to or receive any por 
 tion of the school moneys in which the religious doctrines or ten- 
 ets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be 
 taught, inculcated, or practised, or in which any book or books, 
 containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the particular 
 doctrines or tenets of any particidar Christian or other religious 
 sect shall be used, or which sihall teach the doctrines or tenets of 
 any other religious sect, or which shall refuse to permit the 
 visits and examinations provided for in this chapter. But 
 
 547 
 
nothing herein contained shall authorize the Board of 
 Education or the School Board of any Borough to exclude the 
 Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections there- 
 from, from any of the schools provided for by this chapter; but it 
 shall not be competent for the said Board of Education to decide 
 what version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or com- 
 ment, shall be used in any of the schools; provided that nothing 
 herein contained shall be so construed as to violate the rights of 
 conscience, as secured by the Constitution of this State and of the 
 United States. 
 
 Certain private schools authorised to participate in common school fund. 
 
 Sec. 1152. The school established and maintained by the Five 
 Points House of Industry, in the City of New York, the school es- 
 tablished and maintained by the Ladies' Home Missionary Society 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the institution in Park street, 
 near the place usually called the Five Points, in the said City, and 
 the industrial schools established and maintained under the charge 
 of the Children's Aid Society, in the City of New York, shall par- 
 ticipate through the School Board of the Boroughs of Manhat- 
 tan and The Bronx, in the distribution of the common school 
 fund in the same manner and degree as the common schools in 
 The City of New York, and shall be subject to the same regu- 
 lations and restrictions as are now by law imposed on the com- 
 mon schools of New York. 
 
 Id.: to report as to moneys and attendance. 
 
 Sec. 1153. The Board of Education shall require from the offi- 
 cers conducting schools by appointment of the Board, and from the 
 trustees, managers, or directors of the corporate schools entitled 
 to participate in the apportionment of school moneys, a report in all 
 respects similar to that heretofore required in the City of New York 
 from the trustees of each ward. And in making the apportion- 
 ment among the several schools, no share shall be allotted to any 
 school or society from which no sufficient annual report shall have 
 
respects similar to that formerly required in the City of New 
 York as constituted prior to the passage of this Act from the 
 trustees of each ward. And in making the apportionment 
 among the several schools, no share shall be allotted by any 
 School Board to any school or society from which no sufficient 
 annual report shall have been received, for the year ending on 
 the last day of June immediately preceding the apportionment. 
 
 Certain additional private schools authorized to participate in school 
 funds. 
 
 Sec. 1154. The New York Orphan Asylum School, the Ro- 
 man Catholic Orphan Asylum School, the schools of the two half 
 orphan asylums, the school of the Society for the Reformation 
 of Juvenile Delinquents, in the City of New York, the schoo 
 for the Leake and Watt's Orphans' House, the school c-'nnected 
 with the Alms House of said City, the school of the Association 
 for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, the schools of the American 
 Female Guardian Society, the school established and maintained 
 by the New York Juvenile Asylum, by the New York Infant 
 Asylum, by the Nursery and Child's Hospital, including the 
 country branch thereof; the orphan asylums and industrial 
 schools as existing in the City of Brooklyn at the time of the 
 passage of this Act, and the several schools and branches thereof, 
 the schools organized under the act entitled " An Act to extend 
 to the City and County of New York the provisions of the gen- 
 eral Act in relation to common schools, passed April eleven, 
 eighteen hundred and forty-two," or an Act to amend the same 
 passed April eighteen, eighteen hundred and forty-three, or an 
 Act entitled " An Act more effectually to provide for common 
 school education in the City and County of New York, passed 
 May seventh, eighteen hundred and fourty-four," or any of the 
 acts amending the same, and such schools as may be organized 
 under the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to the gen- 
 eral supervision of the Board of Education, and shall be entitled, 
 through the proper School Boards, to participate in the appor- 
 tionment of the school moneys, as provided for in this chapter, 
 but they shall be under the immediate direction of their respective 
 Trustees, Managers and Directors, as herein provided. 
 
 549 
 
Id. : accidental omission to report. 
 
 Sec. 1155. Whenever an appointment of the public money 
 shall not be made to any school, in consequence of any accidental 
 omission to make any report required by law, or to comply with 
 any o*ber regulation or provision of law, the Board of Education 
 may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment to be made to such 
 school, according to the equitable circimistances of the case, to be 
 paid out of the public money on hand, or if the same shall have been 
 distributed out of the public money to be received in a succeeding 
 year. 
 
 Id.: Trustees of such schools may convey to Corporation and become 
 merged. 
 
 Sec. 1156. The trustees, managers, and directors of any of 
 the corporate schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of 
 the school moneys, may, at any time, convey their school-houses 
 and sites to the Corporation of the City of New York, and transfer 
 any of their schools to the Board of Education, on the terms and 
 in the manner to be agreed upon and prescribed by the Board of 
 Education, so as either to merge the said schools in the public 
 schools or adopt them as public schools ; and the same shall then 
 be public schools, subject to all the rules, duties, and liabilities, 
 and enjoy the same rights as if they had been originally estab- 
 lished as public schools. 
 
 Nautical school to be established. 
 
 Sec. 1157. The Board of Education is authorized and directed 
 to provide and maintain a nautical school in said City, for the edu- 
 cation and training of pupils in the science and practice of naviga- 
 tion; to fumisb accommodations for said school, and make all 
 needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the number and 
 compensation of instructors and others employed therein; to pre- 
 scribe tbe government and discipline thereof, and the terms and 
 conditions upon which pupils shall be received and instructed there- 
 in, and discharged therefrom, and provide in all things for the good 
 
 550 
 
management of said nautical school. And said Board shall have 
 power to purchase the books, apparatus, stationery, and other 
 things necessary or expedient to enable said school to be properly 
 and successfully conducted, and may cause the said school or the 
 pupils, or part of the pupils, thereof to go on board vessels in the 
 harbor of New York, and take cruises in or from said 'harbor for 
 the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge in navigation and 
 of the duties of mariners. And the said Board are hereby author- 
 ized to apply to the United States Government for the requisite use 
 of vessels and supplies for the purpose above mentioned. 
 
 Nautical school; management of. 
 
 Sec. 1158. The said Board of Education shall appoint annually 
 at least three of their number who shall, subject to the control, 
 supervision, and approbation of the Board, constitute an executive 
 committee, for the care, government, and management of sucK 
 nautical school, under rules and regulations so prescribed, and 
 whose duty it shall be, among other things, to recommend the rules 
 and regulations which they deem necessary and proper for such 
 school. 
 
 Id.: Chamber of Commerce to appoint committee to serve as council. 
 
 Sec. 1159. The Chamber of Commerce of New York is author- 
 ized to provide for and appoint a committee of its members to serve 
 as a council of the nautical school, whose duty it shall be, as far as 
 may be, to advise and co-operate with the Board of Education in 
 the establishment and management of such school, and from time 
 to time to visit and examine the same, and to communicate in 
 respect thereof, with the Board of Education, or such executive 
 committee thereof, and to make reports to the Chamber of Com- 
 merce which may transmit to the State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction such reports, or any thereof, or an abstract of the same, 
 with such recommendations as may be deemed advisable. 
 
 551 ..^ 
 
Id.: expenses. 
 
 Sec. 1160. After the establishment and organization of the said 
 school, the expenses thereof, and of carrying out the provisions of 
 this chapter, sihall be defrayed from the moneys raised by law for 
 the support of common schools in the City of Ne York. 
 
 New York Instihition for the Blind. 
 
 Sec. 1161. The Board of Education is hereby authorized and 
 required to distribute to the Managers of the New York Institution 
 for the Blind a ratable proportion of the said school fund to every 
 blind pupil in said Institution, without regard to age. 
 
 562 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, 
 
 Title 1. Powers and Duties of the Department, its Officers 
 and Administration. 
 
 2. Marriages, Births and Deaths. 
 
 3. Duties of Physicians and Others. 
 
 4. Legal Proceedings and Punishment for Disobedience 
 
 of Orders and Ordinances. 
 
 5. Reimbursement of Expenses. 
 
 6. Abatement by Suit. j 
 
 7. Tenement and Lodging Houses. 
 
 8. Pension Fund. 
 
 Title 1. 
 
 orgamzation, administration, authority, duties and 
 
 powers of department. 
 
 The Board of Health the head of the Department of Health. 
 
 Section 1167. The head of the Department of Health shall 
 be called the Board of Health. Said board shall consist of the 
 President of the Board of Police, the Health Officer of the 
 Port, and three officers called Commissioners of Health, who 
 shall be appointed by the Mayor, and shall hold their respective 
 offices, as provided in Chapter IV of this Act as designated by 
 the Mayor. 
 Authority, duty and powers of the Board of Health. 
 
 Sec. 1168. The authority, duty, and powers of the Depart- 
 ment of Health shall extend over The City of New York, and 
 the waters adjacent thereto, within the jurisdiction of said City, 
 
 553 
 
and over the waters of the bay within the quarantine limits as 
 established by law, but shall not be held to interfere with the 
 powers and duties of the commissioners of quarantine or the 
 health officer of the port. It shall be the duty of the Depart- 
 ment of Health to make an annual report to the Mayor of The 
 City of New York, of all the operations of the department for 
 the previous year. The Mayor may at any time call for a fuller 
 report, or for a report upon any portion of the work of said De- 
 partment, whenever he may deem it to be for the public good 
 so to do. 
 
 All the authority, duty and powers heretofore conferred or en- 
 joined upon the Health Departments, Boards of Health, health and 
 sanitary officers in any of the municipal and public corporations 
 or parts thereof, in any of the territory now within or here- 
 after to become a part of The City of New York, as constituted 
 by this Act, and within the jurisdiction of said city, by chapter 
 seventy-four of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the 
 several Acts amendatory thereof, and by any other subsequent 
 laws of this State, and upon the several officers and members of 
 said boards, by the laws constituting and appointing all such depart- 
 ments, boards of health, and sanitary officers and members of said 
 boards, by the laws constituting and appointing all such depart- 
 ments, boards of health, and sanitary officers, and giving and grant- 
 ing to them, or any of them, duties and powers not inconsistent with 
 the provisions of this Act, are hereby conferred upon and vested in 
 and enjoined upon, and shall hereafter be exclusively exercised in 
 the City of New York by the Department of Health, and Board of 
 Health, created by this Act, and by the officers of said Board of 
 Health and the said Department of Health, and the same are to be 
 exercised in the manner specified in said chapter seventy-four of 
 the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the several Acts 
 amendatory thereof, and by any other subsequent laws of the State 
 relative to health and sanitary matters, and the prevention of pesti- 
 lence and disease in said City of New York, or in any part there- 
 of, and in conformity with the provisions of this Act. 
 
 JDuty of Board as to enforcement of laws. Information. 
 
 Sec. 1169. It shall be the duty of said Board of Health to aid 
 
 554 
 
the enforcement of, and so far as practicable, to enforce all laws of this 
 State, applicable in said district, to the preservation of human life, or 
 to the care, promotion, or protection of health; and said board may 
 exercise the authority given by said laws to enable it to discharge 
 the duty hereby imposed ; and this section is intended to include all 
 laws relative to cleanliness, and to the use or sale of poisonous, un- 
 wholesome, deleterious, or adulterated drugs, medicine or 
 food, and the necessary sanitary supervision of the purity 
 and wholesomeness of the water supply and the sources 
 thereof for the City of New York. And said board is 
 authorized to require reports and information at such times 
 and of such facts, and generally of such nature and extent, rela- 
 tive to the saiety of life and promotion of health as its by-laws or rules 
 may provide, from all public dispensaries, hospitals, asylums, in- 
 firmaries, prisons and schools, and from the managers, principals and 
 officers thereof; and from all other public institutions, their officers 
 and managers, and from the proprietors, managers, lessees, and oc- 
 cupants of all theatres and other places of public resort or amusement 
 in said district; but such reports and information shall only be re- 
 quired concerning matters, or particulars, in respect of which, it may, 
 in its opinion, need information, for the better discharge of its duties 
 in said City of New York and every part thereof. 
 
 It is hereby made the duty of the officers, institutions, and persons 
 so called on, or referred to, to promptly give such information and 
 make such reports verbally or in writing as may be required by said 
 board. ' ■ ] ]\ 
 
 The Board of Health shall use all reasonable means for ascertain- 
 ing the existence and cause of disease or peril to life or health, and for 
 averting the same, throughout said City, and shall promptly cause all 
 proper information in possession of said board to be sent to the local 
 health authorities of any city, village, or town in this State which may 
 request the same, and shall add thereto such useful suggestions as the 
 exoerience of said board may supply. 
 
 It shall be the duty of said board, so far as it may be able, 
 without serious expense, to gather and preserve such information 
 and facts relating to death, disease and health, from other parts 
 
 555 
 
of this State, but especially in said City, as may be useful in the 
 discharge of its duties, and contribute to the promotion of health, 
 or the security of life in the State of New York. 
 
 It shall be the duty of said board to give all information that may 
 be reasonably requested concerning any threatened danger to the 
 public health, to the Health Officer of the Port of New York, and to 
 the Commissioners of Quarantine of said port; who shall give the 
 like information to said board; and said board, and said officers and 
 Quarantine Commissioners shall, so far as legal and prac- 
 ticable, co-operate together to prevent the spread of disease, and 
 for the protection of life and the promotion of health, within the 
 sphere of their respective duties. Said board may grant bills of 
 health to masters of vessels certifying to the condition of the city in 
 respect of health. 
 
 Hospitals. 
 
 Sec. 1170. Said board may remove or cause to be removed 
 to proper place, to be by it designated, any person sick with a 
 any contagious, pestilential, or infectious disease; shall have ex- 
 clusive charge and control of the hospitals for the treatment of such 
 cases ; and shall have power to provide and pay for the use of proper 
 places to which to remove such persons as well as to designate such 
 places. The Board of Health is authorized and empowered to erect, 
 establish, maintain, and furnish, upon North Brothers Island and 
 in such other places within the City of New York as are now used 
 for such purposes, buildings and hospitals for the care and treat- 
 ment of persons sick with contagious diseases, and shall have the ex- 
 clusive charge and control of the said buildings and hospitals. It 
 shall have power to take possession of, and occupy for temporary 
 hospitals, any building or buildings in the said City, during the preva- 
 lence of an epidemic, if in the judgment of the board the same may 
 be required, and shall pay for private property so taken a just copi- 
 pensation for the same. Said board may cause proper care and 
 attendance to be given to persons sick or removed, when it shall 
 be made to appear to the said board that any such person is so poor 
 as to be unable to procure for himself such care and attendance, 
 
 656 
 
or that the public health requires special medical care and attend- 
 ance. The Board of Health may send to such place as it may direct, 
 all aliens and other persons in the city, not residents thereof, who 
 shall be sick of any infectious, pestilential, or contagious disease. 
 The expense of the support of such aliens or other persons shall 
 be defrayed by the corporation of the City of New York, unless 
 such aliens or other persons shall be entitled to support from the 
 Commissioners of Emigration. No person shall remove any 
 person sick with infectious, contagious or pestilential disease from 
 any vessel or other place in said City without a written permit 
 from the Board of Health. 
 
 Repairs of building. 
 
 Sec. 1171. Thepowersof theBoardof Healthshallbeconstrued 
 to include the ordering- and enforcing in the same manner as other 
 orders are provided to be enforced, the repairs of buildings, houses, 
 and other structures ; the regulation and control of all public markets 
 (so far as relates to the cleanliness, ventilation, and drainapfe thereof, 
 and to the prevention of the sale, or offering for sale, of improper 
 articles therein) ; the removal of any obstruction, matter, or thing in 
 or upon the public streets, sidewalks, or places which shall be in its 
 opinion liable to lead to results dangerous to life or health; the pre- 
 vention of accidents by which life or health may be endangered ; and 
 generally the abating of uMi nuisances. It is hereby expressly de- 
 clared that the said Board of Health shall have and possess full and 
 complete power with reference to the ventilation, drainage, and clean- 
 liness of the stands or stalls in or around all markets, and said board 
 shall have in said City all common-law rights to abate any nuisance 
 without suit, which can or does in thi^ State belong to any person 
 whatever. 
 
 Sanitary code. 
 
 Sec. 1172. The Sanitary Code adopted and declared as such 
 at the meeting of the Board of Health of the Health Depart- 
 ment of The City of New York, held in the city as formerly 
 constituted and bounded on the second day of June, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, as amended in 
 
 557 
 
accordance with law, is hereby declared to be binding and in 
 force in the City constituted by this Act, and shall continue to 
 be so binding and in force, except as the same may, from time 
 to time, be revised, altered, amended or annulled by the Board 
 of Health as herein provided. And it shall be the duty of said 
 board, immediately upon organization under this Act, to cause 
 to be conformed to this title the Sanitary Code of Ordinances, 
 adopted by the existing Department of Health, and the depart- 
 ments and Boards of Health existing in the several parts of the 
 City of New York before the passage of this Act, which shall 
 be called the " Sanitary Code." Said Board of Health is hereby 
 authorized and empowered from time to time, to add to or to alter, 
 amend or annul any part of the said Sanitary Code, and may 
 therein publish additional provisions for the security of life and 
 health in The City of New York, and distribute appropriate 
 powers and duties to the members and employees of the Depart- 
 ment of Health, not inconsistent with the constitution or laws 
 of this State. The Board of Health may embrace therein all 
 matters and subjects to which, and so far as, the power and 
 authority of said Department of Health extends, not limiting 
 their application to the subject of health only. But no such 
 revision, alteration or amendment shall take effect or be bind- 
 ing or in force, until the same has been published once a week 
 for two successive weeks in the City Record. The publication 
 of additional provisions in, and of, additional ordinances of the 
 Sanitary Code once a week for two successive weeks in the City 
 Record shall be sufficient, and render any further publication of 
 the same in any other newspaper unnecessary. Any violation 
 of said code or its amendments shall be treated and punished as 
 a misdemeanor, and the offender shall also be liable to pay a 
 penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered in a civil action in the 
 name of the Department of Health of The City of "New York, 
 before any justice or tribunal in said city, having jurisdiction of 
 civil actions; and all such justices and tribunals shall take juris- 
 diction of such action. 
 
 Copies of the record of the proceedings of said board, of its 
 rules, regulations, ordinances, by-laws, and books and papers 
 constituting part of its archives, and the Sanitary Code, now or 
 
 558 
 
hereafter in force in said city, and the ordinances of the Sani- 
 tary Code added thereto and adopted by said Board of Health, 
 when authenticated by its secretary, or secretary /r^ tern., shall 
 be presumptive evidence, and the authentication taken as pre- 
 sumptively correct in any court of justice, or judicial proceeding, 
 when they may be relevant to the point or matter in contro- 
 versy, of the facts, statements, and recitals, therein contained. 
 
 Judicial notice of seal and presumptions. 
 
 Sec. 1173. The actions, proceedings, authority, and orders of 
 said Board of Health shall at all times be regarded as in their nature 
 judicial, and be treated as prima facie just and legal. All meet- 
 ings of said Board shall in every suit and proceeding be taken to 
 have been duly called and regularly held, and all orders and pro- 
 ceedings to have been duly authorized, unless the contrary be 
 proved. All courts shall take judicial notice of the seal of said 
 board and of the signature of its secretary and chief clerk. 
 
 Seal. 
 
 Sec. 1174. The Board of Health may design and adopt a 
 seal, and use tiie same in the authentication of its orders and 
 proceedings, commissioning its officers and agents, and otherwise, 
 as the rules of the Board may provide. Said Board may enact 
 such by-laws, rules and regulations as it may deem advisable, in 
 harmony with the provisions and purposes of this chapter, and 
 not inconsistent with the constitution or laws of this State, for 
 the regulation of the action of said board, its ofhcers and agents, 
 in the discharge of its and their duties, and from time to time 
 may alter, annul or amend the same. 
 
 Publication of reports and statistics. 
 
 Sec. 1175. The Board of Health may establish as it shall 
 deem wise, and to promote the public good and public service, 
 reasonable regulations as to the publicity of any of the papers, 
 files, reports, records and proceedings of the Department of 
 Health ; and may publish such information as may, in its opinion, 
 be useful, concerning births, deaths, marriages, sickness, and 
 
 559 
 
the general sanitary conditions of said City, or any matter, place 
 or thing therein. Said department shall prepare and keep the 
 statistics of tenements and lodging-houses, and make semi-annual 
 reports upon the same, and transmit such statistics to the State 
 Board of Health. 
 
 Proceedings relative to dangerous buildings, vessels^ places and things. 
 
 Sec. 1176. Whenever any building, erection, excavation, prem- 
 ises, business pursuit, matter or thing, or the sewerage, drainage 
 or ventilation thereof, in said City, shall, in the opinion of said 
 board, whether as a whole or in any particular, be in a condition 
 or in effect dangerous to life or health, said board may take and file 
 among its records what it shall regard as sufficient proof to author- 
 ize its declaration that the same, to the extent it may specify, is a pub- 
 lic nuisance, or dangerous to life or health; and said board may 
 thereupon enter in its records the same as a nuisance, and order the . 
 * same to be removed, abated, suspended, altered, or otherwise im- 
 proved or purified, as said order shall specify; and if any party 
 served with such order (or intended to be according to this chapter), 
 shall, before its execution is commenced, or within three days after 
 such service or attempted service, apply to said Board, or the presi- 
 dent thereof, to have said order or its execution stayed or modified, 
 it shall then be the duty of said board to temporarily suspend or 
 modify said order or the execution thereof, save in cases of immi- 
 nent danger from impending pestilence, when said board may exer- 
 cise extraordinary powers, as herein elsewhere specified, and to give 
 such party or parties together, as the case in the opinion of the 
 board may require, a reasonable and fair opportunity to be heard 
 before said board and to present facts and proofs, according to the 
 rules or directions of said Board, against said declaration and the 
 execution of said order, or in favor of its modification, according to 
 the regulations of the Board ; and the Board shall enter in its min- 
 utes such facts and proofs as it may receive and its proceedings on 
 such hearing, and any other proof it may take ; and thereafter may 
 rescind, modify or reaffirm its said declaration and order, and re- 
 quire execution of said original, or of a new or modified order 
 
 560 
 
to be made, in such form and effect as it may finally determine. 
 Said Board may order or cause any excavation, erection, vehicle, 
 vessel, water-craft, room, building, place, sewer, pipe, passage, 
 premises, ground, matter, or thing, in said city or adjacent 
 waters, regarded by said board as in a condition dangerous or detri- 
 mental to life or health, to be purified, cleaned, disinfected, altered, 
 or improved; and may also order any substance, matter, or thing, 
 being or left in any street, alley, water, excavation, building, erec- 
 tion, place or grounds (whether such place, where the same may 
 be public or private), and which said Board may regard as dan- 
 gerous or detrimental to life or health, to be speedily removed 
 to some proper place; and may designate or provide a place to 
 which the same shall be removed, when no such adequate or proper 
 pilace, in the judgment of said board, is already provided. If said 
 order is not complied with, or as far complied with as said Board 
 of Health may regard as reasonable, within five days after 
 such service or attempted servicq or within any shorter time, 
 which, in case of pestilence, the Board of Health may have desig- 
 nated, or is not thereafter speedily and fully executed, then any such 
 order may be executed as herein elsewhere provided in regard to any 
 of the orders of said Board. And if personal service of anyaforesaid 
 order cannot be made under this section by reason of absence from 
 said district, or inability to find one or more of the owners, occupants, 
 lessees, or tenants of the subject matter to which said order relates, 
 or one or more of the persons whose duty it was to have done what 
 is therein required to be done, as the case may render just and 
 proper in the opinion of said Board ; to be shown by the official 
 certificates of the officer having such order to serve, then service 
 may be made through the mail, or by a copy left at the residence 
 or place of business of the person sought to be served, with a 
 person of suitable age and discretion, and the expenses attending 
 the execution of any and all such orders respectively shall be a sev- 
 eral and joint personal charge against each of the owners or part 
 owners, and each of the lessees and occupants of the building, 
 business, place, property, matter or thing to which said order re- 
 lates, and in respect of which said expenses were incurred ; and also 
 
 561 
 
against every person or body who was by law or contract bound to 
 do that in relation to such business, place, street, property, matter, 
 or thing, which said order requires, and said expenses shall also 
 be a lien on all rent, compensation due, or to grow due, for the 
 use of any place, room, building, premises, matter, or thing, to which 
 said order relates, and in respect of which, said expenses were in- 
 curred; and also, a lien on all compensation due or to grow due 
 for the cleaning of any street, place, ground, or thing, or for the 
 cleansing or removal of any matter, thing, or place, the failure 
 to do which by the party bound so to do, or the doing of the same 
 in whole or in part by order of said board, was the cause or occa- 
 sion of any such order or expense. Said Board of Health, its as- 
 signee, or the party who has, under its order or that of the Police 
 Board, acting thereunder, incurred said expense, or has rendered 
 service for which payment is due, and as the rules of said Board 
 of Health may provide, may institute and maintain a suit against 
 any one herein declared liable for expenses as aforesaid, or against 
 any person, firm, or corporation, owing, or who may owe, such 
 rent or compensation, and may recover the expenses so incurred 
 under any order aforesaid. And only one or more of such parties 
 liable or interested may be made parties to such action as the 
 board may elect; but the parties made responsible as aforesaid for 
 such expenses shall be liable to contribute, or to make payment 
 as between themselves, in respect of such expenses and of any sum 
 recovered for such expenses or compensation, or by any party paid 
 on account thereof, according to the legal or equitable obligation 
 existing between them, 
 Extraordinary expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 1177. The Department of Health may use, in compensation 
 of special inspectors, physicians, and nurses, and for supplies and 
 contingencies, such sum, not exceeding in the aggregate eighty 
 thousand dollars, in excess of the annual appropriation, as may 
 be at any time appropriated by the Board of Estimate and 
 Apportionment for the prevention of danger from contagious or 
 infectious diseases found to exist in said City, or for the care of 
 persons exposed to danger from contagious or infectious diseases. 
 
 562 
 
Declaration of imminent peril. 
 
 Sec. 1178. In the presence of great and imminent peril to the 
 public health by reason of impending pestilence, it shall be the duty 
 of the Boardof Health, havingfirsttakenand filed among itsrecords 
 what it shall regard as sufficient proof to authorize its declarationof 
 such peril, and having duly entered the same in its records, to take 
 such measures, and to do and order, and cause to be done, such acts 
 and make such expenditures (beyond those duly estimated for or pro- 
 vided) for the preservation of the public health (though not herein 
 elsewhere or otherwise authorized) as it may in good faith declare 
 the public safety and health demand, and the Mayor shall in writ- 
 ing approve. But the exercise of this extraordinary power shall 
 also, so far as it involves such excessive expenditures, require the 
 written consent of at least three members of the Board of Health, and 
 the approval as aforesaid of the Mayor. And such peril shall not be 
 deemed to exist except when, and for such period of time, as the 
 Board of Health and Mayor shall declare. 
 
 Bureaus. 
 
 Sec. 1179. There shall be two bureaus in the Department of 
 Health. The chief officer of one bureau shall be called the "sani- 
 tary superintendent," who, at the time of his appointment, shall have 
 been, for at least ten years, a practising physician, and for three years 
 
 a resident of the City of New York, and he shall be the chief execu- 
 tive officerof said Department. The chief officer of the second bu- 
 reau shall be called the "registrar of records;" and in said bureau 
 shall be recorded, without fees, every birth, marriage, and death, and 
 all inquisitions of coroners, which shall occur, or be taken within the 
 City of New York. But in cases of inquests, where the jury shall 
 find that the death was caused by negligence or malicious injury, 
 only a copy of the record need be filed in said bureau. 
 
 Offices and expenses. 
 
 Sec. 1180. The Board of Health may fit up and furnish such 
 offices and such branch offices in each and every Borough 
 
 563 
 
provided for the Department of Health in accordance with 
 law, as the convenience of the Department, its officers, agents, 
 and employees, and the prudent and proper discharge of the 
 duties of the Department may require; and may, subject to 
 the other provisions of this Act, make such other incidental 
 and additional expenditures, having due regard to economy, as the 
 purposes and provisions of this chapter, and the dangers to life and 
 public health may justify or require; and may provide that any fail- 
 ure of any officer, agent, or employee of the Department to duly 
 fulfil his engagemets or discharge his duty shall cause a forfeiture of 
 the whole, or any less portion of the salary or compensation of such 
 officer, agent, or employee, as the rules or practice of the Depart- 
 ment may provide. 
 
 Borough offices to be maintained. 
 
 Sec. 1181. The Board of Health shall establish and maintain in 
 the Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and 
 Richmond, offices wherein the business and duties of the Depart- 
 ment of Health shall be performed and discharged under its rules, 
 regulation and control. To this end the Board of Health shall ap- 
 point assistant sanitary superintendents, and assistant registrars of 
 records, one of each of such officers to be assigned to each of the 
 five Borough offices above mentioned, and so many 
 of the other officers, clerks, inspectors and subordinates 
 allowed, pursuant to this chapter, as may be necessary to 
 conduct and transact the business of the Health Department, in 
 each of the said Boroughs. In such Borough offices, the Board of 
 Health shall preserve the records, files, reports and papers be- 
 longing and pertaining to theBoroughsinwhichtheofficeislocated. 
 In the general office of the Health Department in the Borough of 
 Manhattan, shall also be preserved and kept, both for record and the 
 use of the Board of Health, the archives of the Department of Health, 
 and all the records, books, reports, files and papers belonging and 
 pertaining to the general administration of the Health Depart- 
 ment, and the business and transactions of the Board of Health, as 
 well as those which belong to, and have special reference to, the 
 business and transactions, and the discharge of the duties and 
 
 564 
 
powers of the Health Department in the Borough of Manhattan. 
 The Board of Health may likewise establish such other additional 
 offices as it shall deem necessary for the proper discharge of the 
 duties and powers of the Health Department in the several Bor- 
 oughs, with such force as may be essential thereto throughout 
 the City as constituted by this Act, but shall always maintain its 
 chief office in the Borough of Manhattan. 
 
 Delegation of powers. 
 
 Sec. 1182. The Board of Health may from time to time dele- 
 gate any portion of its powers to the sanitary superintendent or an 
 assistant sanitary superintendent, to be exercised by such delegate 
 for the time and in the manner, and to the extent specified in such 
 delegation in writing. Provided, however, that this section shall 
 not be construed in restraint of the general power of the Board 
 of Health to discharge its duties through any and all of its ap- 
 pointees. The Department of Health shall have a secretary, who 
 shall subject to the direction of the Board of Health, keep and 
 authenticate the acts, records, papers and proceedings of the De- 
 partment of Health, preserve its books and papers, conduct its 
 correspondence, and aid generally in accomplishing the purposes 
 of this chapter. The Board of Health may designate a clerk to 
 be the Chief Clerk of the Department, and a clerk in each of the 
 offices of the five Boroughs above mentioned, to be an Assistant 
 Chief Clerk, who may perform such duties of the Secretary as 
 shall be assigned to him ; and papers certified by such Chief 
 Clerk or by an Assistant Chief Clerk shall be of the same effect 
 as evidence and otherwise as if certified by the Secretary. 
 
 Duty of Sanitary Superintendents. 
 
 Sec. 1183. It shall be the duty of the sanitary superintendent 
 and the assistant sanitary superintendents, as each may be directed, 
 to execute, or cause to be executed, the orders of said Depart- 
 ment of Health' and generally, according to instructions, to 
 exercise a practical supervision in respect to the inspectors, 
 agents, and persons other than the secretary, and Health Com- 
 
 565 
 
missioners, and as to the members of the police force, who may 
 exercise any authority under this chapter; and said officers shall 
 devote their services to the aforesaid purposes, as the Board of 
 Health may, from time to time direct. Each such superintendent 
 shall make reports weekly, or oftener, if directed by the Board of 
 Health, in writing, stating generally his own action and that of his 
 subordinates, and the condition of the public health in said City, or 
 any portion thereof, and any causes endangering life or health 
 which have come to his knowledge during that period. 
 
 Reports of, and inspection. 
 
 Sec 1184. The sanitary superintendent, the assistant sanitary 
 superintendents, the sanitary inspectors and the officers of said 
 department may visit all sick persons, who shall be reported to the 
 Department of Health as sick of any contagious, pestilential, or in- 
 fectious disease and report to the Department of Health, in writ- 
 ing, his or their opinion of their sickness. He, or they, shall visit 
 and inspect all vessels coming to the wharves, landing places, or 
 shores of said City, or within three hundred yards thereof, which 
 are suspected of having on board any infectious or contagious 
 disease, or likely to communicate the disease to the inhabitants 
 of said City, and all stores and places within said City, which are 
 suspected to contain putrid or unsound provisions or other 
 articles likely to communicate disease to the inhabitants, and 
 make and sign a report in writing, stating the vessel, stores, places, 
 and articles so inspected by him or them, and the nature, state, and 
 situation thereof, and his or their opinion in relation thereto, as to 
 the probability of disease being communicated by or from the same, 
 and file such report in the chief office of the Department of Health. 
 
 Sanitary Inspectors. 
 
 Sec. 1185. The Board or Health shall appoint and commission 
 at least fifty sanitary inspectors, and shall have power to appoint 
 twenty additional sanitary inspectors, if it deems that number nec- 
 essary, and from time to time to prescribe the duties and salaries of 
 each of said inspectors, and the place of their performance, and 
 
 566 
 
of all other persons exercising any authority under said depart- 
 ment, except as herein specially provided ; but thirty of such inspec- 
 tors shall be physicians of skill and of practical professional experi- 
 ence in said City. The additional sanitary inspectors heretofore 
 duly appointed and commissioned, either in New York City, or 
 in the City of Brooklyn, may be included among the sanitary in- 
 spectors mentioned in this section, and may continue to act as such 
 without re-appointment, but nothing herein contained shall curtail 
 any of the powers vested in the Department of Health by this Act, 
 and the number of sanitary inspectors for whom provision is made 
 in this section shall be exclusive of the special inspectors for whom 
 provision is made in section 1186 and elsewhere in this Act. All 
 of the said inspectors shall have such practical knowledge of scien- 
 tific or sanitary matters as qualify them for the duties of their office. 
 Each of such inspectors shall once in each week, make a written 
 report to said department, stating what duties he has performed, 
 and where he has performed them, and also such facts as have 
 come to his knowledge connected with the purposes of this chapter 
 as are by him deemed worthy of the attention of said department, 
 or such as its regulations may require of him; which reports, with 
 the other reports herein elsewhere mentioned, shall be filed among 
 the records of the said department. 
 
 Sanitary engineering service. 
 
 Sec. 1186. The Board of Health may, fiom time to time 
 engage a suitable person or persons to render sanitary engineering 
 service, and to make or supervise practical and scientific sanitary 
 investigations and examinations in the City requiring engineering 
 skill, and to prepare plans and reports relative thereto. 
 
 Badges. 
 
 Sec. 1187. The Board of Health may provide a badge of metal 
 with a suitable inscription thereon, and direct and require it to be 
 worn, in a position to be designated, by any person or officer under 
 the authority of said department, at such times and under such cir- 
 cumstances as the rules and by-laws of said department shall direct. 
 
 607 
 
Examinations and surveys. 
 
 Sec. 1188. The members of the Board of Health, the Health 
 Commissioners, the sanitary superintendent, the assistant sanitary 
 superintendents, and any of the sanitary inspectors, and such other 
 officer or person as may, at any time, be, by said Board of Health 
 authorized, may, without fee or hindrance, enter, examine, and sur- 
 vey all grounds, erections, vehicles, structures, apartments, build- 
 ings, and every part thereof, and places in the City, in- 
 cluding vessels of all kinds in the waters, and all cellars, 
 sewers, passages and excavations of every sort, and inspect 
 the safety and sanitary condition, and make plans, drawings, and de- 
 scriptions thereof, according to the order or regulations, of said de- 
 partment. Said department may make and publish a report of the 
 sanitary condition, and the result of the inspection of any place, mat- 
 ter, or thing in the City, so inspected, or otherwise, as aforesaid, so 
 far as, in the opinion of the Board of Health, such publication may 
 be useful. 
 
 Proofs and affidavits. 
 
 Sec. 1189. Proofs, affidavits, and examinations as to any matter 
 under this chapter may be taken by or before the Board of Health 
 or other person, as the Board of Health shall authorize; and Com- 
 missioners of Health, the secretary, the sanitary superintendent, as- 
 sistant sanitary superintendents, and any member of said depart- 
 ment shall, severally, have authority to administer oaths in such 
 matters, and any person guilty of wilfully answering or testifying 
 falsely therein shall incur all the pains and penalties of perjury. 
 
 Registrar of records. 
 
 Sec. 1190. The Board of Health shall appoint a registrar of 
 records, and five assistant registrars of records, of whom one shall 
 be placed and have his office, in each of the Borough offices of the 
 Health Department, and there discharge the duties and powers of 
 the registrar of records, so far as the same shall have been com- 
 mitted to him by the Board of Health, or the registrar of records, 
 but always subject to the direction and control of the Board of 
 Health. 
 
 568 
 
Id.: and payment for night medical service. 
 
 Sec. 1191. It shall be the duty of the registrar of records and 
 each assistant registrar of records, in his Borough, and where his 
 office is located, to ascertain and report to each captain of the police 
 whether any physician who applies for registry, as willing to re- 
 spond to any call for medical attendance, as provided in this Act, 
 is in good and regular standing, and to transmit to such captain 
 a certificate thereof. It shall be the duty of the Department of 
 Health to pay at sight the fee of three dollars certified to be due 
 any physician, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and 
 to enter such payment in a book provided for that purpose, and to 
 take up the certificate, issued therefor. 
 
 Suits and service of papers. 
 
 Sec. 1992. Said Board of Health may sue or be used in and by 
 the proper name of "The Department of Health of the City of 
 the proper name of " The Health Department of the City of New 
 York," and not in or by the name of the members of said board, or 
 any of them; and service of all process in suits and proceedings 
 against or affecting said Board, and other papers may be made upon 
 the president of said board, or upon its secretary, and not otherwise ; 
 except that, according to usual practice in other suits, papers in 
 suit to which said Board of Health is a party may be served on the 
 Corporation Counsel or such assistant as may be assigned by him to 
 the Health Department. 
 
 Attorney, 
 
 Sec. 1193. The Corporation Counsel shall assign such as- 
 sistant counsel as may be needful to the Department of Health, 
 as provided in chapter VII. of this Act. 
 
 Salaries. 
 
 Sec. 1194. The annual salaries to be paid to persons herein 
 named, aud appointed to the several specified positions, shall, from 
 and after their entrance upon their duties, be as follows, and such 
 salaries shall be in full for all services rendered by them to the city 
 or county in any capacity whatever: 
 
 569 
 
To the president of the Board of Health, seven thousand five 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 To the Commissioners, other than the president, six thousand 
 dollars each. 
 
 To the sanitary superintendent, six thousand dollars. 
 
 To the secretary, five thousand dollars. 
 
 To the assistant sanitary superintendents, each three thousand 
 five hundred dollars. 
 
 To the registrar of records, four thousand dollars. 
 
 To the assistant registrars of records, each three thousand dollars. 
 
 To the Chief Clerk of the Department of Health, three thou- 
 sand dollars ; and to the other'clerks and employees regularly em- 
 ployed in the service of the Department the salaries, from time 
 to time, fixed and prescribed for them and their offices respec- 
 tively, by the Board of Health. 
 
 Id. : and no fees. 
 
 Sec. 1195. No salary or compensation shall be paid to, or^fees 
 demanded by, or expenses ordered to be incurred by any officer, 
 department, or agent, or in respect to any service, expenditure, or 
 employment under the authority of any health law, ordinance, regu- 
 lation, or appointment in said City, unless such salary, expendi- 
 ture, employment, fees or expense shall be authorized by the De- 
 partment of Health. No municipal body, or other authority, shall 
 create any office or employ any officer or agent, |[^or incur any 
 expense under any health laws or ordinances, or in respect of any 
 matter concerning which said Health Department is by this chap- 
 ter given control or jurisdiction. 
 
 No personal liability. 
 
 Sec. 1196. No member, officer, or agents of said Depart- 
 ment of Health, and no person or persons other than the De- 
 partment of Health or the City itself shall be used or held 
 to liability, for any act done or omitted by either person 
 aforesaid, in good faith, and with ordinary][discretion, on behalf 
 of or under said Department, or pursuant to its regulations, 
 ordinances, or health laws. And any person whose property may 
 
 670 
 
have been unjustly or illegally destroyed or injured, pursuant to any 
 order, regulation, or ordinance, or action of said Department of 
 Health or its officers, for which no personal liability may exist, as 
 aforesaid, may maintain a proper action against the City for the re- 
 covery of the proper compensation or damage. Every such suit 
 must be brought within six months after the cause of action arose, 
 and the recovery shall be limited to the damages suffered. 
 Orders of the board. 
 
 Sec. 1197. The Board of Health, if it shall consider the public 
 health or interests so to require, may execute orders through its 
 own officers or agents, and means to be engaged by the Board of 
 Health. Whatever expenses said Board of Health may lawfully 
 and properly incur in the execution of any order, resolution or 
 judgment aforesaid, or in executing, or in connection with its own 
 orders, made in good faith, or in and about the discharge, in good 
 faith, of its duties, or in satisfying any liability or judgment it may 
 have in good faith incurred or suflfered by reason of its acts, done 
 in good faith, as aforesaid, or in satisfying any claim against its 
 officers or subordinates, arising from their acts in the discharge, 
 in good faith, of their respective duties, shall, so far as established, 
 be paid out of the fund or other moneys of the Department of 
 Health. 
 
 Execution may be compelled. 
 
 Sec. 1198. All orders duly made by any of the Departments 
 of Health, or Boards of Health, or health and sanitary authorities 
 or officers, to which said department succeeded, and by their terms 
 or necessary legal effect, to be executed in the City of New York, 
 may be executed, and the execution thereof compelled, and the 
 execution of such of them as are partly executed may be com- 
 pelled by the Department of Health; and the said orders may be 
 severally rescinded or modified by said department, with like effect, 
 as could have been done by the department. Board of Health, or 
 sanitary authority existing at the time the said orders were severally 
 made. The said department may discharge all liens upon real 
 estate in the City of New York, created by any Board of Health 
 
 671 
 
or sanitary authorities above mentioned, or created in proceedings 
 instituted by the MetropoHtan Board of Health, or the Department 
 of Health, which succeeded thereto, in the same manner and for 
 the same causes that, by laws existing January first, eighteen hun- 
 dred and seventy, they could be discharged by the Metropolitan 
 Board of Health. 
 
 Right of inspection. 
 
 Sec. 1199. It is hereby made the duty of all departments, 
 officers, and agents, having the control, charge or custody of any 
 public structure, work, ground, or erection, or of any plan, de- 
 scription, outline, drawing or charts thereof, or relating thereto, 
 made, kept, or controlled under any public authority, to permit 
 and facilitate the examination and inspection, and the making of 
 copies of the same by any officer or person, thereto, by said De- 
 partment of Health authorized. 
 
 Complaint book. 
 
 Sec. 1200. The Board of Health shall cause to be kept a gen- 
 eral complaint book, or several such books, in which may be en- 
 tered by any person, in good faith, any complaints of a sanitary 
 nature which such person thinks may be useful, with the name and 
 residence of the complainant, and may give the names of the person 
 or persons complained of, and the date of the entry of the com- 
 plaint, and such suggestions of any remedy as may in good faith 
 be thought appropriate, and said books shall be open to all reason- 
 able public examination, regulated in all respects as said board 
 may deem proper, and for the public service and the Board of Health 
 shall cause the facts in regard to such complaints to be investigated, 
 and the appropriate remedy to be applied. 
 
 Duties of owners, lessees and occupants 
 
 Sec. 1201. It is hereby declared to be the duty of every owner 
 and part owner and person interested, and of every lessee, tenant, 
 and occupant of, or in any place, water, ground, room, stall, apart- 
 ment, building, erection, vessel, vehicle, matter, and thing in said 
 City, and of every person conducting or interested in business there- 
 
 572 
 
in, or thereat, and of every person who has undertaken to clean any 
 place, ground, or street therein, and of every person, public officer, 
 and department having charge of any ground, place, building, or 
 erection therein, to keep, place, and preserve the same and every 
 part, and the sewerage, drainage, and ventilation thereof in such 
 condition, and to conduct the same in such manner, that it shall 
 not be a nuisance, or be dangerous or prejudicial to life or health. 
 
 Police department assistance. 
 
 Sec. 1202. It shall be the duty of the Police Department, and 
 of its officers and men, as said department shall direct, to promptly 
 advise the Department of Health of all threatening dangers to hu- 
 man life or health, and of all matters thought to demand its atten- 
 tion, and to regularly report to said Board of Health all violations 
 
 of its rules, and of sanitary ordinances, and of the health laws, and all 
 useful sanitaryinformation. And said last named departmentsshall, 
 as far as practicable and appropriate, co-operate forthepromotionof 
 the public health, and the safety of human life, in the city. And it 
 shall be the duty of the Police Department and the Police Board, by 
 and through its proper officers, agents and men, to faithfully, and at 
 the proper time, enforce and execute the sanitary rules and regula- 
 tions, and the orders of said Board of Health, made pursuant to tHe 
 power of said Board of Health, upon the same being received in 
 writing and duly authenticated, as said Board of Health may direct. 
 And said Police Board is authorized to employ appropriate per- 
 sons and means, and to make the necessary and appropriate expendi- 
 tures, for the execution and enforcement of said rules, orders, and 
 regulations; and such expenditures, so far as the same may not be 
 refunded or compensated by the means herein elsewhere provided, 
 shall be paid as the other expenses of said Board of Health are paid. 
 And in and about the execution of any order of the Board of Health 
 or of the Police Board, made pursuant thereto, police officers and 
 policemen shall have as ample power and authority, as when obey- 
 ing any order of or law applicable to the Police Board, or as if acting 
 under a special warrant of a justice or judge, duly issued, but for 
 their conduct shall be responsible to the Police Board and not to 
 the Board of Health. 
 
 573 
 
Coroner's returns. 
 
 Sec. 1203. The Department of Health may from time to time 
 fix and define the time of making, and the form of returns and re- 
 ports to be made to said department by the coroners of the City 
 of New York, in all cases of post-mortem inquests, or viewing of 
 dead bodies held by them or any of them; and the said coroners 
 are hereby required to conform to the directions of said department 
 in the premises, and it shall be the duty of every coroner at once, 
 and before holding any inquest, upon being called upon to hold an 
 inquest as aforesaid, or notified thereof, to immediately transmit and 
 cause to be delivered to the secretary of said Department 
 of Health written notice of the fact of such call, in which 
 shall be stated every particular then known to said coroner as to 
 said call, the body, the place where it is, and the reported cause of 
 death. If at any time said department, or the sanitary superin- 
 tendent, shall deem the protection of the public health to demand, it 
 may, so soon as the coroner's jury or physician may have viewed 
 the dead body, and an autopsy thereof shall have been made, 
 provided the coroner deems the same necessary, order the im- 
 mediate burial of any dead body, or if he or it deems that the 
 public health demands an immediate removal of said body from 
 the place of death to another place for inquest, may likewise at 
 any time order said removal, and shall have power to cause said 
 orders to be obeyed and executed. 
 
 Removal of dead bodies. 
 
 Sec. 1204. It shall be the duty of the Department of Health to 
 grant a permit for the removal of the body of any deceased person 
 from the City, which has not been buried, upon receiving a certifi- 
 cate of the death of said person, made in accordance with its rules. 
 It may grant a permit for the removal of the remains of any person 
 interred within the City to a place without the same, on the appli- 
 cation of a relative or friend of such person, when there shall ap- 
 pear to be no just objection to the same. 
 
 Remoxml of night soil and offal. 
 
 Sec. 1205. The Board of Health shall have full and exclusive 
 power and authority over the removal of night soil, and in the 
 
 574 
 
removal of dead animals, offal, night soil, blood, bones, tainted or 
 impure meats, and other refuse matter from said City. It is hereby 
 charged with the duty of causing the removal of the same daily, or 
 as often as may be necessary, and of keeping the said City clean 
 from all matter of nuisance of a similar kind. The department, 
 bureau, or City officer of authority or authorities who shall from 
 time to time have the management and control of the public docks, 
 piers, and slips in said City, may, with the consent of the Commis- 
 sioners of the Sinking Fund, designate and set apart for the use of 
 the Department of Health of said City, suitable and sufficient slips, 
 docks, piers and berths in slips, located as the said Department of 
 Health may require, and such as should be convenient and neces- 
 sary for its use in executing the duty hereby imposed upon said 
 Department of Health, excepting the slips, docks, and piers on the 
 East river set apart for the use of canal boats. 
 
 Contracts for do , do., do. 
 
 Sec. 1206. The Board of Health is authorized to make con- 
 tracts with any responsible person or persons for the removal of 
 said offal, dead animals, night soil, and other refuse matter from 
 the City of New York, and to require and receive security in such 
 form and amount as the said board may approve, for the faithful 
 performance by the person or persons aforesaid, to whom such 
 contracts may by the said Board of Health, be in its discretion, 
 awarded, of all and each of the provisions of such contracts on his 
 or their part. The place or places of reception and deposit of, and to 
 which such offal, dead animals, night soil, and other refuse matter 
 may be conveyed, may, from time to time be designated, and may be 
 ordered changed by the Board of Health. 
 
 As to rags, hides and skins. 
 
 Sec. 1207. No rags, hides or skms, arriving in the port of New 
 York, shall be deposited in any part of the City within which the 
 Department of Health shall have prohibited the packing or un- 
 packing of salted provisions, and all such articles brought into the 
 City contrary to the above provisions may be seized and sold by the 
 
 575 
 
Board of Health. The Department of Health may, however, 
 permit sound hides and skins to be brought into any part of the 
 City, in small quantities, and for the purpose of immediate manu- 
 facture, but not otherwise. 
 
 Unsound cotton. 
 
 Sec. 1208. It shall be the duty ofithe master and owner of 
 every vessel that shall have brought cotton into the City, between 
 the first day of May and the first day of November in any year, and 
 of the owner and consignee of such cotton, if upon examination it 
 shall appear damaged, or otherwise unsound, to make an immediate 
 report thereof to the Board of Health. Every master, or owner, or 
 consignee refusing or neglecting to perform the duties so enjoined, 
 shall, for each oflfense, forfeit to the Board of Health the sum of five 
 hundred dollars, to be recovered in a civil action by said board. 
 
 Unsound articles ^ or deposited contrary to orders. 
 
 Sec. 1209. All salted, smoked, preserved or pickled provis- 
 ions, and all hides, skins and cotton that may be kept or deposited 
 in those parts of the City wherein the Board of Health shall pro- 
 hibit the keeping, preparation, packing or repacking thereof, at the 
 time or times when such prohibition shall be made, shall be reported 
 forthwith, by the owner or person having charge thereof, to the 
 Health Department, that the same may be examined, and, if neces- 
 sary, destroyed or removed. If such articles, when ordered by the 
 Board of Health to be removed or destroyed, shall not be forth- 
 with removed and the order obeyed by the owner or person having 
 charge thereof, the sanitary superintendent shall cause them to be 
 removed to some safe place, there to remain at the risk of the 
 owner, or, if so ordered, may destroy the same. 
 
 Putrid cargoes may be destroyed. 
 
 Sec. 1210. The Board of Health, when it shall judge it 
 necessary, may cause any cargo, or part of cargo, or any matter, or 
 any thing within the City that may be putrid or otherwise dangerous 
 to the public health, to be destroyed or removed; such removal, 
 when ordered, shall be to the place of deposit of ofTal, dead animals, 
 
 576 
 
and refuse matter, or such other place as the Board of Health shall 
 direct; such removal or destruction shall be made at the expense of 
 the owner or owners of the property so removed or destroyed, and 
 the same may be recovered from such owner or owners, in an action 
 at law, by said Board of Health. 
 
 Penalties for disobedience . 
 
 Sec. 1211. Every person who shall refuse or neglect to obey 
 the directions of the preceding sections, or of the Board of Health 
 pursuant thereto, in relation to provisions, putrid, and other offen- 
 sive articles therein mentioned, shall be considered guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor, and, on conviction, shall be subject to fine and imprison- 
 ment, or both, at the discretion of the court. Such fine shall not ex- 
 ceed one thousand dollars, and such imprisonment shall not exceed 
 two years. 
 
 Offensive trades. 
 
 Sec. 1212. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons, in 
 corporated or unincorporated, to carry on, establish, prosecute, or 
 continue, within the City of New York, the occupation, or trade, or 
 business of bone boiling, bone burning, bone grinding, horse 
 skinning, cow skinning, or skinning of dead animals, or the boiling 
 of offal, and any such establishment or establishments, or place of 
 such business existing within said City, shall be forthwith removed 
 out of said City, and such trade, occupation, or business shall be 
 forthwith abated and discontinued, provided that nothing in this sec- 
 tion contained shall apply to the slaughtering or dressing of animals 
 for sale in said City. It shall be the duty of the Board of Health to 
 ascertain whether any such trade or business is carried on, or con- 
 tinued, or established, within the limits aforesaid, and to make and 
 cause an order to be served, in the same manner as other orders of 
 said department are made and served, directing the discontinuance of 
 said trade or business, and the removal of all offensive or unwhole- 
 some materials or things appertaining to said trade or business. 
 
 577 
 
Filling in lands. 
 
 Sec. 1213. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons, in 
 corporated or unincorporated, to fill in any land under or above 
 water, within the limits of the City of New York, or on any of the 
 islands situated within said limits and under the jurisdiction of said 
 City, or any portion thereof, with garbage, dead animals, decaying 
 matter, or any offensive and unwholsome material, or with dirt, ashes, 
 or other refuse, when mixed with such garbage, dead animals, or 
 portions thereof, decaying matter, or offensive and unwholesome 
 material. Any person or persons violating the provisions of this 
 section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on cxjnvic- 
 tion thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred 
 dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both. The 
 Board of Health is hereby empowered to institute prosecutions and 
 suits for penalties for the violation of the provisions of this section 
 and this Act. 
 
 Yards and cellars. 
 
 Sec. 1214. The Board of Health shall have full power and 
 authority to make such by-laws and ordinances as said Board shall, 
 from time to time, deem necessary and proper, for the filling, drain- 
 ing, and regulating of any grounds, yards, or cellars, within the City, 
 that may be sunken, damp or unwholesome, or which it may deem 
 proper to fill, drain, raise, lower, or regulate; and also, for 
 causing all such lots of ground in the City adjoining the Hudson 
 River, or the East River, or Long Island Sound, as it may, from time 
 to time, think proper, to be filled with wholesome earth or other solid 
 materials, so far into the said rivers respectively as said board shall, 
 from time to time, deem expedient for promoting the health of the 
 said City; and for filling or altering or amending all sinks and 
 privies within the said City, and for directing the mode of construct- 
 ing them in future, and for causing subterraneous drains to be made 
 from the same, when said board may think it necessary. 
 
 Drainage and maps. 
 
 Sec. 1215. Whenever in the opinion of the Board of Health the 
 protection of the public health requires the drainage of any lands in 
 
 578 
 
the City, by means other than sewers, the said Board may make an 
 order describing the location of such lands, and directing the proper 
 drainage thereof, and construction of drains therefor, by the 
 commissioner or commissioners of the department of said City hav- 
 ing jurisdiction to construct sewers in that part of City where 
 such drainage is so required. The Board of Health shall thereupon 
 cause a map to be made, whereon shall be shown the location of 
 such proposed drains, and the lands required for the construction 
 
 thereof. Such order shall be entered at length in the records of such 
 Department of Health, aud such map shall be filed in said 
 department ; a copy thereof shall be filed in the office of the 
 register of The City of New York. The Board of Health shall 
 cause another copy of said map, together with a copy of such 
 order, to be delivered to the commissioner or commissioners of 
 the department of said City, who shall, by such order be required 
 to construct such drains, and the said commissioner or commis- 
 sioners of said department with whom a copy of the said map 
 and order shall be so filed, shall immediately thereafter have 
 the power, and said department is hereby directed to make and 
 adopt proper and suitable plans for the construction of such 
 drains. 
 
 Acquisition of rii^hts in lands. 
 
 Sec. 1216. It shall be the duty of such department, upon the 
 receipt of such map and order, and immediately after it has made 
 and adopted suitable plans for such drains, through theCorporation 
 Counsel to said City, to take immediate and proper proceedings for 
 the acquirement of a right of way over, under, or through the lands 
 shown upon said map to be necessary for such drains, and it shall 
 be the duty of such Corporation Counsel immediately to take such 
 proceedings and conduct them to a speedy determination. 
 
 Id.: proceedings therein. 
 
 Sec. 1217. The right of way over, under or through the lands 
 so required for such drains shall be taken and acquired in the man- 
 ner required by law for acquiring title to lands in said City to be 
 used as public streets. Provided, however, that the time or times 
 
 579 
 
provided in such law for the giving or publication of any notice 
 shall for the purposes of this section, be reduced one-half, and the 
 time for the sitting of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assess- 
 ment to hear objections to their report is, for the purposes of this 
 Act, hereby made two days in the place of ten days. Any maps, 
 plans or surveys, that may be required for the use of the Commis- 
 sioners of Estimate and Assessment to be appointed in such pro- 
 ceeding, shall be furnished by the department charged with the con- 
 struction of the drains and shall be prepared and made by surveyors 
 in the regular and stated employment of such department; neither 
 the expense of such surveys, nor any other expenses other than the 
 fees of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment, attending 
 the proceeding, and their necessary disbursements for clerical ser- 
 vices in carrying out the provisions of this section, which clerical 
 expenses shall not exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, 
 and also for advertising, printing, or posting and notices required 
 by law, and for any other necessary incidental expense a sum, not 
 exceeding one hundred dollars, shall be included in the assessment 
 that may be made by such Commissioners of Estimate and Assess- 
 ment. The Corporation Counsel shall not be entitled to any com- 
 pensation for services to be rendered by him in such proceeding 
 other than his stated salary. The commissioners shall each be 
 entitled to receive the following rates as compensation for their 
 services in full: Where the drain to be constructed is five hundred 
 feet or under in length, the sum of twenty-five dollars; where the 
 drain exceeds five hundred feet in length, twenty-five dollars, and in 
 addition thereto five cents per foot for each running foot of drain 
 in excess of five hundred feet, but the compensation of each com- 
 missioner shall in no case exceed two hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 Id.: confirmition of report of commissioners, constrtictioti and taxation. 
 
 Sec. 1218. Upon the confirmation of the report of the Com- 
 missioners of Estimate and Assessment by the court, the commis- 
 sioner of the department in said City having the charge of the con- 
 struction of such drains, as herein proposed, shall have the power, 
 and he is hereby directed to immediately make and construct said 
 
 580 
 
drains. The necessary cost of such drains, together with necessary 
 expenses of levying the assessment therefor, shall be levied, assessed 
 and collected, as provided by section 179 of this Act. 
 
 Measures to prevent the spread of disease. 
 
 Sec. 1219. It shall be the duty of the Board of Health : 
 
 1. To cause any avenue, street, alley, or other passage 
 whatever to be fenced up or otherwise inclose^ if it shall 
 deem the public safety requires it, and to adopt suitable 
 measures for preventing all persons from going to any part 
 of the City so inclosed. 
 
 2. To forbid all communication with the house or family 
 infected with any contagious, infectious, or pestilential dis- 
 ease except by means of physicians, nurses, or messengers 
 to carry the necessary advice, medicines, and provisions to 
 the afflicted. 
 
 3. To adopt such means for preventing all communica- 
 tion between any part of the City infected with a disease of a 
 pestilential, infectious, or contagious character and all other 
 parts of the City, as shall be prompt and effectual. 
 
 Id. : proclamation. 
 
 Sec. 1220. The Board of Health may issue a proclamation 
 declaring any place where there shall be reason to believe a pes- 
 tilential, contagious or infectious disease actually exists, to be an 
 infected place within the meaning of the Health Laws of this State. 
 Such proclamation shall fix the period when it shall cease to have 
 effect ; but such period, if the said board shall judge the public health 
 to require it, may from time to time be extended by the Board of 
 Health, and notice of such extension shall be published in one or 
 more of the newspapers of this City. The Board of Health may 
 in its discretion prohibit or regulate the internal intercourse by 
 land or water between the City of New York and such infected 
 place; and may direct that all persons who shall come into the Gty 
 contrary to its prohibition or regulations, shall be apprehended 
 
 581 
 
and conveyed to the vessel or place whence they last came; or, if 
 sick, that they be conveyed to such place as the said board shall 
 direct. After such proclamation shall have been issued, all vessels 
 arriving in the port of New York from such infected place shall 
 be subject to a quarantine of at least thirty days or until the period 
 when such proclamation shall cease to have effect as provided by 
 the last preceding section, and shall, together with their officers, 
 crews, passengers, and cargoes, be subject to all the provisions, 
 regulations, and penalties in relation to vessels subject to quaran- 
 tine. 
 
 Vessels removed. 
 
 Sec. 1221. The Board of Health shall also possess and may 
 exercise the following powers: 
 
 1, By order to direct any vessel lying at a place within three 
 hundred yards of any wharf, landing place, or shore of said City, 
 and from which said board shall deem it probable that any infectious 
 or contagious disease may be brought into said city, or communi- 
 cated to the inhabitants thereof, to be removed to the distance of at 
 least three hundred yards from any wharf, landing place, or shore 
 of said City, within six hours after a copy of such order, certified 
 by the secretary of said department, shall be delivered to the per- 
 son or persons having command of such vessel, or to the master, 
 owner or consignee thereof; and every such person or persons, 
 master, owner, or consignee to whom such copy of such order shztll 
 be delivered shall forthwith comply with the same. 
 
 2. By order to direct to be removed to a place to be designated 
 by the Board of Health, all things within the City, which, in its 
 opinion, shall be infected in any manner likely to communicate 
 disease to the inhabitants. 
 
 Violation of orders, punishment for. 
 
 Sec. 1222. Every person who shall violate, or neglect, or re- 
 fuse to comply with any provision contained in any of the preceding 
 sections, or in the orders made by the Board of Health, in pursu- 
 ance thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on 
 
 582 
 
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two 
 hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding six 
 months, or both; and all such fines when collected shall be paid 
 to the Comptroller. Any violation of the Sanitary Code shall be 
 treated and punished as a misdemeanor, and the offender shall 
 also be liable to pay a penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered in a 
 civil action in the name of the Department of Health of the City 
 of New York. 
 
 Separate receptacles for ashes and garbage. 
 
 J Sec. 1 223. The Board of Health shall cause to be enforced the 
 provisions of the Sanitary Code requirmg that separate receptacles be 
 provided for ashes and rubbish, and for garbage and liquid sub- 
 stances, and forbidding that they be placed or kept in the same 
 receptacle, and requiring the streets and sidewalks to be kept free 
 from incumbrance by such receptacles, except at such times as may 
 be designated by the Commissioner of Street Cleaning, for the col- 
 lection of their contents ; and for the violation of any of the said pro- 
 visions of said code, both the owners and occupants of all houses 
 in the City shall be severally responsible and subject to the penalties 
 and prosecutions imposed by said code, and all other provisions 
 of said code and of the City ordinances relative to the cleanliness of 
 the streets; and the Board of Health is empowered to in- 
 stitute prosecutions and suits for penalties for the violation of any 
 such provisions. 
 
 Service of orders. 
 
 Sec. 51224. Service of any order of said Board of Health shall 
 be deemed sufficient, if made upon a principal person interested in 
 or upon a principal officer charged with duty in respect of the 
 business, property, matter, or thing, or the nuisance or abuse to 
 which said order relates; or upon a person, officer, or department, 
 or one of the department who may be most interested in or aflfected 
 by its execution. If said order relate to any building or the drain- 
 age, sewerage, cleaning, purification, or ventilation thereof, or of 
 any lot or ground on or in which such building stands, used for, or 
 intended to be rented as, the residence or lodging-place of several 
 
 583 
 
persons, or as a tenement-house or lodging-house, service of such 
 order on the agent of am^ person or persons for the renting of such 
 building, lot, or ground, or for the collecting of the rent thereof, or 
 of the parts thereof to which said order may relate, shall be of the 
 same effect and validity as due service made upon the principal of 
 such agent, and upon the owners, lessees, tenants, occupants of 
 such buildings, or parts thereof, or of the subject-matter to which such 
 order relates. 
 
 Vaccination. 
 
 Sec. 1225, For the purpose of more effectuallypreventing the 
 spread of smallpox by the thorough and systematic vaccination of 
 all unvaccinated persons, and for the relief of persons suffering with 
 diphtheria and other infectious diseases, residing in said City, 
 the Board of Health is hereby empowered to continue or or- 
 ganize a corps of vaccinators and of physicians, within and 
 subject to the control of the Bureau of Sanitary Inspection, to ap- 
 point the necessary officers, keep suitable records, collect and pre- 
 serve pure vaccine lymp or virus, and produce diphtheria anti- 
 toxine and other antitoxines, and add to the Sanitary Code such ad- 
 ditional provisions as will most effectually secure the end in view. 
 Said Board of Health may take measures, and supply agents 
 and offer inducements and facilities for general and gratuitous vac- 
 cination, disinfection, and for the use of diphtheria antitoxine, and 
 other antitoxines, and may afford relief to and among the poor of 
 said City as in its opinion the protection of the public health may 
 require. 
 
 Sale of lymph and antitoxine. 
 
 Sec. 1226. Wheneverthe amount of vaccine lymph, orviruscol- 
 lected by the said corps, or of diphtheria antitoxine, and other anti- 
 toxines produced, shall exceed the amount required in the proper 
 performance of its duties, the said Board of Health may 
 authorize the sale of such surplus lymph or virus, and diphtheria 
 antitoxine, and other antitoxines at reasonable rates, to be fixed by 
 the Board of Health. The avails of such lymph or virus, and 
 
 584 
 
diphtheria antitoxine, and other antitoxines, shall be accounted for 
 and paid to the Chamberlain, and shall be set apart and constitute 
 distinct funds, to be known respectively as "the fund for gratuitous 
 vaccination," and "the antitoxine fund," and they shall be subject 
 to the requisition of the Board of Health for the purposes named in 
 the preceding section. 
 
 Driving and si lughtering cattle, sheep, swine, pigs or calves regulated. 
 
 Sec. 1227. It shall not be lawful to drive any cattle, 
 sheep, swine, pigs or calves through the streets or avenues 
 of The City of New York, or any of them, except at such 
 times and in such manner as provided in the Sanitary Code, 
 or as the Board of Health may, by ordinance, prescribe, 
 nor shall it be lawful to slaughter any cattle, sheep, swine, 
 pigs or calves in The City of New York, excepting in buildings 
 located upon the water front, and so constructed as to receive 
 all stock delivered thereat from boats, cars or transports and to 
 secure the proper care and disposition of all parts of the 
 slaughtered animals upon the premises or the immediate removal 
 thereof by means of boats and under the provisions of the Sani- 
 tary Code and the authority and regulations of the Department 
 of Health. The Board of Health may revoke or suspend the 
 permit of any one who shall conduct said business of slaughter- 
 ing cattle, sheep, swine, pigs or calves in violation of law and 
 the rules and regulations of the Department of Health. No fat, 
 hides, hoofs, or entrails, or other refuse parts of slaughtered animals 
 shall be transported in said streets except under and pursuant to 
 the terms of a permit in writing from the Board of Health ; nor 
 shall any buildings be erected or converted into or used] as a 
 slaughter house until the plans thereof have been duly submitted 
 to the Board of Health, and approved in writing by the said 
 Board. 
 
 Extension of proclamation period. 
 
 Sec. 1228. Whenever it shall appear to the Board of Health 
 that any of the provisions of this title, limited in their operations 
 to a certain period of the year, or designated periods of time, ought 
 to be extended, the said Board of Health shall issue its proclama- 
 
 585 
 
tion extending such provisions to such a time as shall be deter- 
 mined on, and such provisions shall thereupon be extended accord- 
 ingly and with the like efifect as if the periods mentioned in such 
 proclamation, had been originally herein enacted. If it shall appear 
 to the Board of Health while such proclamation is still in force, that 
 the necessity of extending the period therein named has ceased, the 
 Board of Health, by a new proclamation declaring that fact, may 
 revoke the proclamation issued pursuant to this section, which shall 
 then cease to have effect. 
 
 Definitions. i 
 
 Sec. 1229. The word nuisance, as used in this act, shall be held 
 to embrace public nuisance, as known at common law, or in equity 
 jurisprudence ; and it is further enacted thatwhateveris dangerous 
 to human life or detrimental to health; whatever building or erec- 
 tion, or part or cellar thereof, is overcrowded with oc- 
 cupants, or is not provided with adequate ingress 
 and egress to and from the same, or the apartments thereof, or is 
 not sufficiently supported, ventilated, sewered, drained, cleaned or 
 lighted, in reference to their or its intended or actual use; and 
 whatever renders the air, or human food or drink, unwholesome, 
 are also, severally in contemplation of this Act, nuisances; and all 
 such nuisances are hereby declared illegal; and each and all persons 
 and corporations who created or contributed thereto, or who may 
 support, continue or maintain or retain them, or any of them, shall 
 be jointly and severally liable for, or toward, the expense of the 
 abatement and remedying of the same ; but as between themselves, 
 any such persons and corporations, may enforce contribution or 
 collect expenses, according to any legal or equitable relations ex- 
 isting between them; but nothing herein contained shall annul or de- 
 feat any common law liability or responsibility in respect of nuis- 
 ances. Whenever the words "place, matter, or thing," or either 
 two of said words, are used in this Act, or in titles one, four and 
 five of this chapter, they shall, unless the sense plainly requires a 
 diflferent construction, be construed to include whatever is embraced 
 in the enumeration with which they are connected. 
 
 586 
 
Title 2. 
 marriages, births and deaths. 
 
 Persons solemenizing marriages to keep a registry. 
 
 Sec. 1236. It shall be the duty of the clergymen/magistrates, 
 and other persons who perform the marriage ceremony in the City 
 of New York, to keep a registry of the marriages celebrated by 
 them, which shall contain, as near as the same can be ascertained, 
 the name and surname of the parties married; the residence, age, 
 and condition of each; whether single or widowed. 
 
 Births to be reported. 
 
 Sec. 1237. It shall be the duty, of the parents of any child born 
 in said City (and if there be no parent alive that has made such re- 
 port, then of the next of kin of such child born), and of every per- 
 son present at such birth, within ten days after such birth, to report 
 to the Department of Health in writing, so far as known, the date, 
 Borough, and street number of said birth, and the sex and color of 
 such child born, and the names of the parents. It shall also be the 
 duty of physicians and professional midwives to keep a registry of 
 the several births in which they have assisted professionally, which 
 shall contain, as near as the same can be ascertained, the time of 
 such birth, name, sex, and color of the child, the names and resi- 
 dence of parents, and to report the same Avithin ten days to the 
 Department of Health. 
 
 Deaths to be reported. 
 
 Sec. 1238. It shall be the duty of the next of kin of any person 
 deceased, and of each person being with such deceased person at 
 his or her death, and of the persons occupying or living in any^house 
 or premises in or on which any person may die, to report, in writ- 
 ing, to the Department of Health, within five days after such death, 
 the age, color, nativity, last occupation, and cause of death of such 
 deceased person, and the Borough and street, the place of such 
 person's death, and last residence. Physicians who have attended 
 deceased persons in their last illness shall, in the certificate of the 
 decease of such persons, specify, as near as the same can be ascer- 
 
 587 
 
tained, the name and surname, age, occupation, term of residence 
 in said City, place of nativity, condition of life ; whether single, mar- 
 ried, widow, or widower; color, last place of residence, and direct 
 and indirect cause of death of such deceased persons, and the cor- 
 oners of the City, in such cases as an inquest may have been held, 
 shall, in their certificates, conform to the requirements of this 
 section. 
 
 Penalty for failure to report marriages and births to the Department of 
 Health. 
 
 Sec. 1239. For every omission of any person to make and keep 
 the registry of marriages and births required by the preceding sec- 
 tions, and for every omission to report a written copy of the same 
 to said Department of Health, within ten days after any birth or 
 marriage provided to be registered, and for every omission to make 
 the report of any death, birth, or marriage, the person guilty of 
 such omission shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and, in addition 
 thereto, the offender shall also be liable to pay a fine of one hun- 
 dred dollars, to be recovered in the name of the Department 
 of Health, of the City of New York, before any jus- 
 tice or tribunal in said City having jurisdiction of civil 
 actions. But no person shall be liable for such fine, or subject 
 to arrest and imprisonment for not making the report herein re- 
 quired, if an excuse is presented to the Board of Health for such 
 omission, which the said board shall decide to be sufficient, in which 
 event the said Board of Health is hereby empowered to excuse the 
 said omission. 
 
 Record of Births, marriages and deaths. 
 
 Sec. 1240. The Department of Health shall keep a record of 
 the births, marriages, and deaths reported to it; the births shall be 
 numbered and recorded in the order in which they are received by 
 it; and the record of births shall state, in separate columns, the 
 place 9nd date of birth, the name, sex, and color of the child, the 
 names and residence of the parents, as fully as they have been re- 
 ceived, and the time when the record was made. The marriages 
 
 588 
 
shall be numbered and recorded in the order in which they are re- 
 ceived by the department; and the record thereof shall state, in 
 separate columns, the date of marriage, name, residence, and offi- 
 cial station, if any, of the persons, by whom married, the names 
 and surnames of the parties, age, the color and condition of each; 
 whether single or widowed, and the time when the record was 
 made. The deaths shall be likewise numbered and recorded; and 
 the record thereof shall state, in separate columns, as far as the 
 same is reported, the date of decease, name and surname, condition, 
 whether single, married or widowed, age, place of birth, place of 
 death, occupation, names of the parents when an infant without 
 name ; disease, direct or indirect cause of death, color, and last place 
 of residence of such deceased person, and the time when the record 
 was made. Said department shall perform all the duties of this 
 section imposed, as a part of its regular duties, and no fees shall be 
 demanded or received by reason thereof. 
 
 Registration of births not previously recorded. 
 
 Sec. 1241. Thebirthsof the children of actual residents of the 
 City of New York, which may have occurred during the temporary 
 absence of the parents of such children from the City of New York, 
 and the births of children which failed to be recorded through the 
 neglect of the physician or other medical attendant present at such 
 birth, may be recorded in the Bureau of Records of the Health 
 Department of said City, in a special book, to be kept for such 
 purpose, upon the application in such behalf by the parents or 
 guardians of such children. Such application shall be made to 
 the Board of Health, and shall be accompanied by a certificate 
 of the physician or midwife attending professionally at such 
 birth ; and personally cognizant thereof, together with the affi- 
 davit of at least two citizens, certifying to their knowledge of 
 the facts, and that the physician or midwife making such certi- 
 cate of birth is a reputable person in good standing in the com- 
 munity in which he or she may reside. No change or alteration 
 shall, at any time, be made in any of the records of the said 
 Bureau of Records in said City, without proof satisfactory to and 
 upon the approval of the said Board of Health. Transcripts of 
 
 589 
 
any record in said Bureau of Records may be given, |in the^dis- 
 cretion of the Department of Health, to a parent or the next of 
 kin of any person ■ authorized to apply for the same, but no 
 transcripts of false or fraudulent returns made to the said bureau, 
 nor of the entries thereof, shall be given : and they shall be 
 canceled upon due proof of the facts to the Department of 
 Health. Transcripts of these records when required shall be on 
 such forms as the Board of Health may prescribe, and for them 
 the usual fees for copies of Records may be received. 
 
 Title 3. 
 duties of physicians and others. 
 
 Report of pestilential, infectious and contagious aiseases. DeatJu. 
 
 Section 1247. It shall be the duty of each and every prac- 
 tising physician in the City of New York : 
 
 1. Whenever required by the Department of Health to report 
 to said department, at such times, in such forms as said department 
 
 ■ may prescribe, the number of persons attacked with any pestilen- 
 tial, contagious, infectious disease attended by such physi- 
 cian for the twenty-four hours next preceding, stating the name of 
 such patient and the name and place where he shall then be; and 
 the number of persons attended by such physician, who shall have 
 died in said City, during the twenty-four hours next preceding such 
 report, of any such pestilential, contagious or infectious disease. 
 
 2. To report, in writing, to the said Department every patient 
 he shall have laboring under any pestilential, contagious, or infec- 
 tious disease, and within twenty-four hours after he shall ascertain 
 or suspect the nature of the disease. 
 
 3. To report to the said Department when required by it, the 
 death of any of his patients who shall have died of disease within 
 twenty-four hours thereafter, and to state in such report the specific 
 name and type of such disease. 
 
 590 
 
Affidavit may be required. 
 
 Sec. 1248. The Department of Health may require of any 
 physician not less than three hours after service of a demand 
 thereof upon him, an affidavit, stating therein whether he has or 
 has not any patient, who, in his opinion, shall then be sick of a 
 pestilential, contagious, or infectious disease, and if he has any 
 such patient, to state in such affidavit his or her name, and the 
 house or place in said City where he or she shall then be, and the 
 nature or name of such disease, to the best of his knowledge and 
 belief. 
 
 Penalty for failing to report. 
 
 Sec. 1249. Every practising physician who shall refuse or neg- 
 lect to perform the duties enjoined on him by the foregoing section 
 shall be considered guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall also forfeit 
 for each offense the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, to be sued 
 for and recovered by the Department of Health. It shall be the 
 duty of each visiting, hospital, and consulting physician, to make 
 an immediate report to the Department of Health of the name of 
 every practising physician by whom he shall have reason to believe 
 the provisions of said section have been violated; and if such physi- 
 cian shall neglect or refuse to perform his duty, the department 
 shall order him to be suspended from any office he may hold, and 
 he shall, moreover, be liable to such further penalty and to such 
 prosecution for his violation of this law and of his duty as the Board 
 of Health shall determine. 
 
 Boarding and lodging-house keepers may be required to report ^ 
 
 Sec. 1250. Every person keeping a boarding or lodging-house 
 in the City, shall, whenever required by the Department of Health, 
 report, in writing, to the department the name of every person who 
 shall be sick in his house within twelve hours after each case of 
 sickness shall have occurred. 
 
 Masters^ <?/„., of vessels to report. 
 
 ^^^Sec. 1251. Every master, owner or consignee of a vessel lying 
 at a wharf, or in the harbor of the City of New York, shall make a 
 
 591 
 
like report, and within the same period, of the name of every sick 
 person on board of such vessel; and no person shall be removed 
 therefrom without a written permit for that purpose from the 
 Department of Health. 
 
 Title 4. 
 
 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND PUNISHMENT FOR DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS 
 
 AND ORDINANCES : 
 
 Order for examination before Justice of Supreme Court. 
 
 Section 1257. Any Justice of the Supreme Court of the first or 
 second department, or who is holding court or chambers therein, 
 upon the written application of the Board of Health, may issue his 
 order by him subscribed, for the examination without unreasonable 
 delay by or before such justice of any person or persons, and the 
 production of books or papers, or the inspection and taking of 
 copies of the whole or parts thereof, at a time and place within said 
 city, and in said order to be named ; and it shall be the duty of such 
 justice to take or superintend such examination, which shall be un- 
 der oath, and shall be signed by the party or parties examined, and 
 belcertified by said Justice, and with any copies of books or papers, 
 to be delivered to said Health Department for the use of said de- 
 partment. And such examination, and any proceeding connected 
 therewith, or under said order, may wholly or in part be had, con- 
 ducted orcontinued by or beforejanyotherof said Justices, as well as 
 that one who made said order; and in and about the same, every 
 such Justice shall have as full power and authority to punish for 
 contempt, and enforce obedience to his said or other order or direc- 
 tions respecting the matter aforesaid (or that of any other judge), as 
 any such Justice of the Supreme Court may now have, or shall pos 
 sess, to enforce obedience or punish contempt in any case or matter 
 whatever. Such application shall name or describe the person or 
 persons whose examination is sought, and so far as possible the 
 books or papers desired to be inspected, and the matters or 
 
 692 
 
points affecting life or health as to which the Board of Health 
 requests the examination tojake place, and the Justice shall, on 
 the proceedings, decide what questions are pertinent and allowalSle 
 in respect thereto, and shall require the same to be properly 
 answered; but no answer of any person so examined shall be used 
 in any criminal proceeding. Service of any order of any such Justice 
 may be made, and the same proved in the same manner as the ser- 
 vice of either an injunction or of a subpoena. And it shall be the 
 duty of said Justices to facilitate the early determination of the 
 aforesaid proceedings. 
 
 Appearance and examination of tvitnesses. 
 
 Sec. 1258. Upon the application of any party in interest in any 
 matter pending examination before said Department of Health, by 
 affidavit, stating the grounds of such application, to any judge of a 
 court of record, and asking that any person or persons therein 
 named shall appear before said Department of Health, or any per- 
 son taking or about to take such examination, at some time or 
 times and place to be stated in the said affidavit, it shall be the duty 
 of such judge, if he shall discover reasonable cause so to do, to issue 
 his order requiring such person or persons named to appear and 
 submit to such examination as, and to the extent, such order may 
 state, at the time and place to be in said order named; and such 
 order, signed by such judge, may be served, and shall in all 
 respects be obeyed as a subpoena duly issued; and a refusal to sub- 
 mit to the proper examination may be punished by such judge or 
 by any judge of such court as a contempt of court, upon the facts 
 as to such refusal being brought before any such judge by affidavit. 
 
 The Health Department as party plaintiff and defendant. 
 
 Sec. 1259. Inallactionsandproceedingsheretoforecommenced 
 and now pending, against either of the cities of New York, Brook- 
 lyn or Long Island City or the town authorities and public officers 
 in Kings, Richmond counties and the part of Queens county, 
 now to form a part of the City of New York, or against the 
 Department of Health, Board of Health or sanitary officers 
 
 593 
 
in any part of said territory, in which any action, order, regula- 
 tion, ordinance or proceeding of ahy of the Health Departments, 
 Boards of Health or sanitary officers thereof, is called in question 
 or made the subject of the action or proceeding, the Department 
 of Health of the City of New York shall have the right to 
 appear, answer and take part ; and in all such actions and pro- 
 ceedings hereafter commenced the said Health Department shall 
 be a necessary party, and have the right to appear and to take 
 part therein. The said department may institute and maintain 
 all suits and proceedings which are reasonable, necessary and 
 proper, to carry out the provisions of the laws under which the 
 said department acts, and may sue and be sued by the proper 
 name of the Department of Health of the City of New York. 
 
 Injunctions when not to be granted against department. 
 
 Sec. 1260. No preliminary injunction shall be granted against 
 the Department of Health, or its officers, except by the Supreme 
 Court, at a special or general term thereof after service of at least 
 eight days' notice of a motion for such injunction, together with 
 copies of the papers on which the motion for such injunction, is to 
 be made. Whenever said department shall seek any provisional 
 remedy, or shall prosecute any appeal, it shall not be necessary be- 
 fore obtaining or prosecuting the same to give any undertaking. 
 
 Proceedings presumed legal. 
 
 Sec. 1261. In all judicial proceedings the actions, proceedings, 
 authority, and orders of said department shall at all times be re- 
 garded as in their nature judicial, and be treated as prima facie just 
 and legal. In any suit, the right of said department or the Police 
 Department to make any order, or cause the execution thereof, 
 shall be presumed. 
 
 Violation of department orders^ actions for. 
 
 Sec. 1262. Whoever shalliviolate any provisions'ofthis chapter, 
 or any order of said department made under the authority of the 
 same, or by any by-law or ordinance therein referred to, or shall ob- 
 struct or interfere with any person in the execution of any order of 
 said department, or any order of the Police Department in pursu- 
 
 594 
 
ance or execution of the orders of the Department of Health, or wil- 
 fully omit to obey any such order, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
 and be liable to be indicted and punished for such offense; and in 
 cases where it was made a misdemeanor to do or omit any act or 
 thing, when any power or authority hereby conferred upon the Board 
 of Health or Department of Health, was exercised by any other board 
 of Health, or officers, the omission or doing of such, or a correspond- 
 ing act or thing, which this chapter requires, or contemplates to be 
 done or forbids, shall in like manner be a misdemeanor, and the 
 offender shall be liable to indictment and punishment for the same. 
 A wilful omission or refusal of any individual, corporation, or body 
 to conform to any regulation of said department duly made for the 
 protection of life or the care, promotion, or preservation of health, 
 or the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter, pursuant to its 
 power or authority, shall be a misdemeanor, and the person or 
 officers guilty thereof shall be liable to indictment and punishment 
 as for a misdemeanor. All prosecutions and proceedings against 
 any person for misdemeanor under this chapter may be had or tried 
 before any judge or tribunal having jurisdiction of any misde- 
 meanor within said City. Any person, corporation, or body which 
 may have wilfully done or omitted any act or thing which is, in 
 this chapter, or by any law or ordinance, or the Sanitary Code 
 referred to, declared to be, or to subject the party guilty thereof to 
 punishment for a misdemeanor, shall, in addition thereto, be subject 
 to a penalty of two hundred and fifty dollars, to be sued for and re- 
 covered by said department in any civil tribunal in said City. Where 
 in any case the minimum penalty for a refusal to obey, or for a vio- 
 lation of any order, regulation, or ordinance of said Department of 
 Health, or any law, is not fixed, the amount recovered in such case 
 shall not be less than twenty dollars, and the judge or justice who 
 presided at a trial where such penalty is claimed shall, on said trial, 
 in writing, fix the amount, not contrary to said provisions, of saiH 
 penalty to be recovered, and shall direct such amount so fixed to 
 be, and it shall be included in the judgment. Any such suits may 
 be against one or more, or all of those who participate in the 
 
 595 
 
act, refusals, or omissions complained of, and the recovery may be 
 against one or more or those joined in the action as the justice of 
 the court shall direct. The provisions of this section as to the juris- 
 diction of tribunals, parties, and costs shall apply to all suits by said 
 department or its assignee, or the assignees of the Police Depart- 
 ment under this chapter. All processes and papers usual or neces- 
 sary in the commencement and prosecution of actions, or for the 
 collection of money in suits or proceedings under this chapter, on 
 execution, may be served by any policeman, and in and about such 
 matters the policeman so engaged shall have all the powers of mar- 
 shals, and no fees shall be charged by any court, magistrate, or 
 clerk for the issue of any paper or process, or the performance of 
 any duty in suits under this chapter. Any civil action brought under 
 or by authority of this chapter may be brought in any court in said 
 City, having jurisdiction in any civil action to an amount as large 
 as is demanded in such action; and if judgment be rendered for the 
 plaintiff in any amount, costs of the court in which action is brought 
 shall also be recovered, without reference to the amount of tlie re- 
 covery, provided payment was demanded before suit brought, and 
 the defendant or defendants in the action against whom the recovery 
 is had, did not, as the Code of Civil Procedure authorizes, offer to 
 pay an amount equal to the recovery against him or them, except 
 that in cases where the recovery shall be less than fifty dollars, the 
 amount of costs shall be ten dollars ; and in case no recovery is had, 
 the plaintiffs shall not pay costs unless the judge or justice, at the 
 conclusion of the trial, shall certify in writing that there was not 
 reasonable cause for bringing the action, and in such case the costs 
 shall not exceed ten dollars, unless the amount claimed exceeded 
 fifty dollars. No action shall abate, or right of action already ac- 
 crued be abolished, by reason of the expiration, repeal or amend- 
 ment of an ordinance, code or sanitary ordinances, or regulation of 
 said department; nor shall any court lose jurisdiction of any action by 
 reason of a plea that title to real estate is involved, provided the de- 
 fendant is sought by the pleadings to be charged in said action on 
 any of the grounds mentioned in this chapter, other than by virtue 
 
 596 
 
of ownership of such real estate. In respect to all proofs and pro- 
 ceedings by said department, or its agents or officers, under this 
 chapter, papers filed shall be deemed entered upon or in the min- 
 utes of the department. 
 
 Arrests for violation of rules. 
 
 Sec. 1263. The Board of Health having first entered on the 
 minutes of Department of Health, or filed in its records, what it 
 may regard as adequate proof of a violation or resistance by any 
 persons in said City, of any law, or ordinance, the authority re- 
 lating to which is given to said department, or of any order made 
 by said board or said department, may order, by warrant, under its 
 seal and attested by the signature of its secretary, and indicating, as 
 far as conveniently practicable, the time, place and nature of the 
 offense committed, the arrest of any such person, and such order 
 of arrest shall be of the same effect and shall be executed as a war- 
 rant from a justice or judge, duly issued; and the party arrested 
 shall be taken before a magistrate, and thereupon and thereafter 
 shall, by all officers, be treated as being, and have the rights and 
 liability of a party under arrest by order of the proper officer or 
 tribunal, for a misdemeanor, of the nature indicated in said order 
 of arrest. 
 
 Id.: By Jiiember of police force or officer of Department of Health. 
 
 Sec. 1264. Any member of the police force, and everyinspector 
 or officer of said Department of Health, as the regulations of either 
 of said departments may respectively provide relative to its own 
 subordinates, may arrest any person who shall, in view of such 
 member or officer, violate, or do, or be engaged in doing or com- 
 mitting in said City, any act or thing forbidden by this chapter, or 
 by any law or ordinance, the authority conferred by which is given 
 to said Department of Health, or who shall, in such presence, resist 
 or be engaged in resisting the enforcement of any of the orders of 
 said Department or of the Police Department pursuant thereto. 
 And any person so arrested shall be thereafter treated and disposed 
 of as any other person duly arrested for a misdemeanor. 
 
 597 
 
Id.: upon complaint of magistrate, trials, fines, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1265. Uponthecomplaintof anycitizenortheCity,against 
 any person for violation of any rule, sanitary regulation, ordinance, 
 or order, made to any magistrate having jurisdiction in criminal 
 cases, such magistrate shall order the arrest of any person 
 against whom such complaint is made, as in any other case 
 of a criminal offense, and by his warrant may require any 
 policeman or constable to make such arrest, and may, after such 
 arrest, proceed summarily to try such person for such alleged of- 
 fense; but no such trial shall be had on any arrest made in the 
 City, without sufficient notice thereof being first given to the Depart- 
 ment of Health. And upon an application in behalf of said Depart- 
 ment, made before the trial is commenced, the trial of such person, 
 together with the papers, shall be remitted to the Court of Special 
 Sessions, upon which court jurisdiction to try such persons is hereby 
 conferred; but the right of any person to elect to be tried before a 
 jury, as it may now exist, is not affected by anything herein con- 
 tained. If such person shall, upon such trial, be found guilty, he or 
 she may be punished in the same manner as is provided for the 
 punishment of persons found guilty of a misdemeanor. Reports of 
 all such trials, and of fines imposed for violations of this chapter, 
 or the Sanitary Code, shall be made monthly to said depart- 
 ment, by the justices before whom trials are had. But nothing 
 in this section contained shall be construed as in any manner 
 limiting any powers, penalty, and punishment in this chapter 
 elsewhere conferred. 
 
 False returns and deceptive reports, how punished. 
 
 Sec. 1266. If any person shall knowingly make to said Depart- 
 ment of Health, or any officer thereof, any false return, statement, 
 or report relative to any birth, death, or marriage, or other matter 
 concerning which a report or return may be legally required of, or 
 should be made by, such person; or if any member, inspector, or 
 officer, or any agent of said Department of Health shall knowingly 
 make to said Department of Health any false or deceptive report, 
 or statement in connection with his duties, or shall accept or re- 
 ceive, or authorize, or encourage, or knowingly allow any other 
 
 598 
 
person to accept or receive any bribe or other compensation as a 
 condition of or an inducement for not faithfully discovering and 
 fully reporting, or otherwise acting, according to his duty in any re- 
 spect, then any and every such person shall be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and shall be liable to be for such crime indicted, 
 tried, and punished according to law, and shall, in addition, forfeit 
 all compensation due or to grow due from said department. 
 
 False personation as an officer of department ^ penalty. 
 
 Sec. 1267. It shallibe a misdemeanor, punishable by imprison- 
 ment in the penitentiary, for not less than one year nor exceeding 
 two years, or by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, 
 for any person, not an officer of or under the authority of the De- 
 partment of Health, to falsely represent himself as such, with a 
 fraudulent design upon persons or property, or to have, use, wear, or 
 display, without authority, any shield, or other insignia or emblem 
 such as is worn by such officer. 
 
 Boardins: <^nd lodging-house keepers and masters of vessels. 
 
 Sec. 1268. Every keeper of a boarding or lodging-house, and 
 every master, owner, or consignee of a vessel who shall refuse or 
 neglect to obey the orders and directions of the Department of 
 Health, as provided by this Act, shall be considered guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined for each offense in a 
 sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or be imprisoned 
 for a term not exceeding six months. 
 
 Officers and magistrates to act promptly. 
 
 Sec. 1269. It shall be the duty of all prosecuting officers of 
 criminal courts, and city magistrates to act promptly upon all com- 
 plaints, and in all suits or proceedings for any violation of this chap- 
 ter, and in all proceedings approved or promoted by said depart- 
 ment, and to bring the same to a speedy hearing or termination and 
 to render judgment and direct execution therein without delay. 
 
 599 
 
Title 5. 
 
 reimbursement for expekses. 
 
 Joint and several liability of owners, lessees, and occupants of property 
 and assignment of claims for expenses of execution of orders thereon. 
 
 Section 1275. It is hereby declared to be the duty, of 
 which there shall be a joint and several liability of every 
 owner and part owner and person interested, and of every 
 lessee, tenant, and occupant of, or in, any place, water, 
 ground, room, stall, apartment, building, erection, vessel, 
 vehicle, matter and thing in said City, and of every person 
 conducting or interested in business therein or thereat, and of every 
 person who has undertaken to clean any place, ground or street 
 therein, and of every person, public officer, and board having charge 
 of any ground, place, building or erection therein, to keep, place, 
 and preserve the same and every part, and the sewerage, drainage, 
 and ventilation thereof in such condition, and to conduct the same 
 in such manner that it shall not be dangerous or prejudicial to life 
 or health, subject to the ordinances of the Sanitary Code and the 
 orders of the Board of Health. Any claim for expenses consequent 
 upon the execution of an order of the Board of Health, occasioned 
 by a violation of said duty above declared and set forth, may be 
 assigned by the Board of Health to any person not an officer of the 
 Health Department, who shall execute such order and perform the 
 required work. 
 
 On what expenses to be a lien. 
 
 Sec. 1276. The expenses attending the execution of any and al 
 orders duly made by the Board of Health shall respectively be a 
 several and joint personal charge against each of the owners or part 
 owners and each of the lessees and occupants of the building, busi- 
 ness, place, property, matter or thing to which said order relates, and 
 in respect of which said expenses were incurred; and also against 
 every person or body who was by law or contract bound to do that 
 in regard to such business, place, street, pr'^ perty, matter, or thing 
 
 600 
 
which said order requires, a:.d said expenses shall also be a lien on 
 all rent and compensation due, or to grow due, for the use of any 
 place, room, building, premises, matter, or thing to which said order 
 relates, and in respect of which said expenses were incurred, and 
 also a lien on all compensation due, or to grow due, for the cleaning 
 of any street, place, ground, or thing, or for the cleaning, or re- 
 moval, of any matter, thing, or place, the failure to do which by the 
 party bound so to do, or doing of the same in whole or in part by 
 order of said department, was the cause or occasion of any such 
 order or expense. 
 
 Suit for expenses. 
 
 Sec.1277. Said Department of Health,itsassignee,or the party 
 who has under its order, or that of the Police Department, acting 
 thereunder, incurred any expense, or has rendered service for which 
 payment is due, and as the rules of said Department of Health may 
 provide, may institute and maintain a suit against any one in this 
 chapter declared liable for expenses, or against any person, firm, or 
 corporation owing, or who may owe such rent or compensation, and 
 may recover the expenses so incurred under any order aforesaid. 
 And only one or more of such parties liable or interested may be 
 made parties to such action as the department may elect; but the 
 parties made responsible as aforesaid for such expenses shall be 
 liable to contribute or to make payment as between themselves, in 
 respect of such expenses, and of any sum recovered for such ex- 
 penses or compensation, or by any party paid on account thereof, 
 according to the legal or equitable obligation existing between them. 
 
 Expense of executing orders to be a lien. 
 
 Sec. 1278. The said department, its assignee, or any person act- 
 ing under its authority, in executing any order of said department, 
 shall have a lien for the expenses necessarily incurred in the execu- 
 tion of said order, and said expenses shall be a lien upon the land 
 and buildings upon or in respect of which, or either of which, the 
 work required by said order has been done, or expenses incurred, 
 which lien shall have priority over all other liens and incumbrances, 
 
 601 
 
except taxes and assessments. But no such lien shall be valid for 
 any purpose till the said department or person shall have caused to 
 be filed in the office, or with the officer where notices of mechanics' 
 liens are now or may be hereafter required to be filed, a notice con- 
 taining the same particulars as required to be stated with reference to 
 mechanics' liens, with the further statement that the expense has 
 been incurred in pursuance of an order of said department, and giv- 
 ing its date. Upon such filing the said officer shall make the same 
 entry on the book or index in which mechanics' liens are entered 
 as he is required to enter in cases of mechanics' liens, together with 
 a reference to said order by date ; and thereafter the same shall, ex- 
 cept as herein elsewhere provided, have the same effect in all re- 
 spects as a mechanics' lien; and all proceedings with reference to 
 said lien, its enforcements and discharge, shall be had and carried 
 on in the same manner as similar proceedings with reference to 
 mechanics' liens are now, or may be hereafter by law had or carried 
 on. The filing of such statement shall as to all persons have the 
 same effect as filing of notice of mechanics' liens ; and unless within 
 two months after actual notice of such filing, proceedings are taken 
 by the party against whom or whose said property a lien is 
 claimed, to discharge such lien, the filing shall, as to all persons 
 having such actual notice, become conclusive evidence that the 
 amount claimed in such statement, with interest, is due, and is a just 
 lien upon said land and building. Such lien shall continue to be a 
 lien for the space of four years from the time of filing such state- 
 ment, unless proceedings are in the meantime taken to enforce 
 or discharge the same, which may be done at any time during its con- 
 tinuance. In case proceedings are so taken, it shall remain a lien un- 
 til the final termination of such proceedings; and if such proceed- 
 ing shall result in a judgment for the amount claimed in such state- 
 ment, or any portion thereof, such judgment shall, to such extent, 
 be a lien in the same manner, and from the said time as said state- 
 ment. 
 
 Statement of expense of executing orders to be published. 
 
 Sec. 1279. When the Board of Healthfshall, through its own 
 
 602 
 
officers, and men and means have executed, or so far executed as said 
 department may require, any order, the expenses of such execution, 
 giving in general terms the items of such expense and the date of 
 execution, shall be stated in an affidavit, and the same shall be 
 filed among the records of said department with the order so exe- 
 cuted; and said department shall take care by, or through some 
 proper officer, or otherwise, that the expenses of such execution 
 be so stated with fairness and accuracy; and when it shall appear 
 that such execution, or the expenses thereof, related to several lots 
 or buildings belonging to different persons, said affidavit shall state 
 what belongs to, or arose in respect to each lot of said several lots 
 or buildings, as said Board of Health or its authorized officer may 
 direct; and the correctness of such apportionment of expenses, as 
 stated in any such affidavits, shall not be called in question or re- 
 viewed elsewhere than before said board; but said board may re- 
 vise and correct the same, as truth and justice may require. When- 
 ever the expenses attending the execution of any order of said 
 Board of Health may be made the subject of a suit by said depart- 
 ment, or its assignee or the person having a right to recover such 
 expenses, there may be joined in the same suit a claim or claims 
 for any penalty or penalties for violations of any provisions of this 
 chapter, or for the violation or omission to perform or obey said 
 order, or any prior order of said department) or for the not doing 
 of that, or any portion of that, for the doing of which, said expenses 
 arose or were incurred; and said department may make an assign- 
 ment of the claim for any such penalty or penalties, to enable the 
 claim for the same and the claim for said expenses to be joined in 
 the same suit; and the proper joint or several judgment may be had 
 against one or more of the defendants in the suit, as they or either 
 of them may be liable in respect of both said claims, or either or 
 any of them. And said expenses of executing said order, and the 
 expenses of executing any judgment in any abatement suit in this 
 chapter provided for, and the several judgments that may be recov- 
 ered hereunder, or otherwise, for any such penalty or expenses, or for 
 both such penalty and expenses together, until the same are paid 
 
 603 
 
or discharged, shall be a lien as other judgments, and also a lien 
 and charge upon rent and compensation due or then maturing from 
 any tenant or occupant of the building, lots, and premises, or the 
 parts thereof to which any such order or judgment relates, or in 
 respect of which any such expenses were incurred. And such ex- 
 penses and judgments shall respectively be a lien on all compen- 
 sation due or to grow due for the cleaning of any street, place, 
 ground, or thing, or for the cleaning or removal of any mat- 
 ter, thing, or place, the failure to do which by the party bound 
 so to do, or the doing of the same in whole or in part by order of 
 said department, was the cause or occasion of any such charge or 
 expense. For the purpose of rendering such lien and charge more 
 effectual to secure payment of any such expenses or judgment, 
 from any rent or compensation aforesaid, proceedings may be taken 
 as follows: 
 
 1. The Department of Health, or any person owning any such 
 judgment, or the claim for any such expenses, or having a right to 
 receive payment therefor, may serve a copy of the order under or 
 by reason of which such expenses were authorized or incurred with 
 a copy of any affidavit stating the expenses of the execution of such 
 order, or if the claim be a judgment, may serve a transcript of such 
 judgment and any affidavit showing the expense of its execution if 
 there be any, upon any person or corporation owing, or who is about 
 to owe any such compensation, or owing or about to owe any rent or 
 compensation for the use or occupation of any grounds, premises 
 or building, or any part thereof, to which said order or judgment re- 
 lates, and in respect of which such expenses embraced in said judg- 
 ment related or were incurred, and may, at any time of such service, 
 demand in writing that such rent, or any such compensation to the 
 extent of said claims for said expenses, or of any such judgment or 
 expense in executing the same shall, when such rent or compensa- 
 tion becomes due and payable, be paid to the Department of Health. 
 
 2. After the service of the papers aforesaid and such demand, 
 any tenant, lessee, occupant, or other person owing, or about to owe, 
 any such rent or any such compensation, shall, when such rent 
 
 604 
 
or any such compensation shall mature, or become payable, pay the 
 same, and from time to time pay any other amount thereof, as the 
 same may become due and payable, or so much thereof as is suffi- 
 cient to satisfy any such judgment or claim for expenses, or both, so 
 served, to said Department of Healtii, and a receipt shall be given 
 therefor, stating on account of what order or judgment and ex- 
 penses the same has been paid and received; and the amount so 
 received shall be deposited where other funds of said department 
 are kept, to the special account of such department. 
 
 3. Any person or corporation refusing or omitting, as herein di- 
 rected, to make such payment to the Department of Health, after 
 service of the paper and demand aforesaid, as herein required, shall 
 be personally liable to said Department of Health, or to the party 
 owning any such claim for expenses or judgment, if not belonging 
 to said department, for the amount that should have been paid to 
 said department according to the provisions ihereof, and may by 
 such party or Health Department be sued therefor; and such 
 persons shall not in such suit, dispute or call in question the author- 
 ity of said Department of Health to incur, or order such expense, 
 or of its assignee therein, or the validity or correctness of such ex- 
 penses or judgment in any particular, or the right of the party 
 making such demand, or his assignee, to have the same paid from 
 such rent or compensation. But the receipt of such department 
 for any sum paid as aforesaid shall, in all suits and proceedings, 
 and for every purpose, be as effectual in favor of any person hold- 
 ing the same, as actual payment of the amount thereof to the proper 
 landlord, lessor, owner, or other person or persons who would, but 
 for the provisions of this title, and of said demand, have been 
 entitled to receive the sum so paid. And it is further expressly de- 
 clared that no tenant or occupant of any lot, building or premises, 
 or his or their assignee or lessee, shall be dispossessed or disturbed, 
 nor shall any lease or contract, or rights, be forfeited or impaired, 
 nor any forfeiture or liability be incurred by reason of any omission 
 to pay to any landlord, owner, lessor, contractor, party, or other per- 
 son, the sum so paid to said Department of Health, or any part 
 
 thereof. 
 
 605 
 
Department to retain moneys till twelve days after notice. 
 
 Sec. 1280. The said Department of Health shall retain money 
 so paid until twelve days after it shall be made to appear to said 
 Department of Health, or some proper officer thereof, by satisfac- 
 tory affidavit, that the party or parties, or his or their agent for the 
 collection of any such rent or compensation, who, but for the pro- 
 visions hereof would have been entitled to receive the same, has had 
 written notice of such payment being made ; and if at the end of said 
 twelve days, the party or parties aforesaid, so notified, have not in- 
 stituted suit to recover said money, as hereinafter provided, then 
 it shall, by said department, be paid to any person who may own 
 or have the right to recover the amount of the judgment or the claim 
 for expenses, or so much thereof as the party may be entitled to, or 
 on ajccount of which the money was paid to said department, and 
 after such payment the party or parties aforesaid, shall have no right 
 to demand or receive any such money, unless they shall within six 
 calendar months from the expiration of said twelve days, in a suit 
 allege that they had no notice of such payment, and shall, on the 
 , trial of such suit, prove said allegation, and also that they were not 
 liable to pay the said claim for expenses, or the said penalty or judg- 
 ment, and that the said department had not jurisdiction to order 
 the expenses aforesaid, on account of which the money was so paid, 
 or on which any such' judgment was obtained, and in case of a re- 
 covery in such suit it shall be only to the extent that such parties were 
 not so liable,and in such suit any person or persons who may have re- 
 ceived said money from said department, or said department shall, 
 by the plaintiff, be made a party defendant; and if the plaintiff shall 
 recover such money, or any part thereof, said Department of Health 
 shall be entitled to any equitable judgment in such suit which the 
 Court may see fit to direct, for recovering said money back, or any 
 part thereof, from such co-defendant, which had been paid to him by 
 said Department of Health. 
 
 Parties to suit brought after twelve days: Costs against department. 
 
 Sec. 1281. In case any suit shall be brought under the last sec- 
 tion, or before the expiration of the said twelve days, said Depart- 
 
 606 
 
ment of Health shall be joined as a party defendant; and any per- 
 son or persons other than said department, claiming the right to 
 receive said money on account of said order, expenses or judg- 
 ment, or who has received the same, shall also by the plaintiff be 
 made parties defendant; and no answer need be made by said de- 
 partment, except at its option, or further than the allegation that it 
 holds said money so paid, and is ready to pay it over, as the result 
 of the suit may render proper, and said money shall be held by said 
 department pending said suit, if not paid over before suit brought 
 as aforesaid, provided said suit be diligently prosecuted to judg- 
 ment; and on its conclusion the Department of Health shall cause 
 the money, if still held by it, or the proper amount from its funds, 
 to be paid as the determination of the suit may render proper; and 
 no costs in any suit in this section mentioned shall be recovered 
 against the Department of Health. But to entitle a plaintiff to 
 recover in any such Jast-named suit, he must make the same 
 proof and establish the same facts as are required to enable him 
 to recover in any suit in this title mentioned, except as to notice 
 of payment to department. 
 
 Title 6. 
 
 abatement by suit. 
 Nuisance defined. 
 
 Section 1287. A wilful omission or refusal of any individual, 
 corporation, or body, to forthwith abate any nuisance, as ordered by 
 a resolution of the Board of Health, duly served upon them, pur- 
 suant to the provisions of this Act, or to conform to any ordinance 
 of the Sanitary Code or any sanitary regulation of said board, duly 
 made for the protection of life, or the care, promotion, or preserva- 
 tion of health, pursuant to its power or authority, shall be a mis- 
 demeanor, and the person or officers guilty thereof shall be liable 
 to indictment and punishment as for a misdemeanor. In addition 
 
 607 
 
thereto every person, body or corporation that shall violate or not 
 conform to any ordinance of the Sanitary Code, or any rule, sani- 
 tary regulation or special or general order of said board, duly 
 made, shall be liable to pay a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars 
 for each ofifense, which may be sued for and recovered by and in 
 the name of said Department of Health, with costs, before any 
 
 justice or tribunal in said City of New York having jurisdiction 
 
 of civil actions. 
 
 Suits to abate nuisances. 
 
 Sec. 1288. For the abatement or remedying any of the nui- 
 sances mentioned or declared in this chapter or by the Board of 
 Health pursuant to the authority devolved and conferred upon it 
 by this Act, the Board of Health may institute and maintain in 
 any court in said City having jurisdiction in suits where the amount 
 claimed exceeds one thousand dollars, a suit or suits at law or in 
 equity. And all costs collected in any such action or proceeding 
 shall be paid over to the department and accounted for by it. To all 
 such suits the provisions of this chapter, relative to jurisdiction, costs, 
 and parties, shall be applicable ; and the courts shall allow the plain- 
 tiff, at any proper stage of the case, to amend, by joining other 
 parties defendant; and no suit shall be dismissed or defeated by 
 reason of there being other persons interested therein, or concerned 
 in causing, creating, or maintaining the nuisance complained of in 
 such suit. 
 
 Id.: trial thereof. 
 
 Sec. 1289. Such suit shall be tried as an issue of law, and with- 
 out a jury, unless, some defendant shall, in his answer, or by notice 
 in writing to be served on plaintiff's attorney within five days after 
 service of said answer, demand a trial by jury on some question of 
 fact, to be in said answer, or notice distinctly stated, and in respect 
 of which a right of trial by jury exists, and if any such demand be 
 so made and served, the case shall, as to all the defendants, be placed 
 on the calendar of jury trial cases as a preferred case; and when 
 moved for trial, if issues of fact for the jury have not before been 
 
 608 
 
settled, the presiding judge may state in writing the issues of fact to 
 be submitted to the jury, or the trial shall proceed upon the material 
 issues of fact made by the pleadings without such written statement 
 of issues; and the judge who presided at the trial (or some judge of 
 the same court, if said judge be unable to proceed therewith) shall, 
 on receiving the verdict, or as soon thereafter, and at the same term, if 
 possible, settle and cause to be entered the proper judgment in said 
 suit. 
 
 Id.: judgment; 7vhai to contain. 
 
 Sec. 1290. If the judgment be that any nuisance maybe abated 
 or remedied, in whole or in part, said judgment shall contain suffi- 
 cient directions for its proper execution, and the judge shall, from 
 the pleadings and the evidence given at the trial, find and state 
 what proportion of the expense of such execution shall be paid or 
 be borne by each or all of the defendants, jointly or severally; and 
 if, in the opinion of the Court, any part of, or all of the expense of 
 such execution should be borne by said Department of Health, or 
 the execution of such judgment should be made by said department, 
 or under its direction, said judgment shall contain the appropriate 
 directions in respect to such last-named payment or execution. 
 Said judgment, if against any defendant, shall, on its face, state that 
 it will be a lien on the real property, and corporeal hereditaments 
 of such defendant or defendants respectively, to which the said nui- 
 sance shall have related, till his or their proportion of such expenses 
 of execution are satisfied, or the lien thereof shall be otherwise dis- 
 charged according to law. 
 
 lyien of Judgment; ho7u removed. 
 
 Sec. 1291. Any person prejudicially affected by the Hen of any 
 such judgment may, on eight days' notice to said department, make 
 a motion before any judge of the court in which said judgment was 
 rendered, for an order that the lien of such judgment be discharged, 
 as to all or any specific property set forth; and if it shall appea 
 to such judge, on the hearing of such motion, that such eight 
 days' notice of such motion has been given to the Board of 
 
 609 
 
Health, and that such judgment has been executed, and the ex- 
 penses paid, which the lien sought to be discharged, was de- 
 signed to secure; or, if a proper or sufficient undertaking or 
 bond, with sureties, shall be given for the payment of such ex- 
 penses; or if the Board of Health or its counsel, shall, in writing, 
 consent to the discharge of the last-named lien, as to any or all 
 property referred to, or as to one or more defendants, then said 
 judge may order said lien discharged of record by the proper 
 officer, to the extent and as to the person or persons that the 
 order shall specify ; and it shall be so discharged ; and such 
 
 order and the moving papers shall be filed with the proper clerk, 
 
 as the judge may direct. 
 
 Appeals and stays. 
 
 Sec. 1292. No appeal by any party defendant shall stay the ex- 
 ecution of any judgment aforesaid, except to the extent, in refer- 
 ence to the persons, and on the conditions the judge who tried the 
 case, or, some other judge of the same court, shall, on the settling of 
 the judgment, or on motion, on four days' notice to said Depart- 
 ment of Health, with due reference to the public interests involved, 
 specially order; and if no such order shall be made, the judgment 
 shall be executed, notwithstanding any appeal, undertaking, or 
 security, and without any liability on the part of any person by 
 reason of any damages or consequences growing out of the execu- 
 tion of said judgment, whether the same be reversed or not. All 
 appeals by the defendant from any judgment in the said abatement 
 suits, shall be taken within ten days after notice, in writing, to the 
 defendant or his attorney, of the entry of the judgment therein, and 
 the judge who tries the case may, in his discretion, order a stay as to 
 the execution of the judgment, but only for the period of the said ten 
 day®, and within said period of ten days an undertaking 
 or security on appeal must be filed, of the form and obli- 
 gation required in ordinary appeals from judgments, but 
 also to be conditioned for the payment of the appellants* adjudged 
 share of the expenses of executing such judgment, or if not es- 
 timated in said judgment, as the judge, on application and three 
 
 610 
 
days' notice to said department, shall estimate the same, in confor- 
 mity with the judgment, for the purpose of such security on appeal. 
 But the execution of any judgment against the defendants shall 
 not be delayed beyond ten days, if within that period the proper 
 undertaking or security on appeal, approved by the judge, has not 
 been filed, and the appeal perfected, as herein provided. The judg- 
 ment may state the estimated expense that will have to be paid by 
 any party toward executing said judgment; but the Board of Health 
 may appeal in any such case, or any case to which the Health De- 
 partment is a party within ten days after the entry of any judgment, 
 and without giving any security; such appeal shall be effectual and 
 shall operate as a stay on the part of the judgment in respect to 
 which said department appeals. 
 
 Claims for penalty may be joined in abatement suits. 
 
 Sec. 1293. In any such abatement suit said department may join 
 a cause of Action for any penalty or penalties that may have been 
 incurred by either of the defendants, by reason of, or in connection 
 with, the nuisance complained of, or by reason of any omission or 
 refusal of any defendant to obey or comply with any ordinance of 
 the Sanitary Code or any order of the Department of Health touch- 
 ing such alleged nuisance, and have the proper provision in any 
 judgment therefor against one or more of the defendants. No 
 motion for a new trial on a case made shall be entertained in any such 
 a)batement suit, except as a part of, and as arising upon the papers 
 upon a regular appeal to the Appellate Division of the court, and to 
 be heard therewith. 
 
 /udgment of Appellate Division; what to contain. 
 
 Sec. 1294. The judgment of the Appellate Division, if it shall, 
 to any extent, direct any change in the judgment appealed from, 
 but shall direct, or allow or fail to forbid the judgment in part to 
 be executed, shall also contain the requisite specific provisions, 
 so that the judgment, as modified, may be executed, and the due 
 proportion of the expenses of such execution may be assessed on 
 the defendants, respectively, or on said department, as the Appellate 
 
 611 
 
Division may adjudge. There may be an appeal from the Appellate 
 Division to the Court of Appeals, in such abatement suit, and there- 
 in the provisions hereof as to appeals from the judgment to the 
 Appellate Division, and as to the security on appeal, shall in all 
 particulars, including the length of time given in which to take an 
 appeal, apply, except that no undertaking on its appeal is necessary 
 on the part of the Department of Health, and no change in the 
 Code of Civil Procedure, or otherwise, hereafter to be made, though 
 in subject-matter applicable to said abatement suits, shall be con- 
 strued to modify the aforesaid or other provisions of the Health 
 Laws as to any suits thereunder, unless such Act shall specifically 
 declare such modification to be intended. 
 
 Statement of expense of execution. 
 
 Sec. 1295. Upon the execution, in whole or in part, of any 
 such judgment, if said department shall, as it is hereby authorized 
 to do, decide the public interest to demand only execution in part 
 thereof, a statement of the expenses of such execution shall be 
 made, and such expenses shall be therein apportioned not contrary 
 to any provisions of said judgment; and upon the same being veri- 
 fied by the oath of some person who, by due authority, took part 
 in, or had charge of the execution of such judgment, or by some 
 oflficer of said department, such statement, entitled in the case, may 
 be filed or given to the proper clerk to be filed, with such judgment; 
 and notice of such filing or delivery, and a copy of such statement 
 shall be given to the attorneys of the defendant in the suit, or to the 
 defendants themselves, or to some one of the joint defendants; and 
 unless within ten days after any such notice, such defendants shall 
 give due notice, in writing, to said department, or to the person 
 who, as assignee, or by order, executed such judgment or is en- 
 titled to payment of such expenses, in case it was not executed by 
 said department, of a motion, and serve therewith copies of affida- 
 vits to correct such statement in particulars to be mentioned, and 
 separately and clearly stated in such affidavit, such statement afore- 
 said shall be, in all suits, and proceedings, and tribunals, and at all 
 
 fill! 
 
times, deemed and taken to be final, conclusive, and correct; and 
 no formal defect in such statement shall in any wise vitiate the 
 same. And on any hearing of such motion, any party in interest, 
 or said department may read affidavits in support of such original 
 statement; and the finding of any judge on the hearing of such mo- 
 tion, as the said statement of such expenses and other matters 
 in such motion involved, or statement contained, shall be final and 
 conclusive, and not subject to appeal; and such finding or state- 
 ment as modified by such finding when filed, shall be of the same 
 effect as such original statement would have been had no motion 
 in regard thereto been made; and for the purpose of an execution 
 for such expense, and creating a lien under any judgment, such 
 statements and finding or modified statement shall be regarded as a 
 part of said judgment, and the lien thereof shall extend to any 
 amounts stated in such final statement and finding. In so far as 
 any judgment may be directed to be executed at the expense of 
 said Department of Health, or by any party defendant at his own 
 expense, and shall by such party defendant be so executed, tfie 
 expense of such execution shall not be stated or embraced in the 
 aforesaid statement or finding of expenses; but if any part of the 
 execution aforesaid, which any party should have borne or paid, 
 shall, by reason of the delay, refusal or defective act or execution 
 of such party, or any other cause, be paid, borne, or incurred by 
 said Department of Health, in and about the execution of such judg- 
 ment, then the said latter expenses of said department may be em- 
 braced in said statement and finding, and collected by execution as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 Execution thereupon. 
 
 Sec. 1296. For the proportion and amounts as authorized by 
 such judgment, and contained in such finding or in such statement 
 or modified statement, when either of the same shall have become 
 final as aforesaid, said department, or any assignee of such depart- 
 ment, or any other person who has executed such judgment, or has 
 otherwise a right to receive the expense of so doing, or the por- 
 tion thereof that may be due from any defendant, shall have exe- 
 
 613 
 
cution, on application ex parte, to a judge of the court in which 
 the judgment was recovered, and such execution shall, in due form, 
 be allowed by any such judge; such execution to be against any 
 one or more defendants or joint defendants for the recovery of any 
 amount due from such defendant, or defendants, which the party 
 claiming such execution is entitled to receive; and such execution, 
 except as herein especially provided, shall be of the same eflfect 
 and form as any execution duly issued pursuant to any judgment. 
 But no execution shall be issued against any defendant for less 
 than the whole sum due from such defendant, or for less than he 
 shall be liable to pay in such suit; but any sum adjudged against 
 any defendant or defendants, in any such abatement suit for penal- 
 ties, costs, or for other cause than the expense of the abatement 
 or remedying of such nuisance, may be collected by separate or 
 other executions, other than those authorized for collecting such 
 expenses, to be issued in due course of law. 
 
 Injunction may be gratited in ubatemetit suits. Requisites. 
 
 Sec. 1297. In any abatement suit aforesaid the court or a judge 
 thereof, may issue and enforce an appropriate preliminary injunc- 
 tion, whenever it shall be asked for, by the Board of Health, and 
 there shall appear to such judge to be reasonable cause therefor; 
 and such injunction may also be granted whenever it shall be made 
 to appear to the court or a judge thereof, by affidavit, that such 
 injunction is needed, to prevent any illegal act, conduct, or business 
 aforesaid, or its continuance, or to prevent any serious danger to 
 human life or serious detriment to health, or great public incon- 
 venience, touching any matter or thing to which this act or the 
 health laws aforesaid relate. And in any such injunction order 
 the court may require any building, erection, or grounds to be put 
 in a condition that will not be dangerous to the life or detrimental 
 to the health of any occupant, before the same shall be leased, or 
 rented, or occupied, or before any rent or compensation shall be 
 collected for the rent or use of the whole or any portion of the same. 
 
 614 
 
In any such injunction order, and also in any judgment in any abate- 
 ment suit, the judge or court may require the tenants, 
 lessees, and occupants, or either or any of them, of any 
 such building, erection, or grounds, to pay rent thereof, 
 or compensation therefor, due or to grow due to the 
 Health Department, and said department to collect and re- 
 ceive and apply said rent to the payment of the expenses of put- 
 ting any said building, erection, or ground in a condition that will 
 not be dangerous to the life or detrimental to the health of any pres- 
 ent or future tenant, lessee or occupant, or of any other person ; all 
 such collections and payments to be made in such manner, to such 
 extent, and on such conditions as the court shall by order or judg- 
 ment provide; and every such payment to said department, and the 
 receipt of its treasurer for such rent or compensation, shall be as 
 effectual to protect any person who has made the same, and every 
 such tenant, lessee and occupant, and all his and their rights under 
 any lease or occupation, as if such payment had been made to, and 
 such receipt had been given by the lessor or owner, or any proper 
 claimant of any such rent or compensation, who had, but for such 
 order or judgment, the right and authority to receive the same. Bu£ 
 no undertaking or security shall be required or necessary on the 
 part of said department as a condition of granting such injunction, 
 or the same being effectual; and in any final judgment in such suit 
 there may be enjoined whatever, if about to happen or threatened, 
 would be the proper subject matter of a preliminary injunction. And 
 when the public interest seems to the court to require a speedy 
 trial or hearing of any such suit or appeal therein, it shall be the 
 duty of any judge or any court aforesaid, or of the court to whom 
 application by said board may be properly made, to cause such suit 
 or appeal to be advanced and brought to a speedy trial, and before 
 it would otherwise be reached by trial or argument in due course 
 on the calendar, as the judge or court may by special order direct. 
 
 Expenses of Department of Health to be paid out of its funds. 
 
 Sec. 1298. Whatever expenses said Department of Health 
 may lawfully and properly incur in the execution of any judg- 
 
 615 
 
ment aforesaid, or in executing or in connection with its own 
 orders, made in good faith, or in and about the discharge in 
 good faith of its supposed duties, or in satisfying any habihty 
 or judgment it may have in good faith incurred or suffered by 
 reason of its acts done in good faith as aforesaid, or in satisfying 
 any claim against its officers or subordinates, arising from their 
 acts in the discharge, in good faith, of their supposed respective 
 duties, shall, so far as established, be paid out of its fund or 
 other moneys appropriated to such purpose or to its use. 
 
 Title 7. 
 
 TEN^EMENT AND LODGING-HOUSES. 
 
 Construction generally. Halls and windows, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1304. Every house, building,or portion thereof, in 
 the City of New York, used occupied, leased or rented for a 
 tenement or lodging-house must conform in its construc- 
 tion, appurtenances and premises to the requirements of this 
 title ; and its use and occupation shall be regulated subject 
 to the ordinances of the Sanitary Code, applicable thereto, 
 and the orders of the Board of Health duly made, persuant 
 to] its authority, duty and powers conferred and enjoined 
 upon it in this chapter. If occupied by more than one family on 
 a floor, and if the halls do not open directly to the external air, 
 with suitable windows, without a room or other obstruction at the 
 end, it shall not be used, occupied, leased or rented, unless sufficient 
 light and ventilation is otherwise provided for in said halls, ap- 
 proved so far as relates to construction by the Department of Build- 
 ings, and if the building be completed, approved so far as relates 
 to health and sanitary conditions, by the Board of Health. 
 
 Definitions. 
 
 Sec. 1305. A tenement house within the meaning of this title 
 shall be taken to mean and include any house or building, or portion 
 
 616 
 
thereof, which is rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied, or 
 is occupied as the home or residence of three families or more liv- 
 ing independently of each other, and doing their cooking upon the 
 premises, or by more than two families upon any floor, so living 
 and cooking, but having a common right in the halls, stairways, 
 yards, water-closets or privies, or some of them. A lodging-house 
 shall be taken to mean and include any house or building, or portion 
 thereof, in which persons are harbored, or received or lodged, for 
 hire for a single night, or for less than a week at one time, or any part 
 of which is let for any person to sleep in, for any term less than a 
 week, A cellar shall be taken to mean and include every basement 
 or lower story of any building or house of which, one-half or more 
 of the height from the floor to the ceiling, is below" the level of the 
 street adjoining. 
 
 Roofs and stairs a)td fire-escapes. 
 
 Sec. 1306. The roof of every such house shall be kept in gO° 
 repair, and so as not to leak, and all rain water shall be so drained 
 or conveyed therefrom, as to prevent its dripping on to the ground, 
 or causing dampness in the walls, yard, or area. All stairs shall be 
 provided with proper banisters and railings, and shall be kept in 
 good repair. Every such house shall be provided with a proper 
 fire-escape, or means of escape in case of fire, to be approved by the 
 department of buildings. 
 
 Sleeping rooms. Ventilation. 
 
 Sec. 1307. Every house, building or portion thereof in the 
 City designed to be used, occupied, leased or rented, or which is 
 used, occupied, leased or rented for a tenement or lodging-house, 
 shall have in every room which is occupied as a sleeping-room, and 
 designed to be used, occupied, leased, or rented, or which is used 
 occupied, leased, or rented for a tenement or lodging-house, shall 
 have in every room which is occupied as a sleeping-room, and 
 which does not communicate directly with the external air, a venti- 
 lating or transom window, having an opening or area of three 
 
 617 
 
square feet, over the door leading into, and connected with the ad- 
 joining room, if such adjoining room communicates with the ex- 
 ternal air, and also a ventilating or transom window of the same 
 opening or area, communicating with the entry or hall of the house, 
 or where this is, from the relative situation of the rooms, impractic- 
 able, such last-mentioned ventilating or transom window shall com- 
 municate with an adjoining room that itself communicates with the 
 entry or hall. Every such house, or building, shall have in the 
 roof, at the top of the hall, an adequate and proper ventilator, of a 
 form approved by the Department of Buildings. 
 
 Water closets, privies and sinks. 
 
 Sec. 1308. Every tenement and lodging-house or building shall 
 be provided with as many good and sufficient water-closets, im- 
 proved privy sinks, or other similar receptacles, as the Department 
 of Health shall require, but in no case shall there be less than 
 one for every fifteen occupants. The water-closets, sinks, and recep- 
 tacles, shall have proper doors, soil pipes, and traps, all of which 
 shall be properly ventilated to prevent the escape of deleterious gas 
 and odors, soil pans, cisterns, pumps and other suitable works and 
 fixtures, necessary to insure the efficient operation, cleansing, and 
 flushing thereof. Every tenement or lodging-house situated upon 
 a lot on a street or avenue in which there is a sewer, shall have a 
 separate and proper connection with the sewer; and the water- 
 closets, sinks, and other receptacles shall be properly connected 
 with the sewer by proper pipes made thoroughly air-tight. Such 
 sewer, connection, and all the drainage and plumbing work, water- 
 closets, sinks and other receptacles, in and for every tenement and 
 lodging-house shall be of the form, construction, or arrangement, 
 location, materials, workmanship and description as may be required 
 by the rules and regulations of the Department of Buildings of the 
 City of New York. Every owner, lessee and occupant shall take 
 adequate measures to prevent improper substances from entering 
 such water-closets, or sinks, or their connections, and to secure the 
 prompt removal of any improper substances that may enter them, 
 
 618 
 
so that no accumulation shall take place, and so as to prevent any 
 exhalations therefrom, offensive, dangerous and prejudicial to life 
 or health, and so as to prevent the same from being or becoming 
 obstructed. Every person who shall place filth, urine or fecal 
 matter in any place in a tenement house other than that provided 
 for the same, and every person who shall keep filth, urine or fecal 
 matter in his apartment or upon his premises such length of time as 
 to create a nuisance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. No privy, 
 vault or cess-pool shall be allowed in, under, or connected with 
 any such house except when it is unavoidable, and a permit there- 
 for shall have been granted by the Department of Health, and in 
 such case it shall be constructed in such situation and in such man- 
 ner as the Department of Buildings may direct. It shall in all cases 
 be water-tight and arched or securely covered over, and no offen- 
 sive smell or gases shall be allowed to escape therefrom, or from any 
 closet, sink or privy. In all cases where a sewer exists in the street 
 or avenue, upon which the house or building stands, the yard or 
 area shall be connected with the sewer, so that all water from the 
 roof or otherwise, and all liquid filth shall pass freely into the sewer. 
 Where there is no sewer in the street or avenue, or adjacent thereto, 
 with which connection can be made, the yard and area shall be so 
 graded that all water from the roof or otherwise, and all filth shall 
 flow freely therefrom into the street gutter, by a passage beneath the 
 sidewalk, which passage shall be covered by a permanent cover, 
 so arranged as to permit access to remove obstructions or impurities. 
 
 Cellars and basements of tenement houses not to be occupied for living 
 purposes, except in certain cases. 
 
 Sec. 1309. It shall not be lawful, without a permit from the 
 Department of Buildings, to construct, during the erection of 
 a tenement or lodging-house, nor after the completion of such 
 tenement or lodging-house, any room or rooms in any basement or 
 cellar to be occupied wholly or in part as a dwelling, nor it shall be 
 lawful without a permit from the department of Health to let, 
 occupy, or suffer to be occupied separately as a dwelling, any vault, 
 cellar, or underground room, built or rebuilt after July first, eight- 
 
 619 
 
een hundred and sixty-seven, or which shall not have been so let 
 or occupied before said date. It shall not be lawful, without such 
 permit, to let or continue to be let, or to occupy or suffer to be 
 occupied separately as a dwelling, any vault, cellar, basement, or 
 room wholly or in part underground, unless the same be in every 
 part thereof at least seven feet in height, measured from the floor 
 to the ceiling thereof, nor unless the same be for at least two feet 
 of its height above the surface of the street or ground adjoining or 
 nearest to the same, nor unless there be outside of and adjoining 
 the said vault, cellar, room, or basement, and extending along tKe 
 entire frontage thereof, and upwards from six inches below the 
 level of the floor thereof up to the surface of said street or 
 ground, an open space of at least two feet and six inches wide in 
 every part, nor unless the same be well and effectually drained 
 by means of a drain, the uppermost part of which is one foot at 
 least below the level of the floor of such vault, cellar, or room, 
 nor unless there is a clear space of not less than one foot below 
 the level of the floor, except where the same is cemented^ 
 nor unless there be appurtenant to such vault, cellar, or 
 room, the use of a water-closet or privy kept and provided 
 as in this title required; nor unless the same have an external 
 window opening of at least nine superficial feet clear of the sash 
 frame, in which window opening there shall be fitted a frame filled 
 with glazed sashes, at least four and a half superficial feet of 
 which shall be made so as to open for the purpose of ventilation. 
 In the case of an inner or back vault, cellar, or room, let or occu- 
 pied along with a front vault, cellar, or room, as part of the same 
 letting or occupation, it shall be a sufficient compliance with the 
 provisions of this section if the front room is provided with a win- 
 dow, as hereinbefore provided, and if the said back cellar or room is 
 connected with the front vault, cellar or room, by a door, and also 
 by a proper ventilating or transom window, and where practicable, 
 also connected by a proper ventilating or transom window, or by 
 some hall or passage communicatmg with the external air. In any 
 area adjoining a vault, cellar, underground room, or basement, 
 
 620 
 
there may be steps necessary for access to such vault, cellar, or 
 room, if the same be so placed as not to be over, across or opposite 
 to the said external window, and so as to allow between every part 
 of such steps and the external wall of such vault, cellar or room, a 
 dlear space of six inches at least, and if the rise of said steps is open ; 
 and provided further that over or cross any such area, there may be 
 steps necessary for access to any building- above the vault, cellar 
 or room to which such area adjoins, if the same be so placed as not 
 to be over, across or opposite to any such external window. 
 
 Cellars and vaults not to be used /or sleeping-rooms. 
 
 Sec. 1310. No vault, cellar, or underground room shall be oc- 
 cupied as a place of lodging or sleeping, except the same shall be 
 approved, in writing, and a permit given therefor by the Board of 
 Health. No wall paper shall be placed upon a wall or ceiling of 
 any tenement or lodging-house, unless all wall paper shall be first 
 removed therefrom, and said wall and ceiling thoroughly cleansed. 
 Every tenement or lodging-house, and every part thereof, shall 
 be kept clean and free from any accumulations of dirt, filth, garbage 
 or other matter in or on the same, or in the yard, court, passage, 
 area or alley connected with it, or belonging to the same. The 
 owner or keeper of any lodging-house, and the owner or lessee of 
 any tenement-house or part thereof, shall thoroughly cleanse all 
 the rooms, passages, stairs, floors, windows, doors, walls, ceilings, 
 privies, cess-pools, and drains of the house or part of the house of 
 which he is the owner or lessee, to the satisfaction of the Depart- 
 ment of Health, so often as he shall be required by or in accordance 
 with any order of the Board of Health and any regulation or ordi- 
 nance of said department, and shall well and sufficiently, to the 
 satisfaction of the said Health Department, whitewash the walls 
 and ceilings thereof once at least in every year. 
 
 Transoms, windows, doors, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1311. All transoms, windows, doors and other openings 
 leading into halls, or into rooms opening into halls, from bakeries or 
 places of business, in which fat is boiled in the basements, cellars, or 
 
 621 
 
on the first floors, of all tenement houses in the City of New York, 
 shall be solidly closed with the same material as the walls or parti- 
 tions in which, the openings exist, so that there shall be no opening 
 between said bakeries, or other places of business of said floor in 
 which fat is boiled, and the other parts of the tenement house in 
 which the same shall be situated. All transoms and windows open- 
 ing into halls from any portion of said floor of any tenement house 
 where paint, oils, spirituous liquors or drugs are stored, or kept for 
 the purpose of sale, or otherwise, shall be glazed with wire glass, or 
 they shall be removed and closed up as solidly as the rest of the wall; 
 and all doors leading into such hall, or room from such portion 
 of said floor, of said tenement house used as aforesaid, shall be made 
 fireproof. 
 
 Certain occupations and business prohibited in tenement houses. 
 
 Sec. 1312. Every tenement or lodging-house shall have the 
 proper and suitable conveniences or receptacles for receiving gar- 
 bage and other refuse matters. No tenement or lodging-house or 
 premises, nor any pwDrtion thereof, shall be used as' a place of stor- 
 age for any combustible article, or any article dangerous to life or 
 detrimental to health; nor shall any horse, cow, calf, swine, pig, 
 sheep, or goat be kept in said house or on the premises thereof. No 
 bakery or place of business in which fat is boiled shall be main- 
 tained in any tenement house which is not fire-proof, or where the 
 ceiling and side walls of place, where said fat boiling is done are not 
 made safe by fire-proof material around the same, except by per- 
 mit of and under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Fire 
 Department; no part of any tenement house shall be used for the 
 storage of feed, hay, or straw, except by permit of and under such 
 conditions as may be prescribed by the Fire Department. 
 
 Tenements, etc., to be cleansed; owner ^ names to be registered in Depart- 
 ment of Health. 
 
 Sec. 1313. Every owner of a tenement or lodging-house, and 
 every person having control of a tenement or lodging-house, 
 shall file in the Department of Health, a notice containing his name 
 
 622 
 
and address, and also a description of the property, by street num- 
 ber or otherwise, as the case may be, in such manner as will enable 
 the Department of Health easily to find the same; and also the 
 number of apartments in each house, the number of rooms in each 
 apartment, the number of families occupying the apartments, and 
 the trades or occupations carried on therein. In case of a transfer 
 of any tenement house, or lodging-house, it shall be the duty of the 
 grantor and grantee of said tenement or lodging-house to file in the 
 Department of Health a notice of such transfer, stating the name 
 of the new owner, within thirty days after such transfer. In case 
 of the devolution of said property by will, it shall be the duty of the 
 executor and of the devisee, if more than twenty-one years of age, 
 and in case of the devolution of such property by inheritance with- 
 out a will, it shall be the duty of the heirs, or in case all of the heirs 
 are under age, it shall be the duty of the guardians of such heirs, 
 and in case said heirs have no guardians, it shall be the duty of the 
 administrator of the deceased owner of said property to file in said 
 department, a notice, stating the death of the deceased owner, and 
 the names of those who have succeeded to his interest in said prop- 
 erty, within thirty days after the death of said decedent, in case he 
 died intestate, and within thirty days after the probate of his will, ^f 
 he died testate. A failure to file such notice shall make said prop- 
 erty, and the owners thereof, liable to a penalty of not less than ten 
 dollars nor more than fifty dollars. Said penalty may be recovered 
 in an action brought by the Health Department as provided in this 
 Act. Every person claiming to have an interest in any tene- 
 ment or lodging-house may file his name and address in the De- 
 partment of Health. All notices and orders of the Department of 
 Health required by law to be served in relation to a tenement or 
 lodging-house, shall be served by posting, in some conspicuous 
 place in the house, a copy of the notice or order, five days before 
 the time for doing the thing, in relation to which, said notice or 
 order was issued. The posting of a copy of an order or notice, in 
 accordance with this section, shall be sufficient service upon the 
 owner of the property affected. It shall be the duty of the Depart- 
 
 623 
 
ment of Health to cause a copy of every such notice or order to be 
 mailed, on the same day that it is posted in the house, addressed to 
 the name and address of each person who has filed with the Depart- 
 ment of Health the notice provided for in this section. 
 
 Inspection twice a year. Officers to have access. 
 
 Sec. 1314. It shall be the duty of the Board of Health to cause 
 a careful inspection to be made of every tenement and lodging- 
 house at least twice in each year. And whenever the Board 
 of Health has made any order concerning a tenement or lodg- 
 ing-house, it shall cause a re-inspection to be made of the same with- 
 in six days after it has been informed that the order has been 
 served. The keeper of any lodging-house, and the owner, agent of 
 the owner, lessee, or occupant of any tenement house, and every 
 other person having the care and management thereof, shall, at all 
 times, when required by any officer of the Department of Health, or 
 by any officer upon whom any duty is conferred by this title, give 
 him free access to such house, and to every part thereof. The 
 owner or keeper of any lodging-house, and the owner, agent of the 
 owner, and the lessee of any tenement house or part thereof, shall, 
 whenever any person in such house is sick of fever, or of any infec- 
 tious, pestilential, or contagious disease, and information thereof 
 has been given to such owner, keeper, agent or les&ee, give imme- 
 diate notice thereof to the Board of Health, or to some officer of the 
 same, and thereupon said board shall cause the same to be imme- 
 diately cleansed or disinfected, at the expense of the owner, in such 
 manner as it may deem necessary and effectual, and it may 
 also cause the blankets, bedding and bed-clothes used by any such 
 sick person to be thoroughly cleansed, scoured and fumigated, or, 
 in extreme cases, to be destroyed. 
 
 Infected and uninhabitable houses to be condemned by Board of Health. 
 
 Sec. 1315. Whenever it shall be certified to the Board of 
 Health of the City of New York by the Sanitary Superintendent 
 or an assistant Sanitary Superintendent, that any building or any 
 
 624 
 
part thereof in the City of New York is infected with contagious 
 disease, or by reason of want of repair has become dangerous to 
 Hfe, or is unfit for human habitation because of defects in 
 drainage, plumbing, ventilation, or the construction of the same, 
 in drainage, plumbing, ventilation, or the construction of the same, 
 or because of the existence of a nuisance on the premises, which 
 is likely to cause sickness among its occupants, the said Board of 
 Health may issue an order requiring all persons therein to vacate 
 such building or part thereof for the reasons to be stated therein as 
 aforesaid. Said board shall cause said order to be affixed conspic- 
 uously in the building or part thereof and to be personally served 
 on the owner, lessee, agent, occupant, or any person having the 
 charge or care thereof; if the owner, lessee or agent cannot be found 
 in the City of New York or do not reside therein, or evades or resists 
 service, then said order may be served by depositing a copy thereof 
 in the post-office in the City of New York, properly inclosed and 
 addressed to such owner, lessee or agent at his last known place of 
 business and residence, and prepaying the postage thereon; such 
 building or part thereof shall, within ten days after said order shall 
 have been posted and mailed as aforesaid, or within such shorter 
 time, not less than twenty-four hours, as in said order may be speci- 
 fied, be vacated, but said Board of Health whenever it shall become 
 satisfied that the danger from said building or part thereof has 
 ceased to exist, or that said building has been repaired so as to be 
 habitable, may revoke said order. 
 
 Proceedings for condemnation prescribed. 
 
 Sec, 1316. Whenever, in the opinion of the Board of Health 
 of the City of New York, any building or part thereof in the City of 
 New York, an order to vacate which has been made by said depart- 
 ment, is, by reason of age, defects in drainage, plumbing, infection 
 with contagious disease, or ventilation, or because of the existence 
 of a nuisance on the premises, which is likely to cause sickness 
 among its occupants, or among the occupants of other property in 
 the City of New York, or because it stops ventilation in otlier 
 
 625 
 
buildings, or otherwise makes or conduces to make other build- 
 ings adjacent to the same unfit for human habitation, or dan- 
 gerous or injurious to health, or because it prevents proper measures 
 from being carried into effect for remedying any nuisance injurious 
 to health, or because of other sanitary evils in respect of 
 such other buildings, so unfit for human habitation that 
 the evils in, or caused by said building, cannot be remedied 
 by repairs, or in any other way except by the destruction 
 of said building, or of a portion of the same, said Board 
 of Health may if it deem such course just and proper, condemn 
 the same and order it removed, provided, however, that the owner 
 or owners of said building may demand a survey of said building in 
 the manner provided for in case of unsafe buildings, and may insti- 
 tute proceedings in the Supreme Court in the City of New York 
 for the condemnation of said building. Said proceeding shall be 
 instituted through a petition addressed to said court containing a 
 brief statement of the reasons therefor, and shall not be required to 
 contain further allegations of facts, than those which have actuated 
 the Board of Health in this proceeding, which shall then be carri^ 
 on in the manner prescribed by Chapter XXI of this Act. 
 The owner of said building, or any person interested therein 
 may in his answer dispute the necessity of the destruction 
 of said building, or part thereof, as the case may be.^In 
 such case, the Court shall not appoint Commissioners unless proof 
 is made of the necessity of said destruction. In such proceeding 
 evidence shall be receivable by the Commissioners to prove: 
 
 1. That the rental of the building was enhanced by reason of 
 the same being used for illegal purposes, or being so over-crowded 
 as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the inmates; or 
 
 2. That the building is in a state of defective sanitation, or is 
 not in reasonably good repair; or 
 
 3. That the building is unfit, and not reasonably capable of 
 being made fit, for human habitation ; and, if the Commissioners are 
 satisfied by such evidence, then the compensation — 
 
 626 
 
(a). Shall in the first case, so far as it is based on rental, be 
 on the rental of the building, as distinct from the ground rent, which 
 would have been obtainable if the building was occupied for legal 
 purposes, and only by the number of persons whom the building was 
 under all the circumstances of the case, fitted to accommodate with- 
 out such overcrowding as is dangerous or injurious to the healtfi 
 of the inmates; and 
 
 (b). Shall in the second case be the amount estimated as the 
 value of the building if it had been put into a sanitary condition, or 
 into reasonably good repair, after deducting the estimated expense 
 of putting it into such condition or repair; and * 
 
 (c). Shall in the third case be the value of the materials of the 
 building. 
 
 For the payment of all awards and the expenses of all such 
 proceedings, the Comptroller shall issue and sell from time to 
 time as may be necessary and in The manner hereinbefore pro- 
 vided, corporate stock of The City of New York. 
 
 Houses hereafter erected to comply with additional requirements. 
 
 Sec. 1317. No house hereafter erected shall be used as a tene- 
 ment house or lodging-house, and no house heretofore erected and 
 not now used for such purpose, shall be converted into, used, or 
 leased for a tenement or lodging-house, unless, in addition to the 
 requirements herinbefore contained, it conforms to requirements 
 contained in the following sections of this title. 
 
 Construction of tenement houses and space prescribed for building the 
 same. 
 
 Sec. 1318. It shall not be lawful, without a permit from the 
 Department of Buildings, to alter, erect or convert to the purposes 
 of a tenement or lodging-house, a building on any lot where there 
 is another building on the same lot; nor shall it be lawful to build 
 or to erect any building on any lot whereon there is already a tene- 
 ment or lodging-house, unless there is a clear open space exclusively 
 belonging thereto, and extending upward from the ground of at 
 least ten feet between said buildings if they are one story high above 
 
 627 
 
the level of the ground; if they are two stories high, the distance 
 between them shall not be less than fifteen feet; if they are three 
 stories high, the distance then shall not be less than twenty feet; 
 if ithey are more than three stories high, the distance between them 
 shall not be less than twenty-five feet, but when thorough ventila- 
 tion of such open spaces can be otherwise secured, such distances 
 may be lessened or modified in special cases by a permit from the 
 Department of Buildings. At the rear of every building hereafter 
 erected for or converted to the purposes of a tenement or lodging- 
 house on any lot, there shall be and remain a clear open space of 
 not less than ten feet between it and the rear end of the lot. No one 
 continuous building hereafter constructed, shall be built or con- 
 verted to the purposes of a tenement or lodging-house in the City of 
 New York, upon an ordinary city lot, and no existing tenement or 
 lodging-house shall be enlarged or altered, or its let be diminished, 
 so that it shall occupy more than sixty-five per centum of the area 
 of said lot, but where the light and ventilation of such tenement or 
 lodging-house, are, in the opinion of the Superintendent of Build- 
 ings, materially improved, he may permit such tenement or lodging- 
 house to occupy an. area not exceeding seventy-five per centum of 
 the said lot, and in the same proportion if the lot be greater or less 
 in size than twenty-five by one hundred feet; but this provision shall 
 not apply to corner lots, in which, however, no such building here- 
 after constructed, above the first story, shall occupy more than 
 ninety-two per centum of the area of a lot, and no such building 
 shall come within five feet of the rear of said lot, pro- 
 vided, further, that in all cases, both for comer and interior lots, 
 the interior courts or shafts shall not be less than two feet four 
 inches wide at their narrowest parts. In computing the amount of 
 the lot covered by a building, any shaft or court of less than twenty- 
 five square feet in area shall be considered as part of the building and 
 not as part of the free air space. No shaft or court, over ten square 
 feet in area, hereafter constructed in a tenement house or lodg- 
 ing-house, except elevator shafts or staircase wells, shall be covered 
 with a roof, skylight or otherwise. In all tenement houses here- 
 
 628 
 
after constructed or buildings hereafter converted to the purposes 
 of a tenement house, the stairway communicating between said 
 cellar or basement and the floor next above, when placed within 
 any such building, shall be inclosed with brick walls, and such stair- 
 way shall be provided with fire-proof doors at the top and bottom 
 of said flight of stairs. An open area, shall be constructed from the 
 level of the cellar to the sidewalk in front and extending the 
 full width of such houses, with a staircase to give access to 
 the cellar from the street. Where stores are located on the 
 first floor the area may be covered with suitable vault lights 
 or gratings. In all tenement houses hereafter constructed, 
 or building hereafter converted to the purposes of a tene- 
 ment house, the openings to the elevators or lifts in the cellar, and at 
 every opening, on every story, shall be provided with self-closing 
 fire-proof doors. This provision, however, shall not apply to such 
 elevators in tenement houses as are operated by a conductor 
 stationed within the car; but if such elevators run to the cellar, they 
 must be inclosed in the cellar with fire-proof walls, and the door to 
 the cellar, if any, must be fire-proof and self-closing. In all tene- 
 ment houses hereafter constructed, or buildings hereafter converted 
 to the purposes of a tenement house, all staircases shall be fire- 
 proof; but this provision as to staircases shall not apply to buildings 
 which are not over five stories high above the cellar, and which con- 
 tain not more than three suites of rooms on a floor. Every tene- 
 ment house hereafter constructed, or buildings hereafter converted 
 to the purpose of a tenement house, exceeding three stories in 
 height, or having a basement with three stories above the cellar, shall 
 have the entrance hall and entire stairwell and stairs, built of slow- 
 burning construction or fire-proof material; no wainscoting shall 
 be allowed in the main halb except of cement, or other fire-proof 
 material; at least one flight of such stairs shall extend to the roof, 
 and be inclosed in a bulkhead building of fire-proof material. In 
 all tenement houses hereafter constructed, and buildings hereafter 
 converted to the purposes of a tenement house, each room must have 
 a separate window opening into the outer air; each water-closet 
 must have a window opening into the outer air, and such water- 
 
 629 
 
closet inclosure if provided with a ventilating flue or duct, may have 
 the window opening on any court or shaft containing at least twen- 
 ty-five square feet in area; the floor of each water-closet must be 
 made water-proof with asphalt, cement, tile, metal or some other 
 water-proof material; and such water-proofing must extend at least 
 sixteen inches above the floor except at the door opening so that 
 said floor can be washed or flushed out without leaking. The light 
 and ventilation, of all buildings hereafter erected for, or converted 
 to the purpose of tenement or lodging-houses, must be provided 
 in accordance with the requirements of this title, and the conditions 
 of a plan and permit previously approved in writing by the De- 
 partment of Buildings, and no existing tenement or lodging-house 
 shall be enlarged or altered or its lot diminished without a similar 
 permit. The Department of Buildings is hereby empowered, and di- 
 rected to make rules and regulations not inconsistent with the re- 
 quirements of this title, and which in addition to the requirements 
 of this title, shall be the conditions of approval of the plans and 
 permits; these rules and regulations shall govern the arrangement 
 and distribution of the uncovered area, size, lighting, location and 
 arrangement of shafts, rooms, cellars and halls. No building or 
 premises occupied for a tenement house shall be used for a lodging- 
 house, private school, stable or for the storage and handling of rags, 
 but the Department of Health may, by a special permit, fixing the 
 conditions thereof in writing, and providing there be the necessary 
 cubic air space and ventilation, allow the maintenance of a private 
 school in such a house. In case of any violation of the provisions 
 of this section, or of any failure to comply with, or of any violation 
 of the terms and conditions of the plan for such tenement or lodg- 
 ing-house approved by the Department of Buildings, or of 
 the conditions of the permits granted as hereinbefore pro- 
 vided, or for the air, light and ventilation of the said 
 house, or premises, any court of record, or any judge 
 or justice thereof shall have power, at any time after service 
 of notice of violation, or of non-compliance, upon the owner, 
 builder or other person superintending the building or converting 
 
 630 
 
any such house, upon proof by affidavit of any violation or non- 
 compliance as aforesaid, or that a plan for light and ventilation of 
 such house has not been approved by the Department of Build- 
 ings, to restrain by injunction order, in any action by the Department 
 ' of Buildings, or by the Board of Health, the further progress of 
 any violation as aforesaid. No undertaking shall be required as a 
 condition of granting an injunction, or by reason thereof. 
 
 Dimensions and ventilation of rooms. 
 
 Sec. 1B19. In every such house hereafter erected or converted 
 every habitable room, except rooms in the attic, shall be in every 
 part not less than eight feet in height from the floor to the ceiling; 
 and every habitable room in the attic of any such building shall be 
 at least eight feet in height from the floor to the ceiling, through- 
 out not less than one-half the area of such room. Every such room 
 shall have at least one window connecting with the external air, or 
 over the door a ventilator of perfect construction, connecting it 
 with a room or hall which has a connection with the external air, and 
 so arranged as to produce a cross-current of air. The total area of 
 window or windows in every room communicating with the external 
 air shall be at least one-tenth of the superficial area of every such 
 room ; and the top of one, at least, of such windows shall not be less 
 than seven feet six inches above the floor, and the upper half, at 
 least, shall be made so as to open the full width. Every habitable 
 room of a less area than one hundred superficial leet, if it does not 
 communicate directly with the external air, and is without an open 
 fire-place shall be provided with special means of ventilation, by a 
 separate air shaft extending to the roof, or otherwise, as the Board 
 of Health may prescribe. 
 
 Chimneys, ash receptacles, water, cellar floor, ceilings and gas in tenement 
 houses. 
 
 Sec. 1320. Every such house erected after May fourteenth, 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, or converted, shall have adequate 
 chimney for a stove, properly connected with one of said chimneys 
 
 831 
 
for every family set of apartments. It shall have proper conven- 
 iences and receptacles for ashes and rubbish. It shall have water 
 furnished in sufficient quantity at one or more places on each floor, 
 occupied or intended to be occupied by one or more families; and 
 all tenement houses shall be provided with a like supply of water 
 by the owners thereof, whenever they shall be directed so lo do by 
 the Board of Health. But a failure in the general supply of water 
 by the city authorities, shall not be construed to be a failure on the 
 part of such owner, provided that proper and suitable appliances 
 to receive and distribute such water are placed in said house. The 
 Board of Health shall require all tenement houses to be so supplied. 
 Every tenement house shall have the floor of the cellar made water- 
 tight; and the ceiling plastered, and when the house is located over 
 filled-in ground, or over marshy ground, or ground on which water 
 lies, the cellar floor shall be covered so as to effectually prevent 
 evaporation or dampness. It shall be the duty of the Department 
 of Health to see that the cellars of all tenement houses are so made 
 or altered as to comply with this section. Every such house erected 
 after May seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, or con- 
 verted, shall have the halls on each floor open directly to the ex- 
 ternal air, with suitable windows, and shall have no room or other 
 obstruction at the end, unless sufficient light or ventilation is other- 
 wise provided for in said halls, in a manner approved by the Depart- 
 ment of Buildings. The owner or lessee of every tenement or lodg- 
 ing-house in the City of New York shall keep a light burning in the 
 hallway upon each floor of said house from sunset until ten p. m. 
 throughout the year. In every tenement house in the said city in 
 which there is a hallway or hallways with no window opening from 
 such hallway outside of said house, a light shall be maintained by 
 said owner or lessee in each such hallway, between the hours of 
 eight a. m. and ten p. m. of each day unless said hallway shall be 
 otherwise sufficiently lighted. The Fire Department of the City 
 of New York is hereby vested with authority to prescribe reasonable 
 regulations concerning such precautions as may be necessary to 
 prevent danger from fire arising from such lights. 
 
 632 ; 
 
Overcrowding of tenement houi,es prohibited; housekeeper in same required. 
 
 Sec. 1321. Whenever it shall be certified to the Department 
 of Health by the Sanitary Superintendent, or an Assistant 
 Sanitary Superintendent, that any tenement house or room 
 therein, being without sufificient ventilation, is so overcrowded 
 that there shall be afforded less than four hundred cubic feet of air 
 to each adult, and two hundred cubic feet of air to each child under 
 twelve years of age, occupying such building or room, the said de- 
 partment shall issue an order requiring the number of occupants 
 of such building, or room, to be reduced in accordance with this 
 provision. Whenever there shall be more than eight families living 
 in any tenement house, in which the owner thereof does not reside, 
 there shall be a janitor, housekeeper or some other responsible per- 
 son, who shall reside in the said house, and have charge of the same, 
 if the Department of Health shall so require. Permits may be 
 granted by the Board of Health to the owners of lodging-houses 
 on compliance with the rules and regulations of the Sanitary 
 Code in the City of New York, and the conditions of each per- 
 mit which shall be in writing. 
 
 Penalties for violations of provisions concerning tenement houses. 
 
 Sec. 1322. Every owner or other person violating any provision 
 of this title shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine 
 of not less than ten dollars or more than one hundred dollars, or by 
 imprisonment for not more than ten days for each and every day 
 that such violation shall continue, or by both such fine and impris- 
 onment, in the discretion of the Court. He shall also be liable to 
 pay a penalty of ten dollars for each day that such offense shall con- 
 tinue. Such penalty may be sued for and recovered by the Depart- 
 ment of Health in any civil tribunal of said city, and when recovered 
 shall be paid over to the Chamberlain. In every proceeding for a 
 violation of this title, and in every such action for a penalty, it shall 
 be the duty of the owner of the house to prove the date of its erec- 
 tion, or conversion to its existing use, if that fact shall become mate- 
 rial, and the owner shall be, prima facie the person liable to pay 
 such penalty, and after him the person who is the lessee of the whole 
 
 633 
 
house, in preference to the tenant or lessee of a part thereof. In 
 any such action the owner, lessee, and occupant, or any two of 
 them, may be made defendants, and judgment may be given against 
 the one or more shown to be liable, as if he or they were sole de- 
 fendant or defendants. No part of chapter two hundred and sev- 
 enty-five of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-two, or of any 
 other Act shall be so construed as to abrogate or impair the power 
 of the Department of Health to sue for and recover such a penalty 
 whether the liability to pay said penalty shall arise from a violation 
 of the laws, or ordinances or sections of the Sanitary Code, in re- 
 gard to light, ventilation, plumbing and drainage, so far as the same 
 aflfects the sanitary condition of the premises; and except that the 
 Department of Buildings of the City of New York shall have juris- 
 diction and cognizance over all matters and things in this title con- 
 tained which relate to the construction or alteration of buildings 
 or structures, or any part thereof, and as to the light, ventila- 
 tion, drainage and plumbing of such buildings when in process 
 of construction or alteration. Any penalty herein above men- 
 tioned for a violation of the provisions of this title, in respect to 
 the matter aforesaid, within the jurisdiction and cognizance of 
 the Department of Buildings, shall be sued for and recovered in 
 the same manner as the violations of the building laws of the 
 City of New York are now sued for and recovered by the 
 Department of Buildings in the City of New York, and said 
 penalty, so collected, shall be paid to the Chamberlain of the City 
 of New York to be applied as other penalties collected by said de- 
 partments are applied. 
 
 Power of Department of Buildings and of Board of Health to niake 
 other regulations relative to tenement or lodging-houses. 
 
 Sec. 1323. The Department of Buildings shall have authority 
 to make other regulations as to light and ventilation of all new 
 tenement or lodging-houses consistent with the foregoing, when it 
 shall be satisfied that such regulations will secure equally well the 
 health and safety of the occupants; likewise the Board of Health 
 shall have authority to make other regulations as to cellars and as 
 
 634 
 
to ventilation in completed buildings, consistent with the foregoing, 
 where it shall be satisfied that such regulations will secure equally 
 well the health of the occupants. The Board of Health shall have 
 power to appoint all the officers and agents of the Department of 
 Health, of whatever name or character soever, and shall have exclu- 
 sive charge and control of, and the exercise of, all the rights, powers, 
 duties and privileges of said department, and for this purpose the 
 terms "Board of Health" and "Department of Health," as used in 
 this chapter, shall be deemed synonymous. 
 
 Sanitary company of police. 
 
 Sec. 1324. The Board of Health shall make requisition 
 upon the Police Board for the detail of at least fifty and not 
 more than one suitable officers and men of at least five years' 
 service in the police force, who shall be selected for their 
 peculiar fitness, for the enforcement of the provisions of the 
 Sanitary Code and the Acts relating to tenement and lodging 
 houses. These officers and men shall be detailed to such ser- 
 vice by the Police Board, and the Department of Health shall pay 
 to the Police Department monthly, the amount of the pay of the 
 officers and men so detailed, who shall belong to the Sanitary Com- 
 pany of the Police and shall report to the Board of Health. At 
 least thirty of the officers and men so detailed shall be employed 
 exclusively in the enforcement of the laws relating to tenement 
 and lodging houses. The Board of Health may report back to the 
 Police Board for punishment, any member of said company guilty 
 of any breach of orders or discipline, or of neglecting his duty, and 
 thereupon the Police Board shall detail another officer or man in 
 his place, and the discipline of the said members of the Sanitary 
 Company shall be in the jurisdiction of the Police Department; but 
 at c ny time the Board of Health may object to the efficiency of 
 any member of said Sanitary Company and thereupon another 
 officer or man shall be detailed in his place. 
 
 This chapter a remedial statute. 
 
 Sec. 1325. This chapter is hereby declared to be a remedial 
 statute and is to be construed liberally to secure the beneficial 
 
 635 
 
interests and purposes thereof. Nothing herein contained shall be 
 construed to attect any suit or proceeding now pending in any 
 Court, or any rights acquired or liability incurred, or any cause or 
 causes of action accrued or existing, whether for a penalty or other- 
 wise, under any act rejyealed or amended by this act. All acts and 
 parts of acts in conflict with this chapter or any part thereof are 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Title 8. 
 the health department pension fund. 
 
 Board of Trustees of Health Department Pension Fund. 
 
 Section 1331. The Board of Health of the Health Department 
 of the City of New York is hereby constituted, and shall be a Board 
 of Trustees of the Health Department Pension Fund heretofore, and 
 herein, authorized and provided for. The members of said Board 
 of Health shall annually choose one of thedr number to be dhairman 
 of the Board of Trustees of the H^lth Department Pension Fund, 
 and shall from time to time elect a secretary. Immediately upon 
 organization, said Board of Trustees shall receive and have charge 
 of the pension fund, or funds heretofore authorized, and in existence 
 in any Health Department, Municipality, or County, forming a part 
 of the City of New York, provided for officers, physicians, and em- 
 ployees in the Health Department service, and such Board of Trus- 
 tees shall have charge of, and administer the pension fund authorized 
 and provided for herein. From time to time the said 
 Board of Trustees shall invest the said pension fund or 
 or any part thereof, as it shall deem most beneficial to 
 the fund. Said Board is empowered to make all neces- 
 sary contracts and take all necessary and proper actions and 
 proceedings in the premises, and to make payment from said fund 
 of pensions granted in pursuance of this Act. The said trustees 
 
 636 
 
shall, from time to time, establish such rules and regulations for the 
 adiministnation of the said fund as they may deem best. They shall 
 report in detail to the Mayor of the City of New York annually in 
 the month of January, the condition of said fund and the items of 
 their receipts and disbursements on account of the same. No 
 payments vvhatever sihall be allowed to, or made by, such trus- 
 tees as reward, gratuity, or compensation to any person for salary 
 or services rendered to, or for, said Board of Trustees. 
 
 What moneys shall be included in Pension Fund. 
 
 Sec. 1332. The Health Department Pension Fund shall 
 consist of 
 
 1. All moneys paid for searches aed transcripts of the records of 
 births, marriages, and deaths, or other papers of said Department 
 of Health. 
 
 2. All moneys odllected from fines and penalties for violations of 
 the Sanitary Code or Health Laws in the City of New York. 
 
 3. All said moneys, including the fines and penalties directed in 
 section 1222 of this Act, to be paid to the Comptroller, shall 
 within thirty days after collection of payment, be paid over 
 by the department, officers, clerks, magistrates and courts, receiving 
 and collecting the same, to the said Board of Trustees of the Health 
 Department Pension Fund. 
 
 Pension for physician or employee disabled by reason of performance 
 of duty. 
 
 Sec. 1333. The Board of Trustees of said fund shall have power 
 to grant as pension to any physician emplcn^ed in the Health Depart- 
 ment of the City of New York, or to any employee of the disenfect- 
 ing corps of said department, or to any employee of the hospitals for 
 Hhe treatment of contagious and infectious diseases under the charge 
 of said Health Department or of the Board of Health, who shall, 
 wlhilst in the actual performance of has duty, and without any fault or 
 misconduct on his part, have become permanently disabled physically 
 or mentally, so as to be unfit to perform full duty, a sum not to exceed 
 one-ihalf, nor iless than one-fourth of his rate of comipensation per 
 annum as such physician or employee, as the case may be. 
 
 637 . 
 
Pensions to personal representatives of physician or employee who 
 shall die front disease or injuries suffered in consequence of 
 his performance of duty. 
 
 Sec. 1334. Whenever such physician or employee shall die while 
 in the service of the Health Department from disease contracted or 
 injuries sustained by him while in the actual performance of his duty, 
 without any fault or misconduct on his part, leaving a widow, the 
 said Board of Trustees of said Pension Fund may grant, award or 
 pay to the widow of said physician or employee the sum of three 
 hundred dollars, annually, during her life, or so long as she remains 
 a widow; and if there be no widow of any such physician or em- 
 ploye, but he shall leave minor children under eighteen surviving 
 him, then said three hundred dollars may be given, awarded and paid 
 to said children under eighteen y^rs of age. 
 
 Certificate required in certain cases. 
 
 Sec. 1335. No physician or employee, as aforesaid, of the Health 
 Department, shall be awarded, granted, or paid a pension on ac- 
 count of physical or mental disability or disease, unless upon certifi- 
 cate and report of a board of physicians, to be appointed by the Board 
 of Health, which shall set forth the cause, nature, and extent of the 
 disability, disease or injury of such physician or employee who 
 may be placed on the pension roll, and such certificate shall dis- 
 tinctly state whether or not such disability, disease, or injury was 
 incurred or sustained by such physician or employee while in the 
 performance of his duties as such physician or employee, of the 
 Health Department, and such certificate shall in such case be filed 
 with, and entered upon the minutes of the Board of Health. 
 
 Pension for twenty years" service. 
 
 Sec. 1336. Any such physician or employee who has 
 or shall have performed duty as such physician or em- 
 ployee in the medical service, or as a clerk, in any De- 
 partment of Health in the City of New York, for a period of 
 twenty years, or upwards, upon his own application, in 
 writing, or upon a certificate and report of a board of physicians, 
 appointed by the Board of Health, certifying that such physician 
 
 638 
 
or employee is permanently disabled so as to be unfit for further 
 duty as such physician or employee, shall be retired from active 
 service by resolution of the Board of Health of the Health Depart- 
 ment of the City of New York, and placed upon the Health Depart- 
 ment service, of the rank of the physician or employee so retired, 
 paid from said Health Department Pension Fund iby the trustees 
 thereof, on annual sum during his lifetime, not exceeding one-half 
 the ordinary full pay of a physician or employee in the Health De- 
 partment service, of the rank of the physician or employee so retired, 
 provided, however, that no pension granted under this, or the pre- 
 ceding sections, shall exceed the sum of twelve shundred dollars 
 per annum. Pensionis granted under this section shall be for the 
 natural life of the person receiving the saime, and shall not be re- 
 voked, repealed, or diminished. In determining the term of service 
 of any such physician or employee, under this section, service in 
 former Health Departments or Boards of Health having jurisdiction 
 in matters of public health in any part of the City of New York, 
 shall be counted and held to be service in the Department of Health 
 of the City of New York. 
 
 Order of discontinuance of pension in certain cases. 
 
 Sec. 1337. The Board of Health may, in its discretion, 
 order any pension granted or any part thereof to cease, 
 except as provided in the last preceding section, but in 
 all such cases the said Board of Health, shall file with 
 the Board of Trustees of the Health Department Pen- 
 sion Fund, a written statement of the causes determining 
 the aiotion of the said Board of Health in ordering any pension to 
 so cease; and nothing in this Act or in any other Act, shall render 
 the granting or payment of such pension Obligatory on the Board of 
 Health, or upon the Trustees of the Health Department Pension 
 Fund, or chargeable as a matter of right upon said fund, except as 
 provided in the last preceding section. 
 
 Repeal of Acts inconsistent with this Title. 
 
 Sec. 1339. All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with 
 this Title are hereby repealed. 
 
 639 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 INFERIOR LOCAL COURTS. 
 
 Title i. The City Court of New York. 
 
 Title 2. The Municipal Court of the City of New York 
 
 Title 3. Inferior Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction. 
 
 Title 4. The Marshals. 
 
 Title i. 
 
 the city COURT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Section 1345. The City Court shall be continued, and said 
 Court and the Justices thereof shall have the same powers 
 and jurisdiction as are now conferred upon them by law, 
 provided, however, that in Sections 338, 3165, 3169, 3170 and 
 3268 of the Code of Civil Procedure the word *' city " shall 
 be construed to mean and apply to the territory within the 
 City of New York as it existed and was constituted prior to 
 the sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. 
 
 Sec. 1346. The Justices of said City Court in office when 
 this act shall take effect shall continue to hold office until 
 the expiration of their respective terms ; but the successors 
 of said Justices shall be elected for and hold office for the 
 period of ten years. 
 
 Title 2. 
 
 the municipal court of the city of new YORK. 
 Courts, &c., abolished. 
 
 Section 1350. From and after midnight of the thirty-first 
 day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
 eight, the Justices' Courts and the office of Justice of the 
 
 640 
 
Peace in the cities of Brooklyn and Long Island City are 
 abolished, and all jurisdiction, power, authority and duty 
 theretofore vested in said Courts and Justices of the Peace, 
 and in the clerks, officers, interpreters, stenographers and 
 employees of said Courts and Justices shall cease and de- 
 termine, except as provided in the next section and section 
 1372 of this Act ; and from and after the passage of this Act 
 no person shall be elected to the office of District Court 
 Justice or Justice of the Peace in any portion of the terri- 
 tory included within the City of New York as constituted 
 by this Act. 
 
 Municipal Court created. 
 
 Sec. 135 1. On and after the first day of January, 1898, the 
 District Courts of the City of New York and the Justices, 
 Courts of the First, Second and Third Districts of the City 
 of Brooklyn are hereby continued, consolidated and re- 
 organized under the name of *' The Municipal Court of the 
 City of New York," which said Court shall be a local civil 
 court within the City of New York as constituted by this 
 act, and shall not be a court of record or have any equity 
 jurisdiction ; but shall have the jurisdiction, powers, duties 
 and organization hereinafter prescribed. 
 
 Justices. 
 
 Sec. 1352. The said Court shall be held by Justices to be 
 elected or appointed as follows : 
 
 1. The Justices of said District Courts of the City of New 
 York and said Justices of the Peace in the first, second 
 and third districts of the City of Brooklyn, in office on the 
 first day of January, 1898, shall continue for the remainder 
 of the terms for which they were elected or appointed, and 
 shall be called Justices of the Municipal Court of the City 
 of >few York, and shall have all the powers and jurisdiction 
 and be subject to all the duties and requirements hereinafter 
 prescribed for Justices of said Municipal Courts. 
 
 Election of successors. 
 
 2. The successors of the Justices mentioned in the first 
 subdivision of this section shall be elected by the electors of 
 
 641 
 
the districts for which said Justices were elected or ap- 
 pointed respectively, as described and renumbered in sec- 
 tions 1359, 1360 and 1 361 of this Act, at the general elec- 
 tion to be held in the year at the end of which the terms of 
 said Justices shall expire. 
 
 Id. When terms expire in iSgy. 
 
 3. There shall be elected at the general election to be 
 held on the first Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of 
 November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
 ninety-seven as many Justices of said Municipal Court as 
 there shall be Justices of the said District Courts in the City 
 of New York or Justices of the Peace of the said first, 
 second and third districts in the City of Brookl3"n whose 
 terms expire at the end of year 1897. Such Justices shall 
 be elected by the electors of the districts for which such 
 Justices whose terms expire in 1897 were elected or ap- 
 pointed, as described and renumbered in sections 1359, 
 1360 and 1 361 of this Act. 
 
 Additional Justices. 
 
 4. On or before the twentieth day of January, one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and ninety-eight, the Mayor of the City 
 of New York shall appoint seven additional Justices of said 
 Municipal Court, two of whom shall be residents of the 
 fourth and fifth districts of the Borough of Brooklyn, 
 three of whom shall be residents of the first, second and 
 third districts of the Borough of Queens, and two of whom 
 shall be residents of the first and second districts of the 
 Borough of Richmond, respectively. The Justices so 
 appointed shall hold office till the 31st day of December, 
 1899, ^nd their successors shall be elected at the general 
 election to be held in the year 1899, and shall be residents 
 of the same districts as the Justices appointed pursuant to 
 this subdivision. 
 
 Qualifications, &c., of Justices. 
 
 Sec. 1353. No one shall hereafter be eligible to the office 
 of Justice of the said Municipal Court unless he be a resident 
 
 642 
 
and elector in the district for which he shall be elected or 
 appointed and has been an attorney and counsellor-at-law 
 of the State of New York for at least five years. None of 
 said Justices shall engage in any other business or profession 
 or hold any other public office or act as Referee, but each 
 of such Justices shall devote his whole time and capacity, 
 so far as the public interest demands, to the duties of his 
 office ; provided, however, that this restriction shall not 
 apply to the Justices of said Court mentioned in sub- 
 division one of section 1352 of this Act. 
 
 Oath. 
 
 Sec. 1354. The Justices elected or appointed pursuant to 
 this Act shall, before entering upon their duties, take the 
 oath of office prescribed by the Constitution, and file the 
 same with the City Clerk. 
 
 Salary. 
 
 Sec. 1355. The salary of each of said Justices, except 
 those appointed or elected from the Boroughs of Queens 
 and Richmond, shall be six thousand dollars a year, to be 
 paid in equal monthly installments by the proper officers of 
 said city, and the salary of each of said Justices appointed 
 or elected for the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond shall 
 be five thousand dollars a year, to be paid in the same 
 manner. 
 
 Terms. 
 
 Sec. 1356. The terms of said Justices to be elected pur- 
 suant to this title shall be ten years. 
 
 Vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 1357. Vacancies occurring in the office of Justice of 
 said Court shall be filled at the next ensuing general election 
 for the unexpired term commencing on the first day of 
 January next after said election ; and the Mayor of the 
 City shall appoint some proper person to fill such vacancy 
 in the interim within twenty days after the same occurs. 
 
 643 
 
Districts. 
 
 Sec. 1358. The several Boroughs composing the City of 
 New York are hereby divided into districts, in each of 
 which sessions of said Municipal Court shall be held, as 
 specified in the next five sections. 
 
 Borough of the Bronx. 
 
 Sec. 1359. In the Borough of the Bronx there shall be 
 two districts, as follows : 
 
 1. The first district embracing the territory described in 
 Chapter 934 of the Laws of 1895. 
 
 2. The second district embracing the remainder of said 
 Borough. 
 
 Borough of Manhattan. 
 
 Sec. 1360. In the Borough of Manhattan [there shall be 
 eleven districts, as follows : 
 
 1. The First District embraces the Third, Fifth and 
 Eighth Wards of said Borough of Manhattan, and all that 
 part of the First Ward lying west of Broadway and White- 
 hall street, including Nuttin or Governor's Island, Bedloe's 
 Island, Bucking or Ellis Island and the Oyster Islands. 
 
 2. The Second embraces the Second, Fourth, Sixth and 
 Fourteenth Wards, and all that portion of the First Ward 
 lying south and east of Broadway and Whitehall street. 
 
 3. The Third District embraces the Ninth and Fifteenth 
 Wards. 
 
 4. The Fourth District embraces the Tenth and Seven- 
 teenth Wards. 
 
 5. The Fifth District embraces the Seventh, Eleventh 
 and Thirteenth Wards. 
 
 6. The Sixth District embraces the Eighteenth and 
 Twenty-first Wards. 
 
 7. The Seventh District embraces the Nineteenth Ward. 
 
 644 
 
8. The Eighth District embraces the Sixteenth and Twen- 
 tieth Wards. 
 
 9. The Ninth District embraces the Twelfth Ward, ex- 
 cept that portion thereof which lies west of the centre line 
 of Lenox or Sixth avenue and of the Harlem River north 
 of the terminus of Lenox avenue. 
 
 10. The Tenth District embraces the Twenty-second 
 Ward and all that portion of the Twelfth Ward which is 
 bounded on the north by the centre line of One Hundred 
 and Tenth street, on the south by the centre line of Eighty- 
 sixth street, on the east by the centre line of Sixth avenue 
 and on the west by the North River. 
 
 11. The Eleventh District embraces that portion of the 
 Twelfth Ward which lies north of the centre line of West 
 One Hundred and Tenth street and west of the centre line 
 of Lenox or Sixth avenue and of the Harlem River north 
 of the terminus of Lenox or Sixth avenue. 
 
 Borough of Brooklyn. 
 
 Sec. 1 361. In the Borough of Brooklyn there shall be 
 five districts, as follows : 
 
 1. The First District embraces the First, Second, Third, 
 Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and Twelfth Wards. 
 
 2. The Second District embraces the Seventh, Eighth, 
 Ninth, Eleventh, Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second 
 and Twenty-third Wards. 
 
 3. The Third District embraces the Thirteenth, Four- 
 teenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and 
 Nineteenth Wards. 
 
 4. The Fourth District embraces the Twenty-fourth, 
 Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty- 
 eighth Wards. 
 
 5. The Fifth District embraces the Twenty-ninth, Thir- 
 tieth, Thirty-first and Thirty-second Wards. 
 
 Borough of Queens. 
 
 Sec. 1362. In the Borough of Queens there shall be three 
 districts, as follows : 
 
 645 
 
1. The First District embraces Ward One of said Bor- 
 ough. 
 
 2. The Second District embraces Wards Two and Three 
 of said Borough. 
 
 3. The Third District embraces Wards Four and Five of 
 said Borough. 
 
 Borough of Richmond. 
 
 Sec. 1363. In the Borough of Richmond there shall be 
 two districts, as follows : 
 
 1. The First District embraces Wards One and Three of 
 said Borough. 
 
 2. The Second District embraces Wards Two, Four and 
 Five of said Borough. 
 
 Jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 1364. Except as provided in the next section the said 
 Municipal Court has jurisdiction in the following civil ac- 
 tions and proceedings, including an action against a domestic 
 corporation or a foreign corporation having an office in the 
 City of New York : 
 
 1. An action to recover damages upon or for breach of 
 contract, express or implied, other than a promise to 
 marry, where the sum claimed does not exceed five hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
 2. An action to recover damages for a personal injury or 
 an injury to property, excepting, however, actions to re- 
 cover damages for an assault, battery, malicious prosecution, 
 false imprisonment, libel, slander, criminal conversation, 
 seduction, or loss of society of a husband or wife, where the 
 sum claimed does not exceed five hundred dollars. 
 
 3. An action for a fine or penalty not exceeding five 
 hundred dollars, including an action to recover a penalty 
 given by the Charter of the City of New York or any by- 
 law or ordinance thereof or by any statute of the State. 
 
 4. An action upon a bond conditioned for the payment 
 of money where the sum claimed to be due does not exceed 
 
 646 
 
five hundred dollars, the judgment to be rendered for the 
 sum actually due. Where the sum secured by the bond is 
 to be paid in installments an action may be brought for 
 each installment as it becomes due. 
 
 5. An action upon a surety bond or undertaking taken in 
 said court or in any District Court of the City of New York 
 or by any justice of the peace. 
 
 6. An action upon a judgment rendered in said court or 
 in a district court of the City of New York or in a Justices' 
 Court, or in the Municipal Court of the City of Rochester, 
 or in the Municipal Court of the City of Syracuse, or in the 
 Municipal Court of the City of Buffalo. 
 
 7. An action to recover one or more chattels with or 
 without damages for the taking, withholding or detention 
 thereof where the value of the chattel or of all the chattels 
 as stated in the affidavit made on the part of the plaintiff 
 does not exceed five hundred dollars, subject to the qualifica- 
 tions specified in Sections 1689, 1690, 1691 and 1692 of the 
 Code of Civil Procedure. 
 
 8. An action in behalf of the People of the State brought 
 by the direction of a Commissioner of Public Charities or 
 of an Overseer of the Poor upon a bastardy or abandon- 
 ment bond in a case where it is prescribed by law that 
 such an action can be maintained in said Municipal Court 
 of the City of New York or in any court not being a court 
 of record. 
 
 9. An action to recover damages for an escape from the 
 jail liberties as provided by Chapter two. Title two, Articles 
 four and five of the Code of Civil Procedure, where the 
 sum claimed does not exceed one hundred dollars. 
 
 10. An action upon the bond of a Marshal of the City of 
 New York in a case where it is prescribed by a special 
 statutory provision that such an action can be maintained 
 in a District Court or in said Municipal Court. 
 
 11. An action for damages for fraud or deceit in the sale, 
 purchase or exchange of personal property where the dam- 
 ages claimed do not exceed five^hundred dollars.^ 
 
 647 
 
12. A summary proceeding under Title two of Chapter 
 seventeen of the Code of Civil Procedure to recover pos- 
 session of real property which, or a portion of which, is 
 situated within the district wherein the application for such 
 recovery is made. 
 
 13. To render judgment upon the confession of the de- 
 fendant or defendants as prescribed in Title six of Chapter 
 nineteen of the Code of Civil Procedure where the sum con- 
 fessed does not exceed five hundred dollars. 
 
 14. Other civil actions or proceedings of which district 
 courts in the City of New York or Justices of the Peace 
 shall have jurisdiction on the 31st day of December, 1897, 
 except such as shall be expressly excluded by this Act. 
 
 Id. continued. 
 
 Sec. 1365. The said Municipal Court cannot take cog- 
 nizance of any civil action in either of the following cases : 
 
 1. Where the title to real property comes in question as 
 prescribed in Title third of Chapter nineteen of the Code 
 of Civil Procedure, and Sections 2951 to 2958 of said Code, 
 both inclusive, apply to an action brought in said court; 
 and in an action brought in said court the surety upon the 
 defendant's undertaking is liable in the case specified in 
 Section 2952 of said Code to any amount for which judg- 
 ment might have been rendered by said Court if the an- 
 swer and undertaking had not been delivered. The pro- 
 visions of § 1349 of Chapter 410 of the Laws of 1882 shall 
 govern in such cases. 
 
 2. Where the action is brought against an executor or 
 administrator as such and the amount claimed is in excess 
 of fifty dollars. 
 
 3. Where the action is against The City of New York as 
 hereby constituted. 
 
 4. Where, in a matter of account, the sum total of the ac- 
 counts of both parties, proved to the satisfaction of the 
 Court, exceeds one thousand dollars. 
 
 648 
 
Removal. 
 
 Sec. 1366. In an action specified in the last section but one, 
 excepting Subdivisions Eight and Ten, where the damages 
 claimed or the value of the chattel or all the chattels claimed, 
 as stated in the complaint, exceeds two hundred and fifty 
 dollars, the defendant may, after issue is joined and before 
 an adjournment has been granted upon his application, 
 apply to the Justice holding court in the district in which 
 the action is brought for an order removing the action, and 
 if it be m the Second District of the Borough of the Bronx 
 or in any district of the Borough of Manhattan to the City 
 Court of the City of New York, if in any other district into 
 the County Court of the county wherein the district is 
 situated, if the said County Court has jurisdiction of such 
 action, otherwise into the Supreme Court in such county. 
 Such an order must be granted upon the defendant's filing^ 
 with the Clerk an undertaking in a sum fixed by the Justice 
 not exceeding twice the amount of the^damages claimed or 
 twice the value of the chattel or of all the chattels claimed, 
 as stated in the complaint, with one or more sureties, to the 
 effect that the defendant will pay to the plaintiff the amount 
 of any judgment that may be recovered against him in the 
 court to which such action shall be so removed. From the 
 time of grantmg the order the City Court or County Court 
 or Supreme Court, as the case may be, has cognizance of the 
 action, and the Clerk of the District must forthwith deliver 
 to the Clerk of such Court to which the action shall be re- 
 moved all process, pleadings and other papers in the action 
 and certified copies of all minutes, entries and orders re- 
 lating thereto, which must be filed, entered, or recorded 
 as the case requires in the latter's office. 
 
 Appeals. 
 
 Sec. 1367. I. An appeal from a judgment rendered in the 
 Municipal Court of the City of New York may be taken to 
 the Supreme Court in the cases and in the manner prescribed 
 in Articles First and Second of Title Eight of Chapter 
 Nineteen of the Code of Civil Procedure. Such appeal 
 shall be heard in such manner and by such Justice or Jus- 
 
 649 
 
tices as the Appellate Division ot the Supreme Court in the 
 Judicial Department embracing the district wherein the ac- 
 tion is brought shall direct. The appellate court may re- 
 verse, affirm or modify the judgment appealed from, and 
 where a judgment is reversed, may order a new trial in the 
 Municipal Court in the district in which the action was 
 brought. Where a judgment is modified or a new trial is, 
 ordered costs shall be in the discretion of the Appellate 
 Court. 
 
 2, in all cases of ?appeal from the decision of the said 
 Municipal Court, where a transcript of the stenographer's 
 minutes of testimony on the trial becomes a necessary part 
 of the Justice's return, the stenographer's fees for making 
 such transcript shall be at the rate of five cents for every 
 hundred words and be paid in the first instance by the ap- 
 pellant and afterwards taxable by him as a disbursement 
 on the appeal. 
 
 Process. 
 
 Sec. 1368. The Municipal Court in any district shall have 
 power to send its process and other mandates in an action 
 or special proceeding of which it has jurisdiction into any 
 district or part of the City of New York for service or ex- 
 ecution and to enforce obedience thereto, and such pro- 
 cess and mandates may be served in any district or part of 
 the City of New York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Procedure, &c. 
 
 Sec. 1 369. In so far as the same are consistent with this 
 act, all provisions of law relating to the procedure and organ- 
 ization, the summons, precept, attachment, arrest, subpoena 
 or other process, service and execution of the same, time, 
 appearances, parties, attorneys, practice, proceedings, 
 pleadings, amendments, adjournment, defaults, judgments, 
 transcripts, docketing, executions, offers, fees, costs, dis- 
 bursements, joint debtors, depositions, taking testimony by 
 commission and de bene esse, guardians ad litem, trials, 
 jurors and drawing of jurors, and all matters incidental 
 to the same, the powers and duties of Justices and 
 Clerks and other employees in District Courts in the 
 
 650 
 
City of New York which shall be in force on the 31st 
 day of December, 1897, shall apply to and control and 
 govern the same in the said Municipal Court and the 
 branches thereof in each district, except that a Marshal 
 of the City of New York cannot appear or act on behalf of 
 either or any party in an action or proceeding in said 
 Municipal Court. Sections Eight to Fourteen, inclusive of 
 the Code of Civil Procedure, excepting Subdivision Seven 
 of said Section Fourteen, are hereby made applicable to 
 and shall govern said Municipal Court. But in all cases 
 where in any statute relating to said District Courts the 
 power and authority of said Courts is limited to the City 
 and County of New York, or to persons residing in or who 
 are about to leave the City and County of New York, the 
 power and authority of said Municipal Court is extended to 
 the City of New York, as constituted by this Act, and to 
 all persons residing in or who are about to leave said City 
 of New York, as so constituted, except as in this chapter 
 otherwise expressly provided. In an action specified in 
 section 1364 of this Act (except subdivisions eight and 
 ten) where the damages or the value of the chattels as 
 claimed in the complaint, exceed one hundred dollars, if, 
 at the time of joining an issue of fact the defendant demand 
 a trial by a jury of twelve men, the Justice shall order such 
 a jury to be summoned to try the same, and the proceed- 
 ings and fees shall be the same as are prescribed in Section 
 one thousand three hundred and seventy-three of Chapter 
 410 of the Laws of 1882. 
 
 Actions, in what District brought. 
 
 Sec. 1370. An action or proceeding of which this Court 
 has jurisdiction must be brought : 
 
 1. In a district in which either the plaintiff or defendant 
 or one of the plaintiffs or one of the defendants resides, un- 
 less all the plaintiffs or all the defendants reside out of the 
 City of New York, in which case the action or proceeding 
 may be brought in said court in any district. 
 
 2. If the defendant be a corporation created by law, in a 
 district in which the plaintiff or either of the plaintiffs re- 
 
 651 
 
sides, or in which (if it be a corporation) it transacts its 
 general business or keeps an office or has an agency estab- 
 lished for the transaction of business or is established by 
 law, except the Corporation of the City of New York, which 
 may sue in any district, except as in the' next section pro- 
 vided. 
 
 3. By plaintiffs not residing in the City of New York, in 
 the district in which the defendant or one of the defendants 
 resides, and against a defendant or defendants not residing 
 in said city, in the district in which the plaintiff or one of 
 the plaintiffs resides ; but where all the parties reside out 
 of said city the action may be brought in any district. No 
 person who shall have a place in said city for the regular 
 transaction of business shall be deemed a non-resident under 
 the provisions of this title. 
 
 4. If the district in which the action or proceeding is 
 brought is not the proper district, the action may, notwith- 
 standing, be tried therein, unless the action is transferred to 
 the proper district before trial upon the demand of the de- 
 fendant made upon or before the joinder of issue in writing or 
 in open court, followed by the consent of the plaintiff, given 
 in like manner, or the order of the Court. The demand 
 must specify the district to which the defendant requires 
 the action to be transferred. The Court must make such 
 order when the district in which the action or proceeding 
 is brought is not the proper district, as specified in this sec- 
 tion or the next one if such demand be made. 
 
 Id. When brought by the Corporation. 
 
 5. All actions by or on behalf of The City of New York 
 to recover a penalty or fine for a violation of any cor- 
 poration ordinance, when the amount of such penalty or fine 
 shall not exceed five hundred dollars, must be brought 
 in the district in which the violation of such ordinance 
 happened or occurred, and the Justice holding Court 
 in the same judicial district may direct any of the City 
 Marshals to collect the payment and make returns in the 
 same manner as now provided by law. And all actions 
 to recover a penalty or fine for a violation of any provision 
 
 652 
 
of the Sanitary Code adopted by the Board of Health or of 
 any regulation of the Fire Commissioner or laws which 
 either said Board or Commissioner is authorized, empowered 
 and especially charged to enforce, where the amount of 
 such penalty or fine shall not exceed five hundred dollars, 
 must be brought in the district in which such violation 
 happened or occurred. 
 
 Where held. 
 
 Sec. 1371. The said Municipal Court shall be held in each 
 of the aforesaid districts by a Justice of said Court as here- 
 inafter specified, at the places provided by the Municipal 
 Assembly, and in accordance with law, at such hours in 
 every judicial day or so often as the Board of Justices of 
 the Municipal Court shall direct, and must continue in 
 session so long as the public interest requires ; and it shall be 
 the duty of the Municipal Assembly within thirty days after 
 the 31st day of December, 1897, to provide a suitable place 
 for the holding of said court in each of said districts, pro- 
 vided that more than one place for holding such court may 
 be provided at any time after this Act takes effect in any dis- 
 trict, if the said Board of Justices shall certify that the 
 public convenience requires such additional number of 
 places. 
 
 Seals. 
 
 Sec. 1372. The said Court in each district shall have official 
 seals furnished at the expense of the City, on which shall be 
 engraved the arms of the State of New York and the words 
 " Municipal Court of New York, Borough of Manhattan " 
 (or whatever the Borough may be), " First District " (or 
 whatever the district may be), but nothing herein contained 
 shall authorize such Court to issue certificates of naturaliza- 
 tion. ^ 
 
 Clerks and Assistant Clerks. 
 
 Sec. 1373. There shall be in and for each district a clerk 
 of said Court and in each district in the Boroughs of Man- 
 hattan, Brooklyn, and of The Bronx, an assistant clerk, 
 
 658 
 
who shall be appointed by the Justice elected or appointed 
 from said district as hereinbefore provided, and shall 
 hold office for the term of six years from the date of ap- 
 pointment ; and before entering upon his duties each such 
 clerk or assistant clerk' shall file in the office of the 
 Comptroller of the City of New York a bond in the 
 penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the 
 faithful discharge of his duty and the due accounting for 
 and payment of all money by him received or with him 
 deposited in any action as such clerk or assistant clerk, to 
 be approved by the said Comptroller to be endorsed 
 thereon. Each such clerk and assistant clerk shall receive 
 a salary of three thousand dollars per annum (except in the 
 Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, wherein the salary of 
 the clerk shall be two thousand dollars per annum), to be 
 paid in equal monthly installments ; and neither said clerks 
 nor assistant clerks nor other employees of said courts shall 
 receive any fee or compensation whatever for their own use 
 for any services performed by them by virtue of their 
 offices other than their salaries ; and the duties of such 
 clerks and assistant clerks shall be the same as those now 
 imposed by law upon the clerks and assistant clerks of the 
 District Courts in the City of New York. No such clerk, 
 assistant clerk or other employee of such courts shall hold 
 any other office or be interested in any other business, 
 except as permitted by the next section, but shall give their 
 whole time to their respective duties and shall reside in the 
 Borough in which the district for which they are appointed 
 respectively is situated. For any breach of said bond the 
 Appellate Division of the Supreme Court or any Justice of 
 the Supreme Court in the judicial department wherein the 
 district for which such clerk or assistant clerk is appointed 
 is situated, may order the same to be prosecuted in the name 
 of any person damaged by such breach. The clerks, as- 
 sistant clerks, stenographers, interpreters and attendants of 
 the District Courts in the City of New York and of the 
 Justices' Courts of First, Second and Third Districts oi 
 the City of Brooklyn, who shall be.in office on the first day 
 of January, 1S98, shall continue until the expiration of their 
 respective terms, in the like capacities as officers of the said 
 
 654 
 
Municipal Court. Each Justice upon appointing a clerk or 
 assistant clerk shall make duplicate certificates of such 
 appointments, stating the term of the appointment and 
 when it will expire, and one of such duplicates shall be 
 filed by him in the office of the City Clerk, and the 
 other with the Secretary of the Board of Justices pro- 
 vided for in the next section. The said Justices shall 
 in like manner on or before the 30th day of January, 
 1898, also appoint the officers necessary to attend the 
 Court in each district, not exceeding two, at an annual 
 salary of one thousand dollars, and a stenographer in and for 
 each district at an annual salary of two thousand dollars, and 
 in and for each district in the Borough of Manhattan an in- 
 terpreter at an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars. 
 Each of said attendants, stenographers and interpreters shall 
 be appointed for two years or to fill the residue of an unex- 
 pired term. The said Justices may remove any of said at- 
 tendants, stenographers or interpreters, provided that before 
 removal such officers shall have notice of the cause of their 
 proposed removal and an opportunity to make an explana- 
 tion ; and the reasons for any removal shall be briefly en- 
 tered on such minutes. 
 
 Board of Justices. 
 
 Sec. 1374. On and after the first day ot January, 1898, the 
 Justices of said Court shall constitute the Board of Justices 
 of the Municipal Court and discharge the functions thereof. 
 They may elect a president from their own number and at 
 pleasure remove him and elect a successor. All meetings 
 of said Board shall be public and all proceedings shall be 
 recorded in its books of minutes by its secretary and shall 
 be preserved. Such Board may designate a clerk of said 
 Court for one of said districts to act as secretary of said 
 Board, and from time to time substitute another and fix a 
 reasonable compensation to be paid for such service. Such 
 Board shall establish public rules relative to its meetings, 
 which as far as possible shall be held at regular times, to the 
 keeping and preservation of its minutes and the appoint- 
 ment of clerks, assistant clerks and other appointees, and to 
 
 666 
 
the public inspection of its minutes under the care of the 
 secretary at reasonable times. 
 
 Board to make Rules. 
 
 Sec. 1375. Said Board of Justices shall adopt, and from 
 time to time may amend or add to rules relating to the 
 following- subjects : 
 
 1. As to the Justices who shall hold sessions of said Muni- 
 cipal Court in each of said districts at times and places to 
 be specified in said rules and to provide for a rotation of the 
 Justices holding the same, provided that the Justices elected 
 or appointed for any Borough shall hold court in said 
 borough; but if a vacancy exists, or the illness or other in- 
 ability of any Justice assigned to hold court prevents his 
 attendance, any other Justice of said court may hold the 
 same. And if, at any time before or after the commence- 
 ment of the trial, it shall appear to the satisfaction of the 
 Justice that he is a necessary witness on the trial of the 
 cause, or otherwise disqualified to try the same, he shall by 
 an order entered in the cause order the same and the papers 
 in the same to be transferred to an adjoining district, or ad- 
 journed to such time as his successor in holding court in 
 said district according to such rules for rotation, may be 
 holding said court as justice may require. Such rules re- 
 specting rotation and the designation of justices, shall be 
 made on or before the 25th day of January, 1898, and shall 
 be published in the City Record, and one newspaper pub- 
 lished in each Borough at least once before the first day of 
 February. 
 
 2. As to the hours at which said courts shall be opened 
 on each day and what oflficers shall be in attendance. 
 
 3. As to the order of business and manner of its dis- 
 charge. 
 
 4. As to the manner in which the clerks and assistant 
 clerks shall perform their duties, the manner of keeping 
 records and papers, the collection and disposition of moneys 
 and keeping accounts of the same. 
 
 5. As to the maintenance of order in and about the courts 
 and offices thereof. 
 
 656 
 
Concurrence of majority. 
 
 Sec. 1376. The concurrence of a majority of all the mem- 
 bers of said board shall be necessary to adopt any resolu- 
 tion thereof. 
 
 Rules of Supreme Court applicable. 
 
 Sec. 1377. The rules and regulations of the Supreme 
 Court, as they may be from time to time, shall apply to the 
 Municipal Court so far as the same can be made applicable. 
 
 Clerks to administer oaths. 
 
 Sec. 1378. The clerks and assistant clerks of the said Muni- 
 cipal Court are authorized to administer oaths in the City 
 of New York in the same manner and with the like effect 
 as clerks of courts of record. 
 
 Justices to administer oaths, &c. 
 
 Sec. 1379. The Justices of said Municipal Court may in the 
 City of New York, by virtue of their office, administer oaths, 
 take depositions and acknowledgments and certify the same 
 in the manner and with like effect as Justices of courts of 
 record. Sections 914 to 917, inclusive, and Section 3319 of 
 the Code of Civil Procedure apply to the Justices of^said 
 Court. 
 
 Access to Court Houses. 
 
 Sec. 1380. The Justices of said Court shall have on and 
 after the first day of February, 1898, the like access 
 and possession of the court houses that theretofore were 
 enjoyed by the Justices of the district courts and Justices of 
 the Peace in the territory included within The City of New 
 York as constituted by this Act ; and it shall be the duty of 
 the Municipal Assembly of the City of New York and 
 its several officers charged with duties in that behalf to 
 supply and pay for whatever may be necessary for the 
 transaction of the business of said Municipal Court and 
 the Justices thereof, and to supply all proper accommo- 
 dations, books, stationery and furniture, and to pay all 
 salaries, compensations and expenses and disbursements 
 
 657 
 
herein authorized, and the Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment shall annually include in its final estimate such 
 sums as may be necessary to pay the same. 
 
 Delivery of papers, &c. 
 
 Sec. 1 38 1. On the first day of February, 1898, it shall be 
 the duty of the District Court Justices and Justices of the 
 Peace whose powers and jurisdiction shall have been ter- 
 minated by the provisions of this Act, or of any act abolish- 
 ing towns within the territory embraced in the City of 
 New York as hereby constituted, or otherwise, and of the 
 clerks and assistant clerks, deputy clerks or other officers 
 of said District Courts or Justices* Courts to deliver to the 
 Justices of the said Municipal Court all papers, documents 
 and records pertaining to their office. 
 
 Disposition of causes pending in district courts, &c. 
 
 Sec. 1382. No action or proceeding which shall be pend- 
 ing at midnight, on the 31st day of January, 1898, in any Dis- 
 trict Court or Justices' Court within the territory included 
 within the City of New York as constituted by this Act, 
 shall abate by reason of the passage of this Act; but all such 
 actions and proceedings so pending, shall be continued 
 thereafter in said Municipal Court ; and the said District 
 Courts and Justices' Courts existing on said 31st day of 
 January, 1898, shall have power to adjourn any action or 
 proceeding then pending before them or either of them to 
 the first day of February following, or to some day there- 
 after when the same shall be conthiued before the Muni- 
 cipal Court in the district wherein such District Court or 
 Justices' Court shall be situated or held ; and all papers, 
 documents and records relating to such actions or proceed- 
 ings shall be transmitted and delivered to the Justices 
 designated to hold Court in said districts respectively. 
 
 Removal. 
 
 Sec. 1383. The Justices of said Court and the clerks and 
 assistant clerks thereof may be removed for cause after due 
 
 658 
 
notice, and an opportunity of being heard by the Appellate 
 Division of the Supreme Court in the judicial district 
 wherein the district for which said Justices were elected or 
 appointed, or wherein the district for which such clerks or 
 assistant clerks were appointed, is situated. 
 
 Justices of District Courts, &c., to act till Feb. /, i8g8. 
 
 Sec. 1384. Until midnight of said thirty-first day of Janu- 
 ary, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, the District Courts 
 and Justices' Courts, and the Justices, Clerks, Assistant 
 Clerks, Attendants, Stenographers, Interpreters and other 
 employees thereof, in any and all portions of the territory in- 
 cluded within The City of New York, as constituted by this 
 Act, shall continue to perform all the duties and exercise all 
 the powers which may be by law imposed on or vested in 
 them on the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred 
 and^ninety-seven. 
 
 Title 3. 
 inferior courts of criminal jurisdiction.] 
 
 Division of city for such purpose. 
 
 Section 1390. For the purposes of administration of crim- 
 inal justice the City of New York, as hereby constituted, is 
 divided into two divisions as follows : The first division 
 embraces the Boroughs of The Bronx and of Manhattan ; 
 the second division embraces the Boroughs of Brooklyn, 
 Queens and Richmond. 
 
 Special Sessions in first division continued. 
 
 Sec. 1 391. The Court of Special Sessions of the City and 
 County of New York now existing is continued with the same 
 powers, duties and jurisdiction as it shall have by law on 
 the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hun- 
 
 659 
 
dred and ninety-seven, except as herein otherwise provided, 
 and shall be known as the Court of Special Sessions of the 
 first division of the City of New York, and the justices of 
 said court, and the clerks, deputy clerks, and other em- 
 ployees thereof then in office, shall continue to hold their 
 offices until the expiration of their respective terms. Their 
 successors shall be appointed in the same manner and have 
 the same salary, powers and duties as are provided by 
 Chapter 6oi of the Laws of 1895. 
 
 City Magistrates in first division continued. 
 
 Sec. 1392. The City Magistrates in the City of New York 
 appointed pursuant to Chapter six hundred and one of the 
 laws of one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five or of 
 any act amending the same in office when this act takes 
 effect shall continue to hold office until the expiration of 
 their respective terms, and shall be known as the City 
 Magistrates of the first division of the City of New York, 
 and they and their successors shall be residents of said 
 first division. They shall each receive during their re- 
 spective terms of office the salaries which they were 
 receiving at the time this Act takes effect. Their suc- 
 cessors shall be appointed in the same manner and have the 
 same powers and duties as are provided by said Chapter 
 601 of the Laws of 1895, and shall each receive a salary 
 of six thousand dollars a year. The clerks, clerks' as- 
 sistants, and other appointees of said magistrates and 
 their courts in office when this act takes effect shall 
 continue therein until the expiration of their respective 
 terms. The Board of City Magistrates constituted by 
 said Chapter 601 of the Laws of 1895 shall contmue and 
 shall be known as the Board of Magistrates of the First 
 Division of the City of New York. Said Magistrates 
 and said Board of Magistrates and said clerks, assist- 
 ants and other appointees shall continue to have and exer- 
 cise the same powers, jurisdiction, functions and duties 
 within said first division as they or any of them shall have 
 by law upon the thirty-first day of December, 1897, except 
 as herein otherwise provided. 
 
 660 
 
Police Justices abolished. 
 
 Sec. 1393. From and after midnight of the thirty-first day 
 of January, 1898, the office of police justice in any part of the 
 territory embraced within the second division of the City of 
 New York, as defined in section 1390 of this Act and the 
 Court of Special Sessions in the City of Brooklyn, is and are 
 abolished, and all authority, power, duty and jurisdiction then 
 vested in such police justices, and in the courts held by 
 them, and in the clerks, deputy clerks, police clerks and all 
 other officers and employees of said justices or courts shall 
 cease and determine, except as hereinafter provided. 
 
 City Magistrates in second division. 
 
 Sec. 1394. From and after midnight of said thirty -first day 
 of January, 1898, there shall be in the said second division 
 of the City of New York eleven City Magistrates, with the 
 jurisdiction and powers hereinafter prescribed. The Police 
 Justices in the former City of Brooklyn in office on the thirty- 
 first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety 
 eight, shall continue in office for the residue of their re- 
 spective terms, but shall be known as City Magistrates of 
 the second division of the City of New York, and have the 
 powers and duties hereinafter prescribed for City Magis- 
 trates and no other. On or before the twentieth day of 
 January, 1898, the Mayor of the City of New York shall 
 appoint five additional city magistrates, three of whom shall 
 be residents and electors of the Borough of Queens, and two 
 of whom shall be residents and electors of the Borough of 
 Richmond, all of whose terms shall commence on the first 
 day of February, 1898. The terms of one of said magistrates 
 so appointed for each of said Boroughs of Queens and Rich- 
 mond shall expire on the thirty-first day of December, 1905, 
 and the terms of the remainder of the magistrates so ap- 
 pointed for Queens and Richmond shall expire on the thirty- 
 first day of December, 1907. The successors of said mag- 
 istrates shall at all times thereafter be appointed by the 
 Mayor of said city, and shall be residents and electors 
 of the borough from which said magistrates whom they 
 shall be appointed to succeed were appointed, and shall 
 hold office for ten years. Upon the happening ot any va- 
 
 661 
 
cancy in said office, whether by expiration of a term or tor 
 any other cause, the Mayor shall appoint some proper person 
 to fill such vacancy within thirty days after the same occurs ; 
 and in case such vacancy occurs otherwise than by expiration 
 of a term, the person appointed to fill the same shall be ap- 
 pointed for the unexpired residue of the term. 
 
 Salary, &c. 
 
 Sec. 1395. The salary of each of saidjjCity Magistrates in 
 said second division shall be six thousand dollars a year, to 
 be paid in equal monthly instalments, except that the said 
 Magistrates appointed for the Boroughs of Queens and 
 Richmond, respectively, shall each receive a salary of five 
 thousand dollars a year; and provided further that the Police 
 Justices of the former City of Brooklyn, who become City 
 Magistrates pursuant to section 1394 of this Act, shall con- 
 tinue to receive, during their respective terms of office, the 
 salaries which they were respectively receiving at the 
 time this Act takes effect. Upon making an appointment 
 of an officer pursuant to this title the Mayor shall make 
 three written certificates thereof, each of which shall 
 state the title of the office, the Borough from which such 
 officer is appointed, and the term for which the appointment 
 is made. One of such certificates he shall deliver to the 
 person appointed and of the others he shall cause one to be 
 filed in the office of the City Clerk, and one to be filed in 
 the office of the Clerk of the county in which is situated 
 the Borough from which such person is appointed. 
 
 Powers. 
 
 Sec. 1396. The said magistrates appointed or continued in 
 office pursuant to this title, shall have and exercise within 
 the said second division such powers as are conferred by 
 law upon the City Magistrates in the City of New York, by 
 Chapter six hundred and one of the Laws of 1895, and 
 the acts amending the same, except as herein otherwise 
 provided. 
 
 662 
 
Board of Magistrates. 
 
 Sec. 1397. The said magistrates appointed and continued 
 in office pursuant to section 1394 of this Act shall constitute 
 the Board of City Magistrates of the Second Division of 
 the City of New York, and said board shall have the 
 same powers, duties, and functions as are specified in Sec- 
 tions four, five, six and seven of said Chapter 601 of the 
 Laws of 1895, except as herein otherwise provided. 
 
 Magistrate to be in constant attinaance. 
 
 Sec. 1398. A City Magistrate shall be in constant attend- 
 ance in each of the City Magistrate's Courts between the 
 hours of nine o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in 
 the afternoon on every day except Sundays and legal holi- 
 days, but including election day ; and the rules for rotation 
 ot magistrates to be made as provided in Subdivision one of 
 Section five of said Chapter 601 of the Laws of 1895 shall not 
 require the magistrates appointed in said second division to 
 hold Court in any other Borough than that for which he 
 was appointed ; provided, however, that if a vacancy exists 
 or the illness, absence or other inability of any magistrate 
 assigned to hold any City Magistrate's Court in either 
 division prevents his holding the same, any other City 
 Magistrate in the City of New York may hold such Court. 
 
 Transfer of charges. 
 
 Sec. 1399. The provisions of Section nine of said Chapter 
 601 of the Laws of 1895, as amended by Chapter 908 of the 
 Laws ot 1895, shall apply to all of said City Magistrates, 
 and to all charges and complaints brought before any of 
 the said magistrates appointed pursuant to this title. 
 
 Clerks and employees. 
 
 Sec. 1400. All the provisions of said Chapter 601 of the 
 Laws of 1895, relating to the appointment of police clerks, 
 their terms of office, compensation, bonds, powers and duties, 
 the removal of the same, and relating to the appointment, 
 compensation, terms, removal and duties of clerk's assistants, 
 stenographers, interpreters and other necessary attendants 
 
 663 
 
(not exceeding two for each Court), shall apply to and gov- 
 ern the same matters in the said second division ; provided 
 that no such clerk or other officer or employee appointed 
 by said Board of City Magistrates of said second division 
 shall hold any other office or be interested in any other 
 business, but shall give their whole time to their respective 
 duties, and shall reside in the Borough for the City Magis- 
 trate s Court in which they shall be appointed respectively ; 
 and the number of such clerks to be so appointed for said 
 second division shall be eleven. 
 
 Justices of Special Sessions appointed. 
 
 Sec. 1401. On or before the twentieth day of January, 1898, 
 the Mayor of said City of New York shall appoint five jus- 
 tices of the Court of Special Sessions of the Second Division 
 of the City of New York provided for by this title, who shall 
 hold office until the thirty-first day of December, 1899, 1901, 
 1903, 1905, 1907, and 1909, respectively. 
 
 Vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 1402. Any vacancy in said office shall be filled by the 
 Mayoi of said city by appointment within thirty days after 
 its occurrence. Tf such vacancy occur otherwise than by ex- 
 piration of a term the person appointed to fill such vacancy 
 shall hold office for the unexpired term of the justice whom 
 he succeeds. If the vacancy occur by the expiration of a 
 term, the person appointed to succeed the justice whose 
 term has expired shall hold office for the term of ten years. 
 The salary of the justices of the Court of Special Sessions 
 in the second division shall be six thousand dollars a year, 
 to be paid in equal monthly instalments. 
 
 Qualifications. 
 
 Sec. 1403. The persons eligible to be appointed justices of 
 the Court of Special Sessions and city magistrates in the 
 second division must possess the same qualifications and be 
 subject to the same regulations and requirements as are 
 prescribed for such justices and magistrates respectively in 
 
 664 
 
Section twenty-five of said Chapter six hundred and one of 
 the Laws of 1895. No person shall be appointed to the 
 office of justice of the Court of Special Sessions or city 
 magistrate unless he shall be a resident of the division of 
 said city for which he shall be appointed. 
 
 Clerks. 
 
 Sec. 1404. All the provisions of said Chapter six hundred 
 and one of the Laws of 1895 respecting the appointment 
 of a clerk and deputy, stenographer, interpreter and other 
 officers, their salaries, terms of office, removal and duties 
 shall apply to the Court of Sessions in said second 
 division, except that the term of office of such clerk, deputy 
 clerk and other officers shall commence on the first day of 
 February, 1898 ; the terms of such clerk and deputy clerk 
 shall be for five years respectively, and the salary of said 
 clerk shall be three thousand dollars a year, payable in 
 equal monthly instalments. Said clerk and deputy clerk 
 shall be residents of the said second division. The justices 
 of said Court of Special Sessions in the second division of 
 the City of New York shall also appoint a clerk of said 
 court for each of the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, 
 each of whom shall hold office for five years from the first 
 day of February, 1898, and receive a salary of two thousand 
 dollars, payable in equal monthly instalments. The said 
 justices may also appoint such officers and attendants for 
 said court in the said Boroughs of Queens and Richmond, 
 including stenographers and interpreters as may be neces- 
 sary for the due transaction of the business of said court, 
 and fix and alter their salaries ; subject to the power of re- 
 duction thereof given to the Board of Estimate and Appor- 
 tionment. All the provisions of said act respecting the re- 
 moval and duties of such officers respectively shall apply to 
 the officers appointed as herein provided. 
 
 Court of Special Sessions : how held. 
 
 Sec. 1405. The Court of Special Sessions of either of said 
 divisions of the City of New York must be held by three of 
 the justices of said court, and any order, determination or judg 
 
 665 
 
mcnt of two of said justices shall be the order, determination 
 or judgment of the court. Said court shall sit in every month 
 of the year in said first division and in each of said Boroughs 
 of Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond. 
 
 yurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 1406. The said Courts of Special Sessions shall have 
 jurisdiction as follows : 
 
 I. Except as otherwise provided in this title, the said 
 Courts of Special Sessions of the City of New York shall 
 have in the first instance exclusive jurisdiction to hear and 
 determine all charges of misdemeanors committed within 
 the City of New York, except charges of libel. Provided, 
 however, that the same shall be tried in the county wherein 
 such misdemeanors are charged to have been committed. 
 
 The said courts shall, however, be divested of jurisdic- 
 tion to proceed with the hearing and determination of any 
 charge of misdemeanor in either of the following cases : 
 
 First: If, before the commencement of the trial in said 
 court of any person accused of a misdemeanor, a grand jury 
 shall present an indictment against the same person for the 
 same offence ; or 
 
 Second ; If, before the commencement of any such trial, a 
 Justice of the Supreme Court in the Judicial Department 
 where such trial would be had ; or, if the charge be triable 
 in the County of New York, the Recorder of the City of 
 New York or a Judge authorized to hold a Court of Gen- 
 eral Sessions of the Peace in and for the County of New 
 York ; or, if the charge be triable in another county, 
 a County Judge of such county shall certify that it is 
 reasonable that such charge shall be prosecuted by in- 
 dictment. No such certificate shall be made upon the 
 application of a defendant, without at least two days 
 notice to the District Attorney, but pending the de- 
 termination of the application therefor, any Justice or 
 Judge authorized to make such certificate may order that 
 all proceedings in the Court of Special Sessions, except to 
 admit to bail, be stayed for a period or for successive 
 
 666 
 
periods, which shall not in all exceed ten days. Upon 
 the service of said order upon the Clerk of the said 
 Court of Special Sessions in the County wherein the 
 charge is triable, all proceedings thereon in said Court,. 
 except to admit the defendant to bail, shall be stayed 
 until the expiration of the time specified in said 
 order. Upon the filing of the certificate aforesaid 
 with the Clerk of the said Court of Special Sessions,, 
 in the County wherein the charge is triable, all fur- 
 ther proceedings thereon by said Court of Special Sessions 
 shall be stayed, and the said Clerk shall within five days 
 thereafter make a return of all proceedings had in the said* 
 Court of Special Sessions relating to such charge and 
 transmit such return and all papers relating to such charge,, 
 together with said certificate and any undertaking given- 
 by the defendant to the District Attorney of the County 
 wherein the misdemeanor charged is alleged to have been 
 committed. The said District Attorney shall without de- 
 lay present the said charge to the Grand Jury of said 
 County. 
 
 Remission of fines. 
 
 2. They shall have jurisdiction at the request of a defend- 
 ant to remit a fine imposed by them and in place of such 
 fine to substitute in its discretion imprisonment. 
 
 Bastardy proceedings, 
 
 3. They shall have exclusive jurisdiction in the first in- 
 stance of all proceedings respecting bastards within the City 
 of New York and the jurisdiction conferred by Sections 83S 
 to 860 inclusive of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be- 
 exclusively exercised within said city by said Courts. The- 
 application specified in Section 840 of said Code of Criminal 
 Procedure shall be made to the Court of Special Sessions ir> 
 the county wherein a bastard is born or where the womaa 
 pregnant of a bastard likely to be born],is. 
 
 Application of existing laws, 
 
 4. The said court and its justices shall have and exercise 
 all the powers and jurisdiction not inconsistent with this 
 
 667 
 
act which on the thirty-first day of December, 1897, shall 
 by law be vested in the court or justices of Special Sessions 
 in the City and County of New York and in the police 
 courts, police justices and Courts of Special Sessions in any 
 part of the territory embraced in The City of New York as 
 constituted by this Act, excepting that conferred upon police 
 justices of the City of Brooklyn by Section 2234 of the Code 
 of Civil Procedure ; and the same jurisdiction and powers 
 in all matters relating to the administration of the criminal 
 law not inconsistent with this Act which on said 31st day of 
 December, 1897, shall by law be vested in justices of the 
 peace in any part of said territory. 
 
 Practice. 
 
 Sec. 1407. On and after the first day of February, 1898, 
 all sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure consistent 
 with this act regulating and controlling the practice and pro- 
 cedure of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace in 
 the City and County of New York shall apply, as far as 
 may be, to the practice and procedure in the said Courts of 
 Special Sessions, and shall regulate and control the practice 
 and procedure of said courts in so far as their jurisdiction 
 and organization will permit. All trials in said Courts of 
 Special Sessions provided for by this title shall be without 
 a jury. 
 
 yustices to be magistrates. 
 
 Sec. 1408. The justices of said Courts of Special Sessions 
 are magistrates, and shall have and exercise all the jurisdic- 
 tion and powers not inconsistent with this Act which are by 
 law conferred upon magistrates. 
 
 Adoption of rules. 
 
 Sec. 1409. The justices of said Courts of Special Sessions 
 shall meet and adopt, and may from time to time amend or 
 add to rules relating to the following subjects : 
 
 1. Regulating the procedure and practice of said courts. 
 
 2. Prescribing the duties of the clerks and other officers 
 and attendants of said courts. 
 
 668 
 
Regulation of time, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1410. The justices of said Courts of Special Sessions 
 of said first and second divisions of the City of New York 
 respectively shall meet and adopt and may from time to 
 time amend or add to rules relating- to the following sub- 
 jects : 
 
 1. Establishing the times and places at which said court 
 shall be held within each of said divisions respectively. 
 
 2. Assigning the justices to hold said courts from time to 
 time, but if any justice assigned to sit in said court at any 
 time shall be absent any other justice of the Court of Spe- 
 cial Sessions in the City of New York may sit in his place 
 and stead. 
 
 Sec. 141 1. It shall be the duty of the District Attorney of 
 each of the Counties of New York and Kings to attend in 
 person or by his assistant at all sessions of said Courts of 
 Special Sessions within his county. 
 
 Appeals from city magistrates. 
 
 Sec. 1412. All provisions of law conferring the right of ap- 
 peal and prescribing the procedure on appeal to the Court of 
 General Sessions of the Peace in the City and County of New 
 York from any judgment or other determination of a police 
 justice, including a judgment of commitment under section 
 two hundred and ninety-one of the Penal Code, or of any 
 court held by a pohce justice, shall apply to and regulate 
 all appeals from any judgment or other order or determina- 
 tion of a city magistrate in the County of New York, and 
 the right of Appeal to said Court of General Sessions from 
 such judgment or other order or determination of such city 
 magistrate in the County of New York is hereby con- 
 tinued ; and the like appeal is hereby granted and conferred 
 from the judgment, order or other determination of a city 
 magistrate elsewhere within the City of New York to the 
 County Court of the county where the same is made. 
 
 Appeals from special sessions. 
 
 Sec. 141 3. The provisions of Section 20 of Chapter 601 of 
 
 669 
 
the Laws of 1895 respecting appeals from a judgment or de- 
 termination of the Court of Special Sessions in the City and 
 County of New York shall continue and appl)^ to appeals 
 from the Courts of Special Sessions in the City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Delivery of papers, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1414. On the first day of February, 1898, it shall be the 
 duty of the police justices, justices of the peace and otheroffi- 
 cers whose powers and jurisdiction shall have been termi- 
 nated by any of the provisions of this Act or of any Act abol- 
 ishing towns and villages within the territory embraced within 
 The City of New York, as hereby constituted, or otherwise, 
 to deliver over to the city magistrates appointed pursuant to 
 this title all papers, documents and records of their courts 
 appertaining to their offices, and in like manner to deliver 
 over to the justices of the Court of Special Sessions 
 appointed pursuant to this act all papers, documents and 
 records pertaining to the Court of Special Sessions. 
 
 Possession of court houses. 
 
 Sec. 141 5. The city magistrates and justices of the Court 
 of Special Sessions appointed or continuing in office 
 pursuant to this title shall have on and after said first 
 day of February, 1895, the like access and possession in 
 respect to the court houses or other places provided 
 for the proceedings of police justices within said city, as 
 hereby constituted, as were theretofore enjoyed by the police 
 justices in the territory embraced within said city, as so 
 constituted. And it shall be the duty of The City of New 
 York and its several officers charged with duties in that be- 
 half to supply and pay for whatever may be necessary for 
 the transaction of business of the said city magistrates and 
 Courts of Special Sessions and the justices thereof, and to 
 supply all proper court houses and accommodations, books, 
 stationery and furniture, and to pay all salaries, compensa- 
 tions, expenses and disbursements herein authorized or 
 authorized by said Chapter 601 of the Laws of 1895 ; and 
 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall annually 
 
 670 
 
include in its final estimate such sums as may be necessary 
 to pay such salaries, compensations, expenses and disburse- 
 ments. 
 
 Pending actions. 
 
 Sec. 1416. No criminal action or other proceeding which 
 shall be pending in any Court of Special Sessions or any pro- 
 ceeding respecting bastards which shall be pending before a 
 police justice or a justice or justices of the peace within the 
 territory embraced in the City of New York, as constituted 
 by this Act, at midnight on the thirty-first day of January, 
 1898, shall abate or be anywise affected by the pass- 
 age of this title, and all such actions or other proceed- 
 ings so pending shall thereafter be continued before the 
 Court of Special Sessions, as provided for by this title. 
 And any Court of Special Sessions or justice of the peace 
 before whom any such action or proceeding shall be pend- 
 ing at said time shall have power to adjourn the same to the 
 first day of February or some day thereafter, when the same 
 shall be continued before the Court of Special Sessions, as 
 herein provided for. 
 
 Designation of Magistrates. 
 
 Sec. 141 7. The Mayor of the City of New York shall, on 
 or before the twenty-fifth day of January, 1898, designate in 
 respect to all actions and proceedings which shall be pend- 
 ing at midnight on the said thirty-first day of January, 
 1898, before each of the police justices and justices of the 
 peace in the territory embraced within the said second d ivis- 
 ion of the City of New York, which of the magistrates ap- 
 pointed by him, pursuant to this Act, shall thereafter have 
 jurisdiction thereof, and the same shall be thereafter trans- 
 ferred to and continued before the several magistrates so 
 designated respectively. Such designation shall be pub- 
 lished by the Mayor for three days prior to the first day of 
 February, 1898, in the City Record^ and at least once in a 
 newspaper published in each Borough; within said second 
 division. 
 
 671 
 
y us t ices to Act. 
 
 Sec. 141 8. Until midnight of said thirty-first day of Janu- 
 ary, 1898, the several police justices and justices of the peace 
 within the territory included within said second division 
 shall continue to exercise all the authority, power, jurisdic- 
 tion and duties given and imposed upon them by law on the 
 thirty-first day of December, 1897. 
 
 Title 4. 
 the marshals. 
 
 Sec. 1424. The Marshals in the City of New York as 
 heretofore known and bounded, and the Marshals and Con- 
 stables in the cities of Brooklyn and Long Island City, and in 
 the several towns mentioned in Section i of Chapter I of 
 this Act, in office at the time this Act shall take effect, shall 
 continue to hold such offices and perform the duties thereof 
 until midnight of the thirty-first day ot January, one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and said terms ot 
 office shall then expire, except those of the Marshals in the 
 late City of New York and the Marshals in the late City 
 of Brooklyn, who shall continue to be Marshals of The City 
 of New York, as hereby constituted, till the expiration of 
 their respective terms. 
 
 Sec. 1425. On or before the twentieth day of January, 
 1898, the Mayor of the City of New York shall appoint 
 ten Marshals in the manner provided in the next section, 
 who shall hold their respective offices for six years; and 
 there shall be appointed in like manner every sixth year 
 hereafter the same number of Marshals for the like terms. 
 Any person appointed after the commencement of the term, 
 as herein prescribed, shall hold only until the expiration 
 of the term and until a successor is duly appointed and 
 qualified. 
 
 Sec. 1426. Six of said Marshals so to be appointed shall be 
 
 672 
 
residents of the Borough of Queens, and four residents of the 
 boroughs of Richmond ; and said Marshals shall be assigned 
 by the Mayor to such duty within the Boroughs wherein 
 they reside respectively as is or may be provided by law. 
 
 Sec. 1427. On the expiration of the terms of said Marshals 
 of The City of New York mentioned in the last clause of 
 section 1424 of this Act, the said Mayor shall appoint their 
 successors for terms of six years respectively. 
 
 Sec. 1428. In so far as consistent with this Act, the provi- 
 sions of law relating to the bonds, duties, powers and fees of 
 Marshals, and all other matters concerning Marshals in the 
 City of New York in force on the thirty-first day of De- 
 cember, 1897, shall apply to the Marshals appointed or 
 continued in office pursuant to this Title, provided, how- 
 ever, that the bonds of said Marshals so appointed pur- 
 suant to this Title shall be filed in the office of the City 
 Clerk, and that in the prosecution of the official bonds of 
 all Marshals, application for leave to prosecute the same 
 shall be made to a Justice of the Supreme Court at Cham- 
 bers in the judicial department wherein the Borough for 
 which such Marshal shall have been appointed is situated, 
 and such leave shall not be granted unless it appears that a 
 transcript of the judgment against such Marshal has been 
 filed in the office of the Clerk of the county within which 
 such Borough is situated, and such Justice may order such 
 bond to be prosecuted in the Municipal Court of the City of 
 New York, or in the City Court of the City of New York if 
 such Borough be within the County of New York or in the 
 County Court of the county wherein such Borough lies, if in 
 any other county. 
 
 Sec. 1429. The Mayor may remove any Marshal, after 
 giving him an opportunity to be heard, upon charges in 
 writing preferred against such Marshal, and filed with the 
 Mayor. 
 
 'V^ Of THl'*^^ 
 
 673 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE ACQUISITION OF LANDS AND INTERESTS THEREIN FOR 
 
 PUBLIC PURPOSES. 
 
 Procedure for acquirement of lands and interests therein. 
 
 Section 1435. Whenever the City of New York, or any of 
 the departments, including the Department of Education, or 
 boards of the said City Government, shall be authorized by law 
 to acquire title to real estate or any tenements, hereditaments, 
 corporeal or incorporeal rights in the same, for any public use 
 or purpose by condemnation, the proceeding for that purpose 
 shall be taken and conducted in the manner prescribed in this 
 title, except as provided in section 1448 of this Act. 
 
 Maps to be prepared. Entry on premises for examination thereof. 
 
 Sec. 1436. When any such lands have been selected, and the 
 said department or board has determined to take proceedings 
 for the acquisition of the same, said department or board shall 
 cause two similar surveys, maps or plans thereof to be prepared, 
 one of which shall be filed in the office of the said department 
 or board, and the other of which shall be filed in the office of 
 the Register or County Clerk of the County in which the lands 
 are situated ; and it shall be lawful for the duly authorized 
 agents of the said department or board, and all persons acting 
 under its authority, and by its direction, to enter, in the day- 
 time, into and upon any and all lands, tenements and heredita- 
 ments which it shall be necessary to enter into and upon for 
 the purpose of making such surveys, maps or plans or for the 
 purpose of making such soundings or borings as the said 
 department or board may deem necessary. 
 
 Appointment and duties of Commissioners of Estimate. 
 
 Sec. 1437. When the said maps, surveys or plans have been 
 filed as hereinbefore provided, the said department or board of 
 
 6Y4 
 
the said city acting by and through the Corporation Counsel 
 of said city, is hereby authorized to make application to a 
 Special Term of the Supreme Court, in and for the Judicial 
 District in which said lands are situated, for the appointment 
 of Commissioners of Estimate, and the said Court shall there- 
 upon name three discreet and disinterested persons, being 
 residents of the City of New York, as such Commissioners 
 of Estimate, for the purpose of performing the duties herein- 
 after mentioned. Ten days' notice of such application, Sun- 
 days and holidays excluded, shall be published in the " City 
 Record," and the corporation newspapers, and also at the option 
 of the Corporation Counsel in other newspapers, not exceeding 
 three in number, published in said City of New York. Upon the 
 appointment of said Commissioners they shall severally take 
 and subscribe an oath or affirmation, before some officer au- 
 thorized to administer oaths, in the form required by section 
 one of article thirteen of the Constitution of this State, which 
 oaths shall be forthwith filed in the office of the Clerk of the 
 Supreme Court in the Judicial District in which said lands are 
 situated. It shall be the duty of the said Commissioners, after 
 having viewed the said lands, tenements, hereditaments and 
 premises required for public uses and purposes, as above set 
 forth, to make a just and equitable estimate of the loss and 
 damage to the respective owners, lessees, parties and persons 
 respectively entitled to or interested in the said lands, tene- 
 ments, hereditaments and premises, and to make report thereof 
 to the said Supreme Court with due diligence. 
 
 Reports of Commissioners of Estimate. Presentation thereof to the 
 Court. When title to vest in City. 
 
 Sec. 1438. In each and all and every case when the owners, 
 or parties interested, or their respective estates and interests are 
 unknown, or not fully known, to the said Commissioners, it shall 
 be sufficient for them to estimate and set forth and state in their 
 said reports, in general terms, the respective sums to be allowed 
 and paid to the owners and proorietors generally of such 
 lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises and parties in- 
 terested therein, for the loss and damage to such owners, pro- 
 prietors and parties interested in respect of the whole estate 
 
 675 
 
and interest of whomsoever may be entitled unto or interested 
 in said lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises respec- 
 tively, by and in consequence of the taking of the same, as 
 herein provided, without specifying the names of the estate or 
 interests of such owners, proprietors, and parties interested, or 
 either. of them, and upon the coming in of the said report, 
 signed by the said Commissioners, or a mnjority of them, the 
 said Supreme Court at a Special Term thereof held in and forthe 
 Judicial District as aforesaid, shall, by order, upon application of 
 the said Cit}'^, or the said department or board of the Government 
 thereof conducting said proceeding, after hearing any matter 
 which may be alleged against the same, either confirm said re- 
 port in whole or in part or refer the same back to the same 
 Commissioners lor revisal and correction, or to new Com- 
 missioners, to be appointed by the said Court, to reconsider 
 the subject matter thereof, and the said Commissioners to 
 whom the said report shall be so referred shall return the said 
 report, corrected and revised, or a new report, to be made by 
 them, as aforesaid, in the premises, to the said Court, without 
 unnecessary delay, and the same on being so returned shall be 
 confirmed or again referred by the said Court, as justice shall 
 require, and such report when confirmed by said Court, in 
 whole or in part, shall be final and conclusive, as well upon the 
 said city and the said department or board as upon the owners, 
 lessees, persons and parties interested in and entitled to the 
 lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises mentioned in 
 said report, and also upon all other persons whomsoever. 
 And on the final confirmation of said report, the said City of 
 New York, except as hereinafter provided, shall become and 
 be seized, in fee simple absolute, of the lands included in said 
 report, the same to be converted, appropriated and used to and 
 for the purposes for which the same shall be acquired accord- 
 ingly. And thereupon the said City, acting by and through 
 the department or board instituting and having charge of said 
 proceeding, shall immediately take possession of the same, 
 without any suit or proceedings at law for that purpose, and 
 all leases and other contracts in regard to the said lands so 
 taken, or any part thereof, and all covenants, contracts or en- 
 gagements between landlords and tenants, or any other con- 
 
 676 
 
tracting parties, shall, upon the confirmation of such reports 
 respectively, cease and determine and be absolutely discharged 
 according: to law. 
 
 'b 
 
 When title may be vested by resolution. 
 
 Sec. 1439. Should the department or board of the said City 
 Government instituting the said proceeding deem it for the 
 public interest that the title to the lands and premises, or any 
 interest therein, required for any public improvement or 
 for any public purpose and acquired hereunder, should be 
 acquired by The City of New York at a fixed or specified 
 time, the said department or board may direct, by reso- 
 lution passed before the application to the Court for the ap- 
 pointment of Commissioners of Estimate, made under section 
 1437 of this Act, and which said resolution shall be recited in 
 the petition for the appointment of such Commissioners, 
 that at a date four months after the filing of the oaths of 
 said Commissioners, the title to any piece or parcel of land, or 
 to any interest therein, to be taken or acquired in the said pro- 
 ceeding, shall vest in The City of New York. At the expiration 
 of said four months from the filing of said oaths, the said City 
 of New York shall become and be seized in fee of said lands, 
 tenements and hereditaments and all interests therein in said 
 resolution mentioned, that shall or may be acquired as afore- 
 said, the same to be held appropriated, converted and used to 
 and for the purposes for which the said proceeding is instituted. 
 In such cases interest at the legal rate upon the sum or sums 
 to which the owners, lessees, parties or persons interested in 
 the said real estate or interests therein are justly entitled upon 
 the date of the vesting of title in The City of New York, as 
 aforesaid, from said date to the date of the payment of the 
 award made to such owners, lessees, parties or persons in 
 interest shall be paid as hereinafter set forth. And at the 
 expiration of the said four months and upon the vesting of 
 said title, the said city, acting by and through the said depart- 
 ment or board conducting said proceeding, shall immediately 
 take possession of the lands included in the same and the 
 interests thereby afiected, without any suit or proceeding at 
 law for that purpose. And all leases and other contracts in 
 
 677 
 
regard to said lands so taken, or any part thereof, and all 
 covenants, contracts or engagements between landlords and 
 tenants or any other contracting parties shall, upon the vesting 
 of said title, respectively cease and determine and be dis- 
 charged according to law. 
 
 Notice of deposit and presentation of report ; payment of awards 
 with interest. 
 
 Sec. 1440. The said Commissioners of Estimate, at least four- 
 teen days before they present their report to the Supreme 
 Court, shall deposit a true report or transcript of such esti- 
 mate in the office of the department or board conducting such 
 proceeding, for the inspection of whomsoever it may concern, 
 and shall give daily notice by advertisement in the " City 
 Record" and the corporation newspapers, and also, at the 
 option of the Corporation Counsel, in other newspapers, 
 not exceeding three in number, published in said City of 
 New York, for ten days, Sundays and holidays excluded, 
 after depositing such report, of the said deposit thereof 
 in said office, and for the day on which the said report 
 will be presented to said Court, and any person or per- 
 sons whose rights may be affected thereby, and who may 
 object to the same, or any part thereof, may, within ten 
 days after the first publication of such notice, set forth their 
 objections to the same in writing to the said Commissioners, 
 who shall, after hearing the parties so objecting, thereupon re- 
 consider their said estimate and assessment, or the part or parts 
 thereof so objected to, and in case the same shall appear to 
 them to require correction, but not otherwise, they shall and 
 may correct the same accordingly. The said City of New 
 York shall, within two calendar months after the confirmation 
 of the said report, pay to the parties entitled thereto the re- 
 spective sum or sums so estimated and reported in their favor 
 respectively, with lawful interest from the date of the confirma- 
 tion of the report of said Commissioners, or if title to said lands 
 shall have vested in the city under section 1438 of this Act, from 
 the date of said vesting ; and in default thereof said persons or 
 parties respectively, his, her, or their respective heirs, execu- 
 tors, administrators, successors or assigns, may, at any time or 
 
 678 
 
times after application first made, by him, her, or them to the 
 Comptroller of The City of New York for payment thereof, sue 
 for and recover the same with lawful interest, as aforesaid, and 
 the costs of suit* 
 
 Owners unknown, infafiis, or of unsound mind. 
 
 Sec. 1441. Whenever the owners and proprietors of any lands, 
 tenements, hereditaments and premises to be taken for any of 
 the purposes aforesaid, or the party or parties, person or per- 
 sons interested therein, or any or either of them, the said own- 
 ers, proprietors, parties or persons, in whose favor any such 
 sum or sums or compensation shall be so reported, shall be un- 
 der the age of twenty-one years, non compos mentis, or absent 
 from The City of New York ; and also in all cases where the 
 name or names of the owner or owners, parties or persons en- 
 titled unto or interested in any lands, tenements, hereditaments 
 or premises that may be so taken for any of the purposes afore- 
 said, shall not be set forth or mentioned in said report ; or when 
 the said owners, parties or persons respectively, being named 
 therein, cannot, upon diligent inquiry, be found, it shall be law- 
 ful for the said City of New York to pay the sum or sums 
 mentioned in the report as payable, or that would be coming to 
 such owners, proprietors, parties and persons respectively, into 
 the Supreme Court, to be secured, disposed of, improved 
 and paid out, as the Appellate Division of the Supreme 
 Court, in said Judicial District, shall direct ; and such pay- 
 ment shall be as valid and effectual in all respects as if 
 made to the said owners, proprietors, parties and per- 
 sons respectively, themselves, according to their just rights, 
 if they had been known, and had all been present, of full age^ 
 compos mentis ; and provided, also, that in all and each and 
 every case or cases, where any such sum or sums or compen- 
 sation, so to be reported by said Commissioners in favor of 
 any person or persons, party or parties whatsoever, whether 
 named or not named in said report, shall be paid to any per- 
 son or persons, party or parties whatsoever, when the same 
 shall of right belong to and ought to have been paid to some 
 other person or persons, party or parties, it shall be lawful for 
 the person or persons, party or parties to whom the said sum 
 
 679 
 
or sums ought to have been paid, to sue for and recover the 
 same, with lawful interest and costs of suit, as so much money 
 had and received to his, her or their use, by the person or per- 
 sons, party or parties, respectively, to whom the same shall 
 have been so paid. Payment of the compensation awarded by 
 said Commissioners of Estimate to the persons named in their 
 report (if not infants or persons of unsound mind) shall, in the 
 absence of notice to the Comptroller of The City of New York 
 of adverse claims thereto, protect said city. The said Com- 
 missioners of Estimate shall include and set forth in their 
 report the names of the respective owners, lessees, parties and 
 persons entitled unto or interested in said report, and each and 
 every part and parcel thereof, as far forth as the same shall be 
 ascertained by them, and add a designation and description of 
 such respective lands and parcels of land aforesaid, and also 
 the several respective sums estimated as and for the compen- 
 sation and recompense or allowance to be made for the loss 
 and damage of the respective owners of the fee or inheritance 
 of such lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises respec- 
 tively, and for the loss and damage of the respective owners 
 of the leasehold estate, or their interest therein, separately. 
 And the said Commissioners shall also include in said report 
 the amount of their fees and all costs and disbursements for 
 expenses of surve3^s, maps and other things. 
 
 Appeal. 
 
 Sec. 1442. Within twenty days after notice of the confirma- 
 tion ot the report of the Commissioners as provided for in 
 section 1438 of this Act, any party interested and deeming 
 himself or themselves aggrieved may appeal by notice in 
 writing to the other party, to the Appellate Division of 
 the Supreme Court in said Judicial District from the ap- 
 praisal and report of the Commissioners. Such appeal shall be 
 heard on due notice thereof, being given according to the rules 
 and practice of said court. On the hearing of such appeal, the 
 court may direct a new appraisal and determination of any 
 question passed upon, by the same or new Commissioners, in its 
 discretion, but from any determination of the Special Term, an 
 
 680 
 
appeal may be taken upon the merits to the said Appellate 
 Division of said court and from any determination of the said 
 Appellate Division any party, if aggrieved, may take an appeal 
 to the Court of Appeals, but only as to a question affecting the 
 principle of the assessment of damages by the said Commis- 
 sioners. In the case of a new appraisal the second report shall 
 be filed and notice thereof given, and such review upon appeal 
 or otherwise be had as in the case of an original report, and so 
 from time to time until a report shall be presented which the 
 said Court at Special Term shall finally affirm, and shall be 
 affirmed upon appeal, should any appeal be taken. But the 
 taking of an appeal by any person or persons shall not operate 
 to stay the proceedings under this title except as to the particu- 
 lar parcel of real estate with which the said appeal is con- 
 cerned. Such appeal shall he heard upon the evidence taken 
 before such Commissioners, and any affidavits as to irregulari- 
 ties. 
 
 Removal, etc., of Commissioners of Estimate. 
 
 Sec. 1443. In case of death, resignation, insanity, disquali- 
 fication, refusal or neglect to act, or removal of 'any such 
 Commissioner of Estimate appointed as in this chapter pro- 
 vided, it shall and may be lawful for the Court afore- 
 said, at a special term thereof, held in the Judicial District 
 as aforesaid, on the application of the department or board 
 of the said City of New York, conducting said proceed- 
 ing, as often as such event may happen, to appoint a dis- 
 creet and disinterested person, being a resident of the said 
 City of New York in the place and stead of such Commis- 
 sioner so dying, resigning, becoming insane or disqualified, 
 refusing or neglecting to act, or removed, and the surviving 
 Commissioners, as the case may be, shall have full power to 
 proceed in the execution of the duties of their appointment 
 until the successor of the Commissioner so dying, becoming 
 insane, resigning, being disqualified, neglecting or refusing 
 to act, or removed, shall be appointed.^ Ten days' notice of 
 said application shall be given to all parties who have appeared 
 in the proceeding. 
 
 681 
 
Poivers of Commissioners and of a fnajority thereof ; fees, expenses. 
 
 Sec. 1444. In each and every case of the appointment of 
 Commissioners under this act, it shall be competent and lawful 
 for any two of such Commissioners, so appointed as aforesaid, 
 to proceed to and execute and perform the trusts and duties of 
 their said appointment, and their acts shall be as valid and 
 effectual as the acts of all the Commissioners if they had acted 
 together would have been ; and further, in all cases, the acts, 
 proceedings and decisions of a major part of such of the Com- 
 missioners as shall be acting in the premises, shall be as valid, 
 binding and effectual as if the said Commissioners named and 
 appointed for such purposes had all concurred and joined 
 therein. In the said proceedings, any of the said Commis- 
 sioners of Estimate may issue subpoenas and administer oaths 
 to witnesses. The Commissioners appointed under and by 
 virtue of this title, who shall enter upon the duties of their 
 appointment, shall each be entitled to receive such compensa- 
 tion as shall be awarded by the Court, upon the confirmation 
 of their respective reports, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
 day upon which they shall meet and be actually and neces- 
 sarily employed in the performance of their duties as Commis- 
 sioners, besides all reasonable expenses, to be taxed and al- 
 lowed by said Court for maps, surveys, clerk hire, and other 
 necessary expenses and disbursements, and the same shall be 
 included in, considered and paid as part of the expenses of 
 acquiring the lands or interests therein for the acquirement 
 of which the said proceeding is instituted. 
 
 Am,endments of defects. 
 
 Sec. 1445. The Special Term of the Supreme Court, in the 
 Judicial District, as aforesaid, shall have power at any time to 
 amend any defect or informality in any of the special proceed- 
 ings authorized by this title that may be necessary, or to permit 
 any person having an interest therein, to be made a party there- 
 to, or to relieve from any default, mistake or irregularity, or 
 to direct such further notices to be given to any party in 
 interest as it deems proper. And the said Court may, at any 
 time, remove any of said Commissioners of Estimate who, in 
 
 682 
 
its judgment, shall be incapable of serving, or who shall, for 
 any reason in its judgment, be an unfit person to serve as Com- 
 missioner. The cause of such removal shall be specified in 
 the order making the same. If in any particular it shall at any 
 time be found necessary to amend any pleading, proceeding, or 
 to supply any defect therein arising in the course of any 
 special proceeding authorized by this Act, the same may be 
 amended or supplied in such a manner as shall be directed by 
 the said Special Term of the Supreme Court, which is hereby 
 authorized to make such amendment or correction. 
 
 Corporation Counsel to appear and protect interests of the City. 
 
 Sec. 1446. The Corporation Counsel shall, either in person, 
 or by such counsel as he shall designate for the purpose, appear 
 for and protect the interests of the City in all such proceedings 
 in Court and before the Commissioners of Estimate. 
 
 Source of payment of awards and expenses. 
 
 Sec. 1447. The amounts of theawards made in a proceeding 
 brought under this title for the value of lands and interests 
 therein taken hereunder, shall be paid out of the fund created 
 by the act authorizing the acquirement of the said lands or 
 interests therein, and the money for the payment thereof, 
 together with the fees of the Commisioners of Estimate, the 
 compensation of such necessary clerks or assistants as they 
 may employ, and all other necessary expenses in and about 
 the special proceeding instituted under this title, including the 
 fees of counsel employed by the Corporation Counsel in the 
 proceeding, and all other reasonable expenses incurred by said 
 Corporation Counsel in the conduct of said proceeding, shall 
 be also paid out of the said fund so provided. Such fees 
 and expenses shall not be paid until they have been taxed at a 
 Special Term of the Supreme Court in the Judicial District 
 as aforesaid, upon five days' notice to the Corporation Counsel 
 of The City of New York. Upon such taxation due proof 
 of the nature and extent of the services rendered and dis- 
 bursements charged shall be furnished, and no unnecessary 
 costs or charges shall be allowed. All such costs, fees and ex- 
 
 683 
 
penses or disbursements to be taxed, as aforesaid, shall be 
 stated in detail in the bill of costs and charges and expenses, 
 and shall be accompanied by such proof of the reasonableness 
 and necessity thereof, as is now required by law and the prac- 
 tice of the said Court upon taxation of costs and disburse- 
 ments in other special proceedings or actions in said Court. 
 
 W/iai proceedings excepted from provisions of this title. 
 
 Sec. 1448. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any 
 proceedings for the purpose of opening any streets, avenues, 
 or public places, parks or parkways, or to any proceedings for 
 the improvement of or in connection with the water supply 
 of The City of New York, or for the acquisition of wharf 
 property for the irhprovement of the water-front of said 
 city, or to any proceedings, of any nature, instituted prior 
 to the time of the taking effect of this title, and such pro- 
 ceeding shall be conducted in all respects as if this title had 
 not been passed. 
 
 C84 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 GENERAL STATUTES. 
 
 Title 1. The Streets. 
 
 2. Amusements. 
 
 3. Birds. 
 
 4. Commercial Paper During Epidemic. 
 
 5. Pharmacists and Druggists. 
 
 6. Board of City Record. 
 
 7. General Provisions. 
 
 8. Coroners. 
 
 Title 1. 
 the streets. 
 
 Municipal Assembly to regulate driving, etc. 
 
 Section 1454. The Municipal Assembly is hereby authorized 
 and empowered to pass ordinances regulating the rate of speed at 
 which horses shall be driven or ridden, and at which vehicles shall 
 be propelled through any street, within The City of New York, 
 and to pass ordinances regulating the use of the streets, in said 
 City, by foot-passengers, vehicles and animals. Any person 
 violating any ordinance so passed shall be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof by any magistrate, 
 either upon confession of the party or competent testimony, 
 may be fined for such offence any sum fixed by such ordinance 
 as a penalty not exceeding ten dollars, and in default of pay- 
 ment of such fine, may be committed to prison by such magis- 
 trate until the same be paid ; but such imprisonment shall not 
 exceed ten days. Until the Municipal Assembly shall pass ordi- 
 
 685 
 
nances regulating the matters which by this title it is author- 
 ized to regulate, the laws and ordinances now applicable to such 
 matters in the different parts of The City of New York, as 
 constituted by this Act, shall continue and remain in full force 
 and effect. 
 
 Law of the road. 
 
 Sec. 1455. In all cases of persons meeting each other in any 
 street in The City of New York, in carriages, wagons, carts, bicycles 
 tricycles or sleighs, each person so meeting shall go to that side 
 of the street on his right, so as to enable the carriages, wagons, 
 carts, bicycles, tricycles or sleighs so meeting to pass each other, 
 under the penalty of five dollars for every offence, to be recovered 
 by an action, with costs of suit, in any court having cognizance 
 thereof, by any person suing for the same. The proprietor of the 
 carriage, wagon, cart, bicycle, tricycle or sleigh, neglecting or refus- 
 ing to turn to the right, as above directed, shall be considered, if 
 present at the time of such meeting, as the person committing 
 the said offence, and if absent, then the driver of such carriage, 
 wagon, cart or sleigh, or the rider of such bicycle or tricycle 
 shall be so considered. 
 
 Rubbish, nails, etc., not to be thrown in the streets. 
 
 Sec. 1456. No person or persons shall throw, cast or lay, 
 or direct, suffer, or permit any servant, agent, or employee 
 to throw, cast or lay any ashes, offal, vegetables, garbage, 
 dross, cinders, shells, straw, shavings, paper, dirt, filth or 
 rubbish of any kind whatever, in any street in The City of 
 New York. The wilful violation of any of the foregoing 
 provisions of this section shall be and is hereby declared to be a 
 misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than 
 one dollar nor more than ten dollars, or by imprisonment for a 
 term of not less than one, nor more than five days. It shall be 
 a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than five dol- 
 lars for the first offence nor more than ten dollars for the second 
 offence, and for the third offence not less than twenty-five nor 
 more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than 
 three nor more than thirty days, or by both such fine and im- 
 
 686 
 
prisonment, for any person being the owner or the agent, or the 
 employee of the owner of any truck, cart, wagon, or other vehic- 
 les, or of any box, barrel, bale of merchandise, or other movable 
 property, to leave, or suffer or permit to be left, such truck, cart, 
 wagon or other vehicles unharnessed upon any public street 
 within The City of New York ; or, except upon such portion 
 of any marginal street or wharf or place as, by the provisions of 
 this Act, is committed to the custody and control of the Board 
 of Docks, to leave, or suffer or permit to be kept, any such 
 barrel, box, bale, or other property, or to erect or cause to be 
 erected, any shed, building or other obstruction upon any such 
 public street ; but a truck, cart, wagon or vehicle for which 
 a permit shall have been issued under the provisions of this 
 Act, may lawfully occupy, between the hours of six o'clock 
 in the evening and seven o'clock in the morning, and on Sun- 
 days and legal holidays, but at no other time, and in such case 
 only so long as said permit remains in force under the pro- 
 visions of this Act, the particular portion of any street 
 designated and described in said permit, and also except that 
 in case of an accident to a truck, cart, wagon or other vehicle, 
 the owner or driver of said truck, cart, wagon or other vehicle, 
 if it be disabled by such accident, shall be allowed a reason- 
 able time, not exceeding three hours, to remove it. 
 
 Every person who shall wilfully throw, expose, or place, or 
 who shall wilfully cause, or procure to be thrown, exposed, or 
 placed, in or upon any street in The City of New York, open 
 for the passage of animals, any nails, pieces of metal, glass, or 
 other substance or thing which might maim, wound, lame, cut, 
 or otherwise injure any animal, shall be guilty of a misde- 
 meanor. 
 
 Every person who shall wilfully throw, expose or place, 
 or who shall cause or procure to be thrown, exposed or placed 
 in or upon any street in The City of New York, open for the 
 passage of animals, except upon the curves, crossings, or 
 switches of railroad tracks, any salt, or saltpeter, for the purpose 
 of dissolving any snow or ice which may have fallen or been 
 deposited thereon, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 687 
 
Processions and parades; regulations concerning. 
 
 Sec. 1457. All processions or parades occupying or marching 
 upon any street, to the exclusion or interruption of other citizens 
 in their individual right and use thereof (excepting the National 
 Guard and the Police and Fire Departments, and Associations 
 of Veteran Soldiers) are forbidden unless written notice of the 
 object, time and route of such procession or parade be given by 
 the chief officer thereof, not less than six hours, previous to its 
 forming or marching, to the police authorities of the city, and 
 it may be lawful for said police authorities to designate to such 
 procession or parade how much of the street in width it can 
 occupy, with especial reference to crowded thoroughfares through 
 which said procession may move; and, when so designated, the 
 chief officer of said procession or parade shall be responsible that 
 the designation is obeyed ; and it shall be the duty of the police 
 authorities to furnish such escort as may be necessary to protect 
 persons and property and maintain the public peace and order. 
 
 All processions or parades on Sunday, in any street of 
 the city, excepting only funeral processions engaged in the 
 actual burial of the dead, and processions to and from any 
 place of worship in connection with a religious service there 
 celebrated, are forbidden ; and in no such excepted case shall 
 there be any music, fireworks, discharge of cannon or fire-arms, 
 or other disturbing noise ; provided that in any military or 
 Grand Army of the Republic funeral, music may be played w^hile 
 escorting the body to and from such places, but such music shall 
 not be played within one block of any place of worship where 
 worship is being celebrated. 
 
 Every person wilfully violating any provision of this section 
 or any ordinance passed by the Municipal Assembly pursuant to 
 the last preceding section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 
 punishable with a fine not exceeding $20 or imprisonment not 
 exceeding $10 or both at the discretion of the court. 
 
 Stages and omnibusses; consent of property owfters necessary before 
 franchise granted. 
 
 Sec. 1458. No stage or omnibus route, or authority to run 
 
 688 
 
stages or omnibuses in The City of New York, shall here- 
 after be granted by the Municipal Assembly, unless a major- 
 ity of the owners of property upon the streets, in or upon 
 which any such route or privilege is to be operated, shall, 
 before the Municipal Assembly act on the subject, first consent 
 in writing thereto. 
 
 Id.: Application to Mayor, etc., before route established. 
 
 Sec. 1459. Before any route for the running of omnibuses or 
 stages shall be established or allowed to be operated in said city, 
 except as provided in Section fourteen hundred and seventy- 
 one of this Act, the application therefor shall be made in 
 writing to the Mayor of said city, specifying the route pro- 
 posed to be established and the number of stages or omni- 
 buses proposed to be run thereon ; and unless the said 
 Mayor shall communicate such application to the Municipal 
 Assembly with his approval thereof, and said Municipal Assem- 
 bly after receiving such communication and approval shall vote 
 in favor thereof by a majority vote of each house, no such route 
 shall be established or operated ; and upon such favorable action 
 such route may be established and operated accordingly, and the 
 ownership thereof may be transferred. 
 
 Id. : Stage route to be disposed of like other franchises. 
 
 Sec. 1460. Any stage route or privilege hereafter granted 
 by the Municipal Assembly shall be disposed of in the manner 
 provided by law for the disposition of the franchises of said city. 
 
 Id. : Not to be run except in conformity with preceding sections. 
 
 Sec. 1461. It shall not be lawful to run stages or omnibuses 
 in The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, except in 
 conformity with the preceding sections. 
 
 Wilfully breaking street lamps, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1462. If any person shall wilfully break, take down or 
 carry away any glass-lamp hung or fixed in any of the streets of 
 
 689 
 
The City of New York ; or extinguish the lights therein, or be 
 aiding or abetting in the same, or shall wilfully break or deface 
 any glass, window, porch, knocker, or other fixture in the said 
 city, and shall be convicted thereof before the recorder, or 
 before any city magistrate, either by the confession of the 
 party or by the oath of one or more credible witness or wit- 
 nesses, he or she shall, for every such offence, pay a fine 
 not exceeding twenty-five dollars. Upon refusal of payment 
 of such fine, it shall and may be lawful for such re- 
 corder or justice, before whom such conviction shall take 
 place, to commit such offender to the penitentiary, there to 
 remain until such fine and costs are paid ; but not longer than 
 for the space of two months, and if any such offense shall be com- 
 mitted by any apprentice or servant, such forfeiture shall be paid 
 by his or her master or mistress, or in default thereof, such 
 apprentice or servant shall be committed to such penitentiary in 
 manner aforesaid. 
 
 Id, : detaining offender until name ascertained. 
 
 Sec. 1463. It shall and may be lawful to and for any sheriff, 
 deputy sheriff, marshal, or member of the police force, who 
 shall see any person commit any of the mischiefs or trespasses 
 aforesaid, if such person or persons shall be unknown to such 
 sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, or member of the police force, 
 to seize, secure, and detain such offender so unknown to him as 
 aforesaid, until he can discover the name of such offender, or 
 until the next morning (if the offence shall be committed in the 
 night-time and the offender shall refuse to discover his or her 
 name) when such offender shall be brought before the Recorder 
 or one of the police justices or city magistrates, who on conviction 
 of such offender shall proceed against him or her in the manner 
 hereinbefore directed ; and further, in case any person shall com- 
 mit any or either of the offences aforesaid in the presence of such 
 sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, or member of the police force, then 
 every such sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, or member of the 
 police force shall forthwith give information thereof to such 
 Recorder or either of the police justices or city magistrates, in 
 order that such offender may be convicted thereof and punished. 
 
 690 
 
Id.: preceding sections no bar to suit by person injured. 
 
 Sec. 1464. Neither the two preceding sections, nor anything 
 therein contained, shall bar or preclude any person or persons 
 from recovering his, her or their damages against any other 
 person or persons who shall be guilty of any of the mischiefs or 
 trespasses aforesaid, but the same may be recovered in the same 
 manner as if they had never been passed. 
 
 Id. : informer relieved of penalty^ etc. 
 
 Sec. 1465. If two or more persons shall have been 
 jointly concerned in committing any of the offences aforesaid, 
 and one or more of them (not being before informed against) 
 shall, within the space of one month after the offence committed, 
 inform against any or all the other or others concerned£in the 
 same offence so as to convict him, her or them, the person so 
 informing shall not be liable to the payment of the fine herein- 
 before mentioned. 
 
 Definition of " street."" 
 
 Sec. 1466. Whenever the word ''street" or the plural there- 
 of occurs in this Chapter, it shall be deemed to include, unless 
 otherwise expressly stated, all that is included by the terms 
 ''street, avenue, road, alley, lane, highway, boulevard, con- 
 course, public square and public place," or the plurals thereof 
 respectively. 
 
 Title 2. 
 amusements. 
 
 Public exhibitions to be licensed. 
 
 Sec. 1472. It shall not be lawful to exhibit to the public in 
 any building, garden or grounds, concert room or other place or 
 room within The City of New York, any interlude, tragedy, com- 
 
 691 
 
edy, opera, ballet, play, farce, minstrelsy or dancing, or any 
 other entertainment of the stage, or any part or parts therein, 
 or any equestrian, circus, or dramatic performance, or any per- 
 formance of jugglers, or rope dancing, or acrobats, until a license 
 for the place of such exhibition for such purpose shall have been 
 first had and obtained, as hereinafter provided. 
 
 Police Department grants license. Fee. Penalty for neglect to 
 obtain license. 
 
 Sec. 1473. The Police Department is hereby authorized 
 and empowered to grant such license, to continue in force 
 until the first day of May next ensuing the grant thereof, on 
 receiving for each license so granted, and before the issuing 
 thereof, the sum of five hundred dollars ; and every manager or 
 proprietor of any such exhibition or performance who shall 
 neglect to take out such license, or consent, or cause, or allow 
 any such exhibition or performance, or any single one of them 
 without such license, and every person aiding in such exhibition, 
 and every owner or lessee of any building, part of a building, 
 garden, grounds, concert room or other room or place, who shall 
 lease or let the same for the purpose of any such exhibition or 
 performance, or assent that the same be used for any such pur- 
 pose, except as permitted by such license, and without such 
 license having been previously obtained and then in force 
 if the same shall be used for such purpose, shall be subject 
 to a penalty of $100 for every such exhibition or perform- 
 ance, which penalty shall be prosecuted, sued for and recov- 
 ered in the name of The City of New York, and shall be paid 
 to the chamberlain of The City of New York, to be paid 
 into the treasury of said City. 
 
 Id. : Commutation of license fee. 
 
 Sec. 1474. The said Police Department is hereby author- 
 ized to grant licenses for said exhibitions or performances for 
 any term less than one year, and in any case where such license 
 is for a term of three months or less, the said Police Depart- 
 ment is hereby authorized to commute for a sum less than 
 
 692 
 
$500, but in no case less than $250 for a theater, or $150 for a 
 circus, concert room, or other building or place whatsoever. 
 
 Id.; Fees to be paid over to Comptroller. 
 
 Sec. 1475. Upon granting every such license authorized by 
 this title, the said Police Department shall receive from 
 the person to whom the same shall be granted the amount 
 payable for said license, as above provided, which amounts as 
 respectively received by it shall 6e paid over to the Comptrol- 
 ler of The City of New York, to be paid into the treasury of 
 said city. 
 
 Revocation of license. 
 
 Sec. 1476. Any license provided for by the preceding sections 
 may be revoked and annulled by any judge or justice of any 
 court of record in said city upon proof of a violation of any of 
 the provisions of this title ; such proof shall be taken before 
 such judge or justice, upon notice of not less than two days to 
 show cause why such license should not be revoked; said judge 
 or justice shall hear the proofs and allegations in the case, and 
 determine the same summarily ; and no appeal shall be taken 
 from such determination ; and any person whose license shall 
 have been revoked or annulled shall not thereafter be entitled 
 to a license under the provisions of said sections ; on any ex- 
 amination before an officer, pursuant to a notice to show cause 
 as aforesaid, the accused party may be a witness in his own 
 behalf. 
 
 Penalty for violating provisions of this title. 
 
 Sec. 1477. Any person violating any of the provisions of 
 sections fourteen hundred and seventy-two and fourteen hundred 
 and seventy-three of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprison- 
 ment in the penitentiary for a term not less than three months 
 nor more than one year, or by a fine not less than $100 nor 
 more than $500, or by both such* fine and imprisonment. 
 
 693 
 
Police, etc., to arrest offenders. 
 
 Sec. 1478. It shall be the duty of every sheriff, deputy 
 sheriff, constable, and of every member of the police force to 
 enter, at any time, said places of amusement and to arrest and 
 convey any person or persons violating any provisions of sec- 
 tions fourteen hundred and seventy-two and fourteen hun- 
 dred and seventy-three of this Act, forthwith, before any 
 City Magistrate or Recorder having jurisdiction in said city, 
 there to be dealt with according to law. 
 
 Corporation Counsel may enjoin exhibitions without license. 
 
 Sec. 1479. In case any person shall open or advertise to open 
 any theatre, circus or building, garden or ground, concert room 
 or other place for any such exhibition or performance in said 
 city, referred to in section fourteen hundred and seventy-two of 
 this Act without first having obtained a license therefor, as pro- 
 vided for by section fourteen hundred and seventy-three of this 
 Act, it shall and may be lawful for the Corporation Counsel of 
 The City of New York to apply to the Supreme Court, or any 
 justice thereof, for an injunction to restrain the opening thereof 
 until he shall have complied with the requisites of said section 
 in obtaining such license and also with such order as to costs as 
 such court or justice may deem just and proper to make ; which 
 injunction may be allowed upon a complaint to be in the name 
 of The City of New York in the same manner as injunctions are 
 now usually allowed by the practice of said court. Any injunc- 
 tion allowed under this section may be served by posting the 
 same upon the outer door of the theatre or circus or building 
 wherein such exhibitions may be proposed to be held, or if 
 the same shall be in a garden or grounds, then by posting the 
 same at, or on or near the entrance way to any such place or 
 exhibition ; and in case of any proceeding against the man- 
 ager or proprietor of any such theatre, circus, or building, or 
 garden or grounds, as aforesaid, it shall not be necessary to 
 prove the personal service of the injunction, but the service 
 hereinbefore provided shall be deemed and held sufficient. 
 
 694 
 
Preceding sections not applicable to certain performances. 
 
 Sec. 1480. The provisions and requirements of sections 
 fourteen hundred and seventy-two to fourteen hundred and 
 seventy-nine of this Act, inclusive, shall not be held to apply 
 to any building, hall, room or rooms, in which only private 
 theatricals, tableaus and other exhibitions for charitable 
 and religious purposes are given, nor to the manager or 
 managers of exhibitions given by amateurs for the benefit of 
 any church, mission, parish or Sunday-school, or for any other 
 charitable or religious purpose, nor shall the same be held to 
 apply to the masonic temple in New York, or the trustees of 
 the masonic hall and asylum fund, so long as the revenues of 
 said temple shall continue to be applied to the use of the 
 masonic hall and asylum, or other charitable purpose, nor to the 
 educational alliance, or to the directors or officers of said society 
 as such with respect to any building which [shall in whole or in 
 part be owned or leased by said society, while so owned or 
 leased, so long as the revenue thereof shall continue to be 
 applied to the support of said society and to the religious, 
 charitable, social, educational, or literary purposes of said society. 
 
 Exhibitions on Sunday prohibited. 
 
 Sec. 1481. It shall not be lawful to exhibit, on the first day 
 of the week, commonly called Sunday, to the public, in any 
 building, garden, grounds, concert room, or other room or 
 place within The City of New York, any interlude, tragedy, 
 comedy, opera, ballet, play, farce, negro minstrelsy, negro or 
 other dancing, or any other entertainment of the stage, or any 
 part or parts therein, or any equestrian, circus, or dramatic 
 performance, or any performance of jugglers, acrobats, or rope 
 dancing. Any person offending against the provisions of this 
 section, and every person aiding in such exhibitions by adver- 
 tisements, or otherwise, and every owner or lessee of any 
 building, part of a building, ground, garden, or concert room, 
 or other room or place, who shall lease or let out the same for 
 the purpose of any such exhibition or performance, or assent 
 that the same be used for any such purpose, shall be guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and in addition to punishment therefor provided 
 
 695 
 
by law, shall be subject to a penalty of five hundred dollars which 
 penalty the Corporation Counsel of said city is hereby authorized 
 in the name of The City of New York to prosecute, sue for and 
 recover ; in addition to which every such exhibition or perform- 
 ance shall of itself forfeit, vacate and annul and render void and of 
 no effect any license which shall have been previously obtained by 
 any manager, proprietor, owner or lessee consenting to, causing, 
 or allowing, or letting any part of a building, for the purpose of 
 any such exhibition or performance. 
 
 Minors under fourteen unaccompanied by adult not to be admitted 
 to theatres at night. 
 Sec. 1482. It shall not be lawful for any owner, lessee, 
 manager, agent, orofficerof any theater in The City of New York 
 to admit to any theatrical exhibition held in the evening, any 
 minor under the age of fourteen years, unless such minor is 
 accompanied by, and is in the care of some adult person. Any 
 person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of 
 a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a fine of not less than $25, 
 nor more than $100, or imprisonment for a term not less than 
 ten nor more than ninety days for each offence. All moneys 
 recovered under the provisions of this section, for fines, shall be 
 paid over to the comptroller of said city, to be paid into the 
 treasury of said city. 
 
 Prohibition of sale of spirituous liquors and employment of female 
 waiters. 
 Sec. 1483. It shall not be lawful to sell or furnish any wine, beer, 
 or strong or spirituous liquors, to any person in the auditorium or 
 lobbies of any place of exhibition or performance mentioned in sec- 
 tion one thousand four hundred and seventy-two of this Act, or in 
 any apartment connected therewith by any door, window, or other 
 aperture, except that the Police Department may, in its discretion, 
 and subject to such regulations and restrictions as it may determine, 
 permit the same to be sold or furnished while concerts, consistingof 
 vocal or instrumental music only, are being given in a place duly 
 licensed by it as hereinbefore provided. Such permission shall 
 only be operative so long as it shall be lawful under the laws of 
 
 696 
 
this state to sell or furnish wine, beer, or strong or spirituous 
 liquors at such place, and may be revoked at any time by the 
 Police Department. It shall not be lawful to employ or 
 furnish or permit or assent to the employment or attendance 
 of any female to wait on, or attend in any manner, or furnish 
 refreshments to the audience or spectators or any of them, at 
 any of the exhibitions or performances mentioned in said section, 
 or at any other place of public amusement in The City of New 
 York. 
 
 The provisions of this Act shall not be construed to interfere 
 with the right of any incorporated or other society, organized and 
 maintained for the cultivation of vocal or instrumental music, to 
 exercise and practice the same in good faith for themselves 
 only, and not for the observation and entertainment of the 
 public ; nor shall the use or occupation by any such society for 
 the purposes aforesaid of any hall or room connected with any 
 place wherein by the laws of this state it is lawful to sell wine, 
 beer, or strong or spiritous liquors be construed to make such 
 place a place of public amusement within the provisions of 
 this Act, 
 
 Violation of preceding section annuls license. 
 
 Sec. 1484. No license shall be granted for any exhibition or 
 performance given in violation of the preceding section, and 
 any and every exhibition or performance at which any of the pro- 
 visions of the said section shall be violated, shall of itself vacate 
 and annul and render void and of no effect any license which 
 shall have been previously obtained by any manager, proprietor, 
 owner or lessee consenting to, causing or allowing or letting any 
 part of a building for the purpose of such exhibition and per- 
 formance. 
 
 Violation of any provision of the two preceding sections a misde- 
 meanor. 
 
 Sec. 1485. Any person violating any of the provisions of 
 the two preceding sections, or epiploying, or assenting to the 
 employment or attendance of any person contrary to the pro- 
 
 697 
 
visions of said sections, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
 meanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment 
 in the penitentiary for a term not less than three months nor 
 more than one year, or by a fine not less than $100J nor more 
 than $500, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Police, etc., to enter places of amusement and arrest offenders. 
 
 Sec. 1486. It shall be the duty of the sheriff, deputy sheriff, 
 constable and of every member of the police force to enter at 
 any time said places of amusement, and to arrest and convey 
 any person or persons violating any provision of the three pre- 
 ceding sections, forthwith, before any city magistrate or recorder 
 having jurisdiction in said city, there to be dealt with according 
 to law. 
 
 Doors and exits to be conspicuously numbered. Diagrams to be 
 printed on programmes. 
 
 Sec. 1487. The owner, lessee, manager, or other person or 
 persons, having charge or control of any theater shall cause each 
 and every door and means of exit, to be used in case of fire or 
 panic, to be conspicuously numbered, so as to be visible to the 
 audience, by whom the same may be used, and shall have or 
 cause to be printed in conspicuous type a plan or diagram, and 
 explanation, showing each of said exits thereon, and referring to 
 the numbers aforesaid, and the same shall be printed in conspic- 
 uous type, as aforesaid, on the programme or bill of the play. 
 Any and all persons who shall violate any of the provisions of 
 this section, or fail to comply therewith, or any requirement 
 thereof, shall severally, for each and every violation and non- 
 compliance, respectively forfeit and pay a penalty in the sum 
 of $50 ; to be sued for and recovered in the same manner as 
 violations of the building laws in The City of New York are now 
 sued for and recovered pursuant to the provisions of this Act. 
 
 698 
 
Title 3. 
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 Killing or selling certain birds prohibited. 
 
 Sec. 1493. No person shall kill, wound, trap, net, snare, 
 catch with bird lime, or with any similar substance or drug, or 
 in any other manner capture or sell, expose for sale, or transport 
 during the months of April, May, June, July, August, Septem- 
 ber or October, in any year any bird of song, or any linnet, blue- 
 bird, yellow-hammer, yellow-bird, thrush, woodpecker, cat-bird, 
 pewee, swallow, martin, blue-jay, oriole, kildee, snow-bird, 
 grass-bird, grosbeak, phoebe-bird, humming-bird, blackbird, 
 wren, excepting birds bred in a cage or imported from Europe 
 or the southern United States. No person shall kill or expose 
 for sale, or have in his possession after the same has been killed^ 
 any robin, meadow-lark or starling, between the first day of 
 January and the fifteenth day of October, save only when such 
 birds are killed on the premises of the persons killing, and while 
 they are destroying fruit. This section shall not apply to any 
 person who shall kill any bird for the purpose of studying its 
 habits or history, or having the same stuffed and set up as a 
 specimen. Any person violating this section shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the 
 county jail or penitentiary, of not less than five or more than 
 thirty days, and shall also be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, 
 to be recovered with costs, by any person suing therefor in his 
 own name. In all actions for the recovery of penalties under, 
 this section, one-half of the recovery shall belong to the plaintiff, 
 and the remainder shall be paid to the chamberlain. 
 
 699 
 
Title 4. 
 
 commercial paper during epidemic. 
 
 Persons, etc. , iji infected district may have names, etc. , registered 
 by City Clerk. 
 
 Sec. 1499. Whenever the Board of Health shall, by public 
 notice, designate any portion or district of The City of New York 
 as being the seat of any infectious or contagious disease, and 
 declare communication with such portion or district dangerous, or 
 shall prohibit such communication, it shall be the duty of the 
 City Clerk during the continuance of such disease in such district, 
 to provide and keep in his office a book for the purpose of reg- 
 istering, in alphabetical order, the names, firms, and places of 
 business of any inhabitant of the city who shall desire such 
 registry to be made. 
 
 Id.: must register place at which commercial paper to be presented. 
 
 Sec. 1500. It shall be the duty of all persons and firms 
 usually resident or doing business within such infected district 
 to register, in the book so provided by the said City Clerk, their 
 names or firms, with the place or places out of such infected 
 district, but within The City of New York to which they may 
 have removed the transaction of their business, or to which they 
 may desire any notices to be sent or served, or any notes, drafts, 
 or bills to be presented for acceptance or for payment. The 
 sum of twenty-five cents may be claimed and received by the 
 said clerk for every such registry; but the book in which the 
 same shall be entered shall be, at all times during office hours, 
 open to public examination, free of all charges. 
 
 Commercial paper may he presented at place designated. 
 
 Sec. 1501. During the continuance of any such disease in 
 such infected district, all drafts, notes, and bills, which by law 
 are required to be presented for acceptanee or for payment, 
 may be presented for such purpose at the place so desig- 
 nated in such registry, and all notices of non-acceptance 
 
 700 
 
and non-payment of any note, draft or bill, or of protest, for 
 such non-acceptance or non-payment, may be served by leaving 
 the same at the place so designated. 
 
 On failure to register ^ commercial paper may be presented to City 
 Clerk, 
 
 Sec. 1502. In case any person or firm usually resident or 
 doing business within such infected district shall neglect to make 
 and cause to be entered in the book so provided, the registry 
 herein required, all notes, drafts, or bills which by law are re- 
 quired to be presented to such person or firm for acceptance or 
 for payment, may be presented to the said City Clerk during 
 the continuance of such disease, at any time during office hours, 
 and demand of acceptance or payment thereof may be made 
 of the said clerk, to the same purpose and with the same effect 
 as if the same had been presented, and acceptance or payment 
 demanded of such person or firm at their usual place of doing 
 business. 
 
 On failure to register, notice of protest, etc. , may be served by leav- 
 ing at post office. 
 
 Sec. 1503. In case of the omission to make the registry 
 herein required, all notices of the non-acceptance or non- 
 payment of any note, draft, or bill, or of protest for such non- 
 acceptance or non-payment, may be served on any person or 
 firm usually resident or doing business within such infected 
 district, by leaving the same at one of the post-offices for the 
 said city, which service shall be as valid and effectual as if the 
 notices had been served personally on such person or one of 
 such firm at his or their usual place of doing business. 
 
 When epidemic deemed to have subsided. 
 
 Sec. 1504. Whenever proclamation shall be made by the 
 Board of Health or other proper authority of the city, that an 
 infectious or contagious disease in any such infected district has 
 subsided, it shall be deemed to have subsided, for all purposes 
 contemplated in this title. 
 
 701 
 
Title 5. 
 pharmacists and druggists. 
 
 Registered pharmacists only to conduct pharmcay, except, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1610. It shall be unlawful for any person unless a regis- 
 tered pharmacist within the meaning of this title to open or 
 conduct any pharmacy or store for retailing, dispensing or 
 compounding medicines or poisons in The City of New York 
 as constituted by this Act, except as hereinafter provided ; 
 provided that the widow or legal representative of a deceased 
 person who was a registered pharmacist within the meaning 
 of this title may continue the business of such deceased phar- 
 macist, provided that the actual retailing, dispensing or com- 
 pounding of medicines or poisons be only by a person who is 
 a registered pharmacist within the meaning of this title. 
 
 Id.: qualifications of registered pharmacists. 
 
 Sec. 1511. Any person, in order to be registered, shall be 
 either a graduate in pharmacy or a licentiate in pharmacy or 
 a graduate having a diploma from some legally constituted 
 medical college or society. But a license as a pharmacist 
 granted any person after the examination by any Board of 
 Pharmacy legally created under the laws of this State shall 
 entitle such person to a license or certificate of registration 
 from the Board of Pharmacy created by this title, upon pre- 
 senting to said Board his license and complying with the 
 formal requirements of the laws. Any person who, at the time 
 this Act takes effect, shall be entitled by law to open or con- 
 duct any pharmacy or store for retailing, dispensing or com- 
 pounding medicines or poisons in any part of the territory 
 included in The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, 
 shall be entitled hereafter to open or conduct any such phar- 
 macy or store in said City and to be registered by the Board 
 of Pharmacy created by this title. 
 
 Graduates and licentiates defined. 
 
 Sec. 1512. Graduates of Pharmacy within the meaning of 
 this title shall be those persons who have had at least four 
 
 702 
 
years experience in stores where prescriptions of medical 
 practitioners have been compounded, and who have obtained 
 a diploma from any College of Pharmacy within the United 
 States, or from some authorized foreign institution or examin- 
 ing board ; And licentiates in Pharmacy shall be those persons 
 who have had at least four years experience in stores where 
 prescriptions of medical practitioners are compounded, and 
 who shall have passed an examination either before the Board 
 for the examination of and licensing druggists and prescrip- 
 tion clerks in the City of New York, as heretofore existing, 
 estabhshed by an Act passed March twenty-eighth, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, or before the Board 
 of Pharmacy in the City of New York, as heretofore existing, 
 or before the Board of Pharmacy of the County of Kings 
 or before the Board of Pharmacy created by this title, for The 
 City of New York as constituted by this Act, or such foreign 
 Pharmacists as shall present satisfactory credentials or certi- 
 ficates of their competency and qualifications to the said last 
 mentioned Board of Pharmacy. Junior assistants or apprentices 
 in Pharmacy shall not be permitted to prepare physicians' pre- 
 scriptions until they have become graduates or licentiates in 
 Pharmacy. 
 
 Board of Pharmacy : election, duties. 
 
 Sec. 1513. The members of the College of Pharmacy of the 
 City of New York, shall, on the first Monday of January, one 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and on the same day 
 every third year thereafter, at a special meeting held for that 
 purpose, elect five competent pharmacists, three of whom shall 
 be graduates of some legally constituted medical^coUege, and 
 the remaining two graduates of some legally constituted col- 
 lege of pharmacy of The City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, and who shall form and be known as the Board of 
 Pharmacy. The members of this Board shall, within thirty 
 days after their election as aforesaid, individually take and 
 subscribe before the Clerk of The City of New York, an oath 
 faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties prescribed 
 for them by this title. They shall hold office for the term of 
 three years and until their successors are duly elected and have 
 
 703 
 
qualified ; and in case of any vacancy, the trustees of the Col- 
 lege of Pharoflacy shall fill the same from two or more nominees 
 elected at a special meeting of the College of Pharmacy. The 
 said Board shall organize for the transaction of business 
 by electing from their own number, for the whole term, a 
 president and secretary. The Board shall meet at least once 
 every three months and three members shall constitute a 
 quorum. The duties of the said Board shall be to transact all 
 business pertaining to the legal regulation of the practice of 
 pharmacy in The City of New York, and to examine and reg- 
 ister pharmacists. Any pharmacist applying for examination 
 shall pay to the secretary a fee of five dollars, and should he 
 pass such examination satisfactorily he shall be furnished with 
 a certificate as to his competency and qualification, signed by 
 the said Board of Pharmacy. 
 
 Books for registration of pharmacists, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1514:. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep a book 
 of registration at some convenient place, of which due notice 
 shall be given through the public press, in which book shall be 
 entered, under the supervision of the said Board, the names 
 and places of business of all persons coming under the provi- 
 sions of this title. It shall be the duty of all such persons to 
 appear before the said Board of Pharmacy, and the fee for the 
 registration of pharmacists shall not exceed two dollars, and 
 for assistants shall not exceed one dollar. The secretary shall 
 give receipts for all moneys received by him, and pay over the 
 same to the treasurer of the College of Pharmacy aforesaid, 
 taking his receipt therefor, which moneys shall be used for the 
 purpose of defraying the expenses of the Board of Pharmacy, 
 and any surplus shall be for the benefit of the College of 
 Pharmacy. The salary of the secretary shall be fixed by the 
 Board, and shall be paid out of the registration fees. 
 
 Pharmacists responsible for quality of drugs, etc., sold, patent 
 medicines, adulteration, etc. 
 
 Sec. 1515. Every registered pharmacist shall be held re- 
 sponsible for the quality of all drugs, chemicals, and medicines 
 he may sell or dispense, with the exception of those sold in the 
 
 704 
 
original packages of the manufacturer, and also those known 
 as " patent medicines," and should he knowingly, intentionally, 
 and fraudulently adulterate, or cause to be adulterated, such 
 drugs, chemicals, or medical preparations, he shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, be lia- 
 ble to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, and in ad- 
 dition thereto, his name shall be stricken from the register. 
 
 Poisons ; retailing of. 
 
 Sec. 1516. It shall be unlawful for any person to retail any 
 poisons enumerated in schedules A and B, as follows, to wit : 
 
 Schedule A. 
 
 Arsenic and its preparations, corrosive sublimate, white pre- 
 cipitate, red precipitate, biniodide of mercury, cyanide of 
 potassium, hydrocyanic acid, strychnia, and all other poison- 
 ous vegetable alkaloids and their salts, essential oil of bitter 
 almonds, opium and its preparations, except paregoric and 
 other preparations of opium containing less than two grains 
 to the ounce. 
 
 Schedule B. 
 
 Aconite, belladonna, colchicum, conium, nux vomica, hen- 
 bane, savin, ergot, cottonroot, cantharides, creosote, digitalis, 
 and their pharmaceutical preparations, croton oil, chloroform, 
 chloral hydrate, sulphate of zinc, mineral acids, carbolic acid 
 and oxalic acid, without distinctly labeling the bottle, box, 
 vessel, or paper in which the said poison is contained, and also 
 the outside wrapper or cover with the name of the article, the 
 word " Poison," and the name and place of the seller ; nor shall 
 it be lawful for any person to sell or deliver any poisons enu- 
 merated in schedules A and B, unless upon due inquiry it be 
 found that the purchaser is aware of its poisonous character, 
 and represents that it is to be used for a legitimate purpose. 
 Nor shall it be lawful for any registered pharmacist to sell any 
 poisons included in schedule A, without, before delivering the 
 same to the purchaser, causing an entry to be made in a book 
 
 705 
 
kept for that purpose, stating the date of sale, the name and 
 address of the purchaser, the name and quality of the poison 
 sold, the purpose for which it is represented by the purchaser 
 to be required, and the name of the dispenser ; such book to 
 be always open for inspection by the proper authorities, and 
 to be preserved for reference for at least five years. The pro- 
 visions of this section shall not apply to the dispensing of 
 poisons, in not unusual quantities or doses, upon the prescrip- 
 tions of practitioners of medicine. 
 
 Applicatio7i of preceding sections to practitioners of medicine and 
 tvholesale dealers. 
 
 Sec. 1517. Nothing contained in the foregoing sections of 
 this title shall apply to or interfere with the business of any 
 practitioner of medicine who does not keep open shop for the 
 retailing of medicines and poisons, nor with the business of 
 wholesale dealers, but the preceding section, and the penalties 
 for its violation, shall apply to such persons. 
 
 Fraudiilent registration, permitting unlicensed person to compound 
 medicines. 
 
 Sec. 1518. Any person who shall attempt to procure regis- 
 tration for himself, or for any other person, under this title, 
 by making or causing to be made any false representation, 
 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon con- 
 viction thereof, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hun- 
 dred dollars. Any registered pharmacist who shall permit the 
 compounding and dispensing of prescriptions of medical prac- 
 titioners in his store or place of business, by any person or 
 persons not registered, or any person not registered who shall 
 keep open shop for the retailing or dispensing of medicines 
 and poisons, or who shall fraudulently represent himself to be 
 registered, or any registered pharmacist or dealer in medicines 
 who shall fail to comply with the regulations and provisions 
 of this title, in relation to the retailing and dispensing of 
 poisons, shall, for every such offense, be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, be liable to a 
 penalty of fifty dollars. 
 
 T06 
 
Penalties to be paid to College of Pharmacy. 
 
 Sec. 1619. Each and every penalty recovered under this title 
 shall be paid to the trustees of the College of Pharmacy, and 
 shall form and be known as the library fund of said College of 
 Pharmacy, and shall be expended for the purchase of books 
 for the library of said college. 
 
 Boards of pharmacy abolished. 
 
 Sec. 1520. The Board of Pharmacy of the County of Kings 
 and the Board of Pharmacy in the City of New York as 
 heretofore existing, are both hereby abolished. 
 
 Title 6. 
 
 a board of city record. 
 
 City Record, Board of; publication and contents; newspapers to be 
 designated in which corporate notices to be advertised. 
 
 Sec. 1526. There shall be published daily (Sundays and legal 
 holidays excepted), under a contract to be made as hereinafter 
 provided, a paper to be known as the City Record. And 
 said City Record, and the newspapers now by law designated 
 as corporation newspapers in the present City of Brooklyn, 
 shall be the only papers to be included within the term corpora- 
 tion newspapers as the same is used anywhere in this Act. The 
 Mayor, Corporation Counsel and Comptroller shall constitute 
 the Board of City Record. Said Board by a majority vote 
 shall appoint a proper person, together with such assistants as 
 may be required, to supervise the preparation and publication 
 of the same, and they shall also fix the rates of compensation 
 of said supervisor and his assistants. All the expenses con- 
 nected with its publication and distribution, except the salary 
 of the person appointed to supervise the same, and the salaries 
 of his assistants, shall be covered by a contract for printing, to 
 be made in the same manner as other contracts. The Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment shall provide for all the neces- 
 sary expenses of conducting the said City Record. There 
 
 707 
 
shall be inserted in said City Record nothing aside from such 
 official matters as are expressly authorized. The contract for 
 the publication of the City Record shall provide for furnishing, 
 free of charge, to The City of New York, not more than two 
 thousand copies thereof, also for a gratuitous distribution to 
 every newspaper regularly printed in The City of New York, 
 when it shall apply for the same, of two copies and to every 
 public library or public institution in said city which shall 
 apply for the same, of one copy. Copies of the same shall be 
 sold by the supervisor at a price to be fixed by the officers mak- 
 ing the contract, and the proceeds thereof shall be paid over to 
 the city. All advertising required to be done for the City, 
 except as in this Act, otherwise specially provided, and 
 all notices required by law or ordinance to be published in 
 corporation papers, shall be inserted, at the public expense, 
 only in the City Record, and a publication therein shall be a 
 sufficient compliance with any law or ordinance requiring pub- 
 lication of such matters or notices ; but there may be inserted 
 in two morning and two evening and two weekly papers pub- 
 lished in the English language and in one newspaper published 
 in the German language, all in said city, to be designated, at 
 any time, by said Board of City Record, brief advertisements 
 calling attention to any contracts intended to be awarded 
 or bonds to be sold and referring for full information to 
 said City Record ; said designation of such newspapers to con- 
 tinue in effect until another or different designation shall be 
 made by said Board. Where such notices and advertisements 
 respect matters occurring within the Borough of Brooklyn, 
 they shall also be published in such newspapers as are now by 
 law designated as corporation newspapers in the city of 
 Brooklyn, the rates of payment therefor not to exceed the com- 
 pensation now paid to said newspapers for like advertise- 
 ments in the city of Brooklyn or County of Kings. In case, 
 however, of the sale of bonds or stocks of said city or of any real 
 estate belonging to the city, such advertisements may be also 
 inserted in such other newspapers published in said city as 
 said Board may determine in the case of each sale. But nothing 
 herein contained shall prevent the publication elsewhere of 
 any advertisement required by law ; provided, however, that 
 no such publication shall be made unless the same is author- 
 
 708 
 
ized by a concurrent vote of the members of said Board. No 
 money shall be paid from the city treasury, and no action shall 
 be maintained or judgment obtained against The City of New- 
 York, as constituted by this Act, for any advertising done after 
 April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, except 
 such as is herein authorized or such as at the time this Act 
 takes effect is a lawful charge against a municipal or public cor- 
 poration,or partthereof.hereby consolidated with the Mayor, Al- 
 dermen and Commonalty of the City of New York. The copies 
 of the City Record furnished to the city shall be distributed to the 
 several departments and officers, and to such persons and in such 
 manner as the Board of City Record shall direct. The Comp- 
 troller shall cause a continuous series of the City Record to be 
 bound, as completed quarterly, and to be deposited with his 
 certificate thereon, in the office of the register of deeds of the 
 county of New York, in the county clerk's office of said county 
 and in the office of the city clerk, and copies of the contents of 
 any part of the same, certified by such register, county clerk, or 
 city clerk, shall be received in judicial proceedings as prima 
 facie evidence of the truth of the contents thereof. 
 
 t:^<W^ 
 
 /w. itJyor of City Record to arrange lists of registered voters. 
 
 Sec. 1527. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of the City 
 Record to cause the lists of registered voters, made and de- 
 livered by the chairman of the boards of inspectors of election 
 to the captains of police, and by them delivered to him, to be 
 arranged by assembly districts and by election districts of 
 assembly districts, commencing with the first, and in such man- 
 ner that the names of all registered voters residing at any 
 given number of any street shall appear together, and those of 
 each street in each election district shall appear arranged by 
 house numbers, in consecutive order, each street separately. 
 And as soon as the entire registry of voters shall be com- 
 pleted, and the copies thereof made and delivered, the said 
 supervisor shall forthwith cause the same to be printed and 
 published in the City Record, and in the form and manner 
 herein prescribed ; and such publication shall be made within 
 one hundred and eight hours after the close of each annual reg- 
 
 709 
 
istration. The registry of each assembly district shall be printed 
 separately as a supplement to the City Record, and each supple- 
 ment containing the registry of one assembly district shall be 
 sold separately to persons wishing to purchase the same at not 
 less than five cents per copy. All money received therefor 
 shall be paid into the city treasury to the credit of the general 
 fund. 
 
 Printing mid stationery to he supplied by cojitract. City Record to 
 print certain matters. 
 
 Sec. 1528. All printing for said city, including the printing 
 of the City Record, shall be executed and all stationery 
 shall be supplied, under contracts, to be entered into by the 
 said Board of City Record. All proposals for printing and 
 stationery shall be based upon specifications to be filed in 
 the Comptrollers Office, which shall set forth with accuracy 
 the number of every description of printed blanks ; also 
 each description of stationery or blank books in ordinary 
 use in the Municipal Assembly and the respective 
 departments, and likely to be required during the year for 
 which such contract is to be given ; and the bids shall be given 
 for such number of each printed description of blanks, or of 
 each article of stationery (including under the head of station- 
 ery, letter or writing paper, or envelopes, with printed head- 
 ings or endorsements) as are specified, and for such additional 
 number as may be required, giving the price for blanks of 
 every description, and the price of all other printing "per 
 thousand ems," or for " rule and figure work ; " separate con- 
 tracts shall be made with the lowest bidder for any one de- 
 scription of printing, or any article of stationery involving an 
 expense of more than five hundred dollars. Ten per cent, of 
 the amount becoming due, from time to time, shall be with- 
 held by the Comptroller until the completion of the contract ; 
 and in case the contractor shall fail to fulfill the same to the 
 satisfaction of said Board of City Record, then said Board may 
 declare said contract to be annulled, and said Board shall 
 immediately give notice for other bids for such printing dur- 
 ing the remainder of the term of contract. No judgment shall 
 be recovered against The City of New York as constituted by 
 
 710 
 
this Act, for printing- or stationery done or furnished after 
 April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, osten- 
 sibly for the City of New York as heretofore known and 
 bounded, unless done or furnished under a contract where, 
 under the provisions of chapter three hundred and thirty-five 
 of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or of the 
 laws in force at the time this Act takes effect or of this. Act, a 
 contract was or is necessary, or under a valid contract, or un- 
 less upon evidence of a contract made as provided in this sec- 
 tion. Separate contracts may be made at any time for engrav- 
 ing, lithographing, wood-cuts, maps, or other picture work, as 
 the same may be required ; but nothing herein contained shall be 
 construed to require a separate contract for each engraving, 
 lithograph, or wood-cut, or map, unless the Board of City Record 
 shall deem the same advisable for the interest of the city. No 
 more than two thousand copies of any message of the mayor, 
 or report of any head of a department, and no more than one 
 thousand copies of any report of a committee of either branch 
 of the Municipal Assembly shall be printed apart from the 
 City Record. 
 
 There shall be published in the City Record, within the 
 month of January in each year, a list of all subordinates em- 
 ployed in any department (except laborers), with their salaries 
 and residences by street numbers, and all changes in such sub- 
 ordinates or salaries shall be so published within one week 
 after they are made. It shall be the duty of all heads of de- 
 partments to furnish to the person appointed to supervise the 
 publication of the City Record, every thing required to be 
 inserted therein. The said person shall have the power to 
 make requisitions in writing upon the heads of departments to 
 furnish the information necessary to make up such list accord- 
 ing to rules prescribed by him and approved by the Board of 
 City Record ; and such information must be supplied by the 
 department within ten days after such requisition. He shall 
 have power to require such information in the same manner, 
 every three months, and all other information in the control of 
 said heads of departments, necessary to perform his duties un- 
 der this section. He shall include in his list the number of 
 laborers, designating the department in which they are em- 
 ployed, and, if practicable, the numbers employed in the pros- 
 
 711 
 
ecution of specific work, and the amounts paid to them, He 
 shall also cause to be printed in each issue of said City Record a 
 separate statement of the hours during- which all public offices in 
 the city are open for business, and at which each court regu- 
 larly opens and adjourns, as well as of the places where such 
 offices are kept and such courts are held. The detailed can- 
 vass of votes, at every election, shall be published in the City 
 Record. A list of the registered plumbers shall be published 
 in the City Record at least once in each year. The Mayor 
 may order the insertion of any official matter or report in the 
 City Record. Nothing herein contained shall apply to the 
 printing or supplies of stationery for The City of New York as 
 constituted by this Act, where, by the concurrent vote of the 
 Mayor, Counsel to the Corporation, and Comptroller it shall 
 be decided to have such printing done or such stationery fur- 
 nished without contract let after advertisements for bids or 
 proposals, but in such cases such printing shall be done and 
 such stationery procured in the manner and on such terms 
 and conditions as the said officers shall deem to be for the 
 best interests of the city. 
 
 712 
 
Title 7. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 Officers. Not to be privately interested in contracts. 
 
 Sec. 1533. No member of the Municipal Assembly, head of 
 department, chief of bureau, deputy thereof or clerk therein, or 
 other ofificer of the corporation, shall be or become, directly or 
 indirectly, interested in or in the performance of any contract, 
 work, or business, or the sale of any article, the expense, price, 
 or consideration of which is payable from the city treasury, or 
 by any assessment levied by any act or ordinance of the Municipal 
 Assembly ; nor in the purchase or lease of any real estate or other 
 property belonging to or taken by the corporation, or which 
 shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or by virture of legal pro- 
 cess at the suit of the said corporation. If any person in this 
 section mentioned shall, during the time for which he was elec- 
 ted or appointed, knowingly acquire an interest in any contract 
 or work with the city, or any department or ofificer thereof, un- 
 less the same shall be devolved upon him by law, he shall, on 
 conviction thereof, forfeit his ofifice, and be punished for a mis- 
 demeanor. All such contracts in which any such person is or 
 becomes interested shall, at the option of the comptroller, be 
 forfeited and void. No person in this section named shall give, 
 or promise to give, any portion of his compensation, or any 
 money or valuable thing, to any ofificer of the city, or to any 
 other person, in consideration of his having been or being nomi- 
 nated, appointed, elected, or employed as such ofificer, agent, 
 clerk, or employee, under the penalty of forfeiting his ofifice and 
 being forever disqualified from being elected, appointed, or 
 employed in the service of the city, and shall, on conviction, be 
 punished for a misdemeanor. 
 
 Id.: may be summarily examined. 
 
 Sec. 1534. Any member of the Municipal Assembly, com- 
 missioner, head of department, chief of bureau, deputy thereof 
 or clerk therein, or other ofificer of the corporation or person, 
 may, if a judge shall so order, be summarily examined upon an 
 
 718 
 
order to be made on application based on an affidavit of the 
 mayor or of the comptroller, or any five members of the Muni- 
 cipal Assembly, or any commissioner of accounts, or of any five 
 citizens who are tax payers, requiring such examination, and 
 signed by any justice of the supreme court in the first or second 
 judicial departments directing such examination, to be publicly 
 made at the chambers of said court in either of said judicial 
 departments, or at the office of said department, on a day and 
 hour to be named, not less, however, than forty-eight hours 
 after personal service of said order. Such examination shall be 
 confined to an inquiry into any alleged wrongful diversion or 
 misapplication of any moneys or fund, or any violation of the 
 provisions of law, or any want of mechanical qualifications of 
 any inspectorship of public work, or any neglect of duty in 
 acting as such inspector, or any delinquency charged in said 
 affidavit touching the office or the discharge or neglect of duty, 
 of which it is alleged in the application for said order that such 
 member of the Municipal Assembly, head of department, or 
 other aforementioned officer or persons, has knowledge or 
 information. Such member of the Municipal Assembly, com- 
 missioner, head of department, clerk or other aforesaid officer 
 or person shall answer such pertinent questions relative thereto, 
 and produce such books and papers in his custody or under his 
 control, as the justice shall direct, and the examination may be 
 continued from time to time, as such justice may order, but the 
 answer of the party charged shall not be used against him in 
 any criminal proceeding; provided, however, that for all false 
 answers on material points he shall be subject to the pains and 
 penalties of the crime of perjury. The proceedings may be 
 continued before any other justice in said judicial department, 
 and other witnesses, as well as the parties making such applica- 
 tion, may, in the discretion of said justice, be compelled to 
 attend and be examined touching such alleged delinquencies. 
 Such justice may punish any refusal to attend such examination 
 or to answer any questions pursuant to his order, as for a 
 contempt of court, and shall have as full power and authority 
 to enforce obedience to the order or directions of himself or 
 any other justice, as any justice of the supreme court may now 
 
 714 
 
have, or shall possess, to enforce obedience or to punish con-- 
 tempt in any case or matter whatever, and shall impose costs 
 upon those promoting such an examination, not exceeding two* 
 hundred and fifty dollars, if he thinks there was no probable" 
 cause for making the application hereinbefore provided for, the 
 said costs to be paid to the officer or person examined, and for 
 which the said officer or person may have judgment and aru 
 execution, Th-e examination hereinbefore provided for shall be 
 reduced to writing, and be filed in the office of the county clerk 
 of such county within the first or second judicial departments 
 as the judge making the order for the examination shall direct 
 at the time of making such order, and the examination so 
 reduced to writing and filed shall be at all reasonable times 
 accessible to the public, and notice of the same shall be given 
 to the department in which said officer is employed. 
 
 Barber shops may be open on Sunday. 
 
 Sec. 1535. The provisions of an Act to regulate barbering on 
 Sunday, being Chapter 823 of the Laws of 1895, permitting 
 barber shops or other places where a barber is engaged in shaving, 
 hair cutting or other work of a barber, to be kept open, and the 
 work of a barber to be performed therein until one o'clock of the 
 afternoon of the first day of the week in the City of New York, 
 as heretofore known and bounded, shall be applicable to and be 
 in full force and effect in all of the territory of The City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Retention of office by clerks in public employ in territory consolidated. 
 
 Sec. 1536. All the clerical and other subordinate forces, not 
 subject to removal without cause, in the public employ in any part 
 of The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, at the time 
 when this Act takes effect, shall continue toehold their respective 
 positions without prejudice or advantage, except that nothing 
 in this section contained shall operate to keep in the service of 
 The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, any clerk or 
 other subordinate whose position is vacated by reason of the pas- 
 sage of this Act, and except that the clerks and subordinates of 
 departments that are abolished or reconstructed by this Act, 
 
 715 
 
under the same or under other names shall continue in the service 
 of the said city under the jurisdiction of the appropriate depart- 
 ment subject nevertheless to removal in accordance with the 
 provisions of this Act for cause, or to abolish unnecessary- 
 positions. 
 
 The Mayor of the City of New York, the Mayor of the City 
 of Brooklyn, the Mayor of Long Island City, the Chairman of 
 the Board of Supervisors of the County of Richmond, and the 
 County Judge of Queen's County, shall meet in the Mayor's 
 office in the City of New York on the first day of December, 
 1897, and as often thereafter during the month of December as 
 may be necessary, and prepare and adopt a detailed plan for the 
 transfer to, and the partition between, the several public depart- 
 ments, bureaus and offices created or provided for by this Act, 
 of all the public property appertaining to the administration of 
 said departments, bureaus and offices in the several municipal and 
 public corporations hereby consolidated, and the books, records, 
 vouchers and other papers of said municipal and public corpor- 
 ations, and to this end the said Mayors and Chairman and 
 County Judge, or any one duly authorized by them, shall have 
 full and free access to all the public papers, documents and records 
 in each of said municipal and public corporations. The said plan 
 shall also provide for the apportionment between the several 
 public departments, bureaus and offices, and the assignment to ser- 
 vice in said public departments, bureaus and offices, respectively, 
 so far as practicable, of all the subordinates and employees in every 
 branch of the public service in each of the several municipal and 
 public corporations hereby consolidated, in such manner that 
 each person shall be assigned, as nearly as maybe, without pre- 
 judice or advantage to perform the same service and in the same 
 part of the City, and to hold the same relative rank or position 
 in the City constituted by this Act, as he performed and held at 
 the time said plan of apportionment and assignment is 
 determined upon. Said plan shall be such as to receive the 
 approval of the Mayor of New York as to persons in the service 
 of the City of New York, of the Mayor of Brooklyn as to persons 
 in the service of the City of Brooklyn, of the Mayor of Long 
 Island City as to persons in the service of Long Island City, of 
 
 716 
 
the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Richmond County as 
 to persons in the service of the municipal and public corporations 
 of Richmond County, and of the County Judge of Queen's 
 County as to persons in the service of the towns of Newtown, 
 Flushing, Jamaica and that part of the town of Hempstead 
 by this Act included within The City of New York. The 
 said plan when determined upon shall be signed by said Mayors 
 and said Chairman and said County Judge, or a majority 
 of them, and shall be published in the City Record for such 
 length of time as they may direct. Said plan and the ap- 
 portionment and assignment herein provided for shall take effect 
 on the first day of January, 1898, and on and after said date the 
 persons named therein shall be deemed to hold and shall hold 
 the respective positions to which they may be assigned in said 
 plan, until removed as herein provided, and their assignment to 
 service shall not be deemed or construed to be a new appoint- 
 ment or reappointment, but shall be deemed to be, and shall be, 
 a continuation of the appointment and employment theretofore 
 held by them. The head of every department, and every other 
 ofificer by this Act given power to appoint, remove and fix and 
 regulate the salaries of his subordinates, appointees and employ-' 
 ees, shall have power upon assuming ofifice, or at any time there- 
 after, to remove any person assigned to service under him by 
 said plan, and to fix and regulate, within the limits of his appro- 
 priation and subject to the restrictions, if any, hereinbefore pre- 
 scribed, the salaries and compensation of his said subordinates, 
 appointees and employees. At any time within one year after 
 the first day of January, 1898, any subordinate or employee in 
 any public department, bureau or ofifice of the City hereby con- 
 stituted may be transferred to any other public department, bureau 
 or ofilice of said City, provided such transfer be consented to by 
 the Mayor and by the head of the department, bureau or office 
 from which such subordinate or employee is so transferred, and 
 the head of the department, bureau or office to which such 
 subordinate or employee is so transferred. Nothing in this 
 section contained shall apply to the Fire Department or the 
 Police Department, nor to the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, 
 nor to the pubHc schools and the Department of Education. 
 
 717 
 
The incumbents of positions abolished or made unnecessary 
 by this Act shall be preferred for appointment to positions 
 demanding their service. For this purpose the Civil Service 
 Commissioners are directed, as far as practicable, to place the 
 names of such persons on the proper eligible lists, and to give 
 them on said lists the same preference as veterans. 
 
 The Civil Service regulations in force at the time this Act 
 takes effect in the various parts of The City of New York, 
 as constituted by this Act, and all eligible lists created there- 
 under in said parts of the city respectively, shall continue in full 
 force and effect until new regulations shall have been adopted 
 in accordance with the provisions of this Act and new eligible 
 lists made in accordance with such regulations. 
 
 Books, papers, etc. , where filed. 
 
 Sec. 1537. All public books, papers and documents of the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, and 
 of the City of Brooklyn, and of Long Island City and of any board, 
 body or officer of, or in the territory of the County of Richmond, 
 so far as such public books, papers and documents relate to the 
 governmental functions by this Act devolved upon the Munici- 
 cipal Corporation created by this Act, and of any board, body 
 or officer of or in that part of the County of Queens consolidated 
 by this Act into a Municipal Corporation, so far as such public 
 books, papers and documents relate to the governmental func- 
 tions by this Act devolved upon the Municipal Corporation crea- 
 ted by this Act, and also the public books, papers and documents 
 of any officer, board or body of any district, town, or village or of 
 any office within the said territory that relate to the governmental 
 functions by this Act devolved upon The City of New York crea- 
 ted by this Act, shall be transferred to and filed with the appro- 
 priate departments or officers of The City of New York, provided, 
 however, that this section shall not be deemed to apply to any 
 public books, papers or documents of any Register, Sheriff, 
 District Attorney, Coroner or County Clerk in said territory or 
 in any part thereof. And it shall be the duty of all persons 
 having charge of such books, papers and documents to deliver 
 
 718 
 
the same to and file the same, with the appropriate officer or 
 department as in this section provided. 
 
 Territorial operation of contracts, grants and franchises not 
 extended. 
 
 Sec. 1538. This Act shall not extend the territorial operation of 
 any rights, contracts or franchises heretofore granted or made by 
 the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 of the City of New York, or by any of the municipal and public 
 corporations which by this Act are united and consolidated there- 
 with, including the Counties of Kings and Richmond, and the 
 same shall be restricted to the limits respectively to which they 
 would have been confined if this Act had not been passed ; nor 
 shall this Act in any way validate or invalidate or in any manner 
 affect such grants, but they shall have the same legal validity, 
 force, effect and operation and no other or greater than if this 
 Act had not been passed. 
 
 Price of Gas in Richmond and Queens Counties. 
 
 Sec. 1539. The price of illuminating gas in the County of 
 Richmond, and in that part of the County of Queens, included 
 within The City of New York, as hereby constituted, shall not be 
 affected by this Act. 
 
 Platting of lands and dedication of streets and public places. 
 
 Sec. 1540. No map of the subdivision of lands or the platting 
 thereof into streets or avenues and blocks within the limits of 
 The City of New York shall hereafter be registered or become 
 effectual and binding as a dedication of the streets, avenues or 
 public places on such map or plat until such map or plat has been 
 submitted by the owner to and approved by the Board of Public 
 Improvements, which in acting thereon shall examine and deter- 
 mine whether the streets and avenues are of adequate and suit- 
 able width and laid out with due reference to connecting streets 
 and avenues. Upon such approval the title of the owner or 
 owners of the land to all streets, avenues and public places des- 
 ignated on the map or plat, shall immediately vest in fee clear 
 
 719 
 
of all incumbrances in The City of New York in trust for the 
 designated public uses. Such map or a copy thereof shall re- 
 main of record in the office of the Board of Public Improve- 
 ments, and a copy thereof with the approval of the said Board 
 endorsed thereon shall be filed and recorded in the office of the 
 Register of Deeds or County Clerk of the County in which the 
 land is situated and indexed therein as deeds are now required 
 by law to be indexed. The Municipal Assembly upon the 
 recommendation of the Board of Public Improvements may from 
 time to time pass appropriate ordinances not inconsistent with 
 law and this Act to carry the provisions of this section into 
 effect and regulate proceedings thereunder. 
 
 Majority of boards of departments. Quorum. Powers. 
 
 Sec. 1541. A majority of the members of aboard in any de- 
 partment of the city government, and also of the Board for the 
 Revision of Assessments, shall constitute a quorum to fully 
 perform and discharge any act or duty authorized, possessed 
 by, or imposed upon any department or any board afore- 
 said, and with the same legal effect as if every member of any 
 such board aforesaid had been present, except as herein otherwise 
 specially provided. Each board may, except as herein otherwise 
 provided, choose, in its own pleasure, one of its members, who 
 shall be its president, and one who shall be its treasurer, and may 
 appoint a chief clerk or secretary. No expense shall be incurred 
 by any of the departments, boards or officers thereof, unless an 
 appropriation shall have been previously made covering such 
 expense, nor any expense in excess of the sum appropriated in 
 accordance with law. 
 
 Expenses not to exceed appropriation. 
 
 Sec. 1542. It shall be the duty of the heads of all departments 
 of said city, and of all boards and officers charged with the duty 
 of expending or incurring obligations payable out of the moneys 
 raised by tax in said city, so to regulate such expenditures for 
 any purpose or object, that the same shall not in any one year 
 exceed the amount appropriated by the Board of Estimate and 
 
 720 
 
#5^-*^ Of THa 
 
 |Uiri71RSIT7l 
 
 Apportionment for such purpose or object ; and no charge, claim, 
 or Hability shall exist or arise against said city for any sum in 
 excess of the amount appropriated for the several purposes. 
 
 Heads of departments ; control over subordinates. Removal. 
 
 Sec. 1543. The heads of all departments (except as otherwise 
 specially provided) shall have power to appoint and remove all 
 chiefs of bureaus (except the Chamberlain) as also all clerks, 
 officers, employees, and subordinates in their respective depart- 
 ments, except as herein otherwise specially provided, without 
 reference to the tenure of office of any existing appointee. But 
 no regular clerk or head of a bureau shall be removed until he 
 has been allowed an opportunity of making an explanation ; and 
 in every case of a removal, the true grounds thereof shall be 
 forthwith entered upon the records of the department or board. 
 In case of removal, a statement showing the reason therefor, 
 shall be filed in the department. The number and duties of all 
 officers and clerks, employees, and subordinates in every depart- 
 ment, except as otherwise herein specially provided, with their 
 respective salaries, whether now fixed by special law or otherwise, 
 shall be such as the heads of the respective departments shall 
 designate and approve ; but subject, also, to the revision of the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment ; provided, however, that 
 the aggregate expense thereof shall not exceed the total amount 
 duly appropriated to the respective departments for such pur- 
 poses. Any head of department may, with the consent of the 
 Board of Estimate and Apportionment, consolidate any two or 
 more bureaus established by law, and may change the duties of 
 any bureau ; and it shall be the duty of the head of the finance 
 department to bring together all officers and bureaus authorized 
 to receive money for taxes, assessments or arrears, in such man- 
 ner that the payment of the same can be made, as nearly as 
 practicable, at one time and place, and in one office. 
 
 Id.: to render reports. Publication. 
 
 Sec. 1544. The said departments, and all commissioners 
 appointed by the Mayor, pursuant to the provisions of this Act, 
 
 721 
 
and not constituting heads of departments, shall once in three 
 months, and at such other times as the Mayor may direct make 
 to him, in such form and under such rules as he may prescribe, 
 reports of the operations and action of the same and each of 
 them, which reports shall be published in the City Record. The 
 said departments and commissioners shall always, when required 
 by the Mayor, furnish to him such information as he may de- 
 mand, within such reasonable time as he may direct. 
 
 Id. : to furnish copies of papers on demand. 
 
 Sec. 1545. The heads of all departments, except the Police 
 and Law Departments, and the chiefs of each and every bureau of 
 said departments, or any of them, except the Police and Law De- 
 partments, shall, with reasonable promptness, furnish to any tax- 
 payer desiring the same, a true and certified copy of any book, ac- 
 count, or paper kept by such department, bureau, or officer, or such 
 part thereof as may be demanded, upon payment in advance of 
 five cents for every hundred words thereof by the person demand- 
 ing the same. All books, accounts, and papers in any depart- 
 ment or bureau thereof, except the Police and Law Departments, 
 shall at all times be open to the inspection of any tax-payer, subject 
 to any reasonable rules and regulations in regard to the time and 
 manner of such inspection as such department, bureau or officer 
 may make in regard to the same, in order to secure the safety 
 of such books, accounts and papers, and the proper use of them 
 by the department, bureau, or officer, in case such inspection 
 shall be refused, such tax-payer, on his sworn petition, describ- 
 ing the particular book, account or paper that he desires to in- 
 spect, may, upon notice of not less than one day to such depart- 
 ment, bureau, or officer, apply to any justice of the Supreme 
 Court for an order that he be allowed to make such inspection 
 as such justice shall by his order authorize, and such order shall 
 specify the time and manner of such inspection. 
 
 Records to be kept arid abstracts published. 
 
 Sec. 1546. In every department or board there shall be kept 
 a record of all its transactions, which shall be accessible to the 
 public, and once a week a brief abstract, omitting formal lan- 
 
 722 
 
guage, shall be made of all transactions, and of all contracts 
 awarded and entered into for work and material of every descrip- 
 tion, which abstract shall contain the name or names, and resi- 
 dences by street and number, of the party or parties to the con- 
 tract, and of their sureties, if any, A copy of such abstract 
 shall be promptly transmitted to the person designated to pre- 
 pare the City Record, and shall be published therein. Notice 
 of all appointments and removals from office, and all changes of 
 salaries, shall in like manner, within one week after they are 
 made, be transmitted to and pubhshed in the City Record. 
 
 Certificate of appointments. 
 
 Sec. 1547. Every person who shall be appointed or elected 
 to any office under the said city shall receive a certificate of ap- 
 pointment, designating the term for which such person has been 
 appointed or elected. 
 
 Official oath. 
 
 Sec. 1548. Every person elected or appointed to any office 
 under the city government shall, within five days after notice of 
 such election or appointment, take and subscribe, before the 
 Mayor or any judge of a court of record, an oath or affirmation 
 faithfully to perform the duties of his office ; which oath or 
 affirmation shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk. 
 
 Officer not to hold any other civil office. 
 
 Sec. 1549. Any person holding office, whether by election 
 or appointment, who shall, during his term of office, accept, hold, 
 or retain any other civil office of honor, trust, or emolument under 
 the government of the United States (except commissioners for 
 the taking of bail, or register of any court), or of the state (ex- 
 cept the office of notary public or commissioner of deeds, or 
 officer of the national guard), or who shall hold or accept any 
 other office connected with the government of The City of New 
 York, or who shall accept a seat in the Legislature, shall be deemed 
 thereby to have vacated every office held by him under the city 
 government. No person shall hold two city or county offices, 
 
 723 
 
except as expressly provided in this Act ; nor shall any officer 
 under the city government hold or retain an office under the 
 county government, except the office of Supervisor, or when he 
 holds such office ex-officio, by virtue of an act of the Legisla- 
 ture ; and in such case shall draw no salary for such ex-officio, 
 office. 
 
 Officers; when may receive and retain fees. 
 
 Sec. 1550. No officer of the city government, except the city 
 marshals, shall have or receive to his own use any fees, perqui- 
 sites, or commissions or any percentage ; but every such officer 
 shall be paid by a fixed salary, and all fees, percentages, and com- 
 missions received by any such officer shall be the property of the 
 city. And every officer who shall receive any fees, perquisites, 
 commissions, percentages, or other money which should be paid 
 over to the city, shall, before he shall be entitled to receive any 
 salary, make under oath a detailed return to the Comptroller 
 showing the amount of all such fees, commissions, percentages, 
 perquisites and moneys received by him since the last preced- 
 ing report, the person from whom received, and the reason for 
 its payment, and shall produce the receipt of the Chamberlain, 
 showing the payment to him, by said officer, of the aggregate 
 amount thereof. All sums received as above, or for licenses or 
 permits, except as in this Act otherwise expressly provided, 
 shall be paid over weekly, without deduction by the officers or 
 department receiving them, to the Chamberlain, and a detailed 
 return under oath shall at any time be made in such form as 
 the Comptroller shall prescribe, stating when and from whom, 
 and for what use such moneys were received. No city officer 
 who is paid a salary for his services from the city treasury 
 shall receive to or for his own use any fees, costs, allowances, per- 
 quisites of office, commissions, percentages, or moneys paid to 
 him in his official capacity ; but all fees, costs, allowances, per- 
 quisites, commissions, percentages, and moneys so paid or re- 
 ceived by any such officer or person, shall be the property of 
 the city and shall be paid by him into the city treasury ; and 
 every such officer or person who shall receive any fees, perqui- 
 
 724 
 
sites, commissions, percentages, or other moneys which belong 
 to the city, and should be so paid into the treasury, shall, be- 
 fore he shall be entitled to receive or to be paid his salary, make 
 under oath a detailed statement and return to the Comptroller 
 in such form as he may prescribe, showing the amount of all such 
 moneys received by him since the last preceding statement and 
 returns, and shall produce a receipt showing the payment of 
 such sum into the treasury. The Comptroller may require any 
 such person or officer to make such statement and return to him, 
 if it be not made as herein provided, and may examine any such 
 officer or person under oath touching the amount of any fees, 
 costs, allowances, perquisites, commissions, percentages, or mon- 
 eys paid to or received by him in his official capacity. But 
 nothing herein contained shall be construed as prohibiting the 
 receipt of fees by any public officer on account of the collection 
 of the inheritance tax as now provided by law, or as repealing 
 the provisions of Chapter 299 of the Laws of 1892. 
 
 Id.: defrauding. 
 
 Sec. 1551. Any officer of the city government, or person em- 
 ployed in its service, who shall wilfully violate or evade any of 
 the provisions of law, or commit any fraud upon the city, or con- 
 vert any of the public property to his own use, or knowingly per- 
 mit any other person so to convert it, or by gross or culpable 
 neglect of duty allow the same to be lost to the city, shall be 
 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, in addition to the penal- 
 ties imposed by law, and on conviction, shall forfeit his office, 
 and be excluded forever after from receiving or holding any 
 office under the city government ; and any person who shall wil- 
 fully swear falsely in any oath or affirmation required by this 
 chapter shall be guilty of perjury. 
 
 Money not to be paid to sectarian schools. Public property ; how 
 disposed of. 
 
 Sec. 1552. No money belonging to the city, or city and county 
 of New York, raised by taxation upon the property of the citi- 
 zens thereof, shall be appropriated in aid of any religious or de- 
 nominational school, neither shall any property, real or personal 
 
 725 
 
belonging to said city, or said city and county, be disposed of to 
 any such school, except upon the sale thereof at public auction, 
 after the same has been duly advertised, at which sale such 
 school shall be the highest bidder, and upon payment of the 
 sum so bid into the city treasury ; neither shall any property 
 belonging to the city, or city and county, be leased to any school 
 under the control of any religious or denominational institution, 
 except upon such terms as city property may be leased to pri- 
 vate parties after the same has been duly advertised. 
 
 Property to be sold at auction. 
 
 Sec. 1553. All property sold other than land under water 
 shall be sold at auction, after previous public notice, under the 
 superintendence of the appropriate head of department. The 
 proceeds of all sales made under and by virtue of this Act shall, 
 except as herein otherwise specially provided, be by the officer 
 receiving the same immediately deposited with the Chamberlain ; 
 and the account of sales, verified by the officer making the sales, 
 shall be immediately filed in the office of the Comptroller. 
 
 Patented articles ; how supplied. 
 
 Sec. 1554. Except for repairs no patented pavement shall be 
 laid and no patented article shall be advertised for, contracted for 
 or purchased, except under such circumstances that there can 
 be a fair and reasonable opportunity for competition, the con- 
 ditions to secure which shall be prescribed by the Board of Esti- 
 mate and Apportionment, 
 
 Special provision as to papers formerly filed in offices of Town Clerks. 
 
 Sec. 1555. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, all 
 papers now required by law to be filed and recorded in the 
 Town Clerk's office in any of the towns by this Act united and 
 consolidated into The City of New York, shall after this Act 
 takes effect, be filed and recorded in the office of the Clerk of 
 the County in which such town is situated, and all such papers 
 filed and recorded in any Town Clerk's office of such towns, 
 and the records thereof shall, immediately after this Act takes 
 effect, be deposited in such County Clerk's office by the town 
 clerks of such towns, and shall remain of record therein. 
 
 726 
 
Code of ordinances ; when to he prima facie evidence. 
 
 Sec. 1556. A code or other volume containing the ordinances 
 and by-laws of the city published by authority of the Municipal 
 Assembly shall ho. prima facie evidence in all courts of justice of 
 the authenticity of such ordinances and by-laws. 
 
 Responsible Guaranty Company may act as surety. 
 
 Sec. 1557. Wherever this Act provides for the giving of an 
 official bond with surety or sureties, such surety or sureties may 
 consist of a responsible Guaranty Company, provided the same 
 shall be satisfactory to, and be approved by the officer or officers, 
 or body whose duty it is to approve such bond or sureties. 
 
 Tenure of office. 
 
 Sec. 1558. All officers elected or appointed under this Act 
 shall, unless otherwise expressly provided and unless sooner re- 
 moved, hold their respective offices until their successors are 
 respectively elected or appointed and have qualified. 
 
 Publication to be made in City Record, unless otherwise provided. 
 
 Sec. 1559. All publications required by this Act shall, unless 
 otherwise provided, be published in the City Record, and one 
 publication therein shall be sufficient, unless it is herein other- 
 wise prescribed. 
 
 Title 8. 
 coroners. 
 
 Coroners to be elected in the Boroughs. 
 
 Section. 1570. Four coroners shall hereafter be elected in 
 the Borough of Manhattan, two in the Borough of The Bronx, 
 two in the Borough of Brooklyn, three in the Borough of Queens 
 and two in the Borough of Richmond. They shall be elected 
 in the same manner and at the same general elections as are the 
 
 727 
 
Sheriffs in the several counties in which such Boroughs are situa- 
 ted, shall hold their respective offices for the same term and be 
 removable in the same manner. The coroners in the Borough 
 of Manhattan shall hereafter keep open on every day in the year, 
 including Sundays and legal holidays, the coroners office in such 
 Borough, with a clerk in constant attendance at all times of the 
 day and night. 
 
 Id.: officers and subordinates provided for ; salaries and compensa- 
 tion. 
 
 Sec. 1571. The Coroners in each Borough shall have an 
 office in said Borough and shall appoint a clerk who shall receive 
 an annual salary to be fixed by the Board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portionment and the Municipal Assembly, and such and so many 
 assistant clerks as shall be provided for in the annual estimate. 
 They shall also appoint a stenographer in each Borough whose 
 duty it shall be to take accurate and full stenographic minutes 
 and transcribe the same, of all proceedings and testimony taken 
 before a jury in any coroner's court, held by any one of said 
 coroners. Each of said coroners shall possess all the powers 
 and perform all the duties by law vested in or imposed upon 
 coroners in this State. The salaries or other compensation of 
 said coroners shall be fixed by the Board of Estimate and Ap- 
 portionment and the Municipal Assembly. 
 
 728 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE COUNTIES AND 
 REPEAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 Title 1. Provisions relating to the Counties. 
 2. Repeal provisions. 
 
 Title 1. 
 
 provisions relating to the counties. 
 
 Wards in the Borough of Brooklyn. How designated. 
 
 Section. 1577. The wards of the former City of Brooklyn 
 are hereby continued, with their present boundaries and num- 
 bers, and shall be known and designated as wards of the Bor- 
 ough of Brooklyn. 
 
 Wards in Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx. How desig- 
 nated. 
 
 Sec. 1578. The wards of the corporation heretofore known 
 as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of New 
 York are hereby continued, with their present boundaries and 
 numbers, and shall be known and designated as wards of the 
 Borough of Manhattan and of The Bronx, respectively. 
 
 Towns and Villages in Richmond Comity abolished. 
 
 Sec. 1579. The five towns an^ all the incorporated villages 
 within the County of Richmond are hereby abolished. 
 
 Wards in the Borough of Richmond. 
 
 Sec. 1580. The territory included within the Towns of Cas- 
 tleton, Middletown, Northfield, Southfield and Westfield, in the 
 County of Richmond, shall, in the order named, be known and 
 
 729 
 
designated as wards One, Two, Three, Four and Five, respect- 
 ively, of the Borough of Richmond. 
 
 Towns in Queens County abolished. Wards in Borough of Queens. 
 
 Sec. 1581. The Towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, 
 and all the incorporated Villages in that part of the County of 
 Queens included within The City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, are hereby abolished. The territory heretofore known 
 as Long Island City shall be known as Ward One of the Borough 
 of Queens ; the Town of Newtown as Ward Two of said Bor- 
 ough ; the Town of Flushing as Ward Three ; the Town of 
 Jamaica as Ward Four; and that part of the Town of Hemp- 
 stead included within The City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act, shall be known as Ward Five of the said Borough of 
 Queens. But the Supervisors of said Towns who are in office 
 when this Act takes effect shall serve out their respective terms 
 of office as Supervisors of the Wards in which they respectively 
 reside, and shall continue to be members of the Board of Super- 
 visors of the County of Queens. 
 
 Municipal Assembly. Power to change boundaries. 
 
 Sec. 1582. The Municipal Assembly may from time to time 
 by ordinance change the boundaries of wards and create other 
 wards as the public good and convenience may require. 
 
 Salaries of county officers in New York, Richmond a?id Kings 
 Counties. How met. 
 
 Sec. 1583. The salaries of all county officers in the Counties 
 of New York, Kings and Richmond shall, unless otherwise pro- 
 vided by law, be fixed by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment, subject to approval by the Municipal Assembly, and all 
 county charges and expenses and salaries of county officers in 
 said counties and each of them shall be audited by the Board of 
 Estimate and Apportionment, and shall be paid by The City of 
 New York, in the same manner as the salaries of city officers 
 and city charges are paid ; but nothing in this section con- 
 tained shall be construed as in any way changing or modify- 
 
 730 
 
ing the provision contained in section 902, of this Act, to the 
 effect that the sums necessary to defray the salaries of County 
 officers and to pay County charges and expenses in said Counties 
 shall be levied and assessed upon the property of said three 
 Counties, respectively, so that each shall ultimately bear and 
 pay all its own County charges. 
 
 Election of county officers required by the Constitution not affected. 
 
 Sec. 1584. Nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed 
 to interfere with or hereafter prevent the election, under and pur- 
 suant to laws relating thereto, of all County Officers required 
 by the Constitution of the State, to be elected in either of the 
 Counties, in whole or in part, included within The City of New 
 York, as constituted by this Act. 
 
 Public Administrator of the County of New York. 
 
 Sec. 1585. Upon the passage of this Act, the ofificial 
 designation of the Public Administrator in the City of New 
 York, as heretofore known and bounded, shall be the Public 
 Administrator of the County of New York, and such officer 
 shall continue a County officer with the powers, duties and 
 obligations now prescribed by law, and the present provisions of 
 law and the present ordinances relating to said Public Adminis- 
 trator shall not be affected by anything herein contained. 
 
 Devolution of poivers vested in Board of Supervisors. 
 
 Sec. 1586. All powers of local legislation and administration 
 in the Counties of New York, Kings and Richmond, which are 
 not, at the time of the taking effect of this Act, vested in Boards 
 of Supervisors of said Counties by an Act, entitled: "An Act 
 to provide for Boards of Supervisors in counties wholly within 
 the limits of a city, but not comprising the whole of such city, 
 and defining the powers and duties thereof," or which are not 
 vested in other county officers required by the Constitution of 
 the State to be maintained in said three counties, respectively, 
 are hereby vested in the Municipal Assembly of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by this Act, except where otherwise 
 vested by this Act in administrative departments or officers 
 of said city. 
 
 731 
 
The office of County Treasurer of the County of Richmond abol- 
 ished. 
 
 Sec. 1587. The office of County Treasurer of the County of 
 Richmond is hereby aboHshed and all the powers, duties and 
 obligations of said County Treasurer are hereby devolved upon 
 the Comptroller of The City of New York, as constituted by 
 this Act. 
 
 Proportion of the debt of the County of Queens assumed by The City 
 of New York : power of Board of Supervisors of said County 
 to bind that part thereof included in The City of New York, 
 restricted. 
 
 Sec. 1588. The proportion of the debt of the County of 
 Queens which shall be assumed by The City of New York, as 
 constituted by this Act, shall be determined in the manner 
 following: 
 
 The Mayor and the Municipal Assembly as representing The 
 City of New York and the Board of Supervisors of the County 
 of Queens, are hereby authorized and empowered to agree, if they 
 can, as to the amount of the debt of the County of Queens, 
 which should equitably and properly be assumed by The City of 
 New York. If the Mayor and the Municipal Assembly of The 
 City of New York and the Board of Supervisors of said County 
 of Queens be unable to agree within six months after this 
 Act takes effect as to the proportion of said debt of the County 
 of Queens to be assumed by The City of New York, the Supreme 
 Court of the Third Judicial District shall have power to deter- 
 mine the proportion of said debt of the County of Queens, to be 
 assumed by said city, and to enforce such award, decision and 
 determination as shall be made in the premises, in a suit in equity 
 to be brought by, and in the name of either of said parties not 
 less than six months nor more than one year after the taking effect 
 of this Act. Nothing herein contained shall impair the obligation 
 of ^anyjcontract ; and the property and inhabitants of such parts 
 ofj^the County of Queens, as are by^this Act consolidated with 
 the corporation heretofore known as the^Mayor, Aldermen and 
 Commonalty of The City of New York, shall continue liable to 
 
 732 
 
the existing creditors of the said County of Queens, in like man- 
 ner as if this Act had not been passed. But from and after the 
 taking effect of this Act, the Board of Supervisors of said 
 County of Queens shall have no power to issue any bond, 
 obligation or other evidence of indebtedness which shall bind or 
 render liable the property or the inhabitants of any part of said 
 County included within The City of New York as hereby 
 constituted. 
 
 Proportion of the debt of the Town of Hempstead to be assumed by 
 the City : power of Town Board of said Town to bind that 
 part thereof included in the City of New York, restricted. 
 
 Sec. 1589. The proportion of the debt of the Town of 
 Hempstead which shall be assumed by The City of New York, 
 as constituted by this Act, shall be determined in the following 
 manner : 
 
 The Mayor and the Municipal Assembly, as representing the 
 City of New York and the Town Board of the Town of Hemp- 
 stead are hereby authorized and empowered to agree if they can, 
 as to the amount of the debt of the Town of Hempstead, which 
 should equitably and properly be assumed by The City of New 
 York. If the Mayor and the Municipal Assembly of the said 
 City and the Town Board of said town be unable to agree within 
 six months after this Act takes effect as to the proportion of 
 said debt of the Town of Hempstead to be assumed by The City 
 of New York, the Supreme Court of the Third Judicial District 
 shall have power to determine the proportion of said debt of the 
 Town of Hempstead to be assumed by said City, and to enforce 
 such award, decision and determination as shall be made in the 
 premises in a suit in equity to be brought by and in the name 
 of either of said parties not less than six months nor more than 
 one year after this Act takes effect. 
 
 Nothing herein contained shall impair the obligation of any 
 contract ; and the property and inhabitants of such part of the 
 Town of Hempstead as is by this Act consoHdated with the 
 corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Com- 
 monalty of the City of New York, shall continue liable to the 
 
 733 
 
existing creditors of the said Town of Hempstead, in like man- 
 ner as if this Act had not been passed. But from and after the 
 taking effect of this Act, the Town Board of said Town of 
 Hempstead shall have no power to issue any bond, obligation 
 or other evidence of indebtedness which shall bind or render 
 liable the property or inhabitants of any part of said Town 
 included within The City of New York as hereby constituted. 
 
 Disposition of real and personal property ozuned by or lie Id in trust 
 for the Town of Hempstead. 
 
 Sec. 1590. All the real property owned by the Town of 
 Hempstead and situated in that part of said Town included 
 within The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, is 
 hereby vested in the said City of New York and divested out of 
 the Town of Hempstead, and all of the real property owned by 
 the Town of Hempstead and situated elsewhere in said town is 
 hereby vested in the Town of Hempstead and divested out of 
 the said City of New York. 
 
 All of the property owned by the Town of Hempstead other 
 than real property, including money, investments, securities on 
 investments and money held in trust for the benefit of said town, 
 directly or indirectly, shall be divided between the said Town 
 and The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, and 
 the proportion of the same to which each shall, in equity 
 and good conscience, be entitled to receive upon such div- 
 ision, shall be ascertained and determined by agreement by 
 and between the Town Board of the Town of Hempstead, upon 
 the one side, and the Mayor and the Municipal Assembly of the 
 said City of New York, upon the other side, and in case of their 
 inability to agree upon such division within six months after this 
 Act shall take effect, the Supreme Court in the Third Judicial 
 District is hereby empowered to divide the same between them 
 and to ascertain and award to each its equitable proportion 
 thereof, and to enforce its determination thereon, and either of 
 the said Municipalities may institute and prosecute, in its own 
 name, an action in equity in said Court for that purpose after 
 the expiration of six months and before the expiration of one 
 year after this Act takes effect. 
 
 734 
 
Proportion of funds a?td moneys received by the City which should 
 be returned to Queens County or paid to the Comptroller of the 
 State ; how determined. 
 
 Sec. 1591. The Mayor and the Municipal Assembly of The 
 City of New York, as constituted by this Act, and the Board of 
 Supervisors of the County of Queens, are also authorized and 
 empowered to determine what proportion of the funds and 
 moneys that may be received by The City of New York, pursu- 
 ant to the provisions of this Act, from any ofificer of any of 
 the municipal and public corporations or parts of municipal 
 and public corporations within the County of Queens, and 
 hereby consolidated with the corporation heretofore knov/n as 
 the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of New 
 York, should be refunded or repaid to the County of Queens, as 
 representing taxes levied and assessed for the payment of county 
 charges and expenses within said county, and in like manner 
 what proportion of said moneys that may be so received, were 
 levied for State taxes payable by said County of Queens for the 
 year 1898, and should therefore be turned over to the Comp- 
 troller of the State in payment and discharge of said county's 
 obligation to the State in that regard for the year 1898. If the 
 Mayor and the Municipal Assembly, and the said Board of 
 Supervisors of the County of Queens be unable within three 
 months after this Act takes effect to agree as to any or either 
 of said matters, then the Supreme Court of the Third Judicial 
 District shall have power to determine in each case where a dis- 
 agreement occurs upon said matters, and each of them, and to 
 enforce such determination and decision in a suit in equity, to 
 be brought in the name of the Supervisors of said County of 
 Queens, or of the Comptroller of the State, as the case may be, 
 not less than six months nor more than one year after this Act 
 takes effect. 
 
 Board of Supervisors of Queens County not to levy any tax upon 
 that part of said County witlmi the City. 
 
 Sec. 1592. No tax either for State or for County purposes 
 shall, after the taking effect of this Act, be levied by the Board 
 of Supervisors of the County of Queens upon any property 
 
 735 
 
situated in that part of said County within The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted. 
 
 Comptroller of State to determine amount of County charges of 
 Queens Coufity to be borne by the City. 
 
 Sec. 1593. The Comptroller of the State shall have power 
 and is hereby authorized to determine on or before the first 
 day of October in each year the amount of the county charges and 
 expenses which should be equitably borne by that part of the 
 County of Queens situated within The City of New York, as 
 hereby constituted, and to report the amount thereof to the 
 Comptroller of said City. The amount so determined by the 
 Comptroller of the State, shall be levied and assessed by the 
 Municipal Assembly of said city upon that part of the County of 
 Queens included within said city, and shall be collected by said 
 city, and as fast as the same is collected, shall be paid over by 
 said city to the County Treasurer of the County of Queens, or 
 to such other officer of said county as may by law be authorized 
 to receive the same. 
 
 Comptroller of State to determine amount of State tax to be paid by the part 
 of Queens County wiihiti the City ; how levied and collected. 
 
 Sec. 1594. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller of the 
 State, on or before the first day of October in each year, to 
 compute and apportion the amount of tax for State purposes 
 which should be paid by that part of the County of Queens 
 by this Act included in The City of New York and to transmit 
 •a statement of such amount to the Comptroller of The City of 
 New York for levy and collection by said city. The amount of 
 which a statement is thus transmitted, shall be levied upon and 
 collected from the entire property within the territorial limits of 
 said city in like manner as other expenses of the City. 
 
 Comptroller to transmit to the City a statement of the State ta^ to be paid 
 by New York, Kings and Richmond Counties : how levied and col- 
 lected. 
 
 Sec. 1595. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller of the 
 State annually to transmit to the Comptroller of The City of 
 
 736 
 
New York, as hereby constituted, for levy and collection by said 
 city, a statement of the amount of tax for State purposes to be 
 paid by the Counties of New York, Kings and Richmond, 
 respectively. The amount, of which a statement is thus trans- 
 mitted by the Comptroller of the State to the Comptroller of 
 said City, shall be levied upon and collected from the entire 
 property within the territorial limits of said City in like manner 
 as other expenses of said City. 
 
 Comptroller of State to apportion Queens County School moneys. 
 
 Sec. 1596. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller of the 
 State, and he is hereby authorized to make on or before the 
 first day of February in each year, an apportionment of the 
 school moneys which should equitably be assigned to that part 
 of the County of Queens included within The City of New 
 York, as hereby constituted. Such portion of said school moneys 
 as shall by the Comptroller of the State be determined to belong 
 to that part of the County of Queens included within The City 
 of New York, shall be transmitted to the Chamberlain of said 
 city for the uses and purposes provided for in the Chapter on 
 Education contained in this Act. 
 
 School moneys for New York, Kings and Richmond Counties to be trans- 
 mitted to the City. 
 
 Sec. 1597. All school moneys which may after the taking 
 effect of this Act be allotted to the Counties of New York, Kings 
 and Richmond, respectively, shall be transmitted to the Cham- 
 berlain of The City of New York for the uses and purposes pro- 
 vided for in the Chapter on Education contained in this Act. 
 
 737 
 
Title 2. 
 repeal provisions — effect of this act. 
 
 Inconsistent provisions of Consolidation Act repealed. 
 
 Sec. 1608. The Act of the Legislature of the State of New 
 York, passed July i, 1882, known as the New York City Con- 
 solidation Act of 1882, and Acts amendatory thereof, and sup- 
 plemental thereto, and other Acts of the Legislature of the State 
 of New York now in force relating to or affecting the local gov- 
 ernment of the City of New York, are hereby repealed so far as 
 any provisions thereof are inconsistent with the provisions of 
 this Act, or so far as the subject matter thereof is revised or 
 included in this Act, and no further. So far as the provisions of 
 this Act are the same in terms or in substance and effect as the 
 provisions of the said Consolidation Act, or of other Acts of the 
 Legislature now in force relating to or affecting the municipal 
 and public corporations, or any of them herein united and con- 
 solidated, this Act is intended to be not a new enactment, but a 
 continuation of the said Consolidation Act of 1882, and said 
 other Acts, and is intended to apply the provisions thereof as 
 herein njodified to the City of New York as herein constituted, 
 and til is Act shall accordingly be so construed and applied. 
 
 Omission of previous acts not to be construed as repealed. 
 
 Sec. 1609. The mere omission from this Act of any previous 
 acts or ol any of the provisions thereof, including said Con- 
 solidation Act of 1882, relating to or affecting the municipal 
 and public corporations or any of them which are herem united 
 and consolidated, shall not be held to be a repeal thereof. 
 
 Acts applicable to The City of Nezv York. 
 
 Sec. 1610. All the provisions of all acts of the Legislature of 
 the State of New York, including said Consolidation Act of 
 1882, of a general and permanent character, relating to the 
 corporation heretofore known as the Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the City of New York, in force at the 
 time this Act goes into effect, which are consistent with 
 
 738 
 
this Act and its purposes, and which are not revised and 
 included in or the subject matter thereof covered by this 
 Act, are hereby extended to the City of New York as 
 herein constituted, so far as they are consistent with this Act, 
 and are not in their nature locally inapplicable to other portions 
 of the city than the corporation heretofore known as the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York. 
 And the provisions of law thus extended to the City of New 
 York as herein constituted shall apply to said city throughout 
 its whole extent, anything to the contrary notwithstanding 
 contained in the charter of any of the municipal or public 
 corporations or laws relating thereto, which are by this Act 
 united and consolidated with the corporation heretofore known 
 as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New 
 York. 
 
 To take effect January 1, 1898. 
 
 Sec. 1611. For the purpose of determining the effect of this 
 Act upon other acts and the efifect of other acts upon this Act, 
 this Act shall, except as in this section is otherwise provided, 
 be deemed to have been enacted on the first day of January* 
 in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. 
 This Act shall take effect on the first day of January, one 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight : provided, how- 
 ever, that where by the terms of this Act an election is pro- 
 vided or required to be held or other act done or forbidden 
 prior to January i, 1898, then as to such election and such 
 acts, this Act shall take effect from and after its passage, and 
 shall be in force immediately, anything in this chapter or Act 
 to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Invalidity of one section not to invalidate any other section. 
 
 Sec. 1612. The invalidity of any section or provision of this 
 Act shall not invalidate any other section or provision thereof. 
 
 Interregnum ; how prevented. 
 
 Sec. 1613. To guard against the inconvenience and effects that 
 might arise from the changes in local government effected by 
 this Act, and to prevent an interregnum, and otherwise to carry 
 
 Y39 
 
out the purposes and provisions of this Act, it is hereby enacted 
 that until this Act and its several provisions shall take effect all 
 existing acts shall remain in force, and all officers in office when 
 this Act takes effect shall remain in office until their successors 
 are respectively elected and appointed and shall have qualified 
 under the provisionsof this Act. And for the purposes afore- 
 said as well as for any other purpose necessary or proper 
 to effectuate the scheme and objects of this Act, and to carry 
 into effect the powers granted by this Act to The City of New 
 York, the Municipal Assembly shall have power by ordinances 
 to make from time to time all such provisions concerning the 
 local rule and government of The City of New York as herein 
 constituted, and each and all of its departments as it may find 
 necessary or deem needful not inconsistent with the Constitution 
 and Laws of the State and the express provisions of this Act. 
 
 Existing rights and remedies preserved. 
 
 Sec. 1614. No right or remedy of any character shall be lost 
 or impaired or affected by reason of this Act. This Act shall 
 not affect or impair any act done or right accruing, accrued or 
 acquired, or penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred prior 
 to the time when this Act takes effect or by virtue of any laws 
 repealed or modified b}' this Act, but the same may be asserted, 
 enforced, prosecuted or inflicted as fully and to the same ex- 
 tent as if this Act had not been passed or said laws had not 
 been repealed or modified ; and all actions, suits, proceed- 
 ings or prosecutions under the New York City Consolidation 
 Act of 1882 or amendments thereof, or other laws relating to 
 the City of New York and herein repealed or modified, or 
 under any charter or law relating to any of the municipal and 
 public corporations which are herein united and consolidated, 
 and pending when this Act takes effect, including the Counties 
 of Kings and Richmond, may be prosecuted and defended 
 to final effect in the same manner as they might under 
 the laws then existing, unless herein otherwise specially 
 provided ; and such actions, suits, proceedings or prosecutions 
 may be continued without change of name or title, or on 
 motion The City of New York may be substituted as plaintiff 
 or defendant, as the case may be, in the place of the existing 
 
 740 
 
party to whose rights and obligations the said City of New 
 York has by force of this Act succeeded. The Corporation 
 Counsel shall assume the charge, direction and control of all 
 such actions, suits and proceedings in behalf of The City of 
 New York. All future suits by or against The City of New 
 York as herein constituted or against any of the municipal and 
 public corporations in this Act united and consolidated shall 
 be in the corporate name of " The City of New York." 
 
 Powers of Corporations consolidated devolved upon The City of 
 New York. 
 
 Sec. 1615. Upon the taking effect of this Act on the first day 
 of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all the munici- 
 pal and public corporations, except counties, which by this Act 
 are consolidated with the corporation heretofore known as 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, 
 shall cease and determine, and their powers to the full extent 
 of legislative power in this behalf are respectively devolved 
 upon the corporation of The City of New York as herein con- 
 stituted and the Municipal Assembly thereof, unless otherwise 
 expressly provided in this Act or by law. And all offices 
 forming part of the local government of the said municipal and 
 public corporations and parts thereof, including cities, villages, 
 towns and school-districts, but not including counties, which, 
 by the first section of this Act, are united and consolidated 
 into The City of New York, as herein constituted, are hereby 
 abolished as to all the territory embraced within the limits of 
 said city, except as herein otherwise expressly provided. The 
 foregoing does not include the office of Recorder of the former 
 City of New York, which is hereby continued under the name 
 and title of Recorder of the County of New York. 
 
 Forfeiture or loss of property not worked. 
 
 Sec. 1616. Neither the above nor any other provisions of this 
 Act shall work any forfeiture or loss of any property or rights 
 therein or relating thereto held in trust by said municipal and 
 public corporations or any of them, or to which they or any of 
 them are or may be entitled ; and The City of New York as 
 
 741 
 
herein constituted is hereby declared to be the successor in 
 respect of such property and rights of the said municipal or 
 public corporation to which the same was granted ; and the 
 said City of New York shall hold the same, as well as all other 
 property and rights to which such corporation may be entitled, 
 as successor, on the same trusts and charged with the same 
 duties as the municipal or public corporation to which it was 
 granted. 
 
 Franchises and other grants not affected. 
 
 Sec. 1617. Neither this Act nor anything contained therein 
 shall affect any grants of franchises or properties or rights of 
 any nature in, to or concerning property of any character or 
 other grants made by the NicoUs' Charter, the Dongan Charter, 
 the Cornbury Charter, the Montgomerie Charter, by the Con- 
 firmatory Act passed the 14th day of October, 1732, or by any 
 other Charter or Act granted to the corporation known as the 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, 
 by the State of New York, or granted by said State to the City 
 of Brooklyn or to any of the other municipal and public corpor- 
 ations which are herein united and consolidated into The City 
 of New York, and each and all of said grants are to all intents 
 and purposes hereby ratified, granted, confirmed and extended 
 to the City of New York as constituted by this Act. 
 
 This Act: how repealed or amended. 
 
 Sec. 1618. This Act or any section or provision thereof shall 
 not be deemed to be repealed or amended by any act of the 
 Legislature, unless it be so expressly stated, or the Legislative 
 intention to that effect is unmistakable. 
 
 Chapter 91^ of the laws of 1896 not repealed. 
 
 Sec. 1619. Nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed 
 to repeal the provisions of Chapter 942 of the Laws of 1896. 
 
 This Act a Public Act. 
 
 Sec. 1620. This Act, providing for uniting into one muni- 
 cipality various communities, including the City and County of 
 
 742 
 
New York, the City of Brooklyn, the County of Kings, the- 
 County of Richmond, and part of the County of Queens with 
 the municipal and public corporations therein, as in this Act 
 provided, is intended to be and shall be deemed and held in all 
 courts and jurisdictions to be a public act, of which the courts 
 shall take judicial notice. And this Act shall be construed not 
 as an act in derogation of the powers of the State but as one 
 intended to aid the State in the execution of its duties by pro-^ 
 viding, subject to the Constitution and laws of the State and 
 the provisions and limitations herein contained, an adequate 
 scheme of local government for the communities and people 
 affected, through the instrumentality of the corporate body 
 herein constituted under the name of " The City OF New 
 York." 
 
 743 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
AN ACT 
 
 To provide for Boards of Supervisors in Counties 
 v^holly within tlie limits of a city but not 
 comprising the whole of such city, and defin- 
 ing the powers and duties thereof. 
 
 The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and 
 Assembly do enact as follows : 
 
 Sec. I. In every County of the State wholly included within 
 the limits of a city but not comprising the whole of such city, 
 there shall be a Board of Supervisors to be composed of the 
 members of the Municipal Assembly, Board of Aldermen, 
 Common Council or other legislative body of such city who 
 shall be elected as such and also as Supervisors by the people 
 of the County. 
 
 Sec. 2. Every such Board of Supervisors may act as a Board 
 of County canvassers, and shall, in case the County be en- 
 titled to more than one member of Assembly, have the power 
 of dividing the County into Assembly Districts as provided by 
 section 5 of Article III. of the Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 3. Every such Board of Supervisors shall have no other 
 or further powers of local legislation or administration, and 
 shall have no power to incur any debt. 
 
 Sec. 4. The members of every such Board of Supervisors 
 shall serve as such without compensation and without other or 
 further compensation than is received by them as members of 
 the Municipal Assembly, Board of Aldermen, Common Council, 
 or other legislative body of the city within which the County 
 is included. 
 
 747 
 
Sec. 5. The term of office of each member of every such 
 Board of Supervisors shall be co-extensive with and no longer 
 
 than his term of office as member of said Municipal Assembly, 
 Board of Aldermen, Common Council, or other legislative 
 body of the city within which the County is located. 
 
 Sec. 6. All Acts and parts of Acts heretofore passed by the 
 Legislature which are in an}' respect in conflict or inconsistent 
 with the provisions hereof or any of them, are hereby repealed. 
 
 Sec. 7. Each and ever}'^ Board of Supervisors in existence 
 prior to January ist, 1898, in any County of the State falling 
 within the provisions of section i of this Act, shall from and after 
 said January ist, 1898, be abolished ; and all the rights, powers 
 and duties which by law were vested in any such Board of 
 Supervisors prior to said January ist, 1898, are hereby wholly 
 abrogated except as herein provided. 
 
 Sec. 8. This Act shall take effect immediately save as other] 
 wise herein provided. 
 
 748 
 
AN ACT 
 
 Relating to the Election of City Officers of the 
 City of New York, as constituted by the 
 Greater New York Charter, at the general 
 election to be held in November, in the year 
 Eighteen Hundred and Ninety=seven, and for 
 the canvass and return of the votes thereof, 
 and the determination of persons elected 
 thereat. 
 
 Section 1. Unless otherwise provided in this Act, the 
 officers or boards charged with the execution of the provisions 
 of the election law shall continue to do and perform such Acts 
 as they are required by the election law to do and perform within 
 The City of New York, as constituted by the Greater New York 
 Charter. 
 
 Sec. 2. The provisions of the election law, constituting 
 Chapter 6 of the General Laws, applicable to cities of the first 
 class relating to the registration of electors, the conduct of the 
 election and the canvass and return of the votes for a General 
 Election which are not inconsistent with or contrary to the pro- 
 visions of this Act, shall be deemed to apply to all election dis- 
 tricts within the boundaries of The City of New York, as con- 
 stituted by the Greater New York Charter, for and at the general 
 election to be held in the year 1897, in and for such election 
 districts. 
 
 Sec. 3. The town board of the town of Hempstead, in the 
 County of Queens shall, on or before the first day of July in the 
 year 1897, divide such town into election districts which shall 
 
 749 
 
contain as near as may be four hundred electors. Such election 
 districts so created shall be compact in form, and shall be respec- 
 tively wholly within or wholly without the boundary, within 
 such town, of The City of New York, as constituted as aforesaid. 
 
 Sec. 4. Certificates of nomination of candidates for a city 
 office to be voted for at the general election in the year 1897, 
 in The City of New York or any part thereof, as constituted by 
 the Greater New York Charter, shall be filed as follows : 
 
 Certificates of nomination of candidates to be voted for by 
 all the electors within the territory of The City of New York, 
 constituted as aforesaid, shall be filed with the Board of Police 
 Commissioners of the City of New York. Said Board shall 
 forthwith file a certified copy of each such certificate with the 
 Board of Elections of the City of Brooklyn, and with the county 
 clerk of the Counties of Richmond and Queens, respectively. 
 
 Certificates of nomination of candidates to be voted for by 
 only the electors or a portion of the electors of the county of 
 New York, shall be filed with the Board of Police Commissioners 
 of The City of New York. 
 
 Certificates of nomination of candidates to be voted for by 
 only the electors or a portion of the electors of Kings County, 
 shall be filed with the Board of Elections of the City of Brooklyn. 
 
 Certificates of nomination of candidates to be voted for by 
 only the electors or a portion of the electors of the county of 
 Richmond or the county of Queens shall be filed with the clerk 
 of such counties, respectively. 
 
 Sec. 5. At the general election to be held in the year 1897, 
 tTie Board of Inspectors in each election district within The City 
 of New York, as constituted by the Greater New York Charter, 
 shall, forthwith, upon the completion of the count of votes for 
 each city office, respectively, and the announcement thereof, 
 deliver at the place of canvass to the police officer or constable 
 present, or if there be no police officer or constable present, 
 then to some other person authorized by such board to file the 
 same, a statement subscribed by the Board of Inspectors, stating 
 
 750 
 
the number of votes received by each candidate for such office 
 in such election district. Such statement shall forthwith be 
 conveyed by the officer or person to whom it is delivered to the 
 police headquarters of the precinct or other police division in 
 which the place of canvass is located, and he shall deliver it 
 inviolate to the officer in command thereof, who shall immedi- 
 ately transmit by telegraph, telephone or messenger the contents 
 of such statement to the Chief of PoHce of The City of New York 
 at police headquarters in such city. Such statements shall be 
 preserved by the police for six months, and shall be presumptive 
 evidence of the true result of such| canvass for each such office. 
 
 Sec. 6. The County Board of Canvassers of the counties 
 which are wholly or partly within The City of New York, as 
 constituted by the Greater New York Charter, shall be the 
 Board of Canvassers of the votes cast therein for a city office 
 at the general election to be held in the year 1897, and in 
 addition to the statements required to be made by them by the 
 election law, shall make and certify a separate statement of the 
 votes cast for each city office voted for by the electors of such 
 respective counties or any portion thereof in the same form 
 as prescribed for other like statements made by such board. All 
 such statements shall be filed by the secretary of the res- 
 pective county boards of canvassers of such counties with the 
 Board of Police Commissioners of The City of New York on or 
 before the day succeeding the election. 
 
 Sec. 7. The Board of Police Commissioners of The City of 
 New York shallbe the City Board of Caavassers of The City of 
 New York, as constituted by the Greater New York Charter, of 
 the statements of the votes cast at the election in the year 1897 
 for municipal officers in The City of New York so constituted, 
 or any part thereof. Three members of such board shall consti- 
 tute a quorum. If three of such officers shall not attend on a 
 day duly appointed for a meeting of the board, the secretary of 
 the board shall forthwith notify the Mayor and Recorder of The 
 City of New York to attend such meeting, and they shall forth- 
 with attend accordingly, and shall, with the other 'members of 
 
 751 
 
the Board of Police Commissioners attending, constitute such 
 board. The chief clerk of the Board of Police shall be the 
 secretary of the City Board of Canvassers created by this 
 Act. The President of the Board of Police Commissioners shall 
 be the president of the Board of Canvassers, and he shall 
 appoint a meeting of such board at police headquarters in The 
 City of New York on the first Monday of December next 
 after such election to canvass the statements of the Boards 
 of County Canvassers of such elections for city officers. He 
 shall notify each member of the board of such meeting. The 
 board may adjourn such meeting from day to day not exceed- 
 ing a term of five days. 
 
 Sec. 8. Said board shall, at such meeting, proceed to 
 canvass the certified statements of the county Board of Can- 
 vassers of each county in which such election was held. If any 
 member of such board shall dissent from a decision of the 
 board, or shall deem any of the acts or proceedings of the board 
 to be irregular, and shall protest against the same, he shall state 
 such dissent or protest in writing signed by him, setting forth 
 his reasons therefor, and deliver it to the secretary of the board, 
 who shall file it in his office. Upon the completion of such 
 canvass, such board shall make separate tabulated statements 
 signed by the members of such board, or a majority thereof, of 
 the whole number of votes cast for all the candidates for each 
 office shown by such certified statements to have been voted 
 for, and of the whole number of votes cast for each of such 
 candidates, indicating the number of votes cast in each county 
 therefor, and if the voters of not more than one county or 
 portion of such county were entitled to vote for such candi- 
 dates, the name and portion of such county, and the name of 
 each candidate, and the determination of the board of the 
 persons thereby elected to such office by the greatest number 
 of votes. Each such statement and determination shall be filed 
 and recorded in the office of the clerk of the Board of Aldermen 
 of The City of New York, who shall cause the publication 
 thereof to be made once in at least two newspapers in each county 
 or portion of the county within The City of New York, as 
 
 752 
 
constituted by the Greater New York Charter, and also a 
 detailed statement thereof to be published in the City Record 
 showing the votes cast in each election district for each such 
 city ofifice. 
 
 Sec. 9. Upon the completion of such canvass by such 
 board and the determination thereof, the president of the Board 
 of Police Commissioners shall forthwith transmit a certificate of 
 election to each person shown thereby to have been elected to 
 ofifice. Such certificate shall be contersigned by the secretary 
 of the board under the seal of the City and County of New 
 York. 
 
 Sec. 10. This Act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 
AN ACT 
 
 To amend Chapter nine hundred and nine of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, 
 known as the Election Law, and entitled 
 **An Act in relation to the Elections, con- 
 stituting Chapter six of the general laws.'* 
 
 The People of the State of New York represented in the Senate 
 and Assembly do enact as follows. 
 
 Section 1. Section five of chapter nine hundred and nine 
 of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-six, being an act 
 entitled "An Act in relation to the elections, constituting chap- 
 ter six of the general laws," is hereby amended to read as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Notite of Elections by Secretary of State and County Clerk. 
 
 §5. The secretary of state shall, at least three months be- 
 fore each general election, make and transmit to the county clerk 
 of each county, and the Police Board of The City of New York, a 
 notice under his hand and official seal, stating the day upon 
 which such election shall be held, and stating each officer, 
 except city, village and town officers, who may be lawfully 
 voted for at such election by the electors of such county or any 
 part thereof. If any such officer is to be elected to fill a va- 
 cancy, the notice shall so state. The secretary of state shall 
 forthwith, upon the filing in his office of the governor's procla- 
 mation ordering a special election, make and transmit to each 
 County Clerk and to the Police Board of The City of New York, 
 alike notice of the officers to be voted for at such special election 
 in such county or city or any part thereof, and cause such procla- 
 mation to be published in the two newspapers published in such 
 county having the largest circulation therein, at least once a week 
 
 764 
 
until such election shall be held. Each County Clerk shall forth- 
 with, upon the receipt of either such notice, file and record it in his 
 office, and shall cause a copy of such notice to be published once 
 in each week until the election therein specified in the newspapers 
 designated to publish election notices. He shall also publish 
 as a part of such notice, each city, village and town officer who 
 may lawfully be voted for at such election by the electors of such 
 county or any part thereof. 
 
 Sec. 2. Section six of said act is hereby amended so as to 
 read as follows : 
 
 Notice of submission of proposed constitutional amendments or 
 other propositions or questions. 
 
 §6. Every amendment to the constitution proposed by the 
 legislature, unless otherwise provided by law, <;hall be submitted 
 to the people for approval at the next general election, afteraction 
 by the legislature in accordance with the constitution; and 
 whenever any such proposed amendment to the constitution or 
 other proposition, or question provided by law to be submitted 
 to a popular vote, shall be submitted to the people for their 
 approval, the secretary of state shall include in his notice to the 
 County Clerk an-d the Police Board of The City of New York, of 
 the general election, a copy of such amendment, proposition or 
 question, and if more than one such amendment, proposition or 
 question is to be voted upon at such election, such amendment, 
 proposition or question, respectively, shall be separately and con- 
 secutively numbered. If such amendment, proposition or question 
 is to be submitted at a special election, the secretary of state shall, 
 at least twenty days before the election, make and transmit to 
 each County Clerk and the Police Board of The City of New York 
 a like notice. Each County Clerk shall, forthwith upon the 
 receipt of such notice, file and record it in his office, and shall 
 cause a copy of such notice to be published once a week until 
 the election therein specified, in the newspapers designated to 
 publish election notices. 
 
 Sec. 3. Section eight of said Act is hereby amended so as 
 to read as follows : 
 
 755 
 
Creation^ division and alteration of Election Districts. 
 
 §8. Every town, or ward of a city, not subdivided into election 
 districts shall be an election district. The Town Board of every 
 town containing more than four hundred electors, and the Com- 
 mon Council of every City except New York, in which there 
 shall be a ward containing more than four hundred electors, 
 shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, whenever 
 necessary so to do, divide such town or ward respectively into 
 election districts, each of which shall be compact in form, wholly 
 within the town or ward, and shall contain respectively as near 
 as may be, four hundred electors, but no such ward or town shall 
 be again divided into election districts until, at some general 
 election, the number of votes cast in one or more districts 
 thereof shall exceed six hundred ; and in such a case the 
 redivision shall apply only to the town or ward in which such 
 district is situated. If any part of a city shall be within a town, 
 the town board shall divide into election districts only that part 
 of the town which is outside of the city. No election district 
 including any part of a city shall include any part of a town 
 outside of a city. A town or a ward of a city containing less 
 than four hundred electors may, at least thirty days before the 
 election or appointment (where appointment is directed to be 
 made by law) of inspectors of election of such town or ward, be 
 divided into election districts by the board or other body charged 
 with such duty when, in the judgment of such board or body, 
 the convenience of the electors shall be promoted thereby. The 
 creation, division or alteration of an election district outside of a 
 city shall take effect immediately after the next town meeting, 
 and at such next town meeting inspectors of election shall be 
 elected for each election district as constituted by such creation, 
 division or alteration. If the creation, division or alteration of 
 an election district is rendered necessary by the creation or alter- 
 ation of a town, or ward of a city, it shall take effect immediate- 
 ly, but a new town or ward shall not be created, and no new 
 town or ward shall be subdivided into election districts between 
 the first day of August of any year, and the day of the general 
 election next thereafter. If inspectors are not elected or ap- 
 
 756 
 
pointed for such district outside of a city before September the 
 first next thereafter, the town board of the town shall appoint 
 four inspectors of election for such district. 
 
 If a town shall include a city, or a portion of a city, only 
 such election districts as are wholly outside of the city shall be 
 deemed election districts of the town, except for the purpose of 
 town meetings. 
 
 The Police Board of The City of New York shall divide 
 such City into Election Districts on or before the first day of 
 July in any year whenever necessary so to do as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 The Election Districts existing pursuant to the provisions 
 of law in the year 1897 in the Counties of New York and 
 Kings shall continue with their present boundaries until at some 
 general election for the office of governor the number of regis- 
 tered electors therein shall exceed six hundred, provided, how- 
 ever, that any Election District containing less than seventy- 
 five electors in such counties, made necessary by the crossing 
 of congressional lines with other political divisions, may be con- 
 solidated with contiguous Election Districts in any year when 
 no representative in Congress is to be voted for in such districts. 
 
 On or before the first day of July in the year 1898 the Police 
 Board of The City of New York shall divide that portion of 
 such City that is outside the Counties of New York and Kings 
 into Election Districts which shall be compact in form and shall 
 contain as near as may be four hundred electors as shown by 
 the registration of electors for the general election held therein 
 in the year 1897. Such Election Districts so established in The 
 City of New York shall not again be changed until at some 
 general election for the office of governor the number of regis- 
 tered electors therein shall exceed six hundred, except where 
 changes are made necessary by a change in the boundaries of 
 Congressional, Senate or Assembly Districts or Ward lines, 
 provided, however, that when the number of registered electors 
 in any Election District shall for two consecutive years, be less 
 than two hundred and fifty, such District may be consolidated 
 with contiguous Election Districts in the discretion of said Police 
 Board. 
 
 757 
 
In that portion of The City of New York within the County 
 of New York each Election District shall be compact in form 
 entirely within an Assembly District and numbered in consecu- 
 tive order therein respectively. In that portion of The City of 
 New York outside of the County of New York each Election 
 District shall be compact in form, entirely within a Ward and 
 numbered in consecutive order therein respectively. 
 
 Except as heretofore provided no Election District shall 
 contain portions of two Counties, or two Congressional, Senate 
 or Assembly Districts or two Wards. Each town and each part 
 of a town included in The City of New York, as constituted by 
 the Greater New York Charter, shall be respectively deemed to 
 be a Ward within the meaning of this Section. 
 
 Sec. 4. Section ten of said act is hereby amended so as to 
 read as follows: 
 
 Designation of places for registry and voting, publication of same; 
 and provision of furniture therefor. 
 
 §10. On the first Tuesday of September in each year, the 
 town board of each town, and the common council of each city, 
 except New York, and the Police Board of The City of New York, 
 shall designate the place in each election district in the city or 
 town at which the meeting for the registration of electors and 
 the election shall be held during the year. Each room so 
 designated shall be of a reasonable size, sufficient to admit and 
 comfortably accommodate at least ten electors at a time outside 
 of the guard rails. No building, or part of a building, 
 shall be so designated in any city if within thirty days before 
 such designation, intoxicating liquors, ale or beer, shall have 
 been sold in any part thereof. No room shall be so designated 
 elsewhere than in a city, if within thirty days before sueh desig- 
 nation, intoxicating liquors, ale or beer, shall have been sold in 
 such room, or in a room adjoining thereto, with a door or pas- 
 sage-way between the two rooms. No intoxicating liquors, ale 
 or beer shall be sold in such building in a city or such room or 
 adjoining room elsewhere after such designation and before the 
 general election next thereafter, or be allowed in any room in 
 
 758 
 
which an election is held during the day of the election or the 
 canvass of the votes. Any person or persons violating the pro- 
 visions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 If any place so designated shall thereafter and before the close 
 of the election be destroyed, or for any reason become unfit for 
 use, or cannot for any reason be used for such purpose, the offi- 
 cers charged with the designation of a place for such election 
 shall forthwith designate some other suitable place for holding 
 such election. Not more than one polling place shall be in the 
 same room, and not more than two polling places shall be in the 
 same building. The officers authorized to designate such places 
 in any town or city, shall provide for each polling place at such 
 election, the necessary ballot and other boxes, guard rails, voting 
 booths and supplies therein, and the other furniture of such 
 polling place, necessary for the lawful conduct of each election 
 thereat, shall preserve the same when not in use, and shall 
 deliver all such ballot and other boxes for each polling place, 
 with the keys thereof, to the inspectors of election of each elec- 
 tion district at least one-half hour before the opening of the polls 
 at each election. The officers authorized to designate the regis- 
 tration and polling places in any city, except The City of 
 New York, shall cause to be published in two newspapers 
 within such city a list of such places so designated, and the 
 boundaries of each election district in which such registra- 
 tion and polling place is located. Such publication shall be 
 made in the newspapers so selected upon each day of regis- 
 tration and the day of election, and on the day prior to each 
 such days. One of such newspapers so selected shall be one 
 which advocates the principles of the political party polling the 
 highest number of votes in the state at the last preceding elec- 
 tion for governor, and the other newspaper so designated shall 
 be one which advocates the principles of the political party poll- 
 ing the next highest number of votes for governor at said elec- 
 tion. 
 
 The Police Board of The City of New York shall cause to be 
 published in two newspapers in each County wholly or partly 
 within such City a list of the registration and polling places so 
 designated in each Borough in such respective Counties and the 
 
 759 
 
boundaries of each Election District therein in which such regis- 
 tration and polling place is located. Such publication shall be 
 made in such newspapers upon each day of registration and the 
 day of election and on the day prior to each of such days. 
 Such publications shall be made in the newspapers published in 
 such Counties which shall respectively advocate the principles of 
 the political parties which at the last preceding election for gov- 
 ernor respectively cast the largest and next largest number of 
 votes .in the State for such office. The saM Police Board shall 
 also cause to be published in the City Record on or before the 
 first day for registration in each year a complete list of all the 
 registration and polling places so designated and the boundaries 
 of the Election Districts in which such places are located 
 arranged in numerical order under the designation of the respec- 
 tive Boroughs in which they are located. In selecting the news- 
 papers in which such publications are to be made the said Board 
 shall keep in view the object of giving the widest publicity 
 thereto. 
 
 Sec. 5. Section twelve of said act is hereby amended so as 
 to read as follows : 
 
 Appointment and qualifications of Election Officers in Cities. 
 
 §12. On or before the first day of October in each year, 
 the Police Board of The City of New York and the Mayor 
 of each other city, shall select and appoint the election officers 
 for each election district in their respective cities ; and shall 
 severally have the power to fill all vacancies which may arise 
 before the opening of the polls on election day. To insure the 
 bipartisan character of such board or body of election officers 
 required by the election law, each political party entitled to rep- 
 resentation in such board or body shall have the right, not later 
 than the first day of August in each year, to prepare and file 
 with the board or officer empowered to make the appointments 
 as herein provided, a list of persons, members of such party, 
 duly qualified to serve as election ofllicers, together with a sup- 
 plemental list of persons, members of such party, duly qualified 
 to serve as election officers, from which the said Mayor or Board 
 
 760 
 
may select and appoint persons to fill vacancies occurring in the 
 representation of such party in such board or body of elec- 
 tion officers. In The City of New York such list shall be 
 authenticated and filed by the chairman of the executive 
 committee of the county committee of the party in the respective 
 counties wholly or partly within such city, as constituted by the 
 Greater New York Charter; in other cities, by the chairman and 
 secretary of the general, city or county committee of such party, 
 if there be such a committee, or, if not, then by the corresponding 
 officers (by whatever name known) of any committee perform- 
 ing the usual functions of a city or county committee; 
 provided, however, that if in any city more than one 
 such list be submitted in the name or on behalf of the same 
 political party, only that list shall be accepted which is 
 authenticated by the proper officer or officers'of the faction or 
 section of such party, v/hich was recognized as regular by the 
 last preceding state convention of such party ; or, where no such 
 convention has been held within the year, by the proper officer 
 of the faction or section of said party which, at the time of the 
 filing of said list, is recognized as regular by the state committee 
 of such party, which was organized by or pursuant to the direc- 
 tion of the last preceding state convention of such party. All 
 persons so proposed for appointment may be examined as to 
 their qualifications by or under the direction of the board or offi- 
 cer charged with the duty of making the appointment ; and if 
 found duly qualified they shall be appointed to the respective 
 positions for which they were recommended. If any of them 
 are found disqualified, notice in writing of that fact shall be 
 promptly given to the person or persons by whom the list em- 
 bracing their names was authenticated, and the vacancy shall be 
 filled by the appointment of a qualified person named in the 
 supplemental list of party representatives heretofore provided 
 for. If either party entitled *o propose election officers, 
 as herein provided, shall fail to authenticate and file such 
 lists on or before the first day of August, or if any of the per- 
 sons named therein shall be found disqualified, and if no sup- 
 plemental list be filed, as herein provided, or if, one or more 
 persons named in such supplemental list be found disqualified, 
 
 761 
 
then such board or officer shall, if necessary, proceed to select 
 in such manner as may seem to them or him feasible from the 
 members of the party or parties in default, or whose nominees 
 have been found disqualified, and shall appoint suitable per- 
 sons to act as election officers. In The City of New York the 
 members of the board charged with the duty of appointing elec- 
 tion officers, who represent the same political party, shall have 
 the exclusive right and be charged with the exclusive duty of 
 selecting from the lists submitted, or in lieu of persons named on 
 such list who shall have been found disqualified, the members of 
 such party who are to be appointed as election officers. Every 
 person appointed as an election officer shall, within five days 
 after notice of his appointment, take and subscribe the constitu- 
 tional and statutory oaths of office, which shall be administered, 
 if in The City of New York, by the Superintendent of Elections 
 or by the chief of the branch Bureau of Elections in the Borough in 
 which they are appointed to serve, or the chief clerk, or assistant 
 clerk of such bureau designated by the Police Board to perform 
 such duty ; and if in any other city, by the Mayor thereof, or by 
 any person or persons designated by him for that purpose ; and 
 all of said officers, and every clerk or person so designated by 
 them or him for that purpose, shall be and is hereby authorized 
 and empowered to administer such oaths. Every person so sworn 
 as an election officer shall receive a certificate of appointment and 
 qualification, signed by the person who administered the oath, in 
 such form as may be approved by the board or officer by which 
 or whom he was appointed, and specifying the capacity and the 
 election district in which he is to serve, and the date of the ex- 
 piration of his term of office. Any election officer so appointed 
 may be removed for cause, by the board or mayor making the 
 appointment, in which case such removal, unless made while 
 such officer is actually on duty on the day of registration, re- 
 vision of registration or election, and for improper conduct as 
 an election officer, shall only be made after notice in writing to 
 the officer to be removed, which notice shall set forth clearly and 
 distinctly the reason for his removal. The said Board of Police 
 may delegate to the Superintendent of Elections of The City of 
 New York, and to the chief of a branch bureau of elections, the 
 
 762 
 
power to remove election officers for cause, on any day of 
 registration or election. Any election officer who shall at 
 any time be appointed to fill a vacancy, which fact shall be 
 stated in the certificate of appointment, shall hold office only 
 during the unexpired term of his predecessor, and provided that 
 no election officer shall be transferred from one election district 
 to another after he has entered upon the performance of his 
 duties. The chairman of each board of inspectors of each 
 election district shall, within twenty-four hours after any elec- 
 tion, furnish to the Mayor or board appointing such officers, if 
 required so to do by such Mayor or board, under his hand, a 
 certificate stating the number of days of actual service of each 
 member of such board, the names of the persons who served as 
 poll clerks and ballot clerks on election day, and the number of 
 days during which the store or building hired for registration 
 and election purposes was actually used for such purposes. Any 
 person acting as such chairman, who shall willfully make a false 
 certificate, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Every per- 
 son appointed as an election officer, failing to take and subscribe 
 the oath of office as hereinbefore prov'ded, or who shall willfully 
 neglect or refuse to discharge the duties to which he was ap- 
 pointed, shall, in addition to the other penalitie!> prescribed by 
 law, be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars, to be sued for 
 and recovered by the Mayor or board making the appointment 
 in a court of record, for the use and benefit of the treasury of 
 such city. Any election officer who, being removed for cause^ 
 shall fail upon demand to deliver over to his successor the regis- 
 ter of electors, or any tally sheets, book, paper, memorandum 
 or document relating to the election in his possession, so far as 
 he has made it, shall be liable to a like penalty to be recovered in 
 a like manner for the benefit of such city. All persons appointed 
 and serving as election officers on each of the days of registra- 
 tion and of election and of canvass of the votes in cities of the 
 first class shall be exempt from jury duty for one year from the 
 date of the general election at which they serve. 
 
 Sec. 6. Section eighteen of said Act is hereby amended so 
 as to read as follows : 
 
 763 
 
Payment of election expenses. 
 
 §18. The expense of providing polling places, voting booths, 
 supplies therefor, guard-rails and other furniture of the polling 
 place, and distance markers, and the compensation of the elec- 
 tion officers in each election district, shall be a charge upon the 
 town or city in which such election district is situated, except 
 that such expenses incurred for the purpose of conducting a 
 village election, not held at the same time as a general election, 
 shall be a charge upon the village. The expense of printing 
 and delivering the official ballots, sample ballots and cards of 
 instruction, poll books, tally sheets, return sheets for inspectors 
 and ballot clerks, and distance markers to be used at a town 
 meeting, city or village elections not held at the same time as a 
 general election, and of printing the list of nominations therefor 
 shall be a charge upon the town, city or village in which the 
 election is held. The expense of printing and delivering the 
 official ballots, sample ballots and cards of instruction, poll books, 
 tally sheets, return sheets for inspectors and ballot clerks, and 
 distance markers to be used in any county, except such counties 
 or portions thereof as are included within The City of New 
 York, at any other election, if no town meeting, city or village 
 election be held at the same time therewith, and of printing 
 the lists of nominations therefor, shall be a charge upon such 
 county. The expense of printing and delivering the official 
 ballots, sample ballots and cards of instruction, poll books, 
 tally sheets, return sheets for inspectors and ballot clerks 
 and distance markers, to be used in any such county at any 
 such other election, and of printing the lists of nominations 
 therefor, if the town meeting, city or village election be held in 
 such county at the same time therewith, shall be apportioned by 
 the county clerk between such town, city or village and such 
 county, in the proportion of the number of candidates for town, 
 city or village officers on such ballots, respectively, to the whole 
 number of candidates thereon, and the amount of such expense 
 so apportioned to each such municipality shall be a charge thereon. 
 All expenses relating to or connected with elections lawfully in- 
 curred by the Police Board of The City of New York, shall be a 
 
 764 
 
charge on such city, and after being audited by the proper officer, 
 shall be paid by the Comptroller of said city upon the certificate of 
 such board. The County Clerk of each county, not salaried, shall 
 be paid by such county a reasonable compensation for his services 
 in carrying out the provisions of this chapter, to be fixed by the 
 Board of Supervisors of the County, or the Board acting as such 
 Board of Supervisors. The Town Clerk of each town shall be 
 paid by such town a reasonable compensation for his services in 
 carrying out the provisions of this chapter, to be fixed by the other 
 members of the Town Board of the town. Ballot clerks, and 
 persons acting as such, shall receive the same compensation for 
 their attendance at an election, as inspectors of election for the 
 election, and be paid in like manner. Poll clerks shall receive 
 the same compensation for their attendance at an election and 
 canvass of the votes as inspectors of election and shall be paid in 
 like manner. An inspector of election, except in The City of 
 New York, lawfully required to file papers in the county clerk's 
 office, shall, unless he resides in the city or town in which such 
 office is situated, be entitled to receive as compensation there- 
 for five dollars, and also four cents a mile for every mile actually 
 and necessarily traveled between his residence and such County 
 Clerk's office in going to and returning from such office. In cities 
 of the first class, the persons appointed and serving as inspectors 
 of election shall receive five dollars for the hours fixed by law 
 for each day of registration, and of revision of registration for a 
 special election, and five dollars for the hours fixed by law for the 
 election, and five dollars for the canvass and return of the votes. 
 The poll clerks in such city shall each receive the same compen- 
 sation as inspectors for the election and for the canvass of the 
 votes, and the ballot clerks shall receive five dollars each. Such 
 officers shall be paid by the Comptrollers of the respective cities 
 upon the certificate of the Board appointing them. 
 
 Sec. 7. Section nineteen of said Act is hereby amended so 
 as to read as follows : 
 
 Delivery of election laws to clerks, boards a?id election officers. 
 
 §19. The secretary of state shall at least sixty days before 
 each general election held after this Act takes effect cause to be 
 
 765 
 
prepared a compilation of all the laws relating to elections in cities, 
 towns, and villages then in force with annotations and explanatory- 
 notes and blank forms, properly indexed, and shall procure the 
 same to be printed wherever he deems it desirable for the best 
 interests of the State, and transmit to the County Clerk of each 
 county, except New York, Kings and Richmond Counties, and 
 to the Superintendent of Elections located in the Borough of Man- 
 hattan and to the Chief of the branch bureau of elections in each 
 other Borough of The City of New York a sufficient number of 
 copies thereof to furnish one such copy to the County Clerk and 
 to said Superintendent and to each of said Chiefs of bureaus of 
 elections and one to each town, village and city clerk and to each 
 election officer in such county and said Boroughs, together with 
 such number of extra copies as may in his judgment be necessary 
 to replace lost or mutilated copies before delivery thereof to elec- 
 tion officers. The County Clerk of each county, except those 
 counties the whole of which are included within The City of New 
 York, shall forthwith transmit one of such copies to each of such 
 officers in such county, and not in The City of New York, and 
 said Superintendent and the chief of each branch bureau of elec- 
 tions in the Boroughs of The City of New York shall forthwith 
 transmit one of such copies to each such officer in his Borough. 
 Each copy so received by each such officer shall belong to the 
 office of the person receiving it. Every incumbent of the office 
 shall preserve such copy during his term of office, and upon the 
 expiration of his term or removal from office deliver it to his 
 successor. 
 
 Sec. 8. Subdivision three of section thirty-two of said Act 
 is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Subdivision 3. In cities of the first-class, the board of in- 
 spectors of each election district shall, immediately after the 
 close of each day of registration, make and complete one list of 
 all persons enrolled in their respective districts, in the numerical 
 order of the street numbers thereof which list shall be signed and 
 certified by the board of inspectors. Such list shall be deliv- 
 ered by the chairman of the board of inspectors to the police 
 captain of the precinct in which the election district is located, 
 or an officer thereof, who shall forthwith deliver the same, if in 
 
 766 
 
The City of New York, to the Superintendent of Elections as 
 to each Election District in the Borough of Manhattan, and 
 to the Chief of the branch Bureau of Elections of each other 
 Borough in which the Election District is located, and if in 
 the city of Buffalo, to the City Clerk. The Police Board of 
 The City of New York and the City Clerk of Buffalo shall, as 
 soon as possible after the delivery of such lists and before the 
 day of election, print in pamphlet form for each Assembly Dis- 
 trict or Ward within such respective cities not less than fifty 
 times as many copies of said lists as there are Election Districts 
 in such Assembly District or Ward, so that each Assembly 
 District or Ward pamphlet shall contain the lists of the several 
 Election Districts in such Assembly District or Ward. Upon 
 the written application of the Chairman of the Executive Com- 
 mittee of the County Committee of any political party entitled 
 to a separate column upon the official ballot to be voted in such 
 city at the election for which the registration is made, the said 
 Police Board and said City Clerk shall respectively deliver to 
 such Chairman five copies of each Assembly District or Ward 
 pamphlets for each Election District within such Assembly 
 District or Ward in such County. 
 
 Two pamphlets containing the lists of the registered persons in 
 the Election Districts within his precinct shall be furnished to 
 each police captain in such cities and it shall be the duty of such 
 police captains to cause an investigation of each name registered 
 therein to be made and to report to his commanding officer any 
 case of false registration found in his precinct. 
 
 The remaining pamphlets so printed shall be distributed 
 in the discretion of the said Police Board and said City Clerk 
 who shall have respectively the power to charge for each pamph- 
 let a sum not exceeding ten cents a copy and any moneys result- 
 ing from the sale thereof shall be paid to the Comptroller of the 
 city for the benefit of*'the treasury of such city. Such lists shall 
 be made and printed as near as may be in the following form, 
 to wit : 
 
 GRAND STREET. 
 Residence number, 
 
 or other designation. Name of voter. 
 
 14. Smith, John M. 
 
 15. Jones, Charles M. 
 
 767 
 
Sec. 9. Subdivision two of section thirty-five of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Subdivision 2. The register of electors made by the chair- 
 man of the board of inspectors shall be, and shall be known, as 
 the public copy of registration. Such public copy shall be left 
 in a prominent position in the place of registration from the first 
 day of registration until election day, and shall at all reasonable 
 times be open to public inspection and for making copies there- 
 of. Each other inspector shall carefully preserve his register of 
 electors and shall be responsible therefor, until the close of the 
 canvass of the votes on election day, except as hereinafter pro- 
 vided for in cities of the first class. At the close of each day of 
 registration, the inspectors shall draw a line in ink immediately 
 below the name of the elector last entered upon each page of 
 each such register. Upon the succeeding day of registration, 
 they shall enter the names of electors in the alphabetical order 
 of the first letter of the surname below the line so drawn upon 
 the proper page after the close of the previous day of registration. 
 Upon the close of the last day of registration, the inspectors shall 
 again carefully compare all the books of registration, to see that 
 they are identical as to their contents, and (after making and 
 completing the separate list of the electors in cities of the 
 first class, as provided in subdivision three of section thirty-two 
 of the election law), shall certify as a board in the proper place 
 provided therefor upon each such register that such register is a 
 true and correct register of the persons enrolled by them in such 
 district for the next ensuing election, and shall state the whole 
 number of such persons so enrolled. In cities of the first class, 
 at the close of the last day of registration, the chairman of the 
 board of inspectors shall take from an inspector of opposite 
 political faith from himself, the register of electors made by such 
 inspector and shall file the same on the Monday after the last 
 day of registration, if in The City of New York with the chief of 
 the bureau of elections of the Borough in which the election 
 district is located, and if in the city of Buffalo with the 
 City Clerk. Such register so filed, shall be a part of the records 
 
 768 
 
of the offices in which it is filed. The two other inspectors of 
 opposite political faith from each other sha-ll each retain their 
 respective registers of electors for use on d^ection day. All 
 registers of electors shall at all reasonable h®urs be accessible for 
 public examinations and making copies thereof, and no charge 
 of any kind shall be made for such examination or for any elector 
 making a copy thereof. In cities of the first class the public 
 copy of registration shall be used, if necessary, on election day 
 by the inspector whose register was filed as herein provided by 
 said chairman. Any person who shall alter, mutilate, destroy 
 or remove from the place of registration the public copy of such 
 registration, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be punished 
 upon conviction thereof by imprisonment in a state prison for 
 not less than two nor more than five years, unless otherwise 
 provided by law. If, in cities of the first class, the board of in- 
 spectors shall meet on the second Saturday before the election 
 for the purpose of revising and correcting the register of electors 
 in pursuance of an order of the Supreme Court, a justice thereof 
 or a county judge, as provided in section thirty-one of the elec- 
 tion law, the inspectors shall certify forthwith to the officer 
 with whom the copy of the register is filed, the change or 
 changes made upon such register in pursuance of such order. 
 At any revision of registration for an election other than a gen- 
 eral election, the quadruplicate register of electors for the last 
 preceding general election shall be furnished to the inspectors of 
 election by the officer or board having the custody thereof, and 
 the inspectors shall certify to the officer or board in cities of the 
 first class with whom the registers are filed, the changes, ad- 
 ditions or alterations made in such registers for such election. In 
 the cities of the first class at the close of the canvass of the votes 
 of any election, or within twenty-four hours thereafter the two 
 copies of the register of electors used by the inspectors and the 
 public copy thereof shall be filed respectively with the chief of the 
 Bureau of Elections in the Borough of The City of New York, 
 in which the election district is located, and with the City 
 Clerk of Buffalo. In all election districts other than in cities of 
 the first class, one copy of the register used on election day by 
 the inspectors shall within twenty-four hours after the close of 
 
 769 
 
the election be filed in the office of the Town or City Clerk of 
 the town or city in which such election district is, and the other 
 copies with the County Clerk, Such register of electors shall be 
 carefully preserved for use at any election which may be ordered 
 or held in either of such counties or cities, respectively, prior to 
 the next ensuing general election, at which they may be re- 
 quired. 
 
 Sec. 10. Subdivision one of section thirty-six of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Delivery of blank books for registration, certificates and instruct- 
 ions. 
 
 §36. Subdivision 1. The secretary of state shall purchase 
 wherever he deems it desirable for the best interests of the 
 state, a suitable number of blank books for register of elec- 
 tors, with blank certificates and brief instructions for register- 
 ing the names of electors therein, in the forms respectively 
 provided in subdivisions one and two of section thirty-two 
 of the election law, at least four of such books for each Board 
 of Inspectors in the state, and such number of extra copies 
 thereof as in his judgment may be necessary for each county 
 or city to replace lost or damaged registers before delivery 
 to the inspectors. Such register of electors shall have the 
 leaves thereof indexed with the letters of the alphabet, be- 
 ginning with the letter "A" for the first leaf, and so on. He 
 shall transmit such registers, certificates and instructions to the 
 County Clerk of each county, except those counties the whole of 
 which are included within The City of New York; to each such 
 CountyClerk a sufficientnumberthereof forthe useof theBoards of 
 Inspectorswithin his countyand not within The City of New York, 
 and to the Superintendent of Elections of The City of New York, 
 located in the Borough of Manhattan, and to the chief of thebranch 
 bureau of elections in each other Borough within The City of New 
 York a sufficient number thereof for the use of each Board of In- 
 spectors within said respective boroughs at least twenty days prior 
 to the first day of registration for a general election in each year. 
 The County Clerk shall deliver such books to the town clerks of each 
 town, and to the city clerk of each city in such county, by mail or 
 
 770 
 
otherwise, at least five days prior to the first day of registration, 
 and such town clerks and city clerks, and the said Superintendent 
 and Chiefs of Bureaus of Elections in the City of New York shall 
 deliver such books to the inspectors of said Boroughs, respectively, 
 before the hour set for registering the names of electors on the first 
 day of registration. On the last day of registration, the Police 
 Board of The City of New York, and the city clerk of Buffalo shall 
 furnish to each Board of Inspectors in their respective cities, blanks 
 for the list of electors provided for in subdivision three of section 
 thirty-two of the election law. 
 
 Sec. 11. Section fifty-eight of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows: 
 
 Places of filing certificates of nomination. 
 
 §58. Certificates of nomination of candidates for office to be 
 filled by the electors of the entire State, or of any division 
 or district greater than a county, shall be filed with the sec- 
 retary of state, except that each certificate of nomination of 
 a candidate for member of assembly for the assembly district 
 composing the counties of Fulton and Hamilton, shall be 
 filed in the office of the county clerk of Fulton county, and 
 a copy thereof certified by the county clerk of Fulton county, 
 shall be filed in the office of the county clerk of Hamilton 
 county, so long as the said counties constitute one assembly 
 district, and except that certificates of nomination of candi- 
 dates for offices to be filled only by the electors or a portion of 
 the electors of The City of New York shall be filed with the 
 Police Board of The City of New York, in the office of 
 the Superintendent of Elections. Certificates of nomination 
 of candidates for offices to be filled only by the votes of 
 electors, part of whom are of New York City, and part of 
 whom are of a county not wholly within The City of New York, 
 shall be filed with the Clerk of such county in the office of the 
 Superintendent of Elections and with the Police Board of 
 said city. Certificates of nomination of candidates for offices 
 of any other city, or for officers of a village or town to be 
 
 771 
 
elected at a different time from a general election, shall be filed 
 with the clerk of such city, village or town, respectively. All other 
 certificates of nomination shall be filed with the clerk of the county 
 in which the candidates so nominated are to be voted for. All 
 certificates and corrected certificates of nomination, all objections 
 to such certificates and all declination of nominations are hereby 
 declared to be public records ; and it shall be the duty of every 
 officer or board to exhibit without delay, every such paper or 
 papers to any person who shall request to see the same. It shall 
 also be the duty of each such officer or board to keep a book 
 a^hich shall be open to public inspection, in which shall be cor- 
 rectly recorded the names of all candidates nominated by cer- 
 tificates filed in the office of such officer or board, or certified 
 thereto, the title of the office for which any such nomination is 
 made, the political or other name and emblem of the political 
 party or independent body making such nomination ; and in 
 which shall also be stated all declinations of nominations or ob- 
 jections to nominations, and the time of filing each of the said 
 papers. 
 
 Sec. 12. Section fifty-nine of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 The times of filing certificates of nomination, 
 
 §59. The different certificates of nomination shall be filed 
 within the following periods before the election for which 
 the nominations are made to wit : Those required to be filed 
 with the secretary of state, if party nominations, at least thirty 
 and not more than forty days ; if independent nominations, at 
 least twenty-five and not more than forty days ; those required 
 to be filed with a county clerk, or the Police Board of The City 
 of New York, or with the city clerk of any other city, if party 
 nominations, at least twenty-five and not more than thirty-five 
 days ; if independent nominations, at least twenty, and not more 
 than thirty-five days ; those required to be filed with a town or 
 village clerk, if party nominations, at least fifteen and not more 
 than twenty days ; if independent nominations, at least ten and 
 not more than twenty days. In case of a special election ordered 
 by the governor under the provisions of section four of the elec- 
 
 772 
 
tion law, the certificates of nominations for the office or offices 
 to be filled at such special election shall be filed with the proper 
 officer or board not less than fifteen days before such special 
 election. 
 
 Sec. 13. Section sixty of said act is hereby amended so as 
 to read as follows : 
 
 Certification of nominations by Secretary of State. 
 
 §60. The secretary of state shall, fourteen days before the 
 election, certify to the county clerk of each county, except those 
 counties the whole of which are within The City of New York, 
 aijd to the Police Board of The City of New York, the name, 
 residence and place of business, if any, of each candidate nomi- 
 nated in any certificate so filed for whom the electors of any such 
 county or said city, respectively, may vote, the title of the office 
 for which he is nominated, the party or other political name 
 specified in such certificate, and the emblem or device chosen to 
 represent and distinguish the candidates of the political party or 
 independent body making such nominations. 
 
 Sec. 14. Section sixty-one of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 Publication of nominations, 
 
 §61. At least six days before an election to fill any public 
 office, the county clerk of each county, except those counties which 
 are wholly within The City of New York, shall cause to be pub- 
 lished in not less than two or more than four newspapers within 
 such county, a list of all nominations of candidates for offices 
 to be filled at such election, certified to such clerk by the 
 secretary of state, or filed in the office of such clerk. The 
 Police Board of The City of New York shall, within the same 
 time before an election to fill any public office, cause to be pub- 
 lished in not less than two, nor more than four newspapers pub- 
 lished in each county wholly or partly within such city a list of 
 the nominations of candidates for offices to be voted for at such 
 election in such counties respectively, which were certified to 
 such Board by the Secretary of State, or filed in the office of 
 
 773 
 
such Board. Such publication shall contain the name and 
 residence, and if in a city, the street number of the residence 
 and place of business, if any, and the party or other designation 
 of each candidate, the office for which he was nominated, speci- 
 fying the political division in which he is to be voted for, 
 and a fac-simile of the emblems or devices selected and 
 designated as prescribed by the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh 
 sections of this Act, to represent and distinguish the can- 
 didates of the several political parties or independent bodies. 
 The city clerk of each city, except New York, and the police 
 board in said city, shall at least six days before an election of 
 city officers thereof, held at a different time from a general election, 
 cause like publication to be made as to candidates for offices to 
 be filled at such city election in a like number of newspapers pub- 
 lished in said city. One of such publications shall be made in 
 a newspaper which advocates the principles of the political party 
 that, at the last preceding election for governor, cast the largest 
 number of votes in the State for such office ; and another of such 
 publications shall be made in a newspaper which advocates the 
 principles of the political party that at the last preceding elec- 
 tion for governor cast the next largest number of votes in the 
 State for such office. The clerk or board, in selecting the papers 
 for such publications, shall select those which, according to the 
 best information he can obtain, have a large circulation within 
 such county or city. In making additional publications, the 
 clerk or board shall keep in view the object of giving informa- 
 tion, so far as possible, to the voters of all political parties ; and 
 in no event shall additional publications be made in two news- 
 papers representing the same political party. The clerk or 
 board shall make such publication twice in each newspaper so 
 selected in a county or city in which daily newspapers are pub- 
 lished ; but if there be no daily newspaper published within the 
 county, one publication only shall be made in each of such 
 newspapers. Should the county clerk find it impracticable to 
 make the publication six days before election day in counties 
 where no daily newspaper is printed, he shall make the same 
 at the earliest possible day thereafter, and before the election. 
 
 774 
 
Sec. 15. Section sixty-two of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 Lists for town clerks and aldermen, 
 
 §62. The county clerk of each county, except those counties 
 which are wholly within The City of New York, shall at least six 
 days before election day, send to the town clerk of each town, and 
 to an alderman of each ward in any city in the county, at least five 
 and not more than ten printed lists for each election district in 
 such town or ward, containing the name and residence, and if in 
 a city, the street number of residence, and place of business, if 
 any, and the party or other designation, and also a fac-simile of 
 the emblem or device of each political party, or independent 
 body nominating candidates to be voted for by the electors of 
 the respective towns and wards. Such lists shall, at least three 
 days before the day of election be conspicuously posted by such 
 town clerk or alderman in one or more public places in each elec- 
 tion district of such town or ward, one of which shall be at each 
 polling place. 
 
 Sec. 16. Section sixty-four of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 Declination of nomination. 
 
 §64. The name of a person nominated for any office shall not 
 be printed on the official ballot if he notifies the officer with whom 
 the original certificate of his nomination is filed, in a writing 
 signed by him and duly acknowledged, that he declines the 
 nomination, or if nominated by more than one political party, or 
 independent body, the name of a person so nominated shall 
 not be printed on the ticket of a party or independent body 
 whose nomination he shall in like manner decline. If the decli- 
 nation be of a party nomination filed with the Secretary of State, 
 such notification shall be given at least twenty-five days, and if 
 an independent nomination, at least twenty days before the 
 election. If the declination be of a party nomination filed with 
 a County Clerk or the Police Board of The City of New 
 York, or with the City Clerk of any other city, such 
 
 775 
 
notification shall be given at least twenty days, and if of an in- 
 dependent nomination, at least eighteen days before the election. 
 If the declination be of a party nomination filed with a town or 
 village clerk, such notification shall be given at least ten days, 
 and if of an independent nomination, at least seven days before 
 the election. The officer to whom such notification is given, 
 shall forthwith inform by mail or otherwise, the committee, if 
 any, appointed on the face of such certificate as permitted by 
 sections fifty-six and fifty-seven of this Act, and otherwise one or 
 more persons whose names are attached to such certificate, that 
 the nomination conferred by such certificate has been declined, 
 and if such declination be filed with the Secretary of State, such 
 officer shall also give immediate notice by mail or otherwise, that 
 such nomination has been declined, to the several Cownty Clerks 
 or other officers, authorized by law to prepare official ballots for 
 election districts affected by such declination. 
 
 Sec. 17. Subdivision one of section sixty-six of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Filling vacancies in nonmiations, and correction of certificate. 
 
 §66, Subdivision 1 . If a nomination is duly declined, or a can- 
 didate regularly nominated dies before election day, or is found to 
 be disqualified to hold the office for v/hich he is nominated, or it 
 any certificate of nomination is found to be defective but not 
 wholly void, the committee appointed on the face of such cer- 
 tificate of nomination, as permitted by sections fifty-six and 
 fifty-seven of this Act, may make a new nomination to fill the 
 vacancy so created, or may supply such defect, as the case may 
 be, by making and filing with the proper officer a certificate 
 setting forth the cause of the vacancy or the nature of the defect, 
 the name of the new candidate, the title of the office for which 
 he is nominated, the name of the original candidate, the name 
 of the political party or other nominating body which was in- 
 scribed on the original certificate, and such further information 
 as is required to be given by an original certificate of nomination : 
 except that where a certificate is filed pursuant to this section to 
 fill a vacancy it shall not be lawful to select a new emblem or 
 
 776 
 
device, but the emblem or device chosen to represent or dis- 
 tinguish the candidate nominated by the original certificate 
 shall be used to represent and distinguish the candidate nom- 
 inated, as provided by this section. The certificate so made 
 shall be subscribed and acknowledged by a majority of the 
 members of the committee, and the members of the committee 
 subscribing the same shall make oath before the ofificer or 
 officers before whom they shall severally acknowledge the exe- 
 cution of the said certificate that the matters therein stated 
 are true to the best of their information and belief. Except in 
 a case as provided for in subdivision two of this section, the said 
 certificate shall be filed in the office in which the original cer- 
 tificate was filed, at least six days before the election, if filed in 
 the ofifice of a town or village clerk ; at least fifteen days before 
 the election if filed with the County Clerk or the Police Board 
 of The City of New York, or the City Clerk of any other city ; 
 and at least fifteen days if filed with the Secretary of State, and 
 upon being so filed shall have the same force and effect as an 
 original certificate of nomination. When such certificate is filed 
 with the Secretary of State, he shall, in certifying the nomination 
 to the various county clerks and other officers, insert the name 
 of the person who has been nominated as prescribed by this 
 section, instead of that of the candidate nominated by the orig- 
 inal certificate, or, if he has already sent forward his certificate, 
 he shall forthwith certify to the proper clerks and other officer, 
 the name of the person nominated as prescribed by this section, 
 and such other facts as are required to be stated in a certificate 
 filed pursuant to this section. When no nomination shall have 
 been originally made by a political party, or by an independent 
 body for an office, or where a vacancy shall exist, it shall not be 
 lawful for any committee of such party or independent body au- 
 thorized to make nominations, or to fill vacancies, to nominate 
 or substitute the name of a candidate of another party, or inde- 
 pendent body for such office ; it being the intention of this Act 
 that when a candidate of one party is nominated and placed on 
 the ticket of another party or independent body, such nomination 
 must be made at the time and in the manner provided for making 
 original nominations by such party or independent body. 
 
 777 
 
Sec. 18. Section eighty-six of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 Officers providing ballots and stationery. 
 
 §86. The clerk of each county, except those counties the 
 whole of which are within The City of New York, shall pro- 
 vide the requisite number of official aid sample ballots, cards of 
 instruction, two poll-books, distance markers, two tally sheets, 
 inspectors* and ballot clerks* return sheets (three of each kind, 
 and one of each to be marked "original"), pens, penholders, 
 ink, pencils having black lead, blotting paper, sealing wax and 
 such other articles of stationery as may be necessary for the 
 proper conduct of the election, and the canvass of the votes, for 
 each election district in such county and not within The City of 
 New York, for each election to be held thereat, except that 
 when town meetings, city or village elections and elections for 
 school officers are not held at the same time as a general election 
 the clerk of such town, city or village, respectively, shall pro- 
 vide such official and sample ballots and stationery for such elec- 
 tion or town meeting. And the Police Board of The City of 
 New York shall provide such articles for each election to be held 
 in said city. Each officer or board charged with the duty of 
 providing official ballots for any polling place, shall have sample 
 ballots and official ballots provided, and in the possession of such 
 officer or board, and open to public inspection as follows : The 
 sample ballots five days before the election, and the official bal- 
 lots four days before the election for which they are prepared, 
 unless prepared for a village election or town meeting held at a 
 different time from a general election, in which case the official 
 ballot shall be so printed and in possession at least one day, and 
 the sample ballots at least two days before such election or town 
 meeting. During the times within which the same are open for 
 inspection as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the officer or board 
 charged by law with the duty of preparing the same, to deliver 
 a sample ballot of the kind to be voted in his district to each 
 qualified elector who shall apply therefor, so that each elector 
 who may desire the same may obtain a sample ballot, similar 
 except as regards color and the number on the stub, to the offi- 
 
 778 
 
[UFIVBRSIITT 
 
 cial ballot to be voted at the polling place at which he is entitled 
 to vote. 
 
 Sec. 19. Section eighty-seven of said Act is hereby amended 
 so as to read as follows : 
 
 Distribution of ballots and stationery. 
 
 §87. The county clerk of each county except those coun- 
 ties which are wholly within The City of New York, shall 
 deliver at his ofifice to each town or city clerk in such county, 
 except in New York City, on the Saturday before the election 
 at which they may be voted, the official and sample ballots, 
 cards of instructions and other stationery required to be provided 
 for each polling place in such town or city for such election. It 
 is hereby made the duty of each such town or city clerk to call 
 at the office of such county clerk at such time and receive such 
 ballots and stationery. In The City of New York the board 
 required to provide such ballots and stationery shall cause them 
 to be delivered to the Board of Inspectors of each election dis- 
 trict at least one-half hour before the opening of the polls on 
 each day of election. Each kind of official ballots shall be 
 arranged in a package in the consecutive order of the num- 
 bers printed on the stubs thereof, beginning with number one. 
 All official and sample ballots provided for such election shall be 
 in separate sealed packages, clearly marked on the outside 
 thereof with the number and kind of ballots contained therein 
 and indorsed with the designation of the election district for 
 which they were prepared. The instruction cards and other sta- 
 tionery provided for each election district shall also be enclosed 
 in a sealed package or packages with a label on the outside 
 thereof showing the contents of each such package. Each such 
 town and city clerk receiving such packages shall cause all such 
 packages so received and marked for any election district to be 
 delivered unopened and with the seals thereof unbroken to the 
 inspectors of election of such election district one-half hour 
 before the opening of the polls of such election therein. The 
 inspectors of election receiving such packages shall give to such 
 town or city clerk, or board, delivering such packages a receipt 
 
 779 
 
therefor specifying the number and kind of packages received by 
 them, which receipt shall be filed in the office of such clerk or 
 board. Town, city and village clerks required to provide the 
 same for town meetings, city and village elections held at differ- 
 ent times from a general election, and the board of The City of 
 New York required to provide the same for elections held therein, 
 respectively, shall in like manner, deliver to the inspectors or 
 presiding officers of the election at each polling place at which 
 such meetings and elections are held, respectively, the official 
 ballots, sample ballots, instruction cards and other stationery 
 required for such election or town meeting, respectively, in like 
 sealed packages marked on the outside in like manner, and shall 
 take and file receipts therefor in like manner in their respective 
 offices. 
 
 Sec. 20. Section one hundred and thirteen of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Delivery and filing of papers relating to the election. 
 
 §113. Subdivision 1. If the election be other than an elec- 
 tion of town, city, village or school officers, held at a different time 
 from a general election, the chairman of the board of inspectors of 
 each election district, except in The City of New York, shall forth- 
 with, upon the completion of such certified original statement of 
 the result, deliver one certified copy thereof to the supervisor of the 
 town in which the election, if outside of a city, is situated, and if in 
 a city, to one of the supervisors of said city. If there be no super- 
 visor, or he be absent or unable to attend the meeting of the 
 county board of canvassers, such certified copy shall be forthwith 
 delivered to an assessor of such town or city. One certified copy 
 of such original statement of the result of the canvass, the poll- 
 books of such election, and one of the tally sheets, shall be 
 forthwith filed by such inspectors, or by one of them deputed 
 for that purpose, with the town clerk of such town, or the city 
 clerk of <iuch city, as the case may be. The original certified 
 statement of the result of the canvass, with the original ballot 
 returned, prepared by the ballot clerk, attached, the sealed pack- 
 age of void and protested ballots, the record as to challenged 
 
 780 
 
and assisted voters, and the sealed packages of detached stubs 
 and unvoted ballots, and one of the tally sheets shall, within 
 twenty-four hours after the completion of such canvass, be filed 
 by the chairman of the board of inspectors, with the County 
 Clerk of the county in which the election district is situated. 
 The register of electors and public copy thereof shall be filed as 
 prescribed in section thirty-five of this Act. 
 
 Subdivision 2. In The City of New York, the original state- 
 ment of canvass and the sealed package of void and protested 
 ballots shall be filed by the chairman of the board of inspectors 
 within twenty-four hours after the completion of the canvass, 
 with the County Clerk of the County within which the election 
 district is located, together with one of the poll-books, and one 
 of the tally sheets, properly certified by the poll clerks. One 
 certified copy of such original statement, one poll-book and one 
 tally sheet shall be filed within such time with the Superintend- 
 ent of Elections and with the chief of the Branch Bureau 
 of Elections, as the case may be, in the Borough with- 
 in which the election district is located by an inspector 
 designated by the board of inspectors for that duty, and 
 the other certified copy of such original statement with 
 the City Clerk, by an inspector designated by the board of 
 inspectors for that duty. In election districts in The City 
 of New York, the boards of inspectors of election must, at the same 
 time they make and sign the aforesaid original statement and cer- 
 tified copies thereof, make a certified copy of so much thereof as 
 relates to any candidate for member of assembly, senator, or rep- 
 resentative in congress, voted for in said election district, and 
 also in any part of any county not within The City of New York, 
 and such certified copy must, within twenty-four hours after the 
 completion of the canvass by the inspectors, be filed by the chair- 
 man of the board of inspectors, with the clerk of the county out- 
 side of The City of New York of which such officers or any of 
 them are voted for at such election. 
 
 The sealed packages of detached stubs, and ballots not used 
 at the election, shall, in The City of New York, be given by the 
 inspectors to the police, who shall return them to the Bureau of 
 Elections of the Borough within which the election district is 
 
 781 
 
located. Aft such packages of detached stubs and unused 
 ballots shall be preserved inviolate in the office in which they 
 are filed, for a period of six months from the time of filing 
 thereof, and may be opened and examined upon the order 
 of the supreme court or a justice thereof, or a county judge 
 within such county, and at the expiration of such time may 
 be disposed of in the discretion of the officer or board having 
 custody of the same. 
 
 Sec. 21. Section one hundred and thirty of said Act is here- 
 by amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Organization of County Board of Canvassers. 
 
 §130. The Board of Supervisors of each county shall be the 
 County Board of Canvassers of such county. The County Board 
 of Canvassers of the counties wholly or partly within The City 
 of New York shall be the City Board of Canvassers of The City 
 of New York within their respective counties. The County 
 Boards of Canvassers of the respective counties shall meet at the 
 office of the County Clerk thereof on the Tuesday next 
 after each election of public officers held in such county other 
 than an election of town, city, village or district school officers 
 held at a different time from a general election. Upon such 
 meeting they shall choose one of their number chairman of such 
 board. Such County Clerk, or if he be absent or unable 
 to act, the Deputy County Clerk of such county, shall be 
 the secretary of such board. The secretary of the board shall 
 thereupon administer the constitutional oath of office to the 
 chairman of the board, who shall then administer such oath to 
 each member, and to the secretary of the board. A majority 
 of the members of any board of canvassers shall constitute a 
 quorum thereof. If, on the day fixed for such meeting, a 
 majority of any such board shall not attend, the members of 
 the board then present shall elect the chairman of the board 
 and adjourn to some convenient hour of the next day. If 
 such board, or a majority thereof, shall fail or neglect to 
 meet within two days after the time fixed for organizing such 
 board, the Supreme Court, or any justice thereof, or county 
 
 782 
 
judge within such county, may compel the members thereof by 
 writ of mandamus to meet and organize forthwith. 
 
 Sec. 22. Section one hundred and thirty-one of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Production of original statements and copies thereof. 
 
 §131. As soon as such Board of County Canvassers shall have 
 been organized, the officer with which they were filed, shall 
 deliver to such Board of Canvassers all the original statements 
 of canvass received from inspectors of election for districts within 
 the county for which said Board are county or city canvassers. 
 The copies of the original statements which have been delivered 
 to members of the Board or Assessors shall then be delivered 
 to the Board. If any member of the County Board of Can- 
 vassers shall be unable to attend the first meeting of such 
 Board, he shall, at or before such meeting, cause to be deliv- 
 ered to the county clerk of such county all such copies of 
 original statements delivered to him, and any original state- 
 ment that may come into his possession. If, at the first 
 meeting of a County Board of Canvassers of any county, all such 
 original statements of the result of the canvass of the votes cast 
 at such election in all the election districts in the county shall 
 not be produced before the Board, it shall adjourn to some con- 
 venient hour of the same or the next day, and the county clerk of 
 such county shall, by special messenger or otherwise, obtain such 
 missing original statements, if possible, otherwise he shall pro- 
 cure one of the certified copies thereof in time to be produced 
 before such Board at its next meeting. At such first meeting, 
 or as soon as an original statement of the result of the canvass of 
 the votes cast in such election in every election district of the 
 county shall be produced before such Board, or a copy thereof, 
 in case the original cannot be produced, the Board shall, from 
 such original statements and certified copies, proceed to canvass 
 the votes cast in such county at such election. 
 
 Sec. 23. Section one hundred and thirty- five of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 783 
 
Statements of canvass by County Boards. 
 
 §135. Upon the completion by a County Board of Canvass- 
 ers, of the canvass of votes of which original statements 
 of canvass, or certified copies thereof, are by law required 
 to be delivered to them, by the boards or officers with whom 
 the same may have been filed by the inspectors of election, 
 they shall make separate statements thereof as follows: 
 One statement of all such votes cast for each office of elec- 
 tor of President and Vice-President of the United States; 
 another statement of all such votes cast for each State officer ; 
 another statement of all such votes cast for each office of repre- 
 sentative in Congress, except that the Board of Canvassers in 
 The County of New York shall not make a statement of the votes 
 cast in any election district in said county, for any candidate for 
 the office of assemblyman, senator or representative in Congress, 
 the candidates for which were also voted for by electors in elec- 
 tion districts in any county not within The City of New 
 York; another statement as to all such votes cast upon every 
 proposed constitutional amendment or other proposition or 
 question duly submitted to all the electors of the State; an- 
 other statement as to all such votes cast for each county 
 office, and office of school commissioner ; for which the elec- 
 tors of such county, or any portion thereof, were entitled to 
 vote at such election, and to be canvassed by them ; another 
 statement as to all the votes, if any, so cast upon any proposition 
 or question upon which only the electors of such county were 
 entitled to vote at such election. In the counties wholly or 
 partly within The City of New York, the respective county 
 boards shall make a separate statement as to the votes, if any, 
 so cast upon any proposition or question upon which only the 
 electors of such city were entitled to vote at such election in 
 such county or portion thereof. Each such statement shall 
 set forth, in words written out at length, all such votes 
 cast for all the candidates for each such office; and if any 
 such office was to be filled at such election by the electors of a 
 portion only of such county all the votes cast for all the 
 candidates for each office in any such portion of the county 
 
 784 
 
designating by its proper district number or other appropriate 
 designation, the names of each such candidate . nd the number 
 of votes so cast for each, the whole number of votes so cast 
 upon any proposed constitutional amendment or other proposi- 
 tion or question, and of all the votes so cast in favor of and 
 against the same respectively. In the Counties whoily or 
 partly within The City of New York the respective County 
 Boards shall make a separate statement of the votes cast for 
 all the City offices voted for by the electors of sucl city or any 
 portion thereof, within such Counties. If, upon such canvass, in 
 any statement or duly certified copy of statement of the result of 
 the canvass of such votes of any election district in sucli county or 
 city, there shall be included any ballot indorsed by the mspec- 
 tors to the effect that it was objected to as marked for identi- 
 fication, the County and City Boards of Canvassers shall aad to 
 each appropriate statement in which the counting of any such bal- 
 lot or any portion thereof is included, a statement of the whole 
 number of ballots so indorsed and counted. If, upon such can- 
 vass, in any statement or duly certified copy of a statement of the 
 result of the canvass of the votes of any election district there shall 
 be included any ballot indorsed by the inspectors to the effect that 
 it was rejected as void, the County and City Boards of Canvassers 
 shall add to each appropriate statement, a statement of the 
 whole number of ballots so indorsed. The statements required 
 by this section shall each be certified as correct over the signa- 
 tures of the members of the board, or a majority of them, 
 and shall be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk 
 of such county. When the whole canvass shall be completed, 
 the original statements of canvass and certified copies used 
 thereat shall be filed in the office of the secretary of the Board. 
 The certified copies of such original statement of canvass not 
 used at the canvass shall be retained in the office in which they 
 were filed. The sealed packages of void and protested ballots 
 shall be retained inviolate in the office in which they are filed 
 subject to the order and examination of a Court of Competent 
 jurisdiction and may be destroyed at the end of six months from 
 the time of the completion of such canvass, unless otherwise 
 ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction. 
 
 785 
 
Sec. 24. Section one hundred and thirty-six of said Act is 
 hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Decisions of County Board as to persons elected. 
 
 §136. Upon the completion of such statements the Board 
 of Canvassers for each county shall determine what person 
 has by the greatest number of votes been so elected to 
 each office of member of assembly to be filled by the elec- 
 tors of each county for which they are County Canvassers 
 if constituting one assembly district, or in each assembly 
 district therein, if there be more than one, and each per- 
 son elected by the greatest number of votes to each county office 
 of such county to be filled at such election, and if there be more 
 than one school commissioner district in such county, each per- 
 son elected by the greatest number of votes to the office of 
 school commissioner to be filled at such election in each 
 such district. The County Clerk of the county of Hamilton 
 shall forthwith transmit to the County Clerk of the county of 
 Fulton, a certified copy of the statement so filed and record it 
 in his office, of the County Board of Canvassers of Hamilton 
 county, as to all the votes so cast in Hamilton county for all the 
 candidates and for each of the candidates for the office of mem- 
 ber of assembly of the assembly district composed of Fulton 
 and Hamilton counties ; and the County Clerk of Fulton county 
 shall forthwith deliver the same to the Fulton County Board of 
 Canvasseis, who shall from such certified copy, and from their 
 own statement as to the votes so cast for such office in Fulton 
 county, determine what person was at such election, elected by 
 the greatest number of votes to such office. Such board of 
 each county shall determine whether any proposition or ques- 
 tion submitted to the electors of such county only, has by the 
 greatest number of votes been adopted or rejected. All such 
 determinations shall be reduced to writing, and signed by 
 the members of such board, or a majority of them, and filed and 
 recorded in the office of the County Clerk of such county, who 
 shall cause a copy thereof, and of the statements filed and re- 
 corded in his office, upon which such determination was based, 
 to be published in at least one newspaper published in such 
 
 786 
 
county, and in such other newspapers published therein as the 
 County Board of Canvassers shall direct. The clerk of each 
 county shall prepare as many certified copies of each certificate 
 of the determination of the County Board of Canvassers of such 
 county as there are persons declared elected in such certificate, 
 and shall, without delay, transmit such copies to the persons 
 therein declared to be elected, respectively. 
 
 Sec. 25. Section one hundred and thirty-seven of said Act 
 is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Transmission of statements of County Boards to Secretary of State 
 and Municipal Assembly. 
 
 § 137. Upon the filing in the office of the County Clerk of 
 a statement of the County Board of canvassers as to the votes 
 cast for candidates for the offices of electors of president and 
 vice-president, or as to the votes cast for candidates for State 
 officers, except Member of Assembly and for Representatives in 
 Congress, or as to the vote cast on any proposed constitutional 
 amendment or other proposition or question submitted to all the 
 electors of the State, such County Clerk shall forthwith make 
 three certified copies of each such statement, and, within five 
 days after the filing thereof in his office, transmit by mail one of 
 such copies to the Secretary of State, one to the Governor and 
 one to the Comptroller of the State. The Governor and Comp- 
 troller shall forthwith upon the receipt thereof by them deliver such 
 certified copies to the Secretary of State. If any certified copy 
 shall not be received by the Secretary of State on or before the last 
 day of November next after a general election, or within twenty 
 days after a special election, he shall dispatch a special messenger 
 to obtain such certified copy from the County Clerk required to 
 transmit the same, and such county clerk shall immediately upon 
 demand of such messenger at his office make and deliver such a 
 certified copy to such messenger who shall, as soon as practic- 
 able, deliver it to the Secretary of State. The County Clerk of 
 each County shall transmit to the Secretary of State, within 
 twenty days after a general election, and within ten days after a 
 special election, a list of the name and residence of each person 
 
 787 
 
determined by the Board of County Canvassers of such County 
 to be elected Member of Assembly, School Commissioner, and 
 to any County office ; and on or before the fifteenth day of 
 December in each year a certified copy of the official canvass of 
 the votes cast in each such County by Election Districts at the 
 last preceding general election. The Secretary of State shall 
 obtain from the Governor and Comptroller such certified copies 
 so transmitted to them and file the same in his office. 
 
 Upon the filing in the office of the County Clerk of a County 
 wholly or partly within The City of New York of a statement of 
 the County Board of Canvassers as to the votes cast for candi- 
 dates for a city office within such city such County Clerk shall 
 forthwith make a certified copy of each such statement and, 
 within five days after the filing thereof in his office, deliver in a 
 sealed envelope such certified copy to the Clerk of the Munici- 
 pal Assembly of The City of New York at his office in the 
 Borough of Manhattan ; on or before the fifteenth day of Decem- 
 ber in any year in which there shall have been an election for a 
 city office for which votes were cast in such County wholly or 
 partly within The City of New York the County Clerk thereof shall 
 file with the City Clerk of such city a certified copy of the official 
 canvass of the votes cast in such county or portion thereof by 
 Election Districts for such city office and such canvass by Elec- 
 tion Districts shall, as soon as possible thereafter, be published 
 in the City Record. 
 
 Sec. 26. The said Act as hereby amended by adding thereto 
 the following Section after Section one hundred and thirty-seven 
 of said Act. 
 
 Organization and duties of Board of Canvassers of The City of 
 New York. 
 
 § 138. The Municipal Assembly of The City of New York 
 shall be the Board of Canvassers of The City of New York of 
 the statements of the County Board of Canvassers of the counties 
 wholly or partly within such city of the votes cast in such city 
 or any portion thereof for a city office or upon any proposition 
 or question upon which only electors of such city were entitled 
 
 788 
 
to vote. The members of the Municipal Assembly shall meet 
 at the usual place for holding their regular meeting of such 
 body on the first Monday in December succeeding a general 
 election for a city ofifice within such city and within thirty days 
 after such special election and shall organize by selecting one of 
 the members as chairman. The Clerk of the Municipal Assem- 
 bly shall be the secretary of such Board or if he be absent or 
 unable to serve his chief deputy shall be the secretary of such 
 Board. The secretary shall thereupon administer to the chair- 
 man the constitutional oath of office and the chairman shall 
 administer such oath to the members of such Board and the 
 secretary thereof. 
 
 As soon as such Board shall have organized the secretary 
 shall deliver to such Board the certified copies of the statements 
 of the County Boards of Canvassers of each county wholly or 
 partly within such city of the votes cast for candidates for city 
 office within such city and upon any proposition or question, if 
 any submitted, to the electors of such city only and the said 
 Board shall proceed to canvass such statements. If a certified 
 copy of any statement of any County Board required to be 
 delivered to said Board shall not be delivered prior to the meet- 
 ing and organization of said Board, it may adjourn such meeting 
 from day to day not exceeding a term of five days and it shall 
 be the duty of the secretary to procure from the County Clerk 
 of such county the required certified copy of such statement. 
 
 Upon the completion of such canvass said Board shall make 
 separate tabulated statements signed by the members of such 
 Board or a majority thereof, and attested by the secretary, of the 
 whole number of votes cast for all the candidates for each office 
 shown by such certified statements to have been voted for and 
 of the whole number of votes cast for each of such candidates 
 indicating the number of votes cast in each county for them and 
 if the voters of not more than one county or portion of such 
 county were entitled to vote for such candidates, the name and 
 portion of such county and the name of each candidate, and the 
 determination of the Board of the persons thereby elected to 
 such office by the greatest number of votes. The said Board 
 shall also make a separate similar tabulated statement of the 
 
 789 
 
vote cast upon any proposition or question submitted at the 
 election to the electors of such city only and shall include a 
 determination as to whether such proposition or question by the 
 greatest number of votes has been adopted or rejected. Each 
 such statement and determination shall be filed and recorded in 
 the office of the Clerk of the Municipal Assembly and the said 
 Board shall cause the publication of the same in at least two 
 newspapers within such county wholly within such city and in 
 the City Record. 
 
 Upon the filing in his office of such statements and deter- 
 mination the Clerk of the Municipal Assembly shall issue and 
 transmit by mail or otherwise a certificate of election to each 
 person shown thereby to be elected, such certificate to be count- 
 ersigned by the Mayor of The City of New York under the seal 
 of the City of New York. 
 
 Sec. 27. Sections 138, 139, 140 and 141 of said Act are 
 hereby renumbered 139, 140, 141 and 142 respectively. 
 
 Sec. 28. This Act shall take effect on the first day of Janu- 
 ary in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. 
 
 790 
 
An Act to provide for the election of Supervisors 
 in the several wards of the borough of queens 
 IN THE City of New York to be members of the 
 Board of Supervisors of the County of Queens. 
 
 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate 
 and Assembly, do enact as follows ; 
 
 Section i. At the election to be held in The City of New 
 York in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
 every two years thereafter, a supervisor shall be elected by 
 the electors of each ward of the Borough of Queens, and 
 such supervisor shall be a member of the Board of Super- 
 visors of the County of Queens. 
 
 The term of office of such supervisor shall begin on the 
 day on which town elections are required, by law, to be held 
 in the several towns of the County of Queens in the year 
 next succeeding his election, and shall continue for two 
 years. No person shall be eligible to the office of super- 
 visor unless he shall be, at the time of his election, a quali- 
 fied elector in the ward in which he shall be elected, and 
 upon his removal from the ward he shall cease to be super- 
 visor of such ward and the office shall be vacant. 
 
 Sec. 2. Whenever the office of supervisor shall be 
 vacant, for any cause whatever, the local Board of the 
 Borough of Queens shall appoint a qualified elector of the 
 ward in which the vacancy exists to fill out the unexpired 
 portion of the term. 
 
 Sec 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 791 
 
an act in relation to the city court of the 
 City of New York and for the accommodation 
 thereof, and authorizing the fitting up and 
 
 EQUIPPING OF CERTAIN PARTS OF THE CiTY HaLL 
 
 IN THE City of New York. 
 
 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate 
 and Assembly, do enact as follows : 
 
 Section I. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 of the City of New York is hereby authorized and em- 
 powered to select, lease and procure suitable accommoda- 
 tions for the City Court of the City of New York and for 
 the judges and clerk thereof. The Commissioner of Pub- 
 lic Works of said city, when thereto authorized and di- 
 rected by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment shall 
 furnish, prepare and equip the premises leased and selected 
 as hereinbefore provided for the use of said court. Any 
 building, room or premises procured or leased in accord- 
 ance with law for the use of the said City Court in the City 
 of New York shall be deemed a part of the City Hall of the 
 City of New York for the purpose of holding terms of the 
 City Court therein. The premises leased as herein pro- 
 vided shall be ready for the occupancy of said court on or 
 before the first day of September, one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven, and on said date said court shall 
 vacate the rooms now occupied by it in the City Hall. 
 
 § 2. After the City Court shall have vacated the rooms 
 now occupied by it in the City Hall, as hereinbefore pro- 
 vided, the Commissioner of Public Works, when thereto 
 directed by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
 and upon plans approved by it, shall remodel the space 
 in said City Hall, heretofore occupied by said court, 
 so as to provide a suitable chamber or meeting room 
 and other apartments for the use of the Council of 
 the Municipal Assembly and its officers, provided for by 
 
 792 
 
chapter of the laws of one 
 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. Said Commis- 
 sioner of Public Works shall in the same manner provide 
 a suitable meeting room and offices in the said City Hall 
 for the Board of Public Improvements of said city, also 
 provided for by chapter of the 
 
 laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-seven. He shall also 
 procure the furniture and other fittings suitable to such 
 rooms when thus altered. 
 
 § 3. The expense necessary to carry these provisions into 
 effect shall be paid by the City and County of New York, 
 and the Comptroller of said city shall issue revenue bonds 
 of said city for the purpose of providing for such expenses ; 
 the amount necessary to pay the principal and interest of 
 said bonds shall be included in the final estimate of the 
 amount necessary to be raised by taxation for the purposes 
 of the government of said city for the ensuing year. 
 
 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 Proposed Constitutional Amendment as to Boards 
 OF Supervisors. 
 
 Amend section 26, Article III, of the Constitution to read 
 as follows : 
 
 " Boards of Supervisors. Sec. 26. There shall be in 
 the several Counties, except in cities which wholly include 
 within their boundaries one or more Counties, a Board of 
 Supervisors to be composed of such members and elected 
 in such manner and for such period as is or may be pro- 
 vided by law. In any such city the duties and powers of 
 a Board of Supervisors may be devolved upon the Munici- 
 pal Assembly, Common Council, Board of Aldermen or 
 other legislative body of the city." 
 
 793 
 
Proposed Constitutional Amendment as to Minority 
 Representation. 
 
 Amend section i, Article II , of the Constitution to read as 
 follows: 
 
 " Section i. Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one 
 years, who shall have been a citizen for ten days, and an in- 
 habitant of this State one year next preceding an election, 
 and the last four months a resident of the county, and for 
 the last thirty days a resident of the election district in 
 which he may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such 
 election in the election district ol which he shall at the time 
 be a resident, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now 
 are or hereafter may be elective by the people ; and upon 
 all questions which may be submitted to the vote of the' 
 people : the Legislature may, however, enact laws which, in 
 elections by the people, for offices in municipal or public corpora^ 
 tions or any class of such corporations, shall provide for Minority 
 or Proportional Representation in such elections. Provided 
 that in time of war no elector in actual military service of 
 the State or of the United States, in the army or navy 
 thereof, shall be deprived of his vote by reason of his ab- 
 sence from such election district ; and the Legislature shall 
 have power to provide the manner in which and the time 
 and place at which such absent electors may vote, and for 
 the return and canvass of their votes in the election districts 
 in which they respectively reside." 
 
 794 
 
Proposed Constitutional Amendment as to 
 Limitation op Indebtedness. 
 
 Amend section 10, Article VII I. of the Constitution, to 
 read as follows : 
 
 " Counties, cities and towns not to give or loan 
 money or credit; limitation of indebtedness. — 
 § 10. — No county, city, town or village shall hereafter 
 give any money or property, or loan its money or 
 credit to or in aid of any individual, association 
 or corporation, or become directly or indirectly the 
 owner of stock in, or bonds of, any association or 
 corporation ; nor shall any such county, city, town or 
 village be allowed to incur any indebtedness except for 
 county, city, town or village purposes. This section 
 shall not prevent such county, city, town or village 
 from making such provision for the aid or support of 
 its poor as may be authorized by law. No county or 
 city shall be allowed to become indebted for any pur- 
 pose or in any manner to an amount which, including 
 existing indebtedness, shall exceed ten per centum of 
 the assessed valuation of the real estate of such 
 county or city subject to taxation, as it appeared by 
 the assessment-rolls of said county or city on the last 
 assessment for state or county taxes prior to the in- 
 curring of such indebtedness ; and all indebtedness in 
 excess of such limitation, except such as may now 
 exist, shall be absolutely void, except as herein other- 
 wise provided. No county or city whose present 
 indebteduess exceeds ten per centum of the assessed 
 valuation of its real estate subject to taxation, shall be 
 allowed to become indebted in any further amount 
 until such indebtedness shall be reduced within such 
 limit. This section shall not be construed to prevent 
 the issuing of certificates of indebtedness or revenue 
 
 795 
 
bonds issued in anticipation of the collection of taxes 
 for amounts actually contained, or to be contained in 
 the taxes for the year when such certificates or reve- 
 nue bonds are issued and payable out of such taxes. 
 
 Nor shall this section be construed to prevent the 
 issue of bonds to provide for the supply of water ; but 
 the term of the bonds issued to provide the supply of 
 water shall not exceed twenty years, and a sinking 
 fund shall be created on the issuing of the said bonds 
 for their redemption, by raising annually a sum which 
 will produce an amount equal to the sum of the prin- 
 cipal and interest of said bonds at their maturity. All 
 certificates of indebtedness or revenue bonds issued in 
 anticipation of the collection of taxes, which are not 
 retired within five years after their date of issue, 
 and bonds issued to provide for the supply of water, 
 and any debt hereafter incurred by any portion or 
 part of a city, if there shall be any such debt, shall be 
 included in ascertaining the power of the city to be- 
 come otherwise indebted. When the boundaries of 
 a city are the same as those of a county, or when 
 any city shall include within its boundaries more than 
 one county, the power of any county wholly included 
 within such city to become indebted shall cease, but 
 the debt of the county heretofore existing shall not, 
 for the purposes of this section, be reckoned as a part 
 of the city debt. The amount hereafter to be raised 
 by tax for county or city purposes, in any county con- 
 taining a city of over one hundred thousand inhabit- 
 ants, or any such city of this State, in addition to pro- 
 viding for the principal and interest of existing debt, 
 shall not in the aggregate exceed in any one year two 
 per centum of the assessed valuation of the real and 
 personal estate of such county or city, to be ascer- 
 tained as prescribed in this section in respect to county 
 or city debt." — 
 
 lOIIVBRSITr 
 
 c. 
 
 796 
 
 / 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or S^Sftt^Sj 
 on the date to which renewed. ^^S 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 24Juii'o/iirt 
 
 REC^D LP 
 
 JUN1119&7 
 
 220ct>57Hj 
 
 RECD LD 
 
 J-iX3/;9:3 
 
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 REC * D LP 
 
 MAR 25 1959 
 
 LD 21-100m-6,'56 
 (B9311sl0)476 
 
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 University of California B^ 
 Berkeley 
 
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