Sinsheimer v. Underpinning & Foundation Co.

Headnote

Sinsheimer v. Underpinning & Foundation Co., 178 App. Div. 495 , affirmed.

Appeal, by permission, from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered June 12, 1917, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a'verdict,. The plaintiff, the lessee and occupant of the ■store, basement and sub-basement of the premises No.' 593 Broadway, in the borough of Manhattan, New York city, brought this action against the defendant, which was engaged in the erection of a portion of the subway along Broadway, to recover damages sustained by reason of the erection, maintenance and operation

by the defendant on the street and sidewalk in front of plaintiff’s premises of certain structures employed in the work of excavation and construction, and operated as a station from which to conduct the work of construction and excavation to a considerable distance north and south of plaintiff’s premises, thereby interfering with plaintiff’s easements of light, air and access, and also imposing an undue and excessive burden upon plaintiff’s premises as against other premises along the section of the subway served by such structures. The answer alleged substantially a general denial and a defense that the structures complained of were authorized by the public service com- . mission and were merely temporary and incidental to a work of public necessity, performed without negligence, in the construction of a portion of the Rapid Transit Railroad, pursuant to a contract between the defendant and the city of New York.