Sundheimer v. City of New York

On the 24th of August, 1901, certain personal property belonging to the plaintiff was injured by. the overflow ■of a sewer which extended past his premises, and this action was brought to recover from the defendant the damages sustained, upon the ground that the same were caused by the negligence of the city ■of New York in the construction and maintenance of the sewer. The answer denied defendant’s liability, and alleged as an affirma

The damages sustained by the plaintiff by reason of the overflow of the sewer were not litigated at the trial,—the defendant there stipulating that the plaintiff was in fact injured to the amount of $300. The fact, however, that the plaintiff sustained damage, did not, in and of itself, entitle him to recover the same from the city. To entitle him to such recovery he v/as obligated to prove the other facts alleged in the complaint,—-viz., that the overflow was due to the negligence of the city in the construction of the sewer in the first instance, or its maintenance thereafter. The evidence adduced upon the trial failed to establish either one of these essential facts.

First, as to the construction of the sewer. It appeared that it was built according to a well-recognized and approved plan, and according to the testimony of plaintiff’s own expert, when completed, was considered by the best engineers in the city a “good sewer”; and in this he was corroborated by defendant’s experts. According to their testimony the sewer was constructed according to a recognized formula for the construction of sewers; that according to this formula the area to be drained was ascertained, and the capacity of the sewer calculated upon the theory of a possible rainfall of one inch per hour within that territory, and also what had or might be built upon territory in the locality to be drained by the sewer. Taking into consideration all of these facts, the sewer is “sufficient in capacity to carry off the ordinary rain that will fall, viz., one inch per hour in that watershed district.” In this connection it is worthy of note that at a certain stage of the trial the plaintiff’s attorney conceded—though the concession was afterwards withdrawn—-that the sewer was properly constructed “as far as the knowledge of engineering at that date went.” Therefore, as to the construction, there was absolutely no evidence offered upon the trial which would have justified a finding to the effect that the city was negligent in any respect, either as to the-location, construction, or outlet of the sewer.

Its liability to the plaintiff, if it be liable at all, must therefore be based upon its negligence so far as the same related to the maintenance of the sewer after it had been constructed; and upon this branch of the case plaintiff also failed. What the plaintiff attempted to prove was that the sewer was of insufficient capacity; that the defendant had neglected to clean it; that dirt had been permitted to accumulate in it, which diminished its capacity to a large extent; and by reason thereof, the overflow was caused. The testimony of ■ some of plaintiff’s witnesses tended to show that the sewer had overflowed on different occasions, and that they had not seen it cleaned; but, as against this, the testimony of plaintiff’s own witness Mulcahy showed that it was cleaned within a few days after a storm which occurred on the gtli of July preceding the one which occurred on the 24th of August, when plaintiff sustained his damage, while defendant’s witness Byrne; whose duty it was to examine and- clean the

What caused the sewer to overflow at the time in question is apparent. There was on that day a very severe storm, the severity of which, according to the testimony of one of the defendant’s witnesses, had been exceeded by only four storms in over 30 years,-—a storm in which over an inch of water fell the first hour, and nearly two inches and a half in six hours. Loose earth, rubbish, etc., were carried into the receiving basins, which, during the early part of the storm, became clogged, and thereafter the water, being unable to escape through them into the sewer, was carried into the basements, cellars, and houses located along its line. There is no doubt that the plaintiff was injured, as doubtless many others were; but the defendant was not responsible for it. It was not bound to anticipate a storm of this character. All that was required of it, when it built the sewer, was that it should adopt a plan that was reasonably calculated to subserve the part of the work according to the needs of the present, and those of the future so far as they could be reasonably anticipated, and to thereafter properly care for it. This it did so far as appears from this record.

Stress is laid by the appellant upon the case of Talcott against this same defendant ( 58 App. Div. 514 , 69 N. Y. Supp. 360 ). There this court held, where a sewer overflowed, that, in the absence of facts showing the cause, a burden was cast upon the city to explain. Here the city assumed that burden and established by uncontradicted evidence the cause of the overflow, viz., a storm of unusual severity. The case of Seifert v. City of Brooklyn, 101 N. Y. 137 , 4 N. E. 321 , 54 Am. Rep. 664 , is clearly distinguishable from this one. No evidence whatever was offered which would have justified a finding' that the sewer was not, as already said, properly constructed, or that it was not thereafter properly maintained, including the receiving basins and outlets. Where a municipality has thus constructed and maintained a sewer adequate for all ordinary purposes, it is not liable for injuries caused by an extraordinary storm of the character of the one which occurred at the time stated in the complaint. A man of ordinary prudence and good judgment would not be required to anticipate-such a storm, and certainly no more can be required of the city than-could be of him.

The judgment appealed from must therefore be affirmed, with costs,

VAN BRUNT, P. J„ and INGRAHAM, J., concur.

I dissent from the conclusion, reached by the majority of the court in this case, that the plaintiff failed to present evi

“There have been a great many houses built there,—quite a number; and every house that is built up has a number of waterclosets and sinks and cesspools and drains which connect with the sewers, and all of these drain into the Webster avenue sewer, and all the time from 1872 down there have been constant additions to the burden that the Webster avenue sewer has to carry off.”

In this connection it was testified that there were other overflows prior to August 24, 1901, and many complaints were made to the officials; and the defendant’s engineer admitted that he had received complaints as far back as the latter part of 1896. One witness testified that she had herself made six or eight complaints, one having been five years ago, and that the sewer basins became stopped upon occasions of ordinary storms,—even slight storms she had seen that,—and carried away no water. Another witness testified that there had been overflows in January, 1901, on July 5, 1901, and on August 24, 1901; and it was further testified that in November, 1900, and March and April, 1901, there were overflows. Finally, testimony showing notice to the city was excluded on the ground that it was cumulative; the court stating that defendant’s counsel admitted as matter of law that the city had sufficient notice.

More particularly with regard to the cause and the character of the-overflow in question, it was testified that in a few moments after the rain began the water overflowed into the basement, the street was covered with water, and the drains, closets, sinks, and drains backed up and ran over, the water being muddy and full of sticks and debris; and a manhole in the street at this point blew open, and water spouted three or four feet in the air. One witness, who had examined the basin at the time, said it was full of mud and slush up to within a foot of the top, and that prior thereto, and back as far as April, 1901, he

We have not overlooked the evidence given in behalf of the city, and which is set forth in detail in the opinion of Mr. Justice McLAUGHLIN, that there had been constant inspections, and that a short time prior to the storm which did the damage the basins had been cleaned. This, however, was not conclusive, because, on the question of the credibility to be attached to the witnesses whose testimony was thus opposed, we have the actual occurrence, at the time of the storm, showing that the sewer was insufficient, that it did not carry off the water, and that this was so, not alone because the storm was one of unusual severity, but, if the testimony of the plaintiff is to be believed, because the sewer at that time was clogged, and had placed upon it a burden, in the shape of all these lateral sewers, greater than its capacity. We do not' claim, on the other hand, that the testimony showu ing that the sewer was clogged and that it was insufficient is conclusive ; but we do think that there were presented questions of fact, first, as to whether it was the part of prudent management to add to the original area which the sewer as constructed was intended to drain, and also as to whether, if reasonable care had been exercised in inspecting and keeping the basins cleaned, they would have been in the condition testified by the witnesses on the day of the storm. In other words, upon the entire evidence, I think there were questions of fact for the jury as to' whether it was negligence of the defendant to add the new sewers to the old one, and to disregard the complaints and fail to remedy the defects, and whether the city had negligently permitted the basins to be and remain clogged and useless. Even though it be conceded that the original construction of the sewer was sufficient, there was evidence to justify the inference that the burdens further imposed upon it by extending the area which it was to' drain and by

I think, therefore, that the judgment appealed from should be reversed, and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellant to abide the event.

(dissenting). I think the judgment in this case should be reversed, on the ground that upon the evidence a question of fact was presented for determination by the jury as to whether the defendant was guilty of negligence in failing to exercise reasonable care in inspecting and cleaning the sewers which overflowed, and whether the damages which the plaintiff sustained were occasioned by such neglect. Upon this subject I concur in the opinion of Mr. Justice O’BRIEN. Upon the other question, the proof seems to be insufficient to show any negligence, sufficient to support a verdict for the plaintiff, in the plan and construction of the sewer, or in the burdens which have been placed upon it since its construction.