New-York tribune., 1903-07-06
SAY CITY LOST MONEY.
Because 4queduct Commission
Failed to Take Lands.
MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION CHARGE

According to the Merchants Association the city
has lost much money because the Aqueduct Com
missioners did not take immediate possession OF
lands condemned for water supply. One case de-
cares the association Is that of Nelson Brothers.
! who have dairy farm in the Croton Naley- VI
this the Merchants Association say:
The title to the property formerly owned by them them
became vested in the city in January l%. + SIa9
600 and about $50 600 interest They have conthueq
date to the present refusing to pay rent vacate
The engineer in charge has repeatedly mace 5 He
mands upon them for the rent and mas attsnlp'e9 go
TO take possession Of the property OF Oehan Vi
Proceedings were begun by the assistant to the
Corporation Counsel to evict Nelson Br6theTs IRON f
or more of the Aqueduct Commissloners nave ave
cdnnse oce from taking the steps necessary
to protect the cys interests Va one or more neered 9f
with the proper by the he ts@nted 70
! collect rent from Nelson Brothers. and from other
tenants of the city.
The Merchants Association gave out a copy
of letter written by Corporation Counsel
Rives to Commissioner Monroe of the Water De-
partment part of which is appended:
In view of the fact that the city recently acquired
title to certain lands for use in connection WIN
the water supply in the ycialty OF LaHe & te0tion
The city has Sustained. fear. considerable less
possession of the lands acquired for similar pur,,
other buildings thereon. An actual case that has
arfsn W a1d wtb Sauabe Buildings and improve
ments thereon, belonging to Nelson BrotherS, was
Gently the ~ report Of the commissioners has been
confirmed, which awarded nearly SeoO & TO me Nelson rs
CURED, per cent interest on the award from
The city however has hitherto failed to take
physical possession of the 5.ra an9 fne fn
than six years without paying any rent or com com
The city is thus in the position Of being called
upon to pay for the land and buildings. ard also
time title was acquired although the owners OF
land and of the buildings and have paid no rent
or compensation to the city. Whether anything
This situation has arisen in numerous other
eases and it is due solely to the carelessness' IN
citvs representatives.
The letter goes on to say that the city might
lease such property, but 1t would be essential that
actual possession should first have been taken
and that the lease be in writing. accurately de-
scribing the property and the rent payable in ad-
A supplementary letter from H T. Dyknan who
In charge of such cases. says that the city
acquired title to the property in the Cornell Dam
proceeding on January Z, 1897, and that no steps
were taken remove any of the owners by the
Aqueduct Commission until the spring OF 1883
Mr.. Dykman then directed by the Corpora
ton Counsel to begin proceedings against certain
Of the land owners in the valley who had refused
to recognize the city their landlord Among
these were John Owen, Nelson Brothers and H. M
a
in the valley owned by Senator Henry Z. Nelson
who was his brother-in-law. He declared many
times publicly that he would never move from
the property, and if necessary, would use force
to prevent the city from taking possession of the
buildings
After consultation with the Corporation Counsel
it was decided to make test case with Mr.. Owen
and to have the others abide the result To pro
the interests of the city with reference to the
Nelson Brothers and Knowles while the proceedings
against Owen were pending. Mr. Dykman informed
them that the city would either withhold the per
cent interest on the award would deduct fair
rental from the award the property had not
been surrendered to the city when the title vested
On November 8 1899, the Aqueduct Commission
adopted motion made by Commissioner Power
directing the secretary to communicate with Mr.
Dykman and requested him to consent to further
adjournment of thirty days from the next ad
journed day. About this time the buildings the
Owen property were sold. Mr.. Owen still refused
to move. The person who purchased the buildings
desired to fulfil his contract with the city and
move the buildings Mr.. Wegman, the division en-
gineer, advised Mr. Dykman that he feared there
would be small riot when the person who pur-
Dykman informed the Sheriff Of this county Of Mr
W Wegdnn staLeInen5 ana empIcyeo oeputy Sher!iIS
building was being moved. Mr.. WhaIen ad-
After the owen case was disposed Of Mr.. Dykman
had SonSuitaI9n on Win MI Wnalen ana asked MN
yisi9g him that while the Owen proceeding was
TO the law department so far as Nj Dyzma1 could
ascertain, had sold the buildings from which they
desired to remove the Nelson's at public auction,
the sale taking place on June Q 1S99 the buildings
having been purchased by the Nelson brothers. Mr..
| Whaen stated to Mr.. Dykman that the sale
ton of the buildings changed the entire situation,
and told him not to do anything until he heard
| from him. Mr Dykman heard nothing further in
regard to the Nelson brothers until July So 1901,
| when their removal requested by the Aqueduct
Commission. Mr. Whaen said he "did not see how
We could collect rent from buildings that we had
sold two years before: that the city undoubt-
edly entitled to take possession of the land at
time for the reservoir purposes. and that far
| the buildings concerned the owner might very
| properly refuse pay rent to the city