Case Name: The People of the State of New York ex rel. William J. Schwarz, Appellant, against William S. Miller et al., Constituting the Board of Taxes and Assessments in the City of New York, Respondents
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1939-11-28
Citations: 281 N.Y. 554
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York ex rel. William J. Schwarz, Appellant, against William S. Miller et al., Constituting the Board of Taxes and Assessments in the City of New York, Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 281
Pages: 554–556

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York ex rel. William J. Schwarz, Appellant, against William S. Miller et al., Constituting the Board of Taxes and Assessments in the City of New York, Respondents.
Argued September 25, 1939;
decided November 28, 1939.
Arthur Morris for appellant.
William C. Chanler, Corporation Counsel (Seymour B. Quel, Arthur A. Segall and Murray Sendler of counsel), for respondents.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
Section 904 of the Charter of the City of New York (L. 1901, ch. 466, as amd. [formerly § 895]) prescribes the form of an application for correction of an assessment as follows: " Such application shall be made in writing and shall specify clearly the objection thereto and the grounds for such objection This provision, we think, would naturally be read as a direction complete in itself and not as intended to be supplemented by the provisions of section 27 of the Tax Law (Cons. Laws, ch. 60) requiring that complaints in relation to assessments should be made under oath. (Cf. People ex rel. New York Water Service Corp. v. Hennessey, 265 N. Y. 609; People ex rel. American Sugar Refining Co. v. Sexton, 274 N. Y. 304.)
Relator's application for correction of the assessment complied with the foregoing charter provisions and was sufficient without verification thereof.
The orders should be reversed, with costs in all courts, and the matter remitted to the Special Term for a determination of the merits.
Crane, Ch. J., Lehman, LoughRan and Finch, JJ., concur; Hubbs and Rippey, JJ., dissent; O'Brien, J., taking no part.
Orders reversed, etc.