JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

October 2008

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New York City’s Failure to Maintain Dam Not an Adequate Basis to Support Federal Civil Rights Action
Elliot v. City of New York, ___F.Supp.2d___

Plaintiffs, who own property downstream of the Neversink Reservoir, filed suit against the City of New York and the individuals responsible for operating that reservoir and dam due to damage caused then the dam overflowed in 2005. Plaintiffs sued in New York State Supreme Court but the city removed the matter to the U.S. District Court in Southern New York. In addition to suing on common law negligence and the Clean Water Act, plaintiffs also filed suit under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1983 on the theory that the city’s negligence deprived plaintiffs of real property interests without due process of law. The District Court disagreed and dismissed plaintiffs’ 1983 claims against the city.