UNIVERSITY

OF

CALIFORNIA

CODE OF ORDINANCES

OF THE

CITY OF NEW YORK.

An Ordinance adopting the Code of Ordinances of the City of New York.

Be it Ordained by the Board of Aldermen of The City of New York as follows:

That all ordinances of The City of New York which were in force on January 1, 1906, be and they hereby are repealed; Be it further Ordained, That the ordinances of The City of New York, excluding those ordinances designated as obsolete, which are herewith presented in the report of the Committee on Codification of Ordinances of the Board of Aldermen of The City of New York as the existing ordinances of said city up to the date of January 1, 1906, and all ordinances recommended in said committee's report for re-enactment, with the corrections as therein designated, be and they hereby are adopted and enacted as ordinances of The City of New York. Be it further Ordained, That this ordinance shall not be construed to affect or impair any right, interest, privilege or power which has accrued or been conferred heretofore, or any penalty, obligation, liability, forfeiture or assessment heretofore incurred, or any action or proceeding now pending; and any right, interest or privilège which, by the terms of any ordinance in force at the time of the adoption of this ordinance continues during the pleasure of the Board of Aldermen, shall not be hereby terminated.

By section 41 of the Greater New York Charter (L. 1897, chap. 378), all ordinances of the local boroughs in The City of New York, when not inconsistent with the charter, were continued in force. But the Board of Aldermen was given full power and authority to pass ordinances governing all the boroughs by sections 42, 44, 49, 50 and 51, and to modify, amend or repeal any ordinances of the local boroughs. Section 57 prescribed the ordinances should, as far as practicable, be reduced to a code and published. These general powers were continued by the revision of 1901 (L. 1901, chap. 466). The revised charter (sec. 57) requires an annual compilation by the Board of Aldermen on January first of the general ordinances in force. It is in pursuance of this section this code was prepared.

PART I.

General Ordinances and Ordinances of a General Character.

CHAPTER 1.- THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

Article I.- The Mayor.

Section 1. The Mayor may, whenever he shall deem it necessary, issue his proclamation for the apprehension of any person who shall have committed a crime within The City of New York, and may, in such proclamation, offer a reward not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be paid out of the city treasury upon the certificate of the Mayor that the service required has been performed. (Rev. Ords. 1897, sec. 1.)

Article II.- The City Clerk.

§ 2. The seal heretofore in use as the corporate seal of the corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of The City of New York, and in the custody of the Clerk of the Board of Aldermen of said city, shall be the seal of The City of New York, to be kept and used by the City Clerk of said city, as provided by law. (Ord. app. Jan. 3, 1898.)

CHAPTER 2.- THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

Article I.- The Board of Aldermen.

§3. A committee of the Board of Aldermen, in reporting upon a subject referred to them, must attach to their report all resolutions, petitions, remonstrances and other papers in their possession relative to the matter referred. (R. O. 1897, sec. 9.)

Article II.- The Clerk to the Board of Aldermen.

§ 4. The Clerk to the Board of Aldermen shall issue notices to the members of said board, when directed by that board, and to the members of the different committees of that board, and all persons whose attendance will be required before any such committee, when directed by the chairman thereof. (Id., sec. 11.)

§ 5. He shall, without delay, deliver to all officers of the corporation, and to all committees of the Board of Aldermen, all resolutions and communications referred to those officers or committees by that board. (Id., sec. 12.)

§ 6. He shall, without delay, deliver to the Mayor all ordinances and resolutions under his charge which are required by law to be approved by the Mayor, with all papers on which the same were founded. The Clerk shall not deliver to the Mayor any resolution which is a request addressed to the Governor, Legislature or any other body, or to any head of a department or other federal, State or municipal officer for action on the request of the Board of Aldermen, but he shall, without delay, deliver a copy of all such resolutions to

the official or board of whom the request is made by the Board of Aldermen. No resolution which refuses the prayer of any petition shall be delivered to the Mayor, but all such resolutions shall be filed. (Id., sec. 13.)

§ 7. He shall on the day succeeding the approval by the Mayor of any ordinance or resolution, or on the day succeeding its return by the Mayor without approval or objection, deliver to the head of the appropriate department a certified copy of the same. (Id., sec. 14.)

CHAPTER 3.- THE LAW DEPARTMENT.

Article I.— The Corporation Counsel.

§ 8. The Corporation Counsel shall draw such ordinances as may be required of him by the Board of Aldermen, or by any committee thereof. (Rev. Ords. 1897, sec. 104, with verbal change.)

§ 9. He shall, when required by the Board of Aldermen, prepare the draft of any bill to be presented by the corporation of the city to the Legislature for passage, with a proper memorial for the passage thereof. (Id., sec. 105, with verbal change.)

§ 10. He shall draw the leases, deeds and other papers connected with the finance department, and all contracts for any of the other departments of the corporation, when so required by the head of the department. (Id., sec. 105.)

§ 12. When he shall recover a debt due to the corporation which may have been placed in his hands for collection, he shall forthwith render an account thereof, under oath, to the Comptroller, stating the nature of the debt, the person against whom it was recovered, and the amount and time of the recovery, and shall immediately thereupon pay over the amount so received to the Chamberlain. He shall also thereupon receive from the Chamberlain a voucher for the payment thereof, which he shall forthwith, on the same day, exhibit to the Comptroller, and shall at the same time leave with him a copy thereof. (Id., sec. 107.)

§ 12. He shall keep in proper books to be provided for that purpose a register of all actions prosecuted or defended by him, and all proceedings had therein. (Id., sec. 108.)

§ 13. Upon the expiration of his term of office or his resignation thereof, or removal therefrom, the Corporation Counsel shall forthwith, on demand, deliver to his successors in office all deeds, leases, contracts, and other papers in his hands belonging to the corporation, or delivered to him by the corporation or any of its officers, and all papers in actions prosecuted or defended by him, then pending and undetermined, together with his register thereof, and of the proceedings therein, and a written consent of substitution of his successors, in all such actions then pending and undetermined. (Id., sec. 109.)

Article II.- The Public Administrator.

§ 14. The Public Administrator shall furnish the Comptroller with copies of all letters of administration which shall be granted to him within three days after the granting thereof. (R. O. 1897, sec. 124.)

§ 15. He shall, on the twentieth day of December, in each year, report to the Board of Aldermen the title of all actions prosecuted by or against him, and then pending and undetermined, with such other information in respect thereto as he may deem necessary or proper. (Id., sec. 125, with verbal change.)

§ 16. He shall report to the Comptroller, on the first Thursday of each month, and oftener if required, the amount of money received by him since his last return on account of any estate which he shall have administered. (Id., sec. 126.) § 17. He shall at the same time report to the Board of Aldermen a transcript of such of his accounts as have been closed or finally settled, and of those on which any money has been received by him as part of the proceeds of any estates on which he has administered; he shall deposit all moneys by him collected and received, as required by law, in such bank as the Corporation Counsel shall select from the designated depositaries of the city's moneys. (Id., sec. 127, with verbal changes.)

§ 18. He shall, whenever required, exhibit to the Comptroller the bank book showing his deposits, and all other vouchers and documents relating to his office. (Id., sec. 128.)

§ 19. The Comptroller, before signing any check for money deposited, shall examine the bank book showing the deposits, and the vouchers on which the check is required to be drawn, and shall satisfy himself fully as to the correctness thereof, and, in case of doubt or difficulty, he shall report the case to the Board of Aldermen for their direction. (Id., sec. 129.)

§ 20. The Comptroller may distribute and pay any balance of an intestate's estate remaining in the city treasury to the persons legally entitled thereto, whenever he and the Public Administrator shall be satisfied that the person claiming the same is legally entitled thereto; but, if they be not satisfied thereof they shall report the case to the Board of Aldermen for their direction. (Ord. app. Sept. 7, 1904.)

CHAPTER 4.- THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE.

Article I.- The Comptroller.

§ 21. The Comptroller shall superintend all the real estate of the corporation and report to the Board of Aldermen all encroachments thereon. (R. O. 1897, sec. 19, with verbal changes.)

§ 22. He shall keep and file in his office all title deeds, leases, bonds, mortgages or other assurances of title, and all evidences of debts, contracts, bonds of indemnity, official

bonds and all certificates of stocks belonging to the sinking fund, except such as are directed by law or ordinance to be deposited elsewhere. (Id., sec. 20.)

§ 23. He shall cause all grants, leases and counterparts of leases or deeds executed by the corporation to be recorded in proper books to be kept in his office. (Id., sec. 21.)

§ 24. He shall cause a proper map or survey of all lands or premises ceded, granted, conveyed or leased to the corporation to be annexed to the cession, grant, deed or lease thereof, and to be therein referred to before execution or acceptance thereof. He shall direct and superintend the collection of all rents or other moneys due to the corporation. (Id., sec. 22.)

§ 25. He shall report to the Board of Aldermen within thirty days after their organization in each year a statement of all contracts made by the corporation or directed or authorized by the Board of Aldermen and not performed or completed or upon which any moneys remain unpaid, with the amount of money so remaining unpaid on each. (Id., sec. 23, with verbal changes.)

§ 26. He shall direct legal proceedings to be taken when necessary to enforce payment of rents or other debts due to the corporation, or to obtain possession of premises to which the corporation is entitled. (Id., sec. 24.)

§ 27. He shall, as often as the state of the sinking fund shall render it necessary, advertise and sell at auction or private sale, as in his judgment may be most expedient, the water lot quit-rents belonging to the corporation in such parcels and on such terms as the Board of Aldermen or the Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund may prescribe, and cause proper conveyances to be executed to the purchasers, the avails of which shall be deposited in the treasury to the credit of the sinking fund. (Id., sec. 25, with verbal changes.)

§ 28. He may consent, in the name and on behalf of the corporation, that the lessee or assignee of a lease made by the corporation may assign the same or underlet the demised premises, whether or not provision is made by the lease that it shall not be assigned or the premises underlet without the consent of the corporation; but he shall not so consent unless all arrears of rents and all taxes and assessments upon the premises be paid in full. (Id., sec. 26.)

§ 29. When several lots or parcels of land belonging to different persons are assessed for taxes in one parcel, the Comptroller may make the proper apportionment of the tax among the different owners. (Id., sec. 27.)

§ 30. The Comptroller shall preserve, in a book to be kept in his office for that purpose, to be called the record of quit-rents, maps of all grants of land now or hereafter made by the corporation, on which quit-rents are payable, showing the original grants and the subdivisions of the same as near as they can be ascertained. (Id., sec. 28.)