Research

Scope and Content Note

This fragmentary series consists of petitions for appointment of commissioners to appraise lands taken for street openings in the incorporated cities of New York and Brooklyn. There are also reports of the Commissioners, returned to the Supreme Court of Judicature.

The petition of the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of an incorporated city to the justices of the court describes the parcels of land to be taken for opening, extending, or widening a street and asks the court to appoint three commissioners to appraise the lands described. The petition bears the seal of the city and the signatures of the mayor and the clerk. The Commissioner's report again describes each parcel by metes and bounds, gives the owner's name, and states the assessed value as determined and awarded by the Commissioners.