Granada Buildings, Inc. v. City of Kingston

Granada Buildings, Inc. v. City of Kingston, 444 N.E.2d 1325 (N.Y. 1982)

Court: New York Court of Appeals · State Highest Courts
Decided: December 2, 1982
Citations: 444 N.E.2d 132558 N.Y.2d 705458 N.Y.S.2d 9061982 N.Y. LEXIS 3920

Cited by 56 6 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, and judgment granted in defendants’ favor declaring that the February, 1977 resolution passed by the City of Kingston limiting the tax levy on plaintiff’s housing project is a nullity, and is not, and has never been, binding on defendants.

*708 Municipal contracts which violate express statutory provisions are invalid (Seif v City of Long Beach, 286 NY 382 ; Kelly v Cohoes Housing Auth., 27 AD2d 463 , affd 23 NY2d 692 ; Albany Supply & Equip. Co. v City of Cohoes, 25 AD2d 700 , affd 18 NY2d 968 ). Applying this principle, the city’s 1977 resolution granting respondent a partial tax exemption was a nullity since it was not authorized under the express terms of section 125 (subd 1, par [a]) of the Private Housing Finance Law, which allows municipalities to contract for such exemptions only with “any redevelopment company”; concededly, respondent was not a “redevelopment company” at that time. Furthermore, because a governmental subdivision cannot be held answerable for the unauthorized acts of its agents (Albany Supply & Equip. Co. v City of Cohoes, supra; People v Baldwin, 197 App Div 285, 291 , affd 233 NY 672 ), we have frequently reiterated that estoppel is unavailable against a public agency (e.g., Public Improvements v Board of Educ., 56 NY2d 850 ; Matter of Hamptons Hosp. & Med. Center v Moore, 52 NY2d 88 ).

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Meyer concur.

Order reversed, with costs, and judgment granted in favor of defendants in accordance with the memorandum herein.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 6 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

(allowing City of Kingston to redefine the plaintiff property owner as not qualifying for tax exemptions as a "redevelopment company")

Am. Tel. & Tel. v. NYC Dept. of Human RES., 736 F. Supp. 496 (S.D.N.Y. 1990)
(“because a governmental subdivision cannot be held answerable for the unauthorized acts of its agents ... we have frequently reiterated that estoppel is unavailable against a public agency”)

United States v. Schmitt, 999 F. Supp. 317 (E.D.N.Y. 1998)
("Municipal contracts which violate express statutory provisions are invalid[.]")

PHL Variable Ins. Co. v. Town of Oyster Bay, 929 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2019)
(applicable “statutory” law includes municipal charters)

NRP Holdings LLC v. City of Buffalo, No. 17-783-cv (2d Cir. Feb. 20, 2019)

Cited by 56 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

PHL Variable Ins. Co. v. Town of Oyster Bay929 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2019)
Field Day, LLC v. County of Suffolk799 F. Supp. 2d 186 (E.D.N.Y. 2011)
NRP Holdings LLC v. City of Buffalo916 F.3d 177 (2d Cir. 2019)
American Telephone & Telegraph Co v. New York City Department of Human Resources736 F. Supp. 496 (S.D.N.Y. 1990)
American Tel. & Tel. v. NYC DEPT. OF HUMAN RES.736 F. Supp. 496 (S.D.N.Y. 1990)
Genesco Entertainment, a Div. of Lymutt v. Koch593 F. Supp. 743 (S.D.N.Y. 1984)

Most recent

JobPath Partners, LLC v. City of New York and CDW Government ServicesNo. 1:24-cv-09026 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 8, 2025)
Great Swamp Conservancy Inc. v. Town of Lenox2021 NY Slip Op 03094
PHL Variable Ins. Co. v. Town of Oyster Bay929 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2019)
NRP Holdings LLC v. City of BuffaloNo. 17-783-cv (2d Cir. Feb. 20, 2019)
NRP Holdings LLC v. City of Buffalo916 F.3d 177 (2d Cir. 2019)
Michael R. Gianatasio, PE, P.C. v. City of New YorkNo. 2016 NYSlipOp 26270 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Aug. 26, 2016)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 9

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Hamptons Hosp. & Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Moore, 417 N.E.2d 533 (N.Y. 1981)	202
	Seif v. City of Long Beach, 36 N.E.2d 630 (N.Y. 1941)	128
	Pub. Improvements, Inc. v. Bd. of Educ., 438 N.E.2d 876 (N.Y. 1982)	35
	People v. Baldwin, 197 A.D. 285 (1921)	23
	People v. Baldwin, 135 N.E. 964 (N.Y. 1922)	17
	Albany Supply & Equip. Co. v. City of Cohoes, 25 A.D.2d 700 (1966)	10
	Albany Supply & Equip. Co. v. City of Cohoes, 224 N.E.2d 716 (N.Y. 1966)	7
	Kelly v. Cohoes Hous. Auth., 27 A.D.2d 463 (1967)	6
	Kelly v. Cohoes Hous. Auth., 243 N.E.2d 746 (N.Y. 1968)	5

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