The Plaintiff, whose predecessors-in-interest purchased the land in question in 1948, sought a ruling declaring that it was the sole owner of the property.

 The City of New York counterclaimed for a judgment declaring that it had acquired title by adverse possession because the Department of Sanitation has been using the land as a truck parking lot for more than thirty years. The Supreme Court, Kings County, granted the Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the City’s collection of real estate taxes from the Plaintiff and its predecessors was an admission that it did not possess the property under a claim of right, defeating the City’s claim of adverse possession under RPAPL Article 5 (“Adverse Possession”) as in effect prior to its amendment in 2008. The Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed the lower court’s ruling and remitted the case to the Supreme Court for entry of a judgment that the City had acquired title by adverse possession. According to the Appellate Division,

“[h]ere, the City established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence establishing that its possession of the property was actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for a least 10 years. Therefore, the burden shifted to the plaintiff to rebut the presumption of adversity. We conclude that the mere payment of taxes on the subject property is insufficient to rebut the presumption”.

Estate of Vertley Clanton v. City of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 06254, decided August 23, 2017, is posted at http://nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_06254.htm.