Walter Langdon, Respondent v. the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, Appellant

Summary

The Court affirmed the judgment against the City of New York, holding that the city's filling and bulkhead construction destroyed the plaintiff's perpetual right of wharfage and the necessary easement of access, which could not be taken without compensation. The grant of wharfage, made for valuable consideration, includes the implied right of way and is not subject to the strict construction rule applied to gratuitous public grants.