Nathan Bohm, Respondents v. the Metropolitan Elevated Railway Company, Appellants; Peter Somers…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the judgments for plaintiffs Somers and Bohm and remanded for new trial, holding that damages for the taking of easements by an elevated railway must be measured by the actual loss in market value of the remaining land, and that no recovery is available when the taking has increased the land's value unless the plaintiff can show a greater hypothetical increase. The court also clarified that only special benefits to the plaintiff’s land, not general urban growth, may offset damages.