AN ACT

To unite into one municipality under the corporate name of the City of New York, the various communities lying in and about New York Harbor, including the City and County of New York, the City of Brooklyn and the
County of Kings, the County of Richmond, and part of the County of Queens, and to provide for the Government thereof.

The People of the State of New York, Represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

Chapter I.

The City of New York; Corporations Consolidated: territory; Short Title of This Act.

Section 1. All the municipal and public corporations and parts of municipal and public corporations, including cities, villages, towns and school districts, but not including counties within the following territory, to wit: The county of Kings, the county of Richmond, the city of Long island City, the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, and that part of the town of Hempstead in Queens county, which is westerly of a straight line drawn from the southeasterly point of the town of Flushing through the middle of the channel between Rockaway beach and Shelter island, in the county of Queens, to the Atlantic ocean, are hereby consolidated with the municipal corporation known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York to be hereafter called the city of New York, and the boundaries, jurisdictions and powers of the said city of New York herein constituted are hereby declared to be
co-extensive with the territory above described, and the said city of New York is hereby declared to be the successor corporation in law and in fact of all the municipal and public corporations consolidated as aforesaid with all their lawful rights and powers and subject to all their lawful obligations without diminution or enlargement except as herein otherwise specially provided, and all of the duties and powers of the several municipal and public corporations consolidated as aforesaid into the city of New York are hereby devolved upon the municipal assembly of New York city so far as the same are applicable to the said city of New York and not herein otherwise specially provided. This act may be cited by the short title of the greater New York charter.

Division into Boroughs.

Sec. 2. The city of New York, as constituted by this act, is hereby divided into five boroughs, to be designated respectively: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond; the boundaries whereof shall be as follows:

First. The borough of Manhattan shall consist of all that portion of the city of New York hitherto known as Manhattan Island, and also Blackwell's Island, Randall's Island and Ward's Island, on the East or Harlem rivers.

Second. The borough of the Bronx shall consist of all that portion of the city of New York as hereby constituted, lying northerly or easterly of the borough of Manhattan, between the Hudson river and the East river or Long island sound, including the several islands heretofore belonging to the city of New York, not included in the borough of Manhattan.

Third. The borough of Brooklyn shall consist of that portion of the city of New York as hereby constituted, hitherto known as the City of Brooklyn.

Fourth. The borough of Queens shall consist of that portion of Queens county included in the city of New York as constituted by this act.

Fifth. The borough of Richmond shall consist of the territory known as Richmond county.

Name; Powers of Corporation; seal.

Sec. 3. The name of the corporation constituted by this act shall hereafter be the city of New York, and the same shall by that name, be a body politic and corporate in fact and in law with power to contract and to be contracted with, to sue and be sued, to have a common seal and to have perpetual succession, with all of the rights, properties, interests, claims, demands, grants, powers, privileges and jurisdictions held by the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York and held by each and every of the municipal and public corporations or parts thereof other than counties by this act consolidated with the corporation heretofore known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York, except so far as modified or repealed by the provisions of this act.

Local Government; Municipal Assembly; liabilities of Corporations Consolidated.

Sec. 4. For all purposes the local administration and government of the people and property within the territory hereby comprised within the city of New York shall be in and be exercised by the corporation aforesaid and the municipal assembly as in this act constituted shall exercise all the powers vested in the corporation of the city of New York by this act or otherwise save as in this act is otherwise specially provided. All valid and lawful charges and liabilities now existing against any of the municipal or public corporations or parts thereof which by this act are made part of the corporation of the city of New York, including the county of Kings and the county of Richmond, or which may hereafter arise or accrue against such municipal and public corporations, or parts thereof, including the said counties of Kings and Richmond, which but for this act would be valid and lawful charge for liabilities against the same, shall be deemed and taken to be like charges against or liabilities of the said city of New York, and shall accordingly be defrayed and answered unto by it to the same extent and no further than the said several constituent corporations would have been bound if this act had not been passed. All bonds, stocks, contracts and obligations of the said municipal and public corporations or parts thereof, including the county of Kings and the county of Richmond, and such proportion of the debt of the county of Queens as shall be ascertained as hereinafter prescribed which now exist as legal obligations shall be deemed like obligations of the city of New York, and all such obligations as may be authorized or required to be hereafter issued or entered into shall be issued or entered into by and in the name of the corporation of the city of New York.

Laws Creating and for Payment of Debts to Remain in Force; Common Debt; Taxation.

Sec. 5. All laws or parts of laws heretofore passed creating any debt or debts of the municipal and public corporations consolidated as aforesaid, or for the payment of such debts or respecting the same, as well as every such law respecting the debts of the corporation heretofore known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York, shall remain in full force and
effect, except that the same shall be carried out by the corporation hereby constituted, to (wi?). The city of New York, and under such name and in such form and manner as may be suitable to the administration of said corporation; and all the pledges, taxes, assessments, sinking funds and other revenues and securities provided by law for the payment of the debts of the municipal
and public corporations aforesaid shall be in good faith enforced, maintained and carried out by the corporation of the city of New York. All the valid debts of the municipal and public corporations and parts thereof mentioned in the first section of this act, including the county of Kings and the county of Richmond and the proportion of the debt of the county of Queens aforesaid and the debts of the towns, incorporated villages and school districts united and consolidated with the corporation heretofore known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York into the city of New York, as well as the debts of the latter corporation shall
be the common debt of the city of New York as herein constituted, and so far as resort to taxation is authorized or necessary to pay the same, such taxation shall extend equally throughout the territory of the corporation herein constituted except that all assessments for benefits heretofore laid or provided to be laid for the payment of any portion of such debts or to reimburse any of the said municipal and public corporations which created such debt in respect thereof, shall be preserved and enforced, it being the intent hereof that the obligations and liability of the city of New York as the successor of municipalities and public corporations consolidated into it shall be the same and no otherwise or greater than the respective obligations and liabilities of the several constituent corporations, and that the city of New York shall succeed to all of their rights as well as to their obligations and liabilities in respect thereof, except as herein otherwise specially provided.

Transfer of Property; Counties Not to Become Indebted.

Sec. 6. In consideration of the foregoing provisions whereby the city of New York assumes as aforesaid the valid debts, obligations and liabilities of the municipal and public corporations and parts thereof, including the counties and parts of counties, towns, incorporated villages and school districts as aforesaid, and to carry out the scheme and purpose of this act, all of the public buildings, institutions, public parks, water works and property of every character and description, whether of a public or private nature, heretofore owned and controlled by any of the said municipal and public corporations or parts thereof, so united as aforesaid into the city of New York, including any and all such property owned by the county of New York, the county of Kings and the county of Richmond wherever situated, and by the county of Queens situated in that portion thereof which is included within the limits of the city of New York as constituted by this act, and all the right, title and interest of the said municipal and public corporations and counties as aforesaid, or any of them, in and to such property, are hereby vested in the city of New York and divested out of the said corporations and counties, and the power of said municipal and public corporations and of the said counties of New York, Kings and Richmond to become indebted, shall cease upon the consummation and taking effect of the consolidation herein provided for. There is excepted from the provisions of this section the court house and county buildings in the county of Queens situated within the limits of the city of New York as hereby constituted.

Former Funds; Payable to the City of New York.

Sec. 7. All funds and moneys which on the first day of January, 1898, shall be held by or be payable to the receiver of taxes or to the county treasurer of the county of Richmond, or to any officer of any of the municipal and public corporations, or parts of municipal and public corporations, hereby consolidated with the corporation heretofore known as the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New York, as well as all funds and moneys then held by or payable to any officer of said last named corporation shall be deemed to be held by and be payable to the corporation of the city of New York, constituted by this act, solely as the funds and moneys of said corporation, and upon the day aforesaid shall be delivered to the officer of said corporation entitled by this act to hold and control the same.

To be continued: Chapter II Legislative Department