Cypress Hills sought at-grade crossing of Jackie Robinson Parkway. In 2006, an appellate court ruled that Cypress Hills Cemetery had an easement to cross the Jackie Robinson Parkway at the point where two bridges, built by the City in 1928, had united the Cemetery parcels when construction of the Parkway divided the Cemetery. The court also ruled that the burden of maintaining or replacing the bridges fell on the Cemetery, not on the City. 4 CityLand 15 (Feb. 15, 2007). Before the appellate court decision, the City demolished the bridges following a lower court ruling in the City’s favor.

The Cemetery then requested that DOT remove the barriers on the Parkway and install traffic control devices so that the Cemetery could cross the Parkway at the point of the easement. DOT informed the Cemetery that it did not have an easement to cross the Parkway at-grade level, but rather that its easement applied to the underpass. (read more…)