§ 6-1. City authorized to acquire property for municipal purposes, authority to obtain excess property; payment of damages by city.

The city of Syracuse is authorized to acquire title for the use of the public to any or all of the lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises and rights and interests therein required for any and all municipal purposes whatsoever, including streets, school-house sites, parks, playgrounds, approaches to bridges and tunnels and for the opening, extending, enlarging, straightening, altering, changing the grade of or otherwise improving the same, including an option to the city of Syracuse to acquire more land and property than is needed for the actual construction in the laying out, widening, extending or relocating parks, public places, highways or streets; provided, however, that the additional land and property hereby authorized to be taken shall be no more than sufficient to form suitable building sites abutting on such park, public place, highway or street, and that the cost of the additional land so taken shall be a general city charge, to be met in a manner that shall be determined by the common council and the board of estimate and apportionment. The common council of said city is authorized to direct the same to be done whenever and as often as it shall deem it for the public interest so to do. The lands, tenements and hereditaments that may be required for such purposes and the additional land and property hereby authorized may be taken therefor and compensation and recompense made to the parties and persons, if any such there shall be to whom the loss and damage thereby shall be deemed to exceed the benefit and advantage thereof, for the excess of the damage over and above the value of said benefit. When authorized so to do by ordinance of the common council, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of public works to make or cause to be made application to the county court of Onondaga County or to the supreme court at any special term thereof held within the judicial district in which said city is situated for the appointment of commissioners of condemnation to ascertain and determine the compensation and recompense which should justly be made to the respective owners, lessees, parties and persons respectively entitled unto or interested in the lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises proposed to be taken or injured for any of the purposes aforesaid, and to ascertain and determine separately the compensation and recompense which should justly be made to the respective owners, lessees, parties and persons respectively entitled thereto for the lands and property necessary for the proposed improvement, and for the additional lands and property which may be acquired by the city of Syracuse at its option. Streets or portions thereof which are continuations of, or connected with each other, property actually needed and additional property proposed to be taken, may be embraced in the same proceeding, and in all cases where the city exercises its option to take additional lands as herein provided the expense of the proceedings for the acquisition of the lands and property actually needed for the proposed improvement as well as for the additional lands and property proposed to be taken shall be a general city charge. The damages awarded by the commissioners of condemnation shall become due and payable ninety (90) days after the confirmation of their report. The moneys collected upon the assessment for said improvement shall be collected by and paid to the city treasurer in the same manner and by the same steps and proceedings and under the same terms and conditions as is provided for the payment and collection of assessments made for local improvements for sewers and pavements, and the moneys derived from such assessments or sale of lands for the nonpayment thereof shall be applied to the retirement of any obligations issued to finance the payment of damages awarded for the lands and property to be actually used in making such improvement.

(N.Y. Laws 1914, Ch. 300, § 1; N.Y. Laws 1918, Ch. 448, § 1; N.Y. Laws 1943, Ch. 710, Pt. 3, § 961)