Bridging Troubled Waters: Simplifying New York’s Riparian Property and River Access Laws

Authors

• John Eikamp

Document Type

Note

Abstract

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note provides a review of New York’s riparian property laws, beginning with the English common law and ending with Douglaston Manor v. Bahrakis. Part II provides an analysis of OGC-9 and its failures as an extension of the Douglaston Manor decision. Part III proposes that, to resolve this dysfunction, Douglaston Manor must be abrogated, at least in part, by statute. The statute, drawing on the laws of other states and the federal government, and informed by expert opinion, must set forth a list of the state’s navigable waterways so that anglers are no longer tasked with undertaking “factual investigation[s]” that even law enforcement officers are ill-equipped to conduct. This listing would also have the effect of bolstering New York’s riparian property owners’ right to exclude. These property owners should be able to depend on the DEC to enforce this right rather than having to litigate it in New York’s civil courts.