8 Misc. 2d 337 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1957
This is an application hy Walter G. McGahan, a taxpayer of the City of New York, to compel the Mayor, and the chairman and the director of the New York City Community Mental Health Board to permit the applicant to inspect (1) minutes of meetings of the board for the years 1954-1957; (2) reports of field investigators which resulted in a press release, issued by the director, Dr. Greenhill, and dated August 15, 1957; and (3) all reports made by Dr. Greenhill to the board relating to the “aforesaid investigation” by the field investigators.
The respondents have made the minutes available to inspection by the applicant. They state that no reports to the board by Dr. Greenhill, relating to the above-mentioned investigation have ever been made, and that, therefore, there are no reports by Dr. Greenhill which may be inspected. The only item which remains consists of the reports made to Dr. Greenhill by certain field investigators, whom he directed to make an investigation of the impact of crimes upon the mental and emotional health of people living in certain areas of Washington Heights.
By chapter 10 of the Laws of 1954, the State Legislature adopted article 8-A of the Mental Hygiene Law. That article
On August 15, 1957 Dr. Greenhill, the director of the New York City board, issued a press release which received wide publicity. He stated that four field investigators had been sent into the Washington Heights area to study the emotional impact of recent juvenile crimes upon the population in the area. He concluded the press release with a statement that the findings of the investigators (described as a “ mental health disaster team ”) “ will be further studied by the staff of the New York City Community Mental Health Board with the objective of devising measures of preventing mental sickness in. the Washington Heights area as a result of the present social disturbance ”.
Section 51 of the General Municipal Law, which contains no exemption similar to that provided for in section 894 of the New York Charter, is, to the extent of said exemption, superseded by section 894. This was squarely held in the recent case of Matter of Cherkis v. Impellitteri (307 N. Y. 132). The Court of Appeals said (p. 141), referring to the exemptions contained in section 894 (supra): “ In these respects, sections 893 and 894 supersede section 51 of the General Municipal Law ’ ’. The court stated (p. 141) that the exemption applies to “ papers prepared for use in investigations authorized by the charter ”.
In view of the controlling exemption contained in section 894 (supra) of papers prepared for use in any investigation authorized by the charter, the application for permission to inspect the reports made by the “ field investigators ” to Dr. Greenhill must be denied.
Motion denied.