Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment that they are the legal owners of the subject property. The defendant City of New York (City) is the record owner of the property and is in the process of conveying the property to a defendant not-for-profit organization (NFP). The plaintiffs claimed they had “exclusively, continuously, openly, and hostilely utilized the property for at least 22 years” and they should be declared the legal owners of the property based on their alleged adverse possession of the property. They sought, inter alia, a preliminary injunction which would restrain the defendants from conveying the property, erecting fences around or building structures on the property or otherwise interfering with the plaintiff’s use of the property and removing vehicles and equipment that the plaintiffs had stored or parked on the property.

The plaintiffs asserted that since approximately 1986, they had “operated lots which surround the property,” in connection with their flooring supply business. They claimed that the City had acquired the property through a tax foreclosure and therefore, the City owned the lot in its “proprietary capacity.” They further alleged that they had “erected a fence,” had paved part of the lot, had installed video cameras and the City had done “nothing to stop them from using the Property until Aug. 27, 2018.