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Most of Ellis Island, an entry point for the ancestors of an estimated 100 million Americans, really belongs to New Jersey–not New York, N.Y.
That was the recommendation Tuesday of Special Master Paul Verkuil in his report to the U.S. Supreme Court on a long-simmering dispute over which state has jurisdiction over the island.
“Few controversies ever to come to the Supreme Court have a stronger hold on our history and traditions,” said Verkuil, the dean of New York’s Benjamin Cardozo Law School. “The boundary dispute is at least 170 years old and may exceed 300 years.”
Verkuil recommended that the State of New York retain authority over only 4.89 acres of the 27.5-acre island. Most is landfill added by the federal government when it was the nation’s chief immigration center, which ceased operations in 1955.
Under the proposal, the restored Main Building and its ferry slip would remain part of New York, so that “visitors coming from the battery on the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Ferries will continue to land on New York territory.”
Verkuil stated that an 1834 compact between the states clearly gave New Jersey jurisdiction over the landfill portions. He also said that New York had failed to prove that New Jersey had ever “acquiesced” to its jurisdiction over this area of the island.
It was a victory for New Jersey, once described by Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin as “a valley of humility between two mountains of conceit.”
In the state capital of Trenton, the reaction was upbeat.
“This is one step away from final resolution by the Supreme Court,” said New Jersey Atty. Gen. Peter Verniero in a phone interview. “If upheld, it would mean New Jersey taxpayers would share in revenues from commercial development and tourism.”
Verniero spoke of how both states enjoyed a common heritage.
“This is about New Jersey history as much as New York history,” he said. “Of the 12 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, 8 million took the Central Railroad of New Jersey and went to New Jersey.”
But New York Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco assailed Verkuil’s recommendation, saying it “ignores the law and rewrites history.”
His state’s claim “is clearly and indelibly inscribed in the hearts and beliefs of the millions of immigrants who set foot here,” Vacco said.
The island actually is owned by the federal government and is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Although the two states cannot claim ownership, they have regulatory powers over the land that falls within their boundaries
New Jersey filed suit in the Supreme Court in 1993. A year later, the court agreed to hear the case and appointed Verkuil to take testimony and evidence–a practice the court has used since 1791 to resolve legal disputes among states.
The Clinton administration had urged the court to reject New Jersey’s complaint, insisting there was “very little, if any, practical conflict between the two states” over activities on the island.
Verkuil presided over the 23-day trial last summer in a formal conference room at the high court–believed to be the first trial ever conducted in the building. More than 2,000 documents were introduced as evidence and 22 witnesses testified.
The court is expected to ask the two states to file responses to Verkuil’s report. The justices will hear oral arguments during the fall term before issuing a final decree.
