New York made a final bid Monday to retain control of Ellis Island, the historic gateway for more than 12 million American immigrants, against a rival claim by New Jersey.
Last year, a court-appointed special master concluded that most of the 27.5-acre island belonged to New Jersey. The island is mainly landfill, which was added by the federal government when the island served as the nation’s chief immigration center from 1892 until 1954.
The report also recommended that New York retain control over only 4.89 acres, which would include the restored Main Building and its ferry slip. A major tourist attraction, the island generates about $400,000 annually in sales tax.
Assistant Atty. Gen. Daniel Smirlock of New York argued before the Supreme Court that government agencies had long recognized his state’s jurisdiction over the island in the waters between New York and New Jersey.
Federal laws, courts and censuses, he said, had always treated the island as part of New York. People who were born, married and lived there were listed as New York residents, even when living on landfill areas now claimed by New Jersey.
Among the skeptics, however, was Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
What difference does it make, Rehnquist asked, where someone was born? Was New Jersey required, he asked, to seek a correction in each case or else forfeit its claim to the island?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that a few births and deaths didn’t seem enough of an argument to settle the issue of which state has sovereignty.
Key to the outcome is how the high court interprets the 1834 compact between the states. While the compact recognized New York’s jurisdiction over the island, which lies on New Jersey’s side of the Hudson River, it gave New Jersey “exclusive right of property” to the submerged land under New York Bay.
During Monday’s arguments, New York contended that the island had landfill in 1834 and that its jurisdiction extended to the new areas later created by the federal government.
Joseph Yanetti, New Jersey’s assistant attorney general, said that after 1834, New York’s jurisdiction was limited to vessels on the Hudson River.
The U.S. bought the island from New York in 1808 for a fort that it still owns.
On the steps of the court, New York Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco insisted that tradition was on the side of the Empire State. Only last week, Vacco said, the Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating “Ellis Island, N.Y.”
Although he described the dispute as “friendly,” he accused New Jersey of attempting to rewrite tradition.
New Jersey Atty. Gen. Peter Veniero chose to speak of his state’s “shared claim” to the island and the history of “regional cooperation.” As the cameras rolled, the men shook hands.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decree this spring in the long-running conflict.
