STAPLETON — A business owner who sued the city to take control of a plot of land he's used as a parking lot for 30 years has lost his case.
Ettore Mazzei, owner of Chez Vous Catering in Staten island, said his case to take ownership of the 5,000-square-foot lot next to his 701 Bay St. building was denied by a judge Thursday.
He's used the land next to his business for years, maintaining it and not knowing until recently that he didn't own it, he said. He found out when the city announced plans to use it.
He intends to file an appeal this week.
"I was shocked," Mazzei said about the decision. "It’s under-utilized land. They have 150 acres, why are you after a guy who’s been in the community?"
In November, Mazzei learned the section of parking lot he thought was part of his property was actually owned by the city when he saw an MTA photographer taking photos of it. He was ordered to vacate it the next month.
He filed a suit in January to take ownership of the lot under the "adverse possession" law, which allows people to take the title of property they've used and maintained for more than 10 years.
However, Judge Philip Minardo agreed with the city that the lot is "immune" to the law because it serves as part of the Staten Island Railway transit line.
In court documents, the city claimed the plot of land is needed to build a new power station for the Clifton train stop.
The city did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Since Mazzei first started renting the property in the 1980s, he said the city hasn't touched the plot of land, which has a high barbed wire fence separating it from the MTA's adjacent land.
"For ... decades they never stepped foot on it, they never said, 'Hey this is our lot,'" Mazzei previously said.
"They have 100 acres in the surrounding areas and this is one-eighth of an acre. Why are they going to need an eighth of my acre and put me out of business?"
The section of land cuts into the Bay Street entrance to Mazzei's parking lot, and drivers would now have to enter through an unmarked alley at the end of Dock Street.
