The territory in the County of Westchester included within the boundaries described in the next section shall be a city by the name of the "City of Peekskill," and the citizens of this state from time to time inhabitants within the said boundaries shall be a corporation by the name of the "City of Peekskill."
The city boundaries shall be as follows: All that part of the Town of Cortlandt, in the County of Westchester, embraced within the following bounds, that is to say: Beginning at the middle of the Hudson River, at a point due west of the intersection of the high-water mark of the Hudson River and the east line of Hudson Avenue as laid down on a map of Verplancks, New York, made by Cyrus Latham, civil engineer, dated June 30, 1836; thence running due east to the high-water mark of the Hudson River at the above-mentioned intersection; thence easterly along high-water mark of the Hudson River and the southerly and westerly side of Dickey Brook or Creek to a point where the south line of Welcher Avenue, extended, intersects the aforesaid brook or creek; thence easterly along the south line of Welcher Avenue, extended, to the west exterior line of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company's right-of-way; thence southerly along the west exterior line of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company's right-of-way to a point, said point being on a line at right angles to the monumented center line from the stone marked P. C., at station 211 091.68; thence easterly to a point where the easterly line of Albany Post Road intersects the northwesterly line of Reynolds Lane; thence southeasterly along said Reynolds Lane to the center of Dickey Brook; thence easterly and northerly along the center of said brook till it intersects the land of Willett Cornell; thence along said Cornell land and land of Mount Florence estate to land late of B. Kittridge; thence northerly along the east line of said Kittridge land and land of William McCord to the south line of Crompond Road; thence easterly to a point opposite the Dayton Lane; thence northerly along the center of said lane to McGregory Brook; thence easterly along the center of said brook to the mouth of a small brook on the premises of Julia Nichols; thence northerly along said brook to Main Street; thence due north (magnetic meridian) 1,000 feet; thence to a rock on reservoir property marked B. M. X.; thence westerly to a monument set in the center of Hillside Avenue just north of milk spring of Van Cortlandt estate; thence along line between land of W. D. Southard and King and Lynch to the creek; thence along the southerly side of creek to the west side of Annsville Road; thence northerly along the west side of said road to the north shore of said creek; thence westerly in part along the north shore of said creek to the south exterior line of the wood dock; thence westerly along the shore of said creek at low-water mark to the lands of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company; thence in a due west line to the center of the Hudson River; thence southerly to the place of beginning. Comprising all the territory within the Village of Peekskill, and which is set forth more specifically in Chapter 7 of the Laws of 1915, enacted February 18, 1915.
The corporation known as the "Village of Peekskill," and included in the boundaries heretofore described and set forth, is hereby declared to be dissolved on and after the first day of January 1940; and all property, real and personal, rights, powers, privileges and contracts at the time of this dissolution possessed, owned, occupied, exercised or enjoyed by, as well as all the duties, contracts, obligations and liabilities imposed upon, said Village of Peekskill are, on and after the first day of January 1940, hereby transferred to, vested in and imposed upon said City of Peekskill; and all ordinances, rules and regulations of the Board of Trustees of said Village of Peekskill then in force shall be and remain valid and effectual as the ordinances, rules and regulations of said city and its Common Council until repealed, modified or changed, subject, however, to the provisions of this act; and said Common Council is hereby authorized and empowered, in the name, for and in behalf of the City of Peekskill, to enforce all such contracts, ordinances, rules and regulations, including collection of debts and demands, imposition and collection of fines and penalties, prosecution and defense of all suits, and to do, take and perform other acts and proceedings that may be or become necessary and proper to carry out and enforce said contracts, ordinances, rules and regulations with the same force and to the full extent as might have been done by or on the part of the Board of Trustees and the Village of Peekskill, or either; and the rights and privileges of all persons or parties that may have arisen or accrued under, pursuant to or by reason of any such contract, ordinance, rule or regulation, or otherwise, as well as any liability that may have arisen by reason thereof, shall remain and be the same under this act as they would have been under said Village Charter; and all rights and liabilities of said village existing on the 31st day of December 1939 shall be in no wise affected or changed thereby; but all actions and proceedings which may be thereafter commenced to enforce or protect any such accrued or existing rights, privileges or liabilities shall be brought and prosecuted or defended by or in the name of the City of Peekskill. All actions or proceedings then pending for or against said village may be continued by or against and in the name of said village, or at the option of the parties thereto, the name of said city may be substituted, and in such name all such actions or proceedings may be continued. All rules and regulations pertaining to the organization and government of the Fire Department of the Village of Peekskill in force on the 31st day of December 1939 shall, except as hereinafter in this act provided, remain, be and continue the same under the said city as under said village government until repeal thereof and the adoption of other or further rules and regulations in relation thereto, and all officers and members of said Fire Department shall be such officers and members of the Fire Department of the City of Peekskill and shall perform all the duties devolving upon them as such firemen and have and retain all their rights and privileges in the same manner and in all respects as if this act had not been passed, subject, however, to the further provisions of this act. The ownership and control of all property and effects pertaining to or connected with the Fire Department of the Village of Peekskill shall, by virtue of this act, vest in the City of Peekskill and in the Fire Department thereof, respectively, in the same manner and to the same extent in all respects as the same is now vested in said village and its Fire Department, respectively.
The village government of the Village of Peekskill, as it exists at the time of the passage of this act, shall continue until the first Mayor elected takes office under this act, and the officers of said village, elective and appointive, including the members of all boards and commissions thereof at the time of the passage of this act, shall continue to hold office as such until such Mayor elected takes office under this act, except as herein otherwise provided. This provision, however, shall not be construed as changing or qualifying the authority now vested by the Charter of the Village of Peekskill or by the Village Law in the Board of Trustees or other officers of the village to make removals or appointments or to fill vacancies as empowered by said Charter of the Village of Peekskill or said Village Law.
The Town of Cortlandt shall, on and after the first day of January 1940, consist of all that portion of said town not included within the boundaries of the City of Peekskill, and the territory embraced within the boundaries of the City of Peekskill as hereinbefore described shall not constitute or be a part of the Town of Cortlandt.
That portion of the present Town of Cortlandt which at the time of passage of this act lies without the limits of the present Village of Peekskill, and which, after this act goes into effect, is to constitute the whole of the said Town of Cortlandt, shall, at the election of town officers to be held in 1939, elect town officers to take the place of the said town officers whose terms expire on the 31st day of December 1939, and no person shall then be nominated or elected to any of said offices who shall at the time of such election be a resident of the Village of Peekskill. If any town officer of the Town of Cortlandt at the time of passage of this act shall be a resident of the Village of Peekskill, that officer shall serve out the unexpired term of office as said officer of the Town of Cortlandt, and any successor shall be a resident of the Town of Cortlandt, as same shall be constituted on and after the first day of January 1940. As soon as practicable after the passage of this act and prior to the first day for registration, 1939, the Town Board of the Town of Cortlandt as constituted at the time of passage of this act shall meet and redistrict for election purposes that portion of said town which lies without the limits of the City of Peekskill. The town officers of the Town of Cortlandt are hereby continued in office and shall have jurisdiction according to their respective offices only in that portion of the town hereby set apart and created as the Town of Cortlandt after the officers provided for by this act shall qualify.
The word "his" as used in the original Charter language has been replaced with gender-neutral language and the word "person" shall be held to include and be coextensive with the words "persons," "company," "joint-stock association" and "corporation." The word "street" shall be held to include and be coextensive with "roads," "bridges," "avenues," "highways," "alleys" and "squares"; the word "work" shall be held to include and be coextensive with "improvements" and "repairs"; the word "materials" shall be held to include and be coextensive with "supplies," "stationery," "books," "furniture" and "repairs to furniture"; the word "tax" shall in all proper cases be held to include and be coextensive with "water rents or rates," "assessments or reassessments for local improvements," and the singular noun shall be held to include and be coextensive with the plural.