The following excerpt is from City of Rochester, Matter of, 530 N.E.2d 202, 533 N.Y.S.2d 702, 72 N.Y.2d 338 (N.Y. 1988):
The test has surely been on shaky ground for a long time. "Even during its heyday, the distinction between 'governmental' and 'proprietary' functions of government was subjected to a 'veritable landslide' of criticism and was labeled an 'enigma' and an 'absurdity' [citations omitted]. The abandonment of the rule of sovereign immunity has virtually destroyed the only real basis for the creation of the distinction" (County of Nassau v. South Farmingdale Water Dist., 62 A.D.2d 380, 387, 405 N.Y.S.2d 742, affd. 46 N.Y.2d 794, 796, 413 N.Y.S.2d 921, 386 N.E.2d 832 [in affirming, this court added, "the demarcation between governmental or proprietary interests in property owned or operated by government or its subdivisions no longer is as clear as it was in the past"] ).
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