1:2.4-0 N 55 LIBRARY ANNEX The Report of the New York City Improvement Commission to the Honorable George B. McClellan, Mayor of the City of New York, and to the Honorable Board of Aldermen of the City of New York MCMVII /y Ac Cornell University Library NAC 1240.N53 "^ ^?SA.Pl. .*e New York City Improvem 3 1924 024 378 915 (jSfiXjbA _^ , C/l_^-'«2-'ll«vML/^j»_ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024378915 T h e Report of the NEW YORK CITY IMPROVEMENT COMMISSION To the Honorable GEORGE B. McCLELLAN Mayor of the City of New York a n d to t h Ho N o rab le BOARD OF ALDERMEN of t h e (ZiTX of New York M CM VI I PRESS OF THE KALKHOFF COMPANY NEW YORK 18163C NEW YORK CITY IMPROVEMENT COMMISSION FRANCIS K. PENDLETON, Chairman, JACOB A. CANTOR, GEORGE A. HEARN, WHITNEY WARREN, FRANK BAILEY, JOHN W. ALEXANDER, DANIEL C. FRENCH, LOUIS F. HAFFEN, JAMES A. WRIGHT, JOSEPH CASSIDY, WILLIAM J. LA ROCHE, J. EDWARD SWANSTROM, GEORGE CROMWELL, HENRY S. THOMPSON. ADVISORY COMMITTEE NELSON P. LEWIS, Chief Engineer, Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Secretary to the Commission. *JOHN A. BENSEL, Chief Engineer, Department of Docks and Ferries. Present Commissioner of Docks. to. F. NICHOLS, Chief Engineer, Department of Bridges. SAMUEL PARSONS, Jr., Landscape Architect, Park Department. tPresent Consulting Engineer, Department of Bridges. RICHARD A. WALKER, Architect to the Commission NATHANIEL ROSENBERG, Assistant Secretary New York, January, 1907. To the Honorable George B. McClellan, Mayor of the City of New York, and to the Honorable Board of Aldermen of the City of New York. GENTLEMEN : The New York City Improvement Commis- sion was created by virtue of an ordinance of the Honorable Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, approved by the Mayor on the 9th day of December, 1903, to prepare a compre- hensive plan for the development of the City. By the terms of the ordinance it was provided that the Commis- sion should make a report on or before the first day of January, 1905, and in pursuance thereof a preliminary report was submitted. Since the making of such preliminary report the Commission has continued its investigation and begs hereby to make its final report. In the preliminary report above mentioned the Commission's view as to the scope of its duties was stated as follows : ■'A comprehensive plan for the City's development must necessarily anticipate the future growth of the City for many years to come, and be so framed as to meet all possible future requirements, so far at least as they can be reasonably foreseen, and be so designed that all its parts shall be consistent, the one with the other, and form a homogeneous whole. In order that any improvements hereafter made may be entered upon with reference to the accomplishment of a definite purpose and along definite lines, and not, as has been too often the case, without reference to any general plan or regard to the bearing of the particular improvement proposed, or its connection with other improvements already made or which hereafter may be deemed advisable. Such a plan necessarily Involves not only the laying out of parks, streets and highways, the location of city buildings, improvement of water fronts, etc., but also questions of more or less detail relating to pavements, sidewalks, appropriate house numbers, gas and electric fixtures, manner of indicating the streets, location of statues and monuments commemorating historical events, tree planting, and a countless number of other matters, all Important and essential If New York is to take its place as one of the great Metropolitan Cities of the World. No plan that fails to take into consideration all the above subject- matters can be deemed a comprehensive one." The Commission has seen no reason since to modify the views above expressed. In the general plan herewith presented, the Com- mission has endeavored to confine itself to formulating a compre- hensive general outline for future development. It is not intended that all the proposed changes or development should be undertaken at once, or that the proposals here made should be deemed exhaustive or exclude specific improvements which may from time to time seem desirable. These must develop naturally as future needs and re- quirements arise. To attempt to formulate them now in advance would be neither possible nor advisable. The purpose of the Com- mission is to set forth the essential features of a comprehensive plan for the City as a whole, together with such suggestions as seem to the Commission judicious and proper at the present time, thus establishing a formula or skeleton outline so that all future changes and developments may be considered in connection with their bear- ing on a general scheme of municipal growth, and be made to con- form thereto and form part thereof. In accordance with this view the Commission has intentionally refrained from treating in this report many questions of much importance, but which seem to this Commission to be outside, for one reason or another, of the scope of its duty. As illustrations, are the questions as to the much discussed proposed loop at the Brookyln Bridge, and the removal of the elevated railroad tracks on part of Flatbush Avenue and street systems in particular localities, etc. For similar reasons the Commission has refrained from making specific recommendation as to the location and areas of small detached parks. Beyond the general question as to the necessity for small parks and the considerations by which their location should be determined, the Commission feels that an attempt to determine the- exact number, area and location would be entirely beyond the limits of a general pUn. Many different sites may be equally, or sub- stantially equally, good. The selection necessarily involves ques- tions as to when and how and at what cost they can be respectively acquired, as well as other very important details as to the relative advantages of each, which it is manifestly impossible for the Com- mission to go into in advance. Such questions must necessarily be determined as each case comes up. COMMISSION'S PROPOSALS. This report is divided into two general heads — first, a plan for thoroughfares, parks and parkways ; second, matters connected with other general questions of manifest importance. As to the proposed changes in and additions to the thorough- fares, avenues, streets, parks and parkways, plans have been pre- pared to accompany this report for the purpose of illustration, showing, first, the plan as it affects the City as a whole, and, second, in more detail the different boroughs. GENERAL PLAN. The salient feature of the general plan as it affects the City as a whole is to afford adequate, proper and suitable avenues of con- nection between the different parts of each borough, as well as be- tween the different boroughs themselves and the outlying districts, and, while securing to each borough a park system of its own com- plete in all its parts, to at the same time connect as far as possible the parks of the different boroughs with each other by suitable park- ways so as to make them all parts of one harmonious whole, and, by thus making each supplement the other, add largely to the beauty and advantages of all. By reference to the maps accompanying this report, substantially complete parkway connection will be seen between Central Park, the parks and driveways on the Hudson River, the Bronx Parks, and, by way of Randall's Island or Blackwell's Island Bridges, the park sys- tems of Queens and Brooklyn, extending from the heights over- looking the Hudson River to the ocean front, and representing a park system both as to extent and variety unrivaled, while minister- ing to the needs of the different localities in a way that no other dis- tribution of an equal amount of area could do. It is largely in view of the double purpose to be subserved of uniting the separate park systems into one whole, while at the same time preserving a complete system for each locality, that the Com- mission has planned for numerous and extended parkways and com- paratively small parks rather than extensive park areas. Shaded 9 and properly planted parkways afford much of the relief and en- joyment of parks, and are accessible to a far larger proportion of the inhabitants, especially where population is congested. For the same reason the usefulness of large parks is much in- creased by narrow extended arms reaching out into the surrounding territory and forming parklike approaches, thus bringing them nearer a much larger percentage of the population. In the report of the earlier Commission, appointed in the first years of the last century to formulate a plan for laying out the streets in the City of New York, it was stated almost by way of apology that it might excite the merriment of many that the Com- mission had contemplated streets as far north as 155th Street. The experience since must, however, have convinced all that this Com- mission is well within reason when it contemplates that within the space of not many years the entire district herein referred to will be the seat of a dense and growing population, and the plan here- with submitted has been prepared in view of such eventuality. MANHATTAN. In its preliminary report the Commission advised that all future improvements of the piers along the water front now or hereafter owned by the City should be made according to certain general plans, determined upon in advance and suited to the purposes for which the piers are to be used, so as to secure uniformity of construction and an appropriate and harmonious architectural effect; that these improvements should be made either by the City itself or by its lessees, in the latter case compliance with the requirements being made obligatory upon the lessees by the terms of the respective leases, and that certain piers at convenient places should be so con- structed as to permit of their being also used as recreation piers, in order to give to the inhabitants of the lower parts of Manhattan Island access to the water front. This recommendation the Com- mission reiterates in the strongest possible manner. It has been largely adopted by the City in the Chelsea improvement and the proposed ferryhouse combined with a recreation pier at the foot of Whitehall Street. 10 In the preliminary report of this Commission the advisabihty of an elevated street to be built along the Manhattan water front to accommodate the north and south travel was discussed. In view of the rapid development of tunnels and bridges and the broadening of the roads or avenues herein recommended, your Commission has come to the conclusion that such will not be necessary or advisable. The streets, however, along the water front should be preserved of at least their present width, and should be maintained in good condi- tion and all obstructions removed therefrom. This will add greatly both to the appearance and commercial value of the water front. The plan of the Dock Department to ultimately complete a marginal street around the entire commercial water front of Manhattan will be very beneficial and is strongly approved, and is entirely in line with the recommendations of this Commission. The portions of the water front not adapted to commercial pur- poses should be reserved for parks. These can be secured at pres- ent at relatively moderate cost, and your Commission recommends that the City should take proceedings at once to acquire the same before the advance of the City has impaired them for park pur- poses by destroying the trees, or building thereon has largely in- creased the cost necessary to their acquisition. Among such portions are those lying between the Boulevard Lafayette and the North River, and certain sections east of said Boulevard, from about 158th Street north to Harlem ship canal and north of such canal to the City line. Also the slope fronting on the Harlem River, as shown on the accompanying maps. The property at Inwood, included in the above, would furnish an approach by parkway to the proposed Hudson Memorial Bridge, and the drawings accompanying this report show a proposed plan of a roadway connecting the present Buolevard Lafayette by an elevated structure with this parkway approach to the Bridge. An elevated structure should also be constructed from the end of the Riverside Drive extension to the south end of Boulevard Lafayette, thus avoiding the crossing of 158th Street at a grade and leaving that street free for traffic east and west to and from the river front, which is likely to be very large as the building in that 1 1 section develops. That the Fort Washington Avenue also has its southern terminus near this point accentuates the necessity of this structure. A parkway properly planted should be laid out along i8ist Street, connecting the North River front by way of Washington Bridge and the Grand Boulevard and Concourse with the parks in the Bronx, and a similar parkway should be laid along Dyckman Street, connecting Boulevard Lafayette, the Speedway, and parks on the Harlem River frontage. The Dyckman Street improvement contemplates, besides the parkway, roadways for handling the traffic which will develop with the building up of the district, from the docks on the North River at the westerly terminus and those on the Harlem River at the easterly terminus of said street. Its adoption will also secure a permanent vista from the Hall of Fame through to the North River. A broad driveway above the present speedway along the crest of the hills from West 155th Street to Fort George and the Dyck- man Street improvement is recommended. There is at present a roadway which can be used for part of the way. The plans sub- mitted include a large arena east of the easterly end of Washington Bridge for base-ball or other games, or where outdoor horse shows, automobile exhibitions, military pagents, or similar functions may be held. , FIFTH AVENUE. The widening of this avenue was recommended in the prelim- inary report of the Commission. It has been for some time apparent that Fifth Avenue is no longer wide enough to accommodate the increased travel. The abolition of the stoop line on both sides would admit of the taking of from ten to fifteen feet from each of the present sidewalks. If ten feet were so taken it would add twenty feet to the roadway and still leave ample sidewalk. The result would be to give a roadway for vehicle travel of sixty feet in width, half as large again as at present, with sidewalks of twenty feet each. As a further relief to the congestion, trucks should be kept off the avenue during certain hours of the day. 12 The conversion on Fifth Avenue of residential property into business property during the last few years has been very rapid and such change is evidently destined to continue, so that at least as far north as 48th Street must within a very short period be given over exclusively to business. South of 48th Street the percentage of frontage still occupied by old buildings with old stoop and area encroachments is com- paratively small, and it is there that the greatest congestion occurs. The compulsory change of old buildings so as not to substantially encroach will probably not be a very serious burden on property owners, in most cases it will probably increase their renting value. Small encroachments by cornices or similar projections would not materially affect the question of widening the roadway. Most of the large business buildings recently constructed on Fifth Avenue do not substantially encroach on what has heretofore been known as the stoop area. Undoubtedly some new buildings have been constructed with projections which would materially interfere with the use of the sidewalk when extended as contemplated in the recommendation of this Commission. It is probable that in no case would permanent injury or relatively serious loss to individual interests be occasioned; but be that as It may. In such cases the interests of the public impera- tively require that such obstructions should be removed to enable the City to carry out the project of widening the avenue. The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has since the agitation of this question appointed a committee to con- sider this question of encroachments, and has pointed out that If the City adopt a hard and fast rule of allowing no encroachments what- soever, either by cornices or other ornamental work. It will result disastrously from an architectural point of view to the City's appear- ance, as property owners can scarcely be expected, in view of the high price of real estate, to sacrifice two or three feet of space of the whole area of their frontage. Certain moderate encroachments sufficient for balconies and ornamentation In the upper stories, say not less than ten or fifteen feet above the street, would not Interfere with the use of the sidewalk, and should be fixed by law and allowed as necessary to give large buildings the artistic appearance essential 13 to city construction, and all encroachments not so allowed should be forbidden. All encroachments should be removed so far as necessary to accomplish the desired result of widening the thoroughfare. Between about 48th Street and 58th Street the inroads of business have not been such as to change the character of the avenue from that of a residential district, but if, when, and as they do, a treatment similar to that here recommended for the lower district will doubtless be necessary. FIFTH AVENUE AND FORTY-SECOND STREET. The congestion at Fifth Avenue and 42d Street is very great, and will be much greater when the New York Central Railroad terminal Is completed. The Commission has caused drawings to be prepared for a plan whereby, in its opinion, such congested conditions can be obviated. Such plan contemplates widening the roadway of 42d Street sixty feet, thus making it 100 feet wide for a distance of 300 feet east and west of Fifth Avenue, by adding to it the entire sidewalk on each side, making a circular road- way at the intersection back as far as the building line, and pushing back the sidewalks, both at the corners and on 42d Street where widened, behind the building line, so that except at the southwest corner of 42d Street and Fifth Avenue, where the Pub- lic Library Is, the sidewalks will pass In an arcade under the first stories of the buildings. The center of 42d Street, of a width or forty feet, the present width, to be depressed so as to pass under Fifth Avenue, the additional width of thirty feet on eacK side to be the roadway or street, crossing Fifth Avenue at grade. By this arrange- ment the crossing of Fifth Avenue by the street cars and crosstown traffic will be obviated. On each side of the depressed street there will be a roadway thirty feet wide for traffic with Fifth Avenue, and the street area for vehicles at the intersection will, by reason of the circle, be very much Increased. This will, It Is believed, give permanent re- lief to the congestion at this point, and prevent the stoppage of Fifth Avenue traffic, which now Impedes travel on Fifth Avenue for a con- siderable distance north and south, and causes delay over a large por- tion of the avenue. The City owns the southwest corner where the Public Library now Is, but on the three other corners, as well as on 14 42d Street, the right to put the sidewalks back of the building line and under the first stories of the buildings will have to be acquired by the City; but as the rest of the buildings will not be injured, the cost should not be comparatively great. If found necessary a similar construction by arcade and circle can be adopted at the crossing of 42d Street and Madison Avenue. CENTRAL PARK. This Commission is of the opinion that the removal of the wall surrounding Central Park will be to the advantage of the City. It will add area to the Park and contribute to its usefulness by enabling the large space along the inside of the existing wall, now substantially unused, to be utilized for the purposes of pathways, seats, flowers and shrubbery. This should be done and trees should be planted along the avenues fronting on the Park, so as to make them har- monize with the Park itself, of which they should practically form a part. A new driveway along the easterly side of the Park parallel with Fifth Avenue has been advocated. Such a driveway would be a handsome improvement and may be required hereafter, but at the present time the Commission is of the opinion that it Is not nec- essary. If it shall hereafter appear to be It can be built. That matter may be safely left for the determination of the Department of Parks, as the occasion may require. In connection with the Blackwell's Island Bridge approach such a driveway would make the 59th Street and Fifth Avenue Plaza compare favorably with the best European examples. The bridle path In Central Park should be widened and straight- ened. It is inadequate and a source of danger to those using it. A parkway connection between Central Park and the Harlem River was recommended in the preliminary report of this Commis- sion. Since such report a parkway of this character has been pro- jected by the City along Seventh Avenue. A new bridge across the Harlem River at 145th Street will give a connection between Central Park and the Grand Boulevard and Concourse, and the parks situated In the Borough of the Bronx. In view of the elevation of 15 the southerly end of the Grand Boulevard and Concourse, such bridge and approaches should be made at an elevation which will obviate the necessity of a drawbridge, and secure for the City a bridge as ornamental as Washington Bridge. blackwell's island bridge. After considering various plans for a proper approach from the Manhattan side to the Blackwell's Island Bridge, this Commis- sion is of opinion that the best method is to add loo feet to the south side of Sixtieth Street from Fifth Avenue to the Bridge entrance. This will give an avenue or street i6o feet wide, which should be laid out with trees as a parkway, and special roadways for light and heavy traffic, thus giving a park connection from Central Park to Blackwell's Island Bridge, and the parkways and park system of Queens. In order to relieve the congestion of traffic which might otherwise occur at Fifth Avenue, a diagonal approach should also be made from the end of Blackwell's Island Bridge in a southwesterly di- rection from Second Avenue to 57th Street, thus furnishing practi- cally two approaches to this bridge. The street surface tracks on 59th Street should be depressed so as to pass under Fifth Avenue. The small park or square at the northwest corner of 58th Street and Fifth Avenue should be taken away, or at all events curtailed, and one or more reserved spaces properly planted and laid out be substituted, long and narrow in shape and conveniently situated so as to allow of vehicle traffic on each side, and to also serve as refuges for pedestrians and where people could sit and watch the passing carriages. Blackwell's Island itself should ultimately be reserved as a park. Several different plans for the Manhattan approach to the Blackwell's Island Bridge have been suggested and discussed. The question of cost and expense is naturally an important factor. The plan of making .the main and only approach to the bridge over 57th Street by a diagonal street from the bridge entrance at Second Avenue to 57th Street has in its favor the potent factor of economy and probably will satisfy all purely utilitarian requirements. It 16 can not, however, give the imposing effect .of a direct approach and can, at most, be a makeshift. If the question of cost were elimi- nated, there would probably be substantial unanimity in favor of taking the entire block between 59th and 60th Streets from Fifth Avenue to the bridge entrance as a parkway approach. The as- sessed value of such property is approximately between fourteen and fifteen millions of dollars. It would cost the city to acquire it doubtless considerable more. To offset this there is the enhanced value of the surrounding property for the purposes of taxation and the assessment for betterment, which in this case should be levied on adjoining property, as. the enhancement In value would be very great. The City has in many instances Incurred large expenditures for results not as commensurate with cost. The Commission has, however, selected the middle course of widening 60th Street by 100 feet, and building a diagonal con- nection with 57th Street as more conservative. This would give a direct and adequate approach at less than half the cost of taking the whole block. At the same time the Commission realizes that this is in a way a makeshift only, and ventures to record its opinion that the only adequate treatment is to appropriate the whole block and thus give the City an improvement worthy of It and on a par with some of the most beautiful cities of Europe. New York is fast becoming an object of sightseeing Interest for strangers who are every year coming in increasing numbers, spending their money and adding to Its prosperity. Cities In Europe would probably not hesitate to incur the greater expense entailed In taking the whole block in view of the far greater advantage to be derived, and, while the Commission has confined its recommendation to the less expensive plan, it ventures the prophecy that the future will criticise its recom- mendation as due to a failure to take a broad and comprehensive view of the subject. The Ideal course would be the plan hereinafter recommended of allowing the City to take much more land than needed and reap the benefit of the enhanced price brought about by the proposed im- provement. There would seem to be little doubt that the neigh- boring property, bordering as it would on practically a park con- necting Central Park and the residential district of Fifth Avenue 17 with the most impressive avenue of communication with the Queens parkways and the country beyond, would materially advance in value. As a site for high class hotels and apartment houses it would rival the Fifth Avenue Plaza, and if the City could realize the benefit of such enhancement in value, it would recoup probably the entire cost of the improvement. The question of taking more land than actually required will be discussed at another place in this report, but attention is especially called to it here, as this particular improvement is a striking illustration in point as to how by such system great improvements can be made without undue burden on the taxpayers. It is possible that in this particular case there is not time enough before the opening of the bridge to bring about such a great departure from existing methods, and even if there were the inevitable public discussion incident to such a change would doubtless, by causing a great advance in the price of property, defeat the possibility of beneficial results. OTHER CHANGES. Riverside Drive should be extended south in a southeasterly direction to West End Avenue, thus making a continuous direct route from Riverside Drive to West End Avenue, south on West End Avenue to 59th Street, and thence through the Park to the approach to Blackwell's Island Bridge. Riverside Drive would be much improved by some treatment which would shut out from view the railroad running along the North River. This can be devised without serious trouble. Madison Avenue should be extended in a southeasterly direc- tion from 23d Street to a point at or near the junction of Fourth Avenue and the north side of Union Square, thus furnishing a con- tinuous thoroughfare to the lower part of the City by Fourth Avenue, Lafayette Place and Elm Street. Any plan for diverting Madison Avenue to Broadway or Fourth Avenue before reaching Union Square would be, in the opinion of this Commission, entirely Inadequate and fail to accomplish the purpose desired. 14th Street from Broadway to Fourth Avenue should be widened by taking a strip off the southerly end of Union Square 18 which would relieve the congestion at that point and enable a better arrangement to be made for the tracks of the surface cars. This would not take away anything from Union Square, as an equal amount could be added on the north, the paved surface of 17th Street, north of Union Square, being unnecessarily wide. Irving Place should be extended south to meet Fourth Avenue, from whence it would give a connection south through Lafayette Street or the Bowery. Chrystie Street should be widened by adding forty feet thereto, from the southerly end of Second Avenue to Canal Street at a junction with the approach to Manhattan Bridge over the East River, thus making what will be practically a pro- longation of Second Avenue to a connection with Manhattan Bridge, and furnishing an outlet north for that travel to and from Brooklyn. Seventh Avenue should be extended from its southern terminus, passing through the intersections of the various intervening streets by Jones Park to Christopher Street, and thence south to the intersec- tion of Canal and West Streets on the water front. Varick Street should be extended north to Christopher Street and should be widened from St. John's Park to its intersection with West Broad- way, thus giving a through connection from Seventh Avenue to West Broadway at Leonard Street, and to West Street at the inter- section with Canal. The two additional thoroughfares north and south thus provided will take care of a large amount of traffic. Sixth Avenue should be extended south to the intersection of Chambers and West Streets, thus forming another through con- nection with the water front and thence to the Battery. By widen- ing Christopher Street from Ninth Avenue to Sixth Avenue, it will cross the proposed prolongation south of Seventh Avenue and facilitate travel from that portion of the water front North by both Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The foregoing changes open up several substantially additional avenues for through traffic north and south. These, with the pro- jected diagonal avenue running northwest from the Plaza at the Manhattan end of the approach to Manhattan Bridge and tapping all the north and south avenues, will add greatly to the facilities for north and south traffic. 19 By reference to the map it will be seen that at these new con- nections a number of circles have been secured which in many in- stances can be used as open squares or small parks in a part of the City where they are much needed. All the above changes are shown in detail on the maps accom- panying this report. The terminal of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company between Seventh and Ninth Avenues and 31st and 33d Streets will, when completed, doubtless require a better approach than now exists. This could be best secured by widening 3 2d Street from Sixth to Seventh Avenues. BROOKLYN. Brooklyn needs at the present time, more than any other one thing, additional connections with Manhattan. The bridge ap- proaches, both from the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides, are entirely inadequate. The salient feature of the Commission's plan is a circular plaza, 800' feet in diameter, connected with the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, from which the principal routes of travel through the borough and to the districts beyond radiate. This plaza, which for convenience is herein called the Bridge Plaza, is designed to distribute the traffic between the bridges and the through routes leading in the different directions respectively. For this purpose two new streets 100 feet in width are projected, one to City Hall Park and the other to the Navy Yard. In addition to these the Flatbush Avenue extension, 120 feet wide, and a new diagonal street to Myrtle Avenue as shown on the drawings, provide new outlets to and from the plaza and the bridges. Bridge Street should be prolonged from Fulton Street to Fourth Avenue. Fourth Avenue should be extended as shown on the map to the plaza of the Blackwell's Island Bridge. This avenue 120 feet wide, properly planted, will give an attractive through connection be- tween the Shore Road and Coney Island and Manhattan by the Williamsburg and Blackwell's Island Bridges. The Shore Road should, if possible, be continued through or around Fort Hamilton so as to reach Dyker Beach Park, and the 20 road from there along the shore should be widened and improved so as to make a continuous marginal driveway to Coney Island, and thence following the present roads along the shore of Sheeps- head Bay to a projected new parkway, skirting the north shore of Jamaica Bay, to a connection at the Borough Line with the shore parkway in Queens. For details of this, reference is made to the accompanying map. The islands or lowlands in Jamaica Bay be- tween Bergen Beach, Barren Island, and Sheepshead Bay could be made, by filling, available for park purposes, or possibly valuable for commercial uses — how valuable they might be would depend on what dredging could be done, the depth of water obtainable in the channels, etc. A good many engineering problems will have to be solved In order to determine exactly the best treatment for Jamaica Bay and Its islands. The Commission has, therefore, confined itself to recommending a parkway as shown on the map, leaving other matters to be decided hereafter. A connection by bridge to the westerly part of Rockaway Beach is shown on the map and will doubtless be ultimately required. A parkway connection between Fort Hamilton and Prospect Park should be made, along the present Fort Hamilton Road, which should be widened to at least loo feet. This parkway should be further extended east across Flatbush Avenue to East New York Avenue. This latter should be made a parkway and continued as such to the Eastern Parkway. Paerdegat Basin and the basin of Garretson Creek should be reserved for park purposes. "Sea Park" should be enlarged by taking in the property to the east of the Ocean Parkway between Sea Breeze Avenue and Surf Avenue. Bushwick Avenue should be extended westerly to Fifth Street, and Fifth Street to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza should be widened. The drawings accompanying this report show the bearing of all these proposed changes. Thirty-ninth Street should be extended to Flatlands Avenue. Avenue I should be widened to 80 feet from Ocean Parkway to Flatlands Avenue. This connects the Flatlands section and beyond through Parkvllle, Kensington, and South Brooklyn with the 39th Street Ferry and Manhattan. 21 Widen New Utrecht Avenue to 80 feet from 39th Street south. This connects the Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend sections to the 39th Street Ferry. Continue Flatbush Avenue southerly to the proposed bridge be- tween Barren Island and the westerly end of Rockaway Beach. Prolong Patchen Avenue to the intersection of Rockaway Parkway and East New York Avenue and connect with Ralph Avenue. This will secure a thoroughfare between the Bergen Beach and Canarsie sections and the Williamsburg Bridge.. Open Bedford Avenue from the corner of Heyward Street to the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza; widen Roebling Street; cut through Grand Street as shown on the map. These latter facilitate traffic handling at the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza. The general plan of parkways in Brooklyn as shown on the map constitutes substantially a marginal parkway on the west, south, and east connecting with Queens and its system, and the still more distant park systems of Manhattan and the Bronx by the Black- well's Island Bridge and the proposed connecting railway bridge over Randall's Island. The question of increased transit facilities between Manhattan and Brooklyn should receive the closest attention by the City au- thorities. It is a matter of prime importance both- to the convenience of residents of the borough and in the interest of the City at large, which requires that the population should be kept within the State of New York and nothing done which might encourage a drifting across the North River. Underground connections between Brooklyn and the Battery in Manhattan now well under way and those yet to be built, ex- tending to and connecting with the Long Island City tunnels at 42d Street, Manhattan, and the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel at 34th Street, Manhattan, will undoubtedly ultimately relieve greatly the present congestion at the bridges. Doubtless other tunnels will also be built. The question in the immediate future is as to speedy relief of existing conditions, rather than as to a general plan. 22 QUEENS. The Commission employed the well-known landscape architects, Olmsted Brothers, to investigate and give their advice as to a gen- eral plan for the development of this Borough, which, by reason of its comparatively small population and large area of unbuilt land, is particularly susceptible of a comprehensive scheme of thorough- fares, parks and parkways, and the Commission deems it of great im- portance at this time that a general plan should be adopted and the properties desired by the City acquired promptly before buildings have increased very largely the cost. After considering various suggestions that have been made, the Committee has prepared a general plan for the parks and parkways of Queens, set forth in the drawing annexed to this report. If the main thoroughfares are chosen and fixed in advance, it is easy to establish the location, grade, and width of local streets best adapted to the needs of the different localities. The Com- mission does not deem such matters, of more or less detail, as com- ing within its p'rovince. A park system for the Borough of Queens includes three general classes of reservations, viz., shore parks, inland parks, and approach- ing and connecting parkways. Starting from the terminus of the Blackwell's Island Bridge ap- proach on Thompson Avenue, the parkway connection follows easterly along Thompson Avenue to a proposed park near New- town. Thompson Avenue for this distance should be widened to not less than i6o feet, suitably planted and laid out for surface cars, heavy traffic and park traffic in separate roadways. The projected park above mentioned consists of lowlands not avail- able for building, but capable of very suitable development as a park. Driveways should be laid out through this park, and from a point not far from Maple Grove Cemetery a parkway is proposed, following the contour of the ground to a point on the highland overlooking Jamaica. A strip of this highland, north of Hillside Avenue, it is proposed to take for a park, and the parkway con- tinued easterly to a point at or near Douglaston, where a lake and the natural topography of the land is particularly adapted for park purposes. 23 Returning westerly, south of Bay Side, the parkway is continued to a point near Flushing Cemetery, where it enters again the park projected near Newtown. Connecting these proposed parks north of Jamaica and near Flushing Is a parkway running north and south along the line of a watercourse, where the land Is very well adapted to park treat- ment. From the north side of the park near Douglaston a park- way is laid out along the shore line to Willet's Point, and thence to Cryders Point and through Whitestone — one branch continuing south to a connection with the park near Newtown, and another branch to a point north of Flushing, where an inland park Is pro- jected at a low piece of land not suitable for buildings unless filled and liable to development as a section of cheap buildings and un- sanitary conditions. If acquired by the City it can be made avail- able for park purposes and provide an Inland park in a section where It will be much needed when this part of the City Is built up. From this proposed park a parkway leads east along Jackson Avenue to Flushing and west to an Intersection with Thompson Avenue. A park in the lowland between Flushing and College Point with a parkway and water front park at College Point Is recommended. A wooded knoll on the shore of Flushing Bay, known as Strat- ton Woods, is especially suited for park purposes and can be connected with the other parks and parkways so as to make an attractive water front terminal. Towards the south, from the terminus on Thompson Avenue of the approach to Blackwell's Island Bridge, a parkway is projected, running along and coincident with Van Dam Street and Hunter's Point Avenue, in a generally southeasterly direction to Highland Park, and thence passing through Highland Park and continuing In a southeasterly direction along the Brooklyn aqueduct lands, with small parks at certain suitable points to the City Line at Rosedale, near Springfield. Certain lakes along this line forming part of the Brooklyn water supply system make admirable park areas. This avenue should be at least i6o feet in width and laid out with ap- propriate planting and separate roadways for heavy and light traffic. From Springfield north a parkway runs to a connection with the park near Douglaston and south of Springfield to Rocka- 24 way Beach, with a branch skirting the north shore of Jamaica Bay to the line of Brooklyn, where it joins the Shore Road in such Borough. From Williamsburg Bridge two^ parkways are laid out, one running in a northeasterly direction to the projected park near Newtown and the other in a southeasterly direction through Forest Park to Balsley's Pond and a connection with Brooklyn aqueduct lands. Direct connecting parkways are also shown connecting Forest Park with the projected park near Newtown, and also with the one projected on the highland north of Jamaica. A bridge and road- way connection is also projected with the Bronx over Randall's Island and Ward's Island, both of which should ultimately be re- served for parks. Blackwell's Island, Randall's Island and Ward's Island reserved as parks and places of public recreation will be of immeasurable value to the whole City. The dominating feature of this plan consists of a system of parks and parkways connecting the borough and its park system with the other boroughs and their park systems so as to make them all parts of one harmonious whole and afford through traffic con- nection from one to the other, at the same time that proper and adequate breathing spaces and recreation grounds are supplied for the immediate inhabitants of the borough itself. In this, as in other cases, it has not been intended to treat exhaustively the ques- tion of small parks. Many may doubtless be required or advisable in Queens, as in other boroughs, in addition to the parks herein recommended. In every large city there should be within easy reach of every house a park or open space for exercise and recreation, varying in size according to circumstances. Queens has an area equal almost to the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx combined. These have now 6,700 acres of parks, Queens 638 acr6s. The park area of the former three boroughs is con- cededly not enough in view of their population. That Queens will ultimately have as dense a population as the other three Is probable, and that provision should now be made seems self-evident. The proportion of park area to the total area is, in Manhattan, some- thing over ten per cent., in the Bronx something over fifteen per 25 cent. On the latter percentage Queens should have over 13,000 acres of parks, or twenty times what it now has. We have given it much less. Access to the water should be preserved for the public and adequate provision therefor made by water front parks. Manhat- tan with a water front of about 44 miles has fifteen water front parks. Queens has a water front of 116 miles, and on a percentage basis should have many more. Although the area proposed to be taken for parks in the borough may seem large, it appears from the above comparison to be in reality rather conservative than otherwise. Now is the time for the City to seriously take up the question and acquire the necessary land before building and increasing values have made their acquisition too expensive; otherwise it will be com- pelled later on to condemn lands for park purposes at much greater expense, and the mistake which has been so often made in the course of New York's development of not appreciating in time future needs will be repeated. If the property is acquired its maintenance and gradual development into parks will not be expensive. The work can be done by degrees and the character of the land is not such as to necessitate heavy expense. BRONX. This borough is better equipped with avenues and parks than any other part of the City. The proposed connection over Wash- ington Bridge and i8ist Street with the parks on the North River and by the Grand Boulevard and Concourse over the proposed bridge at 145th Street and Seventh Avenue with Central Park and thence to Blackwell's Island Bridge, and the projected bridge and connection with Queens over Randall's Island and Ward's Island, connect the Bronx and its park system with all the other parts of the Greater City. The northern approach to the Hudson Memorial Bridge should be reserved as a park. On the North River between the Hudson Memorial Bridge and the City line the treatment recommended foi the water front further south should be adopted, that is, the frontage on the river unsuitable for commercial purposes, together with such 26 portions of the sloping land as are not adapted for building, should be reserved for parks. Palisade Avenue should be improved so as to make it an appropriate continuation of Riverside Drive and Boulevard Lafayette. Similar portions of the sloping land between Sedgwick Avenue and the Harlem River should also be reserved for parks. Much of this is well wooded and particularly adapted to the purpose and could be readily connected with the proposed parkway and arena between Washington Bridge and the Grand Boulevard Concourse. The accompanying map, Plate IV, shows the above indicated improvements in detail. The main through avenues of the Borough of the Bronx, such as the Old Boston Road, the White Plains Road and others, constitute the great arteries of travel and communication between the City and the districts north of it. As such their maintenance in the highest state of efficiency is of the greatest importance to the whole City. At their intersections with cross roads public squares or small parks could be appropriately located. The general map submitted herewith shows all that has been completed or is under way and indicates the recommendations of the Commission, with reference to the borough itself, as well as the connections between it and the other parts of the City. RICHMOND. This Borough has no overland connection with the other por- tions of the City, and so far as its parkways and parks are con- cerned must necessarily be treated separately. The Commission has no doubt, however, that ultimately tunnels will connect this Bor- ough with Manhattan and Brooklyn. A seaside park fronting on the Lower Bay should be selected. The most southerly point of the Borough contains the historic Billop place, which is well adapted for the purpose. The map accompanying this report shows a system of proposed roads and parks. Their exact location and extent will necessarily depend on many local engineering and other questions which can scarcely be treated within the limits of a general report. 27 THE MATTER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND THEIR LOCATION. This question has received much attention by the Commission. The preliminary report of this Commission stated as follows : "Manifestly any proper solution of such question must take into consideration the purposes for which the various classes of buildings are required and the objects which they are intended to accomplish. City Hall Park has been for many years the center of the administrative and legislative branch of the City Government. It is probably as well situated with reference to accessibility to all parts of the Greater City as any other point. The City Hall is one of the few good monuments possessed by the City. . . . " Further consideration has only strengthened the Commission in its view that the center of the administrative and legislative branch of the City Government should be the City Hall Park, Manhattan, and that this location should be settled upon as the civic center of the Greater City, and the buildings from time to time required for the administration of the Greater City's affairs should be grouped around this park. The underground road, both the east and west side elevated systems, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the undei-ground connection with Brooklyn by way of the tunnel from the Battery, as well as the surface car lines, all converge to this point, so that from the point of view of accessibility it is probably more con- veniently situated with reference to the population of the entire Greater City than any other locality. Many Government buildings, including the City Hall, the United States Post Office, the United States Coui-ts, the Hall of Records, with the Corporation Counsel's office, the Criminal Courts, and District Attorney's office, are already there. The expense of acquiring property fronting on this park is the principal objection to the continued grouping of public buildings in that locality, but the same objection would very shortly apply to any other site for a civic center that might be selected. The value of surrounding property would be immediately enhanced, and, while that required for present needs might be secured at a. comparatively 28 smaller outlay, the benefit to be derived by the City therefrom, even under a very liberal construction of "present needs," would apply only to its temporary requirements. In twenty-five or thirty years it would be confronted with a repetition of exactly the same con- ditions that are now presented. The first cost of the land, which is only a percentage of the expense, would alone in any event be affected, and as against this there would be the possible loss on pres- ent investment and the expense involved in the change to another site, or in the conduct of the City's affairs from administration of- fices widely separated. Taking everything into consideration, it is probably doubtful if in the long run the difference in expense would be as material as might seem at first sight. The benefits to the City from thus grouping its administration offices in proximity to each other, both for convenience of business, and giving to it monuments worthy of its importance and located in appropriate surroundings, gratifying the civic pride of its citizens and furnishing examples of its progress in the arts, must seem obvious. Buildings, how- ever important and however imposing, if located separately or scattered around the city generally, lose largely their importance. By appropriate and suitable grouping, they represent what they really are and the one adds to the other. Many handsome buildings have been constructed, the effective appearance of which is largely lost by reason of their location. In European cities the effect pro- duced by the public buildings is largely due to their grouping together. The Commission is very strongly of the opinion that the group- ing together of public buildings is an essential part of any compre- hensive scheme of City improvement which is to give to the City an appearance worthy of it, and on a par with other great cities of the world. In this connection it may be well to call attention again to the fact that, if the City were given some latitude in the power of con- demnation, it could by acquiring the neighboring property realize the benefit of the increase in rents and value which will doubtless ensue from the construction of additional public buildings and thereby reduce the ultimate expense to the City. Public buildings, other than those connected with the admin- 29 istration of the City as a whole, such as schools, libraries, station houses, engine houses, etc., should be grouped together in the respec- tive different sections of the City and located with reference to parks, public squares, or important highways, so as to add to the adornment of the City and count as municipal monuments instead of being hidden, as has heretofore often been the case. In the grouping of such buildings care, of course, should be taken that the purpose for which they are to be used should not interfere the one with the other. The Commission is of the opinion that it is not advisable that it should undertake to locate in each separate part of the City such buildings. These must be developed gradually, as the needs of the City require, and the Commission does not consider that their loca- tion as a whole at this time is either feasible or advisable, or that such location constitutes a part of a comprehensive plan. The recommendation of the Commission is that the policy should be adopted of grouping the principal buildings connected with the government of the whole City around City Hall Park, Manhattan, and locating other buildings of what may be called local importance, in such manner that they shall be grouped together in the different sections of the City. The location of such various buildings should be fixed with reference to their environments, so that they should form appropriate monuments for the City and not be lost, so far as effective appearance is concerned, by being placed in surroundings entirely inappropriate. The Prospect Park Plaza, Brooklyn, is a location eminently suited to the grouping together of important buildings. In this connection it is appropriate to say that the Commission is strongly of opinion that it would be highly beneficial in the carry- ing out of the improvements of the City that the office of a City Architect should be created, whose appointment should be inde- pendent of political influences, and under whose direction all the various improvements undertaken should be carried out. Such office exists in the City of Paris, and has tended to contribute largely to that uniformity of construction and harmonious architectural effect which characterizes that City. A type of City architecture should be adopted for all buildings or constructions erected by the City, which 30 should conform, so far as necessary, to the uses- for which the buildings are intended, but should have a distinctive stamp as the style of architecture of the City of New York. A somewhat analogous office to that of City Architect now exists in the Treasury Department at Washington, where there is an officer known as Supervising Architect of the Treasury, who exercises a general supervision over the constructions, altera- tions, and modifications from time to time made. There is at the present time a somewhat similar office provided in each of the five boroughs of Greater New York, but this Commission is of the opinion that it would be much more beneficial and tend to a much better development if there were one Supervising Architect for the whole City. APPROPRIATE HOUSE NUMBERS, GAS AND ELEC- TRIC FIXTURES, MANNER OF INDICATING THE STREETS. Uniformity in all such matters is the principal desideratum. A sample or model for house numbers, names of streets, and lighting fixtures should be determined upon, of a simple and at the same time distinctive character, and conformity to these models, both as to form and location, should be rigidly enforced in the whole City, so that they would come ultimately to be a distinctive feature of the metropolis. In many European cities the numbers of the houses are located on the outside wall, instead of on or over the dooi", as is usual with us. As a result the numbers are much more easily seen. Advertisements, news stands, bootblacking stands, etc., should be regulated by adopting a uniform system, by way of booths or other similar structures, which should be of a simple and uniform construc- tion, containing advertisements of theatres and other matters. All advertisements, other than in accordance with such uniform regula- tions, should be prohibited. The City authorities should fix upon one model and then strictly enforce a compliance therewith. This would remove a great nuisance in flaring billheads and other signs which disfigure the City. Large display advertisements are largely the re- 31 suit of competition, if all were compelled to conform to the same requirements there would be no need or desire for existing extrava- gant display. Open dumps as now allowed on the water front should be abso- lutely prohibited and covered dumps should be provided. Public markets should be located at appropriate points. Uni- formity in their construction for the entire City should be made obligatory. THE LOCATION OF STATUES AND MONUMENTS. It is not possible for the Commission to specify particular loca- tions at this time, but it is desirable, in the opinion of the Commis- sion, that a definite policy be adopted and strictly adhered to, that such monuments and statues as may from time to time be erected hereafter be so located with reference to the adjacent buildings or parks as to be an advantage to the surrounding structures, which in their turn would tend to set off the monument or statue itself. Mon- uments and statues should not be placed in the middle of street in- tersections, as they curtail traffic facilities and impair vistas. The Commission recommends that a permanent reviewing stand for parades be constructed of appropriate design, and a landing sta- tion be built at a convenient and suitable location on the North River, where those commanding the ships of war of foreign govern- ments could be appropriately received. The Commission is informed that there is now in the City treasury some $54,000 bequeathed to the City for the erection of an ornamental fountain. The small square on Fifth Avenue, be- tween 58th and 59th Streets, Manhattan, would be a very appro- priate site, and the Commission thinks immediate steps should be taken to erect it. BRIDLE PATHS. Provision should be made generally throughout the City for bridle paths in all the parks and along all parkways in such manner as to avoid the necessity of equestrians crossing or using the other roads. In view of the large increase in the use of automobiles, this has become much more essential than heretofore. Such bridle paths 32 should be of adequate width, and, so far as possible, with straight stretches. Windings should be avoided, as they are a constant source of danger. RAILROAD CROSSINGS AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS. No railroad crossing at grade should be allowed within the City limits. The traffic regulations inaugurated by the Police Depart- ment within the last few years have been of great benefit. The action of the Department in that regard is entitled to great com- mendation. These should be extended so as to prevent the heavy traffic in certain thoroughfares, notably Fifth Avenue, during cer- tain hours of the day. IN THE MATTER OF THE PAVEMENT OF THE STREETS. The last ten years has shown great improvement in that regard, but much is still left to be desired. As an essential step in that di- rection, the City should maintain a repair plant and a regularly organized force for the purpose of repairing the streets. Under the present system, streets and avenues are paved by contract, and there is no regular method of making small repairs as the necessity therefor becomes apparent. The streets are therefore allowed to gradually get out of repair, until a general repaving is necessary, with the result of very bad streets and great expense to the City. If a comparatively small efficient force were permanently employed to make repairs so soon as any deterioration made itself manifest, not only would there be a large saving to the municipality, but a great improvement in the condition of the streets of the City. The paving and maintenance of the principal thoroughfares connecting the boroughs and the outlying districts should be provided for by the central City Government, and not left to the different Borough Presidents. Such thoroughfares are used by the citizens generally, and are not of local character. TREE PLANTING. Trees should be planted in all the important thoroughfares along the sidewalks and where different roadways are laid out between 33 the same. These should be cared for and preserved by the City. Destruction of trees on streets or other City properties, by electric light, telephone, traction companies, or others, should be rigidly prevented. CAB SERVICE. A very great improvement could be brought about in the cab service of the City of New York. Under existing circumstances there are two evils, both working against an adequate cab system; first, allowing hotels, clubs, and restaurants to practically rent out part of the public thoroughfares to private livery stablemen, under the guise of allowing them to stand in front of their premises. A great part of the best and most lucrative cab service is by this means diverted from the public cabman to the livery stableman. This is unfair to the licensed cabman, and is a most unjust appropriation of the City streets for the benefit of the adjoining property owner, where, as is usually the case, he is paid in one form or another for the privilege by the livery stableman. Sometimes as , much as several thousand dollars a year is paid for the privilege of standing before the premises. This practice should be prohibited. Another serious objection to the present cab system is the fre- quency of disputes as to the amount of the fare. The principal cause of this is the fact that there is no convenient judge or tribunal to which such disputes can be readily submitted, a fact which is often taken advantage of by the cabman to demand exorbitant fares, in the hope that they will be submitted to rather than incur the trouble of pursuing the present methods of redress. In some cities, to remedy this evil, taximetres have been introduced. These are attached to the cabs, and indicate on a dial the distance traveled and the exact amount of fare earned. They have been found, in many cities of Europe, to work well and prevent disputes. The police should also be instructed in the cab tariff system, and any dispute between a cab driver and a fare should be at once submitted to the nearest policeman, whose determination should be final, so far as the particular transaction is concerned. If either the cabman or the passenger feel aggrieved by the decision, he can pursue his remedy by reporting the policeman. This is the system 34 which is adopted in many large cities in Europe, and would remove a great deal of the trouble which at present exists. Many people hesitate to use cabs from the fear of a disagreeable and unpleasant dispute about the fare. If the matter could be settled by inspection of the taximetre or by appealing to the nearest policeman, the abuse or inconvenience which now exists would rapidly disappear and would result in a large increased use of the cab and a great benefit to cab owners and cab drivers as well as to the passenger public. POWER OF CONDEMNATION. In the preliminary report made by this Commission it was said that although the expenditures necessarily required by any proper plan of development must be large, "they can in many instances be greatly reduced if the City had the power exercised in many European cities of condemning more than the area actually required, so that the City might reap the benefit to be derived from the enhanced value of neigh- boring property, and, in the judgment of the Commission, steps should be taken to secure such changes in the constitution and legislative enactments as may be necessary for the purpose. This method of taking more land than required, with the object by resale at an advance of recouping part of the ex- penses, has been applied in various large cities of Great Britain and the Continent, where extensive alterations have been under- taken for securing architectural effects, remedying sanitary conditions, or improving the city generally, and it is question- able whether many of the improvements would have been otherwise accomplished. Objection to giving the City such power has sometimes been raised on the ground that it might be abused or injudiciously exercised. In these times, however, of increasing municipal activities, when so many more extensive powers are constantly being entrusted to those charged with the administration of the City's affairs, such objection can scarcely be considered necessarily fatal or conclusive, if proper safeguards and limitations are imposed." Further reflection has convinced the Commission that the nec- essary power should be given to the City by appropriate legislation to carry out the above plan, and the Commission recommends that immediate steps be taken on behalf of the City Government to effect such result. 35 Many of the improvements herein suggested will prove very expensive and require the City to take and pay for large areas of expensive properties, and by reason of the very improvements the value of adjoining properties will be largely enhanced. There is certainly no reason why individual property owners should realize this increment, due exclusively to the expenditure of the public moneys. The City is naturally the proper beneficiary, and, if allowed thereby to recoup itself, many improvements of vast im- portance to the public can be made without burden to the taxpayer. The recently constructed highway through the heart of London has been carried out in this way, and with the result that the city has disposed of the properties and practically recouped the entire cost of the enterprise. The same thing has been done in other instances, and New York, with its growing population, is a field peculiarly fitted for successfully carrying out such an operation. An instance in point is the widening of Livingston Street in Brooklyn. A comparison of the prices paid by the City and those at which sales of adjoining property have since been made shows that if this system had been applied, the City would have recouped the entire cost of the improvement. CONDEMNATION COURTS. Connected with this question of condemnation is the one as to the present system which is most strongly to be condemned. The City takes title to the property, leaving the owner to wait for his money until the tedious process of determining the value of the property has been gone through with. It is true the City ultimately pays the amount with six per cent, interest, but the property owner has to go without his income for a long time, owing to the long delay, which in many cases is a great hardship, and often results in sales of claims against the City to speculators at sacrifice prices. A special tribunal for condemnation proceedings has often been suggested as a remedy for the evil. The foregoing report is hereby respectfully submitted by order of the Commission. F. K. PENDLETON, Chairman. 36 GENERAL MAP OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK KEY White indicates new Streets, . Brown indicates Cemeteries Light Green indicates present Dark Green indicates proposec GENERAL MAP OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK KEY White indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries Light Green indicates present Parks Dark Green indicates proposed Parks PLATE I. GENERAL MAP OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. KEY. White indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries. Light Green indicates present Parks. Dark Green indicates proposed Parks. H ERE are shown the various street openings, new park areas and parkways, traffic routes, and new bridges proposed by the Commission throughout the Greater City. PLATE II. GENERAL BIRD'S EYE VIEW LOOKING NORTH. S MOWING the completed systems' of great connecting links or arteries of traffic between Manhattan and adjoining Bor- oughs. PLATE III. GENERAL BIRD'S EYE VIEW LOOKING SOUTH. ^ M ^ HE preserving of parts of the water front of upper Man- g hattan for park purposes is here shown. An important improvement is the connecting of the Bronx and Manhattan Park Systems by the improvements at the approaches to the Wash- ington Bridge. A new bridge across the Harlem connecting Seventh Avenue and the Grand Boulevard and Concourse is also shown, as well as the connections of the Bronx and Queens by bridge over Ward's and Randall's Islands. , ,-*.i,c PLATE ly. DETAIL MAP OF THE BRONX AND UPPER MANHATTAN. KEY. M^hite indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries. Hatched Green indicates present Parks. Dark Green indicates proposed Parks. ^ M ^HE water front park system is here shown completed up to I the City limits, including the Henry Hudson Memorial Bridge and its connection with the Boulevard Lafayette. Upper Manhattan and the Bronx are connected by a new bridge at 20'/th Street, the improving of the approaches to the Washington Bridge, and a new bridge connecting Seventh Avenue and the Grand Boulevard and Concourse. The Dyckman Street Improvement con- nects the Harlem River and Hudson River Park Systems and insures a view of the Hall of Fame from the Hudson River. 72iJU.U "^ScjStiia&^^iLJUMiA'ii nnrinnnr M.'USO^ RP/IR. *lKMinv-«!^e«jt Muu. i DETAIL MAP OF THE BRONX AND UPPER MANHATTAN DETAIL MAP OF THE BRONX AND UPPER MANHATTAN KEY. White indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries. Hatched Green indicates present Parks, Dark Green indicates proposed Parks. PLATE V. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIRST STREET IM- PROVEMENT, LOOKING WEST FROM WASHINGTON BRIDGE. ^ M fHIS consists of widening the present street between Amster- g dam Avenue and Broadway, where a Plaza has been pro- jected. From here to the Boulevard Lafayette sufficient land has been taken to insure a permanent vista from the bridge. This will connect by a parkway Fort Washington Park with the Bronx Park System. The plan of this improvement is shown on Plate VI. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIRST STREET IMPROVEMENT. LOOKING WEST FROM WASHINGTON BRIDGE PLATE VI. BIRD'S EYE VIEW LOOKING WEST FROM THE HALL OF FAME. ^ M THE Dyckman Street Improvement consists of a parkway M " planted with double rows of trees and service roads on either side to take the cross traffic coming from the' docks at either end. It links the Speedway with the Riverside Drive, as well as the new driveway proposed to run along the crest of the hills of High Bridge Park, and descending around Fort George to the level of Dyckman Street. The Henry Hudson Bridge spanning the Harlem at Spityten Duyvil Heights continues Riverside Drive up to Pali- sade Avenue, which leads to Yonkers. < O ►J Eh o o ;? 3 o o 1:4 a PS PLATE VII. PROPOSED FORTY-SECOND STREET AND FIFTH AVE- NUE IMPROVEMENT. VIEW LOOKING EAST TOWARD FIFTH AVENUE, THE MAN- HATTAN HOTEL, AND THE GRAND CENTRAL DEPOT. ^ M fHIS illustrates the plan recommended in the report of widening g ^2d Street, putting the sidewalks in an arcade, making a circle at Fifth Avenue and /f-zd Street, and depressing the center of ^2d Street for crosstown traffic for a width equal to the present roadway. The roads on either side of the depressed road- way will be thirty feet wide each, with the sidewalks in arcades under the first stories of the buildings. X H > < X a < o O O a. ^ w s o S3 is < O 2 < 5 5 < fa s w w e! .h Q o o >- Eh O Q W c/l O 0. o OS PLATE VIII. VIEPV OF THE FORTY-SECOND STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE IMPROVEMENT, LOOKING WEST TOWARD FIFTH AVENUE. ^ M fHIS view shows the same general features as oft the preced- g ing plate, except that the roadways are narrower and the sidewalks are not placed under arches, but are reduced in width to fifteen feet. VIEW OF THE FORTY-SECOND' STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE IMPROVEMENT, LOOKING WEST TOWARD FIFTH AVENUE PLATE IX. GROUND PLAN OF THE FORTY-SECOND STREET AND FIFTH AVENUE IMPROVEMENT. T 'HIS is the ground plan of the improvement shown on Plate VIII. H > o PS > X Q < Pi H a ^; o ■ u m H b! O w E- O < ►J a, o ;d o d O ..i^;ta«^Si^iS*^^ < w ca o p w ;? o o PLATE XV. MANHATTAN ENTRANCE TO THE BLACKWELL'S ISLAND BRIDGE. T HE entrance to the BlackweW s Island Bridge is a continua- tion of its connection with Fifth Avenue, shown in the foregoing Plate IX. a a Q < ►4 iJ W u <: M M H O H W o < z w <; H < < PLATE XVI. DIAGONAL APPROACH TO BLACKWELL'S ISLAND BRIDGE AT FIFTY-NINTH STREET. T HIS is the diagonal approach to the bridge from syth Street referred to in the Report, and is intended to relieve the con- gestion of traffic which might otherwise occur at Fifth Avenue. w o Q S a Q % < ►J a < o Eh K u <; o < < o < PLATE XI- II. GROUND PLAN OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FIFTH AVENUE AND BLACKWELL'S ISLAND BRIDGE. fTlHIS shows the ground plan of the connection between Fifth i Avenue and BlackweW s Island Bridge^ drawn to the larger scale, of taking the entire block between §gth and 6oth Streets with two diagonal streets, one for uptown traffic to 62d Street and one for downtown traffic to 57th Street. If the Coin- mission's recommendation of widening 60th Street by one hundred feet is adopted the same plan could be followed reduced to a smaller scale. I o < M Q > < o g S 139 Q < w w & H M n ;? g CJ w Z :z o y w a O < 0. Q 1^ o O PLATE XVIII. GENERAL BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF LOWER MAN- HATTAN, QUEENS, AND BROOKLYN, LOOKING SOUTHEAST FROM OVER CENTRAL PARK. ^ M fHIS view shows BlackweW s Island Bridge and the radiating g avenues in Queens and Brooklyn. It illustrates the impor- tance of the Queens Terminal of the Blackwell's Island Bridge as a distributing point. g 3 o o ►J ^r !^ o o d ca a 'A < c < < oi m o .J < m X ^ o IS O PLATE XIX. VIEW LOOKING DOWN THE PROPOSED MADISON AVENUE EXTENSION TO UNION SOUARE. T ^HIS view shows Madison Avenue extended south from Madi- son Square to Union Square as recommended in the report. < O en Iz; o ;z; g en :2i M H !«l W O 3 <; Q M en O 0. O ti Oc K H % o Q O iz; o o ►J PLATE XX. GROUND PLAN OF PROPOSED MADISON AVENUE EXTENSION REFERRED TO ON THE PRECEDING PLATE. /T IS proposed to cut Madison Avenue, as shown on this ground plan, its full width through to Union Square, in order to give additional traffic connection south and relieve the congestion on Broadway between 2^d Street and Union Square. ^Kl^l I vw mi i ■ j 1 1 .3 ■.>A 1 ^/■A^ ^ ml " I \ ^rS I t^\ -\ \ \ \ wn J L ■spavtDfrij^- w>iiuir\ mk o en w >< M ^; o en S < Q en O ll( o o o o OS o f: ■ "-'■y r-::x- PLATE XXI. DETAIL MAP OF BROOKLYN AND LOWER MANHATTAN. KEY. JVhite indicates Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries. Light Green indicates present Parks. Dark Green indicates proposed Parks. ^ t THE connection of the three bridges^ both in Brooklyn and g Manhattan, is here shown. The Bridge Plaza, where the present Brooklyn Bridge approach, prolonged, meets the approach to the Manhattan Bridge fofilities the distribution' of traffic. Fourth Avenue prolonged' as shown connects both these bridges to the Williamsburgh Bridge, while other street openings in Brooklyn in connection with these improvements are a new di- agonal street from the Bridge Plaza to the Navy Yard, new diagonal street from the Bridge Plaza to Court Street, diagonal street from the Bridge Plaza to Myrtle Avenue, and the cutting through of Bridge Street to Fourth Avenue at its intersection with Union Street. In Manhattan, Delancy Street has been extended until it meets a new diagonal street from the Manhattan end of the Manhattan Bridge, as shown. Seventh Avenue has been extended south. Sixth Avenue has been extended south, both as shown. Varick Street has been widened and prolonged, also Christopher Street. DETAIL MAP OF BROOKLYN AND LOWER MANHATTAN KEY White imlioates new Streets, Avenues, Ligjht Cireen indicates present Parks Dark CSreen indicates proposed Parks PLATE XXII. THE BRIDGE PLAZA, BROOKLYN. ^ M fHIS is designed to give to Brooklyn a fitting entrance and g facilitate the distribution of traffic. The new streets radiat- ing from the Bridge Plaza, together with those already exist- ing, will make it a great distributing center, from which can he directly reached the Navy Yard, the Borough Buildings, the out- lying portions of the Borough and its park system, as well as the neighboring Borough of Queens. , s^ o o ti, n < < Oh O Q S PLATE XXIII. GENERAL MAP OF THE BOROUGH OF QUEENS. KEY. IVhite indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries. Light Green indicates present Parks. Dark Green indicates proposed Parks ^ g fHIS shows the recommendations of the Commission for parks, g parkways, and avenues for the Borough of Queens, com- mencing from the terminal of BlackweW s Island Bridge, as set forth in the report. The foregoing key explains the Commis- sion's proposals. MAI' iO ACC<)iMl>A>,'V Ki:i'()l!T (),V (lEAKUAL S^ SrivM ()1< PARKS AM) l'AHK\V'AYS GENERAL MAP OF THE BOROUGH OF QUEENS /White indicates new Streets, Avenues, etc. Brown indicates Cemeteries '"--^ •■ \ Light Green indicates present Parks I Dark Green indicates proposed Parks PLATE XXIV. RAILWAY BRIDGE IN THE SUBURBS OF BOSTON. f M iHE Commission has incorporated a plate of this bridge as a M very suitable illustration of a railroad bridge crossing a park, and which might be used in the parks of the Borough of Queens or in other parks of the City where similar conditions exist.