REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Bronx Parkway Commission 
 
 19 16 
 
Ex ffilthnH 
 
 SEYMOUR DURST 
 
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FOX MEADOW BROOK 
 
 Bronx River Tributary 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Bronx Parkway Commission 
 
 ORGANIZED UNDER CHAPTER 594 
 OF THE LAWS OF 1907 
 
 AMENDED BY CHAPTER 757 
 OF THE LAWS OF 1913 
 
 AMENDED BY CHAPTER 599 
 OF THE LAWS OF 1916 
 
 TO THE governor AND LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE 
 OF NEW YORK 
 
 THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND APPORTIONMENT OF THE 
 CITY OF NEW YORK 
 
 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF 
 WESTCHESTER 
 
 JUNE 30, 1916 
 
 MADISON GRANT, President 
 
 WILLIAM W. NILES, Vice-President 
 
 JAMES G. CANNON, Treasurer 
 
 Commissioners 
 
 JAY DOWNER. Engineer and Secretary 
 
On July 5, 1916, five days after the date of this 
 report, Commissioner James Graham Cannon passed 
 away at his home at Golden Bridge, N. Y. 
 
 At a meeting of the Commission, held on July 6th, 
 the following was placed upon the Minutes: 
 
 James Graham Cannon, Bronx Parkway Com- 
 missioner representing Westchester County, passed 
 away, July 5, 1916. 
 
 Mr. Cannon was a member of the temporary 
 commission appointed by Governor Higgins in 
 1906. In 1907 he was appointed by Governor 
 Hughes to the permanent commission authorized 
 by the Legislature that year. He was reappointed 
 by Governor Dix in 1911 and again by Governor 
 Whitman in 1916. 
 
 Mr. Cannon's high reputation in the City, State 
 and Nation enlisted immediate interest and con- 
 fidence in the Parkway project. He clearly foresaw 
 its great value to the City of New York and West- 
 chester County and gave most freely of his time 
 and effort in its behalf. His courage, broad vision, 
 sound judgment, enthusiasm for constructive work, 
 intimate knowledge of the territory involved, and 
 the unusually large measure of pubHc confidence 
 reposed in him have been most vital factors in the 
 success of this great undertaking. 
 
 During the seven years pending the City's 
 approval, and the three years of active work since, 
 he has with never failing courtesy worked zealously 
 with his fellow Commissioners and has been a 
 constant source of inspiration to them and to the 
 Commission's working staff. 
 
 Mr. Cannon's interests were many and varied. 
 For the City, State and Nation he has done much, 
 but in no work of recent years had he done more 
 than in the Bronx River Parkway, destined, as he 
 knew, to be of tremendous import to the city 
 which he loved to serve and to Westchester County 
 where for twenty years he had his home. 
 
BEFORE ACQUIRING 
 
 AFTER 
 
 Two pictures from same view-point along the Bronx River, White Plains 
 
To the Governor and Legislature of the State of New York, 
 
 The Mayor and Board of Estimate and Apportion- 
 ment of the City of New York, 
 The Board of Supervisors of Westchester County. 
 
 The Bronx Parkway Commission submits herewith its 
 report for the two-year period ending June 30, 1916. This 
 report covers progress made in acquiring lands, in cleaning 
 the Bronx River and the Reservation on either side of the 
 River, in the abatement of nuisances affecting the river and 
 tributary streams, in improvement, forestry and reclamation 
 work, in topographic surveys and the preparation of complete 
 landscape plans for the development of the Reservation, and 
 in condemnation proceedings to acquire the remaining lands. 
 
 The Parkway Reservation, as set aside by the Legislature 
 in Chapter 594 of the Laws of 1907, Hes partly in the City of 
 New York and partly in the County of Westchester. The 
 cost of the project is to be borne jointly by these two munici- 
 palities. The Legislature recognized that, if full control were 
 vested in either one of these municipalities, hardship, or per- 
 haps injustice, might result to the other, which would be 
 called upon to provide its share of the funds without being 
 represented in the controlling board disposing of such funds. 
 
 An equitable plan was adopted, which provided for vest- 
 ing control in a commission of three members, two of whom 
 would represent the City of New York which was to pay the 
 larger share of the cost, and one of whom would represent 
 Westchester County. 
 
 The purpose of the Legislature, made effective by the act 
 referred to, was to give the City of New York the option to 
 accept or reject the entire project and it was provided that 
 no expense nor obligation of any nature should be incurred 
 by the Commission until the Board of Estimate of the City of 
 New York had endorsed the project by approving of the 
 acquisition of the lands. The City could, therefore, elect 
 whether or not it should proceed with the development of the 
 
 7 
 
Parkway. After 
 various investiga- 
 tions, extending over 
 a period of more 
 than five years, the 
 Board of Estimate 
 gave its final ap- 
 proval on June 5, 
 
 With this ap- 
 proval the Com- 
 mission was em- 
 powered to acquire 
 
 1913. 
 
 BRONX RIVER, 
 
 BRONXVILLE 
 
 the land and develop the Parkway and it thereupon became 
 the duty of both the City and the County authorities to 
 provide the necessary funds upon the requisition of the Com- 
 mission. The Legislature foresaw that, without such man- 
 datory provisions, one of the parties at interest might, by 
 refusing to provide its share of the funds, hold up and seri- 
 ously interfere with the development of the project against 
 the wish of the other municipality which, having already 
 contributed a substantial share, might desire to proceed. 
 
 The Commission, recognizing its responsibility under the 
 rather broad powers conferred by the law, including the right 
 to requisition the City and County for the funds required, 
 determined to justify the wisdom of the Legislature by afford- 
 ing no grounds for criticism of the mandatory provisions of 
 the law and by demonstrating that, in this instance at least, 
 the creation of a special State Commission had resulted in 
 more economical and efficient administration of the matters 
 under its control than could reasonably have been expected 
 from State or City departments. To accomplish this the 
 Commissioners have given unsparingly of their time and 
 energy with the result that the total outlay for salaries and 
 other administration expenses incident to negotiations for, and 
 acquisition of, the lands acquired to date, and including the 
 other activities of the Commission, together with all legal 
 expenses, title insurance and appraisals, is about three and 
 one-half per cent, of the value of the lands acquired. 
 
 It is apparent to anyone who is familiar with the usual 
 high cost of acquiring land for public use that, in this instance, 
 the creation of a special commission has been amply justified. 
 
 8 
 
In addition to keeping at a minimum its administration 
 and legal expenses while at the same time securing, through 
 the personal efforts of the Commissioners, the necessary lands 
 for the City and County at prices consistent with their true 
 value, to say nothing of the generous donations and options 
 at a fractional value, the Commission has, with respect to the 
 improvement and maintenance of the Parkway, adhered to a 
 policy recognized as economically sound and having full 
 regard for the City's financial condition. 
 
 The Parkway project was initiated primarily to preserve 
 the Bronx River from pollution and to secure at the same 
 time a Parkway of great natural beauty, improved with path- 
 ways and a parked drive, connecting the City's park and 
 boulevard systems with the State roads and watershed lands 
 at Kensico Reservoir. Most of its cost will be paid by a 
 succeeding generation. The immediate need was to protect 
 the River from the pollution which was rapidly converting it 
 into an open sewer. Because it is consistent with sound 
 policy as regards park development, and because of the neces- 
 sity for economy in expenditure, particularly by the City of 
 New York, the Commission has not entered upon a program 
 entailing lavish expenditure for improvements and main- 
 tenance. Gradually, however, and by most economic methods 
 the lands and River have been cleared and cleaned, the trees 
 and vegetation restored to a healthy condition, and general 
 improvement work initiated. 
 
 In all branches of its work the Commission has afforded 
 the fullest informa- 
 tion to New York 
 City and West- 
 chester County au- 
 thorities, as well as 
 to the public gener- 
 ally, as to all its 
 acts and expendi- 
 tures. The govern- 
 ing boards of the 
 City and County 
 have been notified 
 as to each parcel of 
 land as soon as a 
 
 price w a s agreed a donation, scarsdale 
 
 9 
 
SEWAGE WAS FOUND EVEN IN PICTURESQUE 
 
 ;URROUNDINGS 
 
 upon and ample op- 
 portunity has been 
 given to investigate 
 and submit recom- 
 mendations to the 
 Commission p r o - 
 vided the said au- 
 thorities were not in 
 agreement with the 
 action taken. The 
 pubHc has been fully 
 informed through 
 the press as to prices 
 
 paid and all who have cared could easily be advised as to the 
 manner in which the Commission has discharged its responsi- 
 bilities under the act. 
 
 On June 30, 1914, the Commission reported very fully 
 upon the Parkway project. That report contained a history 
 of the project and a full statement of the Commission's activ- 
 ities to that date. The policy followed by the Commission 
 in acquiring lands in the Reservation and with respect to the 
 management of the property under its control was described 
 in detail. The report of the Commission's work for the year 
 ending June 30, 1915, was prepared and filed but, for reasons 
 of economy, its printing was not authorized. The following 
 report will therefore deal with the activities of the Commission 
 during the two years ending June 30, 1916, and what it expects 
 to accompHsh in the near future. At this point it may be 
 well to briefly summarize the policies adhered to during the 
 three years since the Commission was authorized to acquire 
 the lands in the Reservation, which are as follows : 
 
 1st — To acquire the twelve hundred odd parcels 
 of land in the Reservation at fair and reasonable 
 values, keeping the cost of acquisition and legal ex- 
 penses at the lowest figure commensurate with satis- 
 factory work. 
 
 2nd — To abate pollution, clean up the lands and 
 purify the Bronx River, eliminate billboards, remove 
 buildings, restore natural conditions, protect vegeta- 
 tion and promote healthy tree growth. 
 
 3rd — To proceed with permanent improvement 
 work as rapidly as practicable, having due regard to 
 
 10 
 
financial conditions and economic considerations 
 governing Parkway work. 
 
 4th — To resort to condemnation proceedings to 
 acquire the remaining lands only after exhausting all 
 possible efforts to agree with owners on a reasonable 
 basis, and where necessary because of defective titles. 
 The aggregate value of lands acquired by direct purchase 
 since the Commission's last report, including interest on con- 
 tracts and taxes and assessments accruing prior to the date 
 set for taking title, is $2,082,389.44, making total to date 
 $3,810,271.89, and, in addition, there are lands under con- 
 tract to the value of $162,030, making aggregate value of 
 lands acquired or under contract by direct purchase to June 
 30, 1916, $3,972,301.89. 
 
 Of the above gross amount $186,367.17 represents interest 
 accruing between the time set for closing contract and the 
 date upon which the funds were actually available for taking 
 title, together with taxes and assessments accruing during the 
 said period, or assessments levied by the City of New York 
 in street-opening proceedings allowed for in the purchase price, 
 so that the net cost of lands, less these items, was $3,783,934.72. 
 
 In addition to acquiring land since the last report, the Com- 
 mission has removed or demolished approximately 275 old 
 buildings standing upon Parkway lands, razed the foundations, 
 filled up the cellars and graded the lands. From the sale of 
 these buildings the Commission has realized $41,782.04, 
 and has collected in rentals $21,986.62. These funds, to- 
 gether with small 
 
 amounts received •- 
 from other sources, 
 were deposited with 
 the County Trust 
 Company of White 
 Plains, and the Com- 
 mission has received 
 interest at the rate 
 of 2 per cent, on 
 daily balances. A 
 detailed statement 
 of the total receipts 
 to date,with accrued 
 interest, is shown in 
 
 REMOVING BUILDINGS FROM P.\RKWAY, 
 THE BRONX 
 
 11 
 
the Treasurer's re- 
 port hereto annexed. 
 
 On January 1, 
 1916, the amount 
 available was 
 sHghtly in excess 
 of vS50,000. These 
 funds were needed 
 for improvement 
 purposes and, if so 
 PORTION OK NEW NURSERY cRESTwooD used, would reduce 
 
 the amount required 
 
 to be appropriated by the City of New York and the County of 
 Westchester for construction work. The Commission, there- 
 fore, requested the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of 
 the City of New York, and the Board of Supervisors of West- 
 chester County, to authorize the turning over of such funds 
 to the Comptroller of the City of New York to be placed to 
 the credit of the Commission, and to be disbursed by him 
 upon the requisition of the Commission to defray the cost of 
 improvement work. Both of the said Boards approved this 
 procedure and on March 30, 1916, the Commission deposited 
 with the Comptroller of the City of New York an amount of 
 $50,000, which amount was credited to the account of the 
 Commission, to be used in the improvement of Parkway lands. 
 
 One hundred and fifty-four separate cases of pollution 
 have been discovered and offenders notified, with the result 
 that, in most instances, the nuisances have been abated. 
 Those still pending will be speedily adjusted. This work 
 necessitated most careful scrutiny of tributary streams, as 
 well as the testing of plumbing systems in a large number 
 of dwelling houses and business buildings. 
 
 In connection with the forestry work all trees on the Reser- 
 vation have been cared for excepting on small areas not yet 
 acquired; dead or defective trees have been removed and 
 live ones trimmed or treated as required. In the nursery, 
 established two years ago, more than 55,000 trees and shrubs 
 have been propagated and are now available for transplanting 
 throughout the Reservation. 
 
 The Bronx River has repeatedly been cleaned throughout 
 its length of fifteen miles and an enormous quantity of debris 
 and obnoxious material removed therefrom. More than sixty 
 
 12 
 
large and offensive billboards have been abolished. Through- 
 out the Reservation a vast amount of cleaning work has been 
 done and, as fast as acquired, the lands have been restored 
 to a natural and wholesome condition, and the development 
 of trees and other natural features encouraged. 
 
 What has been done in the work of reclaiming the River 
 from its former polluted state and restoring natural and whole- 
 some conditions in the Parkway Reservation, is best shown by 
 the photographic record from which typical sets of views, 
 showing conditions before the Commission took jurisdiction 
 over the lands and after preliminary^ treatment, are shown 
 throughout the pages of this report. 
 
 In connection with property and topographical surveys 
 248 permanent monuments have been set, marking boundaries 
 adjacent to private lands; detailed and accurate topographical 
 surveys covering 1,044 acres have been completed and general 
 improvement plans prepared for the entire Parkway between 
 Bronx Park and Valhalla. Negotiations have been success- 
 fully concluded to insure the erection of bridges and viaducts 
 of artistic design within the Reservation at Gun Hill Road, 
 The Bronx; at Broad Street between Mount \"ernon and 
 Yonkers; at White Plains opposite Woodland Place, and at 
 Hamilton Avenue; also at Yonkers Avenue, Tuckahoe. Fur- 
 ther negotiations are still in progress on designs for bridges 
 at East 241st and East 238th Streets. The River has been 
 diverted away from the unsightly rock filled railroad embank- 
 ment for a considerable distance at North White Plains under 
 the direction of the 
 Commission but at 
 the expense of the 
 Railroad Company, 
 and the large spoil 
 bank, left by the 
 Bronx Valley Sewer 
 contractors above 
 Scarsdale Station, 
 has been removed. 
 General grading 
 work has been done 
 to level off rough 
 sections and fill 
 depressed spots. 
 
Excavation is well under way for a large lake at White Plains 
 and a substantial proportion of the grading work required 
 between Bronx Park and Gun Hill Road has been completed. 
 
 Playgrounds have been placed at the disposal of local 
 associations at Bronxville, Tuckahoe and White Plains. These 
 grounds, temporarily set aside by the Commission, have been 
 equipped, maintained and conducted at the expense of the 
 local organizations with very gratifying results. Space has 
 also been provided in many sections throughout the Parkway 
 to be used by baseball and football teams and numerous 
 games have been played. 
 
 The condition of the River, itself, has constantly been 
 improving with the elimination of nuisances and, with the 
 exception of the section below the East 235th Street sewer, 
 its condition this season is so satisfactory that it has been 
 used to a surprisingly large extent by bathers. On ordinarily 
 hot days between 1,000 and 1,500 bathers have been using 
 the River which affords relief to large numbers who, owing 
 both to distance and quarantine regulations, are deprived 
 of the use of the beaches. 
 
 The Commission has endeavored to acquire and develop 
 this great Parkway without extravagance or waste in any 
 particular. To this end a large amount of personal work 
 has been done by the individual Commissioners, especially 
 in connection with negotiations for lands by direct purchase, 
 which has resulted in marked economy and more satisfactory 
 results in every respect than could have been realized through 
 the medium of special agents. In all the Commission has 
 held three hundred and fifteen meetings in addition to almost 
 continuous attention from the individual Commissioners by 
 trips over the fifteen miles of Parkway. 
 
 The expenses incident to negotiations, including cost of 
 appraisals, etc., and for fully acquiring the lands in the Reser- 
 vation, together with title search, policies of title insurance, 
 legal expenses, etc., is believed to constitute a record for 
 economy in proceedings of this sort as will be shown by the 
 following table of percentages of total expenditures made by 
 the Commission to January 1, 1916: 
 
 14 
 
AFTER VIEW 
 
Cost of lands fully acquired on or before Janu- 
 ary I, 1916, including interest, taxes and 
 
 assessments $3,602,927.43 92.76% 
 
 Real estate appraisals, title examination and 
 
 title insurance 28,430.02 0.73% 
 
 All law expenses 15.376.35 0.40% 
 
 Administration expenses, including salaries of 
 
 Commissioners and office employees, rent 
 
 and incidental expenses 90,599.32 2.33% 
 
 Engineering Department, and for surveys ac- 
 quired by contract 64,097.46 1.65% 
 
 Forestry, maintenance and improvement, includ- 
 ing new construction 59,866.63 i-S4% 
 
 Personal property 8,400.59 0.22% 
 
 Stores 5,99745 0.15% 
 
 Miscellaneous 8,338.64 0.22% 
 
 Total Disbursements to Janu.\rv i, 1916 $3,884,033.89 100.00% 
 
 A financial statement, together with tables containing dis- 
 tribution of cost for the various items of the Commission's 
 work is appended to this report. 
 
 SCARSDALE LAKE 
 
 16 
 
IN THE PARKWAY RESERVATION 
 
ACQUISITION OF LANDS 
 
 FLOODED LANDS ABOVE WHITE PLAINS 
 
 The methods 
 adopted for acquir- 
 ing lands were fully 
 described in the 
 Commission's last 
 report and no good 
 reason has been 
 found for departing 
 from the procedure 
 outlined therein. 
 The various efforts 
 made to compel the 
 Commission to re- 
 sort to condemna- 
 t i o n proceedings 
 before exhausting all 
 
 reasonable efforts to acquire lands by direct purchase, have 
 been unsuccessful. The charges preferred against the Park- 
 way Commissioners before Governor Glynn by three citizens 
 of Westchester County in 1914, were dismissed without a 
 formal hearing before the Governor, and the application for a 
 peremptory writ of mandamus, brought by former Justice 
 Charles F. MacLean in 1914, to compel the Commission to 
 condemn his lands in the Reservation, was denied and, on 
 appeal, the Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the de- 
 cision of the lower court. These attempts to force the Com- 
 mission into premature condemnation proceedings are de- 
 scribed in more detail in report of Counsel hereto attached. 
 
 The Commission continued actively its negotiations with 
 the several hundred property owners whose lands had not 
 yet been acquired. The standard values, adopted after ex- 
 haustive study and consideration of the reports of numerous 
 appraisers and other experts, and examination of lands by the 
 Commission, were adhered to. In very many cases property 
 owners, who had refused to accept these values, finally ad- 
 mitted that they were fair and reasonable and contracted to 
 sell their lands. For thirty-four of the parcels acquired the 
 owners asked $714,923.93, and the Commission paid, with 
 interest, $237,993.35; the saving being $476,930.58, or two- 
 thirds of the asking price. 
 
 18 
 
A persistent search was made to locate absentee owners, 
 whose addresses the Commission had heretofore been unable 
 to discover, and these efforts resulted in finding the owners, or 
 authorized representatives, of all but 20 parcels in the Reser- 
 vation. In a large majority of cases the owners, so located, 
 after investigating the Commission's methods and uniform 
 values offered, accepted the Commission's standard value for 
 their lands. 
 
 On June 30, 1916, the Commission had acquired, or secured 
 by contract, about two-thirds in value of the lands in the 
 Parkway Reservation. Of the remaining one-third, more than 
 one hundred parcels represented a considerable area consisting 
 of lands of the New York Central Railroad Company for which 
 active negotiations are in progress and which will, no doubt, 
 be acquired by direct purchase. The titles to a considerable 
 number of the others were found to be either defective or so 
 involved that it was necessary to resort to condemnation 
 proceedings to secure good title. With the owners of the 
 residue the Commission had so far been unable to agree 
 upon the values to be paid that, with but few exceptions, 
 further negotiations were deemed useless. The Commission 
 believed that it had offered all that these lands were worth and 
 did not feel justified in purchasing at higher prices. The 
 owners, on their part, were unwilling to accept these offers; 
 some no doubt because of a sincere belief that the Commission's 
 prices were inade- 
 quate, although they 
 had not been able 
 to present com- 
 petent evidence in 
 support of greater 
 value. Others un- 
 doubtedly refused to 
 sell direct in the 
 hope of securing, 
 through the medium 
 of a condemnation 
 board, amounts 
 considerably in ex- 
 cess of what the 
 
 Commission, after .^^.^^ ^^^^.^^^^ 
 
 an exhaustive study purchase 
 
 19 
 
extending over a period of several years, would feel justified 
 in paying. 
 
 To acquire by direct purchase from all those owners in the 
 Parkway who were competent to convey would, of course, 
 have been the ideal condition, and the Commission endeavored 
 to be so fair and its efforts were so persistent that nothing 
 further could be done to attain this result. 
 
 In view of the many extravagant awards made for lands 
 acquired in other condemnation proceedings it was to be ex- 
 pected that some property owners would adhere to their de- 
 termination to resort to such proceedings in order to secure, 
 if possible, awards at least very liberal, if not considerably in 
 excess of the real value of their lands. The Commission 
 afforded every opportunity to negotiate directly and gave 
 ample notice to all, particularly to those less well informed, or 
 of foreign birth, to sell their lands directly to the Commission 
 without expense and receive promptly cash therefor. The 
 delays and expenses inevitably attendant upon condemnation 
 proceedings were explained and, in those cases where the lands 
 to be taken represented the entire holdings of their owners, 
 the advantages of selling direct were made clear. Such 
 owners were urged to submit to the Commission all possible 
 evidence in support of their demands and, in order that such 
 facts might be brought directly to the attention of the indi- 
 vidual Commissioners, more than one hundred and twenty- 
 five hearings have been held. 
 
 The Commission has spared neither time nor effort to 
 acquire the twelve hundred odd parcels of land within the 
 limits of its jurisdiction by methods which would insure a 
 just and reasonable return to the seller, fair and adequate 
 value to the public, which is the buyer, and with the cost 
 incidental to acquisition kept at the minimum. The Com- 
 mission, therefore, finds itself well rewarded for its efforts in 
 that it has been able to agree with more than three-fourths 
 of the owners who are competent to convey good title to 
 their lands. The total cost for all real estate and building 
 appraisals, for examination and reports upon titles, for title 
 insurance, and for all legal expenses incidental to the acquisi- 
 tion of lands, aggregates slightly over one per cent, of the 
 value of the lands acquired. This is believed to constitute a 
 record in the acquisition of lands for public use both as to the 
 percentage of lands acquired by direct purchase at reasonable 
 prices and as to the expense of acquisition incidental thereto. 
 
 20 
 
AFTER 
 
/■ ^ . . The parcels of 
 
 « •^■^*^v¥4^ M^ V' ^^^^ acquired are 
 
 'T.<^r^^«P^|^^ scattered through- 
 
 out the length and 
 breadth of the 
 Reservation from 
 Bronx Park to 
 Kensico Reservoir 
 and are representa- 
 tive of every section. 
 BRONX RIVER BATHERS is believcd, there- 
 
 fore, that the large 
 
 number of purchases made, including parcels typical of all parts 
 of the Reservation, and at prices consistent with each other, 
 evidencing the willingness of a large proportion of the owners 
 to accept the Commission's standard values, will be effective 
 in establishing values before a condemnation board and will 
 operate against unequal or excessive awards. The Commis- 
 sion, therefore, believes that, with the vast amount of informa- 
 tion relative to land values throughout the Reservation, the 
 large number of reports from expert appraisers on file, the 
 record made of purchases of the greater part of the lands at uni- 
 form standard values, and the familiarity of the Commission- 
 ers, its legal and engineering staff, with each individual parcel, 
 evidence can be presented so conclusive as to result in speedy 
 determination and awards consistent with true values. 
 
 Before instituting proceedings to acquire the residue of 
 lands by condemnation, the Commission invited proposals 
 from the recognized title companies for examination of titles, 
 certification of owners' and lienors' names, and full reports 
 upon the status of ownership of all parcels remaining to be 
 acquired. It was recognized that such examinations could 
 be made, and reports rendered, by a title company with its 
 systematized records and trained investigators, more expedi- 
 tiously and at much less cost than would be incurred if the 
 Commission endeavored to secure this information through 
 its own office force. 
 
 Upon receipt of proposals from the three companies oper- 
 ating in the territory to be covered, a contract was awarded, 
 at a very reasonable figure, to the New York Title and Mort- 
 gage Company, which was the lowest bidder. These reports 
 have been obtained and most of the voluminous work inci- 
 
 22 
 
dental to preparation for condemnation proceedings under 
 the Code of Civil Procedure, which must be followed by the 
 Commission and which requires the determination of, and 
 personal service upon, each claimant or lienor, has been dis- 
 posed of. Some idea of the tediousness of the procedure 
 and amount of work involved may be obtained by reference 
 to report of Counsel appended hereto. 
 
 Condemnation commissioners have been appointed and 
 qualified, and the Parkway Commission thereby put in pos- 
 session of the remaining lands up to and including White 
 Plains within the past few months. The lands north of 
 White Plains will be included in a later proceeding now in 
 course of preparation. 
 
 For the purposes of condemnation proceedings, the Park- 
 way area was divided into six sections, the plan being to apply 
 to the Court, as rapidly as jurisdiction over the claimants 
 in a given section could be obtained, for the appointment of 
 a commission of three men for each section, or six different 
 sets of commissioners of appraisal for the entire Parkway 
 area to be condemned. This plan has been adhered to upon 
 the five general proceedings already well under way, and it is 
 gratifying to note that in each case the Courts have appointed 
 commissioners of high reputation and experience, who have 
 taken up their duties seriously and in an earnest effort to 
 expedite the proceedings. 
 
 The Commissioners of Appraisal appointed in the five 
 proceedings now in progress and the respective sections under 
 their jurisdiction are 
 as follows: 
 
 In Proceeding No. I, in- 
 cluding lands to be con- 
 demned in the Bronx 
 between Bronx Park and 
 MacLean or Neried 
 Avenue, Mr. Justice 
 Mullan appointed. 
 
 Cyrus C. Miller, 
 Chairman, 
 
 Richard W. Lawrence, 
 Lee Parsons Davis 
 
 23 
 
In Proceeding A^o. II, the White Plains section, Mr. Justice Tompkins 
 appointed : John R. Delafield, Chairman, Frank S. Reynolds, 
 James Dimond. 
 
 In Proceeding No. Ill, the section between Midland Avenue, Bronxville, and 
 Crestwood Station, Mr. Justice Young appointed : 
 
 Austin K. Griffen, Chairman, Gideon H. Peck. 
 Henry K. Davis, 
 
 In Proceeding No. IV, the section between Crestwood Station and Scarsdale, 
 Mr. Justice Tompkins appointed : 
 
 Herbert A. Knox, Chairman. Dan C. Nolan, 
 
 James F. Secor. 
 
 In Proceeding No. V , the section between New York City line at MacLean 
 or Neried Avenue and Alidland Avenue, Bronxville, including West 
 Mount Vernon, Mr. Justice Young appointed : 
 
 Martin J. Keogh, Chairman, Walter W. Westall, 
 
 Harry D. Whittle. 
 
 Schedule E, appended to this report, contains a list of 
 the parcels of land acquired by direct purchase since the 
 last report, dated June 30, 1914. The area and purchase 
 price of each parcel of land acquired by separate contract 
 are shown in detail. It is worthy of note that in the policies 
 of title insurance which cover parcels of land acquired by 
 direct purchase to date, in no single instance does a survey 
 exception appear. 
 
 Table G, attached to this report, contains a list of the 
 parcels of land acquired to date in condemnation proceedings 
 by virtue of the fihng of the oaths of the commissioners of 
 appraisal above mentioned. 
 
 In the first proceeding, brought in Westchester County, 
 attorneys for one of the defendants opposed the judgment of 
 condemnation on the ground that the Act was insufficient and 
 unconstitutional in that it did not clearly provide for payment 
 of the City's share of interest accumulating on awards. To 
 clarify this provision, as well as other sections of the Act 
 relating to condemnation proceedings, and to enable the Com- 
 mission to grant needed easements to municipalities for the 
 construction of roads and bridges across Parkway lands, a 
 bill to amend the Parkway law was introduced in the Legis- 
 lature and became Chapter 599 of the Laws of 1916. 
 
 The Parkway Law, Chapter 594 of the Laws of 1907, as 
 amended by Chapter 757 of the Laws of 1913, and Chapter 
 599 of the Laws of 1916, is annexed to this report. 
 
 24 
 
NEAR FLEETWOOD AVENUE, YONKERS 
 
CLEANING AND PROTECTING THE RIVER 
 
 Filthy condition of river at Williamsbridge 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 Just how many 
 sources of pollution 
 contributed to the 
 defilement of t h e 
 Bronx River could 
 not be fully deter- 
 mined until the long 
 period of drought in 
 the summer and fall 
 of 1914 made it pos- 
 sible to detect in- 
 sidious seepage from 
 bhnd drains or skil- 
 fully concealed out- 
 lets through which 
 sewage and other 
 
 forms of pollution found its way into the bottom of the River. 
 Advantage was taken of the opportunity afforded by the ab- 
 sence of storm water or ground flow to scrutinize with the 
 minutest care both the immediate banks and the environs of 
 the Bronx River as well as its tributary streams, aggregating 
 more than twenty-nine miles in length. The larger and more 
 flagrant violators of sanitary decency had already been dis- 
 covered, and in most instances the nuisances had been abated. 
 In order to determine the exact source of much of the pollution 
 discovered during the dry season, it was necessary in some 
 cases to test out the plumbing systems of whole blocks of 
 houses, and particularly in the case of Davis Brook, running 
 through the center of the Village of White Plains, the color 
 test applied to the plumbing systems of every building along 
 or near the brook to determine which ones were discharging 
 their sewage into the stream instead of into the village sewer 
 system revealed many flagrant and offensive cases. The im- 
 mediate environs of the River had already been cleaned up, 
 so that the sanitary work during the past year has related 
 more particularly to the tributary streams which, owing to 
 their very character, render detection more difficult. In the 
 case of the MacLean and tributary brooks, originating in the 
 Town of Greenburgh, northwest of White Plains, many cases 
 of pollution were discovered near the headwaters where the 
 
 26 
 
streams were little more than swamps, receiving overflow 
 from cesspools, and providing dumping grounds for stable 
 refuse, drainage from pig pens, etc. 
 
 In all, 154 violators of sanitary decency were discovered, 
 and upon each party responsible therefor a formal notice was 
 served allowing twenty days in which to abate the nuisance. 
 While it was not reasonably possible to secure remedy in all 
 cases within the time fixed, extensions in some cases were 
 allowed where commendable efforts were being made to pro- 
 vide a remedy. The Commission adopted Sanitary Regula- 
 tions as follows: 
 
 No. i: \o sewage, factory waste, oils, oily substances or pollution of 
 any kind or character shall be discharged into the Bronx River, or upon lands 
 in the Bronx River Parkway Reservation, or into any tributary brook, stream, 
 storm sewer or drain flowing into the Bronx River, or in any manner what- 
 soever which might result in polluting the Bronx River or lands within the 
 Parkway Reservation. 
 
 No. 2: No ashes, garbage, foecal matter, waste paper, excavated materi- 
 als, old metal or refuse matter of any character shall be deposited in or 
 near the Bronx River or upon lands of the Bronx Parkway Commission, and 
 no such refuse or other materials shall be deposited in or along brooks, drains 
 or storm sewers tributary to said Bronx River, in such manner as shall result 
 in polluting the waters of the River; except that, upon proper application, 
 the Commission may consent to deposits of earth, rock or other materials 
 suitable for filling purposes in such locations and under such specific regula- 
 tions as may be prescribed. 
 
 A copy of these regulations was forwarded to each one 
 responsible for a violation, together with formal notice 
 allowing twenty 
 days within which 
 to correct unsani- 
 tary conditions. 
 
 The C o m m i s - 
 sion's sanitary ex- 
 perts conferred with 
 many of those who 
 were responsible for 
 violating the sani- 
 t a r y regulations, 
 and offered effective 
 suggestions and ad- 
 vice as to the most 
 practicable method 
 of eliminating such 
 
 Same viczu after filth and rubbish had been removed 
 
 27 
 
nuisances. Where the owners were not wilHng to co-operate 
 the Commission notified them that it would resort to legal 
 proceedings but, up to this time, it has not been necessary 
 to actually bring legal proceedings to secure a remedy in a 
 single instance. While some cases were trivial and not par- 
 ticularly offensive, taken in the aggregate they seriously 
 polluted the River, so that the Commission found it necessary 
 to take up each particular case, no matter how small. Some 
 of the more serious cases may be briefly described. 
 
 White Plains Gas Works 
 
 At the gas plant of the Westchester Lighting Company in 
 White Plains large quantities of gas tar and oil were discharged 
 upon the surface of the ground in the Gas Company's yards. 
 During times of heavy rainfall these substances were washed 
 into Davis Brook, one of the tributaries of the River running 
 through White Plains, and so found their way to the River. 
 Some of this heavy oil and tar was precipitated and settled in 
 the mud at the bottom of the River; the balance flowed over 
 the surface of the stream or, carried by high water, collected 
 on weeds, grass, etc., along the shores, and with the lowering 
 of the surface of the stream settled in stagnant pools and 
 eddies. A chemical analysis disclosed that these gas tar and 
 oily substances were detrimental to human, animal and marine 
 life, and capable of destroying high and low forms of vegeta- 
 tion. The gases and volatile units, if confined under pressure, 
 might lead to disastrous results. They would also prevent 
 the successful propagation of fish, and were believed to be 
 responsible for the scarcity of frogs which, as tadpoles, are 
 valuable scavengers along the River. 
 
 Notice was served upon the Westchester Lighting Company 
 in December, 1913, to abate this pollution. When informed 
 as to the purpose of the Commission the Lighting Company 
 expressed its desire to co-operate and in due time installed a 
 filtration plant for screening and filtering the oily ingredients. 
 It also cleaned out the mud from the sides and bottom of 
 Davis Brook in order that the heavy oils deposited might not 
 find their way into the Bronx River. After experimenting at 
 length with this system it was found to be entirely inadequate 
 to meet the Commission's requirements, as at certain periods, 
 particularly during the rainy season, a large quantity of heavy 
 tar and oily substances would percolate through the filters 
 
 28 
 
AFTER 
 
 Bronxville 
 
or flush out from the ground into Davis Brook and the Bronx 
 River. Finally, in order to meet the Commission's require- 
 ments, the Lighting Company installed an elaborate filtration 
 system, including tar and oil separators, settling tanks and 
 sand filters. This plant is now installed and in use and, while 
 not yet one hundred per cent, perfect, it has succeeded in 
 eliminating practically all of the objectionable substances, 
 the quantity of gaseous fluids reaching Davis Brook now being 
 almost negligible. This separating and filtration plant is said 
 to have been installed at a cost to the Lighting Company of 
 approximately $5,000. It is fair to assume, however, that a 
 reasonable return on this investment will accrue to the Com- 
 pany in the value of the oil thus saved to be used as fuel. 
 
 The brook at Valhalla, also called Davis Brook, which 
 since the erection of the Kensico Dam has supplied the head- 
 waters of the Bronx River, flows through the business section 
 of Valhalla and several buildings have been erected squarely 
 over the brook, which receives sink drainage and other pollu- 
 tion, including overflow from a number of cesspools in the 
 vicinity. This part of the brook is outside of the limits of 
 the Parkway Reservation and, after considerable effort on 
 the part of the Commission to secure a remedy for this case, 
 the residents of Valhalla and officials of the Town of Mount 
 Pleasant suggested that the Commission acquire, jointly 
 with them, under authority of the Parkway law as amended, 
 a protective strip on each side of the brook to be developed 
 as a local park connecting with the Parkway Reservation 
 and insuring adequate park development to the Valhalla 
 Station which would thus become the logical gateway to the 
 Kensico Reservoir with its huge dam of great architectural 
 beauty and other landscape features of no mean importance. 
 Upon petition of the Town Board of Mount Pleasant the matter 
 was taken up by the Commission; options were secured from 
 the owners of the lands ; the necessary authorization was made 
 by the Town Board of the Town of Mount Pleasant and the 
 Bronx Parkway Commission and the strip along Davis Brook, 
 consisting of eight parcels with area of L958 acres is now under 
 contract for purchase with the exception of one parcel which 
 it will probably be necessary to condemn. This strip will be 
 developed in harmony with the treatment of the Bronx River 
 Parkway Reservation in that vicinity. 
 
 In a number of places private trunk sewers, serving groups 
 
 30 
 
KENSICO RESERVOIR AND DAM, PARKWAY TERMINAL 
 
 of houses and apartments, were discharging sewage into the 
 Bronx River. Some of the worst of these were located at 
 Hartsdale, Tuckahoe, WilHamsbridge and at White Plains, 
 where it was found that Davis Brook was used as a sewer for 
 a large number of buildings occupied by from one to ten fam- 
 ilies. The Commission found many violations, where it was 
 entirely practicable to connect with sanitary sewers, draining 
 into the Bronx Valley trunk sewer. It appeared, however, 
 that while municipal sewer systems along the Bronx Valley 
 had been connected with the trunk sewer, the individuals or 
 private corporations continued to discharge their sewage into 
 the Bronx River until protests were received from the Com- 
 mission. Three particularly difificult cases were found in 
 the vicinity of North White Plains and Valhalla, namely: the 
 sewage from railroad buildings and roundhouse at North 
 White Plains, the oily discharge from the Pumping Station 
 of the Castle Heights Water Company, and laundry and sink 
 water from the Kerbaugh Construction Camp at Valhalla, the 
 
 31 
 
"before and after taking" 
 Two pictures from same view-point, White Plains 
 
latter being in considerable quantity. In each instance more 
 adequate facilities were installed and the Commission's re- 
 quirements met. 
 
 The most serious case of pollution, however, and the most 
 difficult to find a remedy for, is a public sewer in the Borough 
 of The Bronx, discharging into the Bronx River from East 
 235th Street. This is a 48-inch trunk sewer built primarily 
 as a storm water sewer but, during recent years, there being 
 no sanitary sewers in the Woodlawn Heights section, the 
 City authorities have issued permits for sanitary sewer con- 
 nections with this storm sewer with the result that there is 
 now a considerable quantity of raw sewage discharging through 
 it into the River. The Commission has wrestled with this 
 problem for more than three years and has brought all pos- 
 sible pressure to bear upon City authorities to provide means 
 for diverting this sewage from the Bronx River. The problem 
 is a serious one, there being no trunk sewer in Webster Avenue 
 nearer than Bedford Park, to connect with which would neces- 
 sitate laying a long stretch of sewer between lands of the 
 Woodlawn Cemetery and the Railroad, property not benefited, 
 so that the assessment upon the property which was bene- 
 fited would have been prohibitive. The City authorities, there- 
 fore, were desirous of connecting with the Bronx Valley trunk 
 sewer but definite arrangements could not be made during the 
 pendency of the action brought by the United States govern- 
 ment and by the New York City interests to prevent the dis- 
 charge of raw sewage, through the Bronx Valley sewer, into 
 the Hudson River, as the City authorities did not want to 
 divert any sewage into this channel while they were at the 
 same time objecting to its use by others. 
 
 This situation was responsible for considerable delay despite 
 the Commission's urgent protests. The Health Depart- 
 ment has been urged from time to time to assist in the matter 
 and they lent their best efforts towards finding a solution. 
 The installation of purification works as a temporary expe- 
 dient was discussed and finally the engineers prepared designs 
 for an inverted siphon to be built under the Bronx River 
 and tracks of the New York Central and New York, New 
 Haven and Hartford Railroad Companies, to connect the 
 East 235th Street sewer at Webster Avenue with a small 
 sewer on the other side of the Bronx Valley running south 
 along Bronx Boulevard. Investigations showed that such 
 
 33 
 
connection could be 
 made and the sani- 
 tary sewage from 
 practically all of the 
 Woodlawn Heights 
 section thus diverted 
 away from the 
 Bronx River. The 
 Bronx Borough en- 
 gineers have devel- 
 oped this plan which 
 
 UNSANITARY CONDITION OF LANDS BEFORE jg nOW bcforC thC 
 
 ACQUIRING, THE BRONX g^^^.^ Estimate 
 
 and Apportionment 
 
 for approval. It is expected that their approval will be ob- 
 tained at an early date and, in the meantime, the Borough 
 authorities are conducting the necessary negotiations with 
 the New York Central and New York, New Haven and Hart- 
 ford Railroad Companies for the easements required for the 
 location of the siphon across their lands. 
 
 Many more violators of special importance might be cited 
 but sufficient has been given to show that the Bronx River 
 was in reality rapidly becoming a foul sewer and that measures 
 for its protection and purification were adopted none too soon. 
 
 A systematic cleaning of the River throughout its length 
 in the Parkway Reservation was already in progress at the 
 date of the Commission's last report, but the long period of 
 dry weather during the late summer and early fall of 1914, 
 with resulting low water in the Bronx River, afforded an un- 
 usual opportunity for thoroughly cleaning the River and 
 removing sunken logs and other debris which had become 
 partially or wholly imbedded in the River bottom. Debris 
 in infinite variety was extracted from the River's depths. 
 Buggies, tea-kettles, bicycles, wagon wheels, boxes, bedsprings, 
 automobile bodies, wash boilers, stoves, utensils of every 
 description, and particularly hot- water heating tanks, were 
 brought forth in astonishing numbers, to say nothing of the 
 sunken trees and logs, the removal of which required strenu- 
 ous efforts with heavy equipment. 
 
 Most of this material was partially, if not entirely, buried 
 in the mud bottom and could only be located by thoroughly 
 forking and raking the stream. Cleaning the River in this 
 
 34 
 
DEBRIS EXTRACTED FROM RIVER BED 
 
 Hundreds of zvagon loads were hauled away and buried 
 
 manner throughout its length of fifteen miles in the Reservation 
 stirred up the polluted slime and mud bottom, saturated with 
 gaseous oils and sewage of every description, and much of this 
 filth was flushed off with subsequent rains, which scoured out 
 to a considerable 
 extent the slime and 
 sediment formerly 
 obstructed by 
 debris. Following 
 several heavy rains, 
 with good scouring 
 effect, it was found, 
 after the water had 
 subsided, that there 
 were still many ar- 
 ticles not discovered 
 at the first cleaning, 
 buried deeper in the 
 mud but now ex- 
 posed. The River 
 
 SEEN AND UNSEEN OBSTRUCTIONS 
 EMBEDDED IN RIVER BOTTOM 
 
 35 
 
was therefore raked over again 
 and still again. In fact, some 
 sections have been cleaned on 
 four separate occasions, each 
 operation bringing to light relics 
 of an earlier period than the one 
 before. 
 
 The material taken from the 
 River was piled along the shore 
 and later used for filHng in low 
 spots in the Reservation. A 
 typical section of this debris is 
 
 shown in an accompanying 
 
 WEEPING WILLOW photograph. 
 
 As a result of all this work 
 the River, particularly above the East 235th Street sewer, 
 affords healthful bathing for large numbers of people. The 
 Commission is also re-stocking the River with fish, a hatch of 
 1,000,000 perch having been obtained from the New York 
 Aquarium through the courtesy of the New York Zoological 
 Society. 
 
 FORMAL GARDENS, HARTSDALE 
 
 Developed by private interests and deeded to the Commission 
 
 36 
 
RECLAMATION AND IMPROVEMENT WORK 
 
 With the hmited funds at its disposal for maintenance and 
 improvement work during the past two years the Commis- 
 sion, in addition to cleaning up the River, continued its for- 
 estry work, greatly enlarging its nursery, and using its avail- 
 able resources in restoring the Parkway lands to a wholesome, 
 natural condition. These efforts have been conspicuously 
 successful and have resulted in a very marked improvement 
 throughout nearly all the Reservation. In some sections noth- 
 ing could be done owing to the unwillingness of owners to allow 
 the removal of billboards, or the cleaning up of their properties, 
 until the lands had been fully acquired and paid for, but such 
 cases have been rare, and those who have observed the con- 
 dition of the Reservation for some years past have commented 
 most favorably upon the marked improvement shown. 
 
 No effort has been made to formally improve any section 
 of the Reservation. At Hartsdale and Scarsdale Stations 
 charming parks were developed by real estate interests before 
 the lands were turned over to the Commission and these have 
 been maintained, but the Commission's own work has been 
 
 NATUR.\L PARK, SCARSDALE 
 
 37 
 
directed toward grading, improving soil conditions, encourag- 
 ing the healthy and symmetrical development of trees and 
 other plant growth, grading and filling low spots and unsani- 
 tary pools, removing unsightly debris, brush, dead trees, etc., 
 and particularly breaking down old foundations, disposing 
 of materials, and covering the sites of old buildings with soil 
 covering adequate to support plant growth. 
 
 To obtain proper conditions around old building sites was 
 a work of considerable magnitude as will be appreciated when 
 it is recalled that approximately 275 buildings have been 
 removed from the Reservation. In each case the foundation 
 walls and cement floors had to be broken up and removed to 
 a depth considerably below the finished grade in order to 
 insure good soil conditions. 
 
 Forestry 
 
 The forestry work has been continued since the last report 
 with a slightly larger force than formerly. This work has 
 now covered the entire Reservation with the exception of a 
 few tracts, the owners of which were unwilling to allow the 
 Commission's foresters to trim and prune until the lands had 
 
 EVERGREEN NURSERY, FIRST-YEAR PLANTING 
 
 38 
 
been acquired, and also with the exception of that portion of 
 the Reservation between Hopkins Avenue, White Plains, and 
 Valhalla. The tree work in this latter section will be com- 
 pleted during the next few months. Since the last report 
 14,959 trees have been trimmed. 
 4,183 trees have been treated. 
 
 2,211 dead or infected trees have been removed from 
 the Reservation, and there are now 
 56,485 trees and shrubs in the nurser}^ ready for trans- 
 planting in the Reservation. 
 The Commission's tree-trimming and surgical work has 
 been unusually well done and has stimulated owners of wooded 
 tracts along and in the vicinity of the Reservation to care for 
 and protect their trees. The permanent filling of large cavi- 
 ties, deferred until it could be determined whether all of the 
 infected area had been removed, has been taken up this season 
 and at this writing has been done throughout the New York 
 City section from Bronx Park to the New York City line. 
 
 The methods followed in caring for the forest growi:h in 
 the Reservation, including the protection of areas infested 
 by insect enemies, have been interestingly detailed in the 
 report of the Consulting Landscape Architect and Forester 
 appended hereto. 
 
 Nursery 
 
 The nurser>^ established during the early part of 1914, was 
 a demonstrated success as to location and soil and it has 
 therefore been greatly enlarged and a ver\' considerable amount 
 of new stock planted. Many thousands of additional cuttings, 
 obtained through the courtesy of the Forester of the New 
 York Zoological Park, have been set out and in a short time 
 will be available for transplanting in the Reservation. The 
 last inventor}^ shows 56,485 trees and shrubs in the nursery. 
 Most of this stock will be available next spring for needed 
 screening and planting of denuded areas and those sections 
 will be planted first where hea\^' screening is most necessary. 
 
 The New York Zoological Park has also made it possible 
 to obtain fertilizer in large quantities without cost except 
 for carting from manure pits in the Park. This material 
 is stored at fixed points throughout the Reservation, where 
 it vnW be cured and ready for use in connection with planting 
 work next spring. 
 
 39 
 
River Diversions 
 An important River diversion in the vicinity of North 
 White Plains has been completed during the past year with- 
 out expense to the Commission. The Railroad Company 
 found it necessary to slightly divert the River to make room 
 for widening their embankment and, in acquiring the adjacent 
 tract, had secured the right to relocate the River in a new 
 channel to be excavated by them, one-half upon railroad 
 lands and one-half upon the adjoining tract in the Reserva- 
 tion but not yet acquired by the Commission. In negotiating 
 for this adjoining parcel the Commission secured from the 
 Railroad Company the right to divert the River still further 
 away from the rock-filled embankment; the Railroad Com- 
 pany to apply to the cost of such diversion the estimated cost 
 of the diversion originally proposed by it, amounting to 
 $2,400, and the new diversion to be made by the Commission. 
 
 The topography of this section was particularly rough and 
 difficult to develop satisfactorily. An old quarry pit of 
 nearly thirty feet in depth and about one hundred feet in 
 diameter remained from former lime kiln operations and a 
 part of the property was covered by a swamp which required 
 drainage. By diverting the River through the old quarry 
 pit, a picturesque feature was developed and, by continuing 
 the diversion through the swamp, drainage was provided and 
 an opportunity afforded to ultimately develop a small lake. 
 Upon completion it was found that the cost of the entire work 
 was within the amount appropriated by the Railroad Company 
 so that a considerable improvement has been made without 
 expense to the Commission other than for engineering ser- 
 vices and inspection. 
 
 Similar diversions will be required at a number of points 
 in the Reservation, such as opposite the new White Plains 
 Railroad Station, where the railroad embankment slopes 
 directly to the River, requiring radical relocation in order to 
 provide room for planting the River banks as well as to screen 
 barren railroad slopes. 
 
 The large spoil bank, left by the Bronx Valley Sewer con- 
 tractors, above Scarsdale Station, was removed by contract 
 and part of the material used to fill up a stagnant pool in the 
 vicinity. A very favorable bid was obtained for this work. 
 
 40 
 
River diversion at Xorth White Plains, cost of zvhich zvas paid by Railroad Company 
 
 RIVER DIVERTED THROUGH OLD QUARRY PIT 
 
SPOIL BANK LEFT BY BRONX \ ALLEY SEWER 
 
 Removal of Buildings 
 Of the 355 re- 
 sidential, business 
 and maniifacturing 
 buildings, including 
 stables, etc., in the 
 Parkway Reserva- 
 tion, approximately 
 275 have either been 
 demolished or re- 
 moved from Park- 
 way lands. Others 
 are in process of 
 
 removal and still others will be sold for demolition or removal 
 as soon as pending contracts are closed. Excepting in those 
 few cases where buildings, owing to their situation and char- 
 acter, can be used in connection with Parkway development 
 for temporary field headquarters, storage of tools, instru- 
 ments, etc., the Commission arranges to dispose of them as 
 soon as possible after title is vested. 
 
 Buildings are sold under sealed bids to the highest bidder 
 after having been advertised ten to fifteen days in advance 
 of the sale. Printed notices are also mailed to all persons, 
 or corporations, who have filed their names in the office of 
 the Commission for this purpose. All buildings are sold 
 subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Commis- 
 sion. Nine building sales have been held during the past two 
 years at which were 
 received a total of 
 774 bids from 250 
 separate bidders. 
 
 Buildings, for 
 which no satisfac- 
 tory bids were re- 
 ceived, were subse- 
 quently sold after 
 informal bidding 
 to avoid the cost of 
 re-advertising. The 
 method of selling 
 buildings by sealed 
 
 bids in preference removed and river bank graded 
 
 42 
 
to public auction tends to prevent collusion among bidders 
 and, in nearly all cases, results in higher prices being obtained 
 and in a considerable variation in the bidding, for the reason 
 that those who desire to obtain particular houses are con- 
 strained to bid more nearly what they are worth to them 
 than they might do in an open auction. To illustrate the 
 variation in bidding, an example is taken from the sale held 
 on June 5, 1916, as follows: 
 
 Dwelling House on Sheet i — Parcel 13 
 
 Bid No. I $ 25.00 
 
 Bid No. 2 25.00 
 
 Bid No. 3 150.00 
 
 Bid No. 4 426.00 
 
 Bid No. 5 1,030.00 
 
 Bid No. 6 1,025.00 
 
 Bid No. 7 1,200.00 
 
 Bid No. 8 1,104.00 
 
 Bid No. 9 1,135.00 
 
 Bid No. 10 1,513.00 
 
 It will be observed that the highest bid of $1,513 is more 
 than sixty times as much as the low bid of $25. In such cases 
 the high bidder is usually an owner of property in close prox- 
 imity to whom the building will be particularly valuable. 
 
 The Commission has received to date from sales of build- 
 ings $41,782.04 and has expended for advertising a little over 
 8 per cent, of this amount. There has been collected in 
 rentals from buildings acquired, and prior to their removal 
 or demolition, $21,986.62; the loss sustained from uncol- 
 lected rents being less than 3 per cent. 
 
 The Commission also arranged with City authorities to 
 sell for immediate removal the buildings acquired by the 
 City situated in the bed of Bronx Boulevard between Gun 
 Hill Road and East 233rd Street. These buildings were 
 unsightly and in a dilapidated condition and were earning 
 very little revenue in rentals. Upon their removal the Com- 
 
 43 
 
ITALIAN SHACKS — BRONX STREET, WHITE PLAINS 
 
 mission filled and graded the cellar excavations. The removal 
 of these structures greatly improved appearances along Bronx 
 Boulevard. 
 
 Buildings of a ramshackle character, or for other reasons 
 unfit to be removed to lands along or near the Parkway, 
 were sold for demolition only and, in a number of cases, those 
 more substantial but not desirable in the immediate Park- 
 way environment were sold for removal not less than 300 
 feet from the park limits. In all cases, careful supervision 
 was required to secure compliance with the Commission's 
 regulations and the Commission was successful in preventing 
 the destruction, or defacement, of trees in the vicinity of the 
 buildings removed. 
 
 ITALIAN SHACKS REMOVED AND LANDS USED FOR PLAYFIELD 
 
 44 
 
BEFORE 
 
 Scivagc from ilicsc buildings drained into Bronx A'livr 
 
 Filling and Grading 
 
 A large amount of grading work has been done in connec- 
 tion with filling up excavations and leveling off building sites 
 after removal of structures and clearing of premises. Low 
 spots in the Reservation where unsanitary conditions ob- 
 tained, have also been promptly filled as the best means 
 of abating local nuisances. In addition, active grading oper- 
 ations are in progress at White Plains and Williamsbridge, 
 and preparations are complete for beginning grading work 
 along Swain Street, Yonkers, and Pondfield Road, Bronxville. 
 
 AFTER 
 
 Pollution corrected, lands ready for preliminary pari: treatment 
 45 
 
At White Plains the lands north of Hopkins Avenue were 
 in a most deplorable condition. Acres of low land in this 
 part of the Reservation had been used for a dump for several 
 years and it was necessary to excavate a mass of garbage 
 from all areas to be planted. This material, in an incomplete 
 state of decay, was removed to a depth of at least three feet, 
 wherever planting of trees was contemplated, and removed to 
 those portions of the Reservation where it could be covered 
 by a considerable depth of soil when ultimate plans are carried 
 out. In one case a hill, ten or twelve feet high, was formed 
 and this offensive material is now well covered. 
 
 Good soil was conveniently obtainable from excavation 
 for a lake planned for this section and the entire area has 
 been covered with this material and planting excavations 
 filled to their required levels. Upon completion this section, 
 formerly so offensive, was immediately occupied in part by 
 a baseball field and playground established by the City of 
 White Plains, directly over the former garbage dump. 
 
 Great quantities of stone taken from building foundations, 
 or picked up on Parkway lands, have been stored in con- 
 venient piles for use in road and path foundations. The 
 material so conserved will substantially decrease the cost 
 of the road construction work to be carried out next year. 
 
 Additional filling material is needed in many sections of 
 the Reservation, particularly in the Bronx where the devel- 
 opment plans call for large quantities of soil or other exca- 
 vated material for fill. Fortunately top soil is usually avail- 
 able from the alluvial lands along the River and will be con- 
 served for finished grading and planting work. Advantage 
 has been taken of excavated materials available from con- 
 tractors who sought dumping privileges in the Parkway, but 
 the amount of such material obtained has been disappoint- 
 ingly small. In the Bronx the building movement, which it 
 was expected would be developed in considerable proportions 
 in anticipation of the completion of the Subway, has not 
 materialized, but some fill has been obtained and the Com- 
 mission's willingness to grant dumping privileges has been 
 made known, so that with another season it is hoped to secure 
 a much greater amount of soil to meet the requirements of 
 the development plans. 
 
 Final grading of the section between Bronx Park and Gun 
 Hill Road, initiated early this spring, is still in progress and, 
 
 46 
 
BUILDING REMOVED — GRADING UNDER WAV 
 
if the required amount of fill can be obtained from outside 
 sources, it is expected that the landscape grading, including 
 laying of path foundations, as well as for that portion of the 
 parked drive, will be completed this season. 
 
 Viaducts and Bridges 
 
 Negotiations have been continued during the past two 
 years to obtain a better class of structures in, and in the 
 vicinity of, the Reservation. At the date of the last report 
 progress had been made toward changing plans for the viaduct 
 over the Bronx River and the New York Central and New 
 Haven Railroad tracks, connecting Wakefield Avenue in the 
 City of Yonkers with East 241st Street in the Borough of The 
 Bronx; for viaduct over the Bronx River and the Harlem 
 Railroad tracks connecting Vermont Avenue in the City of 
 Yonkers with Broad Street in the City of Mount Vernon; 
 and for a viaduct at White Plains across the railroad tracks 
 and the Bronx River in the vicinity of Woodland Place, to 
 be erected as substitute for proposed viaduct at Tibbits Ave- 
 nue. For all of these structures the Commission urged 
 a modification of plans to provide for permanent arched 
 bridges of reinforced concrete and of design which would be 
 in harmony with Parkway development. In each case con- 
 sideration of first cost has urged less permanent structures 
 of steel construction which, however, would involve higher 
 maintenance cost, so that taken over a period of years, the 
 permanent structures would be economically superior. Nego- 
 tiations for the modification of these plans have, owing to the 
 various interests involved, been tedious and slow. The Com- 
 mission appreciates, however, the spirit of hearty co-operation 
 on the part of the various municipal officials and the New 
 York Central Railroad Company, and the cordial efforts they 
 have made to arrive at a solution satisfactory to all parties 
 concerned. As a result of these co-operative efforts an agree- 
 ment has been reached providing for an entire change of the 
 design of the Broad Street-Vermont Avenue viaduct; the 
 Commission's plan having been accepted by officials of the 
 Cities of Mount Vernon and Yonkers, and by the New York 
 Central Railroad Company. This plan has been presented 
 to the Public Service Commission, Second District, approved 
 by it, and contracts, specifications, and contract drawings 
 
 48 
 
ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR BRIDGE OVER PARKWAY AT WHITE PLAINS 
 
have been prepared for the Commission. Contract for the 
 construction of the viaduct will be let early in 1917. 
 
 In the case of the Wakefield, or East 241st Street viaduct, 
 the Public Service Commission, First District, has been pre- 
 vailed upon to modify its previous orders to such an extent 
 that a concrete structure may, under certain conditions, be 
 built in place of the steel structure originally ordered. The 
 Commission is now, with a reasonable prospect of success, 
 attempting to meet these conditions. 
 
 At White Plains a definite proposal for the construction 
 of the Woodland Place viaduct has been placed before the 
 City Council and adopted and the New York Central Rail- 
 road Company has also informally approved it. The plan 
 approved as a part of this proposal will provide for a per- 
 manent structure, beautiful and of ample width for Parkway 
 and local traffic needs, in place of the proposed viaduct which 
 was to be built with roadway 16 feet wide and a long 9 per 
 cent, grade on the westerly approach. 
 
 A design for a bridge to be constructed within the Park- 
 way Reservation in connection with the extension of Hamilton 
 Avenue in the City of White Plains was furnished to the City 
 authorities by the Commission and adopted by them. 
 
 Plans of the County of Westchester for a highway bridge 
 through the Bronx River Parkway Reservation, crossing the 
 Bronx River at Tuckahoe, were submitted to the Commission 
 for suggestions as to architectural treatment which would 
 harmonize with the Parkway development, and a design has 
 been furnished. 
 
 At Gun Hill Road the Commission advocated and strongly 
 urged a modification of established profiles to provide for 
 separation of grades at the intersection of Bronx Boulevard 
 and Gun Hill Road, by raising the latter and lowering Bronx 
 Boulevard to pass under Gun Hill Road. The amount of 
 heavy traffic now passing Gun Hill Road is considerable and 
 will steadily increase in volume. This is the only thorough- 
 fare for unrestricted traffic crossing the railroad tracks be- 
 tween Bedford Park Boulevard and East 233rd Street, a dis- 
 tance of slightly more than two miles. A double track sur- 
 face car line and the 3rd Avenue elevated extension will cross 
 on Gun Hill Road. On the other hand Bronx Boulevard, 
 
 50 
 
ENTRANCE INTO THE HEMLOCK FOREST 
 
FRONT STREET, BRONXVILLE 
 
when the Parkway drive system is completed, will carry a 
 very heavy volume of automobile traffic which, if required 
 to cross Gun Hill Road at grade, would undoubtedly create 
 serious congestion and interference with both lines of traffic. 
 The separation of grades has been approved by the Board 
 of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New York, 
 and plans for the improvement drawn accordingly. 
 
 Plans for the improvement of Gun Hill Road, including 
 bridges over the Bronx River and Bronx Boulevard, were 
 prepared in the office of the engineers of the Borough of The 
 Bronx and submitted to the Commission for suggestions as 
 to ornamentation or surface treatment. Architects employed 
 by the Commission submitted plans for reconstruction of this 
 bridge in harmony with the Parkway development, which 
 were adopted by the Bronx Borough authorities. 
 
 Negotiations looking toward the development of the Bronx 
 Boulevard, adjoining the Parkway Reservation, between 
 Bronx Park and East 233rd Street, or Woodlawn Road, have 
 been pending for some time with Bronx Borough and New 
 York City authorities. The plan most favorably considered 
 provides for the City developing a street along the easterly 
 line of the Boulevard, north of Gun Hill Road, to serve abut- 
 ting lands of private owners, and turning over to the Com- 
 mission for development the remaining width of 60 feet, 
 which will be merged with the Parkway Reservation, pro- 
 viding location for the parked drive. 
 
 The adoption of this plan by the several boards and offi- 
 cials of the City having jurisdiction is being urged and every 
 effort will be made to remove the legal obstacles so that the 
 general improvement of the Boulevard and adjacent Park- 
 way lands, including the grading of this section of the Park- 
 way drive, can be finished as early in 1917 as weather con- 
 ditions will permit. 
 
 In its endeavors to work out the best plan for all con- 
 cerned, the Commission has particularly appreciated the 
 effective co-operation of Borough President Alathewson, his 
 engineers, and department officials of the Borough of The 
 Bronx, without which the best results could not have been 
 obtained. 
 
 51 
 
Billboards 
 
 Incessant warfare has been waged against advertising bill- 
 boards, with the result that all but a few have been removed 
 from the Reservation. Those remaining are upon lands 
 which the Commission has been unable to acquire, but the 
 public, which has suffered long from these blatant desecrations 
 of the landscape, may rest assured that none of these parcels 
 will be paid for until the signs thereon have been demolished. 
 
 The fact that the greater portion of the billboards still 
 standing are upon lands of the New York Central Railroad 
 Company has caused much surprise and considerable un- 
 favorable comment. The Commission, itself, has been greatly 
 disappointed because of its inability to persuade the railway 
 officials to banish these nuisances, which are so placed as to 
 obstruct the view, from passing trains, of extensive sections 
 of the Parkway. Even with the present day demands for 
 economies in railroad management and the development of 
 new sources of revenue, the paltry sums received as rentals 
 from the outdoor advertising companies scarcely justify the 
 maintenance of nuisances so obnoxious and so aggravating to 
 the traveling public. 
 
 In some few cases billboards have been erected, facing the 
 Parkway, on private lands in the vicinity. To screen such 
 signs, and to protect the Parkway from such environment, the 
 Commission has planted rows of poplars in the Reservation, 
 whose rapid growth should speedily obstruct the view from 
 Parkway lands of these offensive nuisances. 
 
 Improvement Program 
 
 The Commission is substantially increasing its outdoor 
 working forces and will be able to complete considerable im- 
 provement work before the end of the season. 
 
 The work in progress at Williamsbridge, White Plains and 
 Bronxville will be continued throughout the season and, if 
 construction funds requested for the current year are made 
 available, additional work will be initiated at intervening 
 points. This will include grading and filling to sub-grade for 
 the Parkway drive between Crane Road, Scarsdale, and Wood- 
 land Place, White Plains. 
 
 The Commission has obtained a small excavator or dredg- 
 ing machine for deepening the existing River channel, or for 
 excavating new diversion channels, and this is now being 
 
 52 
 
erected. The machine is of special design, adapted to the 
 peculiar requirements of the situation and capable of being 
 operated under the overhanging tree growth without destroy- 
 ing natural features along the River's banks. It contains 
 many novel features and, being the first machine of its kind 
 built for commercial uses, it has been ordered under a guar- 
 antee from the manufacturers, requiring payment only in the 
 event that its successful operation is demonstrated. 
 
 Removal of New York Office 
 
 With the condemnation proceedings in progress and active 
 construction work initiated a general rearrangement of offices 
 and enlargement of space became imperative in the spring of 
 1916. Hearing rooms for condemnation commissioners were 
 required both in New York City and Westchester County, 
 together with additional space for the Law Department in 
 New York. No less important was it to secure accommoda- 
 tions for the Engineering and Accounting Departments on 
 the Reservation for the more convenient and efficient admin- 
 istration of construction, maintenance and engineering work. 
 To meet these requirements the New York offices, to be used 
 for the most part hereafter by the Law Department and con- 
 demnation commissioners, were removed from No. 100 Broad- 
 way to No. 280 Madison Avenue, corner 40th Street, a loca- 
 tion near the Grand Central Station and more accessible to 
 attorneys, claimants, witnesses and others attending pro- 
 ceedings from the Bronx and Westchester Counties, as well 
 as from the Parkway Reservation. 
 
 Permanent Headquarters 
 
 General headquarters for the Engineering and Accounting 
 Departments, and for the administration of construction and 
 maintenance work, were established on the Reservation at 
 Bronxville in a large stone mill building formerly owned by 
 the Ward Leonard Electric Company. This building, once 
 known as " Swain's Mill," was built many years ago in con- 
 nection with a small water-power development by which the 
 mill was operated. It is of most substantial character, with 
 thick, stone, vine-covered walls and, with but little exterior 
 alterations and the installation of necessary fixtures and office 
 equipment, will afford ample facilities. There are large and 
 
 54 
 
well-lighted offices and drafting rooms, spaces for the storage 
 of tools, materials and supplies, a garage and accommodations 
 for a small machine shop. The top floor is being fitted up for 
 a museum and place of deposit for the Commission's records. 
 
 Previous to this a central receiving station and warehouse 
 had been established in a building purchased from the Scars- 
 dale Supply Company above Scarsdale. This building has 
 been equipped with room for the storage of tools and supplies, 
 gasoline engine, shafting, and pulleys drills, emery wheels, 
 grindstone, forge, anvils, etc., required for the sharpening of 
 tools and making minor repairs. It will be used during the 
 construction period and is in charge of a repair man, who acts 
 as storekeeper and resides on the premises, keeping general 
 oversight of that section of the Parkway. 
 
 At Williamsbridge a substantial residence building on one 
 of the parcels acquired will be retained for storage purposes 
 and as field headquarters during construction in that section. 
 
 Surveys and Plans 
 Since the date of the last report a re-survey of each separate 
 parcel in the Reservation has been made and checked and 
 maps have been revised. These maps, consisting of thirty 
 sheets, have been divided into six sections, as follows: 
 
 Section 1 — Sheets 1 to 4, inclusive. 
 
 Section 2 — Sheets 5 to 9, inclusive. 
 
 Section 3 — Sheets 10 to 13, inclusive. 
 
 Section 4 — Sheets 14 to 17, inclusive. 
 
 Section 5 — Sheets 18 to 24, inclusive. 
 
 Section 6 — Sheets 25 to 30, inclusive. 
 
 56 
 
GARBAGE DUMP IN FOREGROUND — ITALIAN SHACKS IN BACKGROUND 
 
 FROM SAME VIEW-POINT 
 
 Garbage dump covered and graded; Italian shacks removed 
 
TWO VIEWS IN THE BRONX RIVER PARKWAY RESERVATION 
 
upon completion of revision of all sheets in any given 
 section, copies of such sheets were certified and filed in the 
 offices of the Registers of the Counties of New York, The 
 Bronx and Westchester. Copies of sheets comprising Sections 
 1 to 6, inclusive, were filed simultaneously in the said Registers' 
 offices of the Counties of New York, The Bronx and West- 
 chester on the following dates : 
 
 Section 1— March 3, 1915. 
 
 Section 2— April 21, 1916. 
 
 Section 3 — January 14, 1915. 
 
 Section 4 — November 16, 1914. 
 
 Section 5— October 24, 1914. 
 
 Section 6— October 5, 1914. 
 The standard maps, as filed, were drawn to scale of 1"= 
 100'. Lithograph copies were then obtained, reduced to 
 scale of r'=200' and these copies are available for the use 
 of property owners, or their representatives, and may be ob- 
 tained upon payment of $0.10 per sheet to cover cost of 
 printing. 
 
 Topographical Survey 
 Since the completion and filing of the revised property 
 maps, the work of the topographical survey has been con- 
 tinued with an increased force. A very precise and detailed 
 survey is being made and plotted showing contours at one 
 foot intervals, location of all trees and other physical features, 
 in order to provide a dependable record in accurate detail for 
 the preparation of general development plans as well as grading 
 and planting details. 1,044 acres have been surveyed to the 
 date of this report, 
 of which 843 acres 
 have been mapped 
 to scale of 1"=20'. 
 
 Hydrographica' 
 Surveys 
 
 During the year 
 stream - flow meas- 
 urements and gauge- 
 height records have 
 been taken at fre- 
 quent intervals. 
 
 Gauges have been improvkment contiguous to the parkway 
 
 59 
 
THE RIVER FLOWING UNDER A CANOPY OF TREES 
 
 IN THE OPEN 
 
set from Bronx Park to Valhalla and slope of stream at dif- 
 ferent stages of the River plotted. The volume of flow has 
 been determined by current meter gauge, particular care 
 being exercised to obtain records indicating the minimum and 
 maximum flow. 
 
 Physical Map 
 
 The Commission has recently completed the preparation 
 of a physical map, showing the general location of the Park- 
 way, its connecting parks and parkways in the Borough of The 
 Bronx, and the Reservoir lands and lakes northerly from Ken- 
 sico Dam. This map includes territory northerly from the 
 Harlem River, including both sides of the Hudson and extend- 
 ing easterly almost to Long Island Sound. The lands and 
 territory covered by the jurisdiction of the Interstate Palisades 
 Park Commission are shown, together with their relation to the 
 Bronx River Parkway and its connecting parks and watershed 
 lands. If this map shall serve to stimulate constructive inter- 
 est in the vast areas available for park purposes, extending 
 northerly from the upper end of the Parkway Reservation, 
 and in addition assist in acquainting the public with the 
 immense tracts of land already acquired by the Interstate 
 Pal sades Park Commission on the west side of the Hudson, 
 its chief purpose will have been accomplished. 
 
 This physical map has been reduced and lithograph copies 
 have been obtained to accompany this report. 
 
 Reservation Map 
 
 A new Reserva- 
 tion map, showing 
 in more detail and 
 to a more accurate 
 scale the limits of 
 the Reservation, 
 with the adjacent 
 streets and impor- 
 tant connections, 
 has also been pre- 
 pared and litho- 
 graphed to accom- 
 pany this report. 
 
AFTER PRELIMINARY CLEAN-UP 
 
AS IT WAS — WHITE PLAINS 
 
 Maintenance of Park Lands 
 
 Until all of the lands had been acquired and made available 
 for park use the Commission desired to avoid any substantial 
 expenditure for maintenance. It has endeavored to keep 
 the lands in the Reservation in clean and orderly condition, 
 but without any attempt at close cutting of lawns or open 
 spaces. In the rich bottom lands, where the growth is rapid, 
 the weeds have been cut from one to three times each season, 
 as was required to meet the necessities of the case, and in 
 some sections where generally used, and particularly in the 
 
 SAME VIEW 
 
 Buildings removed, ready for final grading 
 
 63 
 
TEMPORARY BASEBALL FIELDS 
 
 park spaces around railroad stations, the lands have been 
 kept in neat condition. With substantial completion of 
 grading, planting and other improvements, a larger main- 
 tenance force will be required but, during the period of acquisi- 
 tion and construction, the Parkway will be no less available for 
 pleasure and enjoyment because of economy in maintenance. 
 
 In all sections the Bronx Valley is showing the effects 
 of the Commission's efforts. From Williamsbridge to Wake- 
 field, with the exception of one tract north of East 213th 
 Street, title to which has not yet been vested in the Commis- 
 sion, and the advertising billboards on railroad property which 
 the operating officials have so far declined to remove, the 
 
 OUT-DOOR SPORTS IN PARKWAY 
 
 64 
 
land has been restored to an almost normal condition. From 
 West Mount Vernon to Bronxville the Reservation is in ex- 
 cellent condition and is being extensively used as a park. 
 From Bronxville to Crestwood very marked improvement 
 has been noted; playgrounds, tennis courts, etc., having been 
 established at Tuckahoe and Crestwood. Between Crest- 
 wood and Scarsdale is a charming strip of park land. From 
 Scarsdale Station, extending through Hartsdale to the south- 
 erly limits of White Plains, a section of great charm which 
 was seriously marred during the construction of the Bronx 
 Valley sewer, the lands have now been almost entirely restored 
 to their former natural beauty. 
 
 Throughout the White Plains section, however, the great- 
 est transformation has been made. How much has been 
 done is best illustrated by the photographic records of the 
 Commission, several of which have been reproduced in the 
 pages of this report. 
 
 Landscape and Improvement Plans 
 
 A general plan of landscape development has been com- 
 pleted and formally adopted, but the Commission has deemed 
 it advisable to defer publication of this plan until the next 
 report, by which time the exhaustive studies required in con- 
 nection with multitudinous details, which may, to some ex- 
 tent, affect portions of the general plan, will have been finished. 
 Particular attention has been given to the layout of the pro- 
 posed parked drive which will be made of ample width to 
 accommodate the 
 heavy traffic which 
 is sure to be im- 
 posed upon it. 
 
 Studies to deter- 
 mine the best 
 method of paving 
 and surfacing the 
 parked drive have 
 been made by the 
 Engineering Depart- 
 ment. Much data 
 has been obtained 
 and the behavior, 
 
 BRON.X RIVER AT NURSERY 
 
 65 
 
AFTER VIEW 
 
 Buildings removed and river being diverted from new railroad embankment ; 
 permanent improvement under way 
 
under traffic, of those pavements in most general use, has 
 been carefully observed and data obtained. 
 
 In the narrower sections of the Parkway, particularly in 
 the vicinity of the Mount Vernon Station, the width is barely 
 sufficient to provide space for the river channel. Parkway 
 drive and a narrow screen planting along the railroad em- 
 bankment and Bronx River Road. In this section the Park- 
 way drive will be carried through at a level somewhat below 
 the adjacent street, so that the planting strips provided, 
 though narrow, will be effective in preserving the appearance 
 of a Parkway. 
 
 The parked driveway is laid out and several sections will 
 soon be under construction. Between Scarsdale and White 
 Plains, Bronx Park and Gun Hill Road, and in the vicinity 
 of White Plains, the Commission will make substantial pro- 
 gress this year, which will include grading for the Parkway 
 drive and final grading of the park lands, followed by extensive 
 planting of many areas which have been almost entirely 
 stripped of trees and other plant growth. 
 
 In the meantime a dirt road, with temporary bridges at 
 river crossings, will be laid out and roughly graded between 
 Woodland Place, White Plains, and West Mount Vernon. 
 This will follow approximately the line laid down for the parked 
 drive and will make that portion of the Reservation more 
 accessible for light vehicles and particularly for equestrians. 
 
 Conclusion 
 
 The Commissioners in charge of this project — Madison 
 Grant, William 
 White Niles and 
 
 James Graham ■.-►.^^x ^ 
 
 Cannon — were ori- 
 ginally appointed in 
 
 1907 by Governor •'V"' <a^^^2^^*' ' 
 
 Hughes. At the 
 expiration of his first 
 term of three years, 
 Mr. Niles was reap- 
 pointed by Governor 
 Hughes, and at the 
 expiration o f h i s 
 second term of five 
 
 RHODODENDRON CORNER — ST.\TION PARK, 
 SCARSDALE 
 
 67 
 
AFTER 
 
years in July, 1915, he was again reappointed by Governor 
 Whitman. Mr. Cannon, at the expiration of his first four- 
 year term, was reappointed by Governor Dix and on June 23, 
 1916, Governor Whitman signed and forwarded to Mr. Cannon 
 his commission for a further period of five years from the 
 expiration of his term on July 25, 1916. At the expiration of 
 his first term of five years, Mr. Grant was reappointed by 
 Governor Dix in 1912, for a second term of five years. 
 
 Throughout the long period while awaiting official sanction 
 of the Parkway, and before the legal obstacles were removed, 
 the Commission, though without funds, labored unceasingly, 
 feeling certain that an understanding of the merits of the 
 project would command immediate recognition. 
 
 During the past three years since authority was obtained 
 on June 5 th, 1913, the policy of acquiring land by direct 
 purchase has entailed arduous labors, but the tremendous 
 savings, resulting from this work, as well as the prevention 
 of hardship and loss to a large proportion of the property 
 owners, has been sufficient reward for the efforts expended. 
 With this portion of the work completed and the Parkway 
 lands and River redeemed from their former polluted state, 
 the Commission has now reached the third and most in- 
 teresting stage — the physical development of this great 
 Parkway, foremost in America in importance of connections 
 and territory benefited. 
 
 Whatever success the Commission has achieved in endeavor- 
 ing to reduce to a minimum the expenses of this great under- 
 taking has been very largely due to the generous support of 
 the public and press, the hearty co-operation of public officials 
 and the efforts of a competent and enthusiastic staff of em- 
 ployees imbued with a high sense of public duty. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Jay Downer, 
 
 Engineer and Secretary. 
 June 30, 1916. 
 
 Madison Grant, President, 
 William White Niles, 
 James Graham Cannon, 
 Bronx Parkway Commission. 
 
 69 
 
June 30. igi6. 
 
 Hon. Madison Grant, 
 
 William W. Niles, 
 James G. Cannon, 
 
 280 Madison Avenue, 
 New York City. 
 
 Gentlemen — The foregoing report records in sufficient detail the work of 
 the several departments of your Commission, except that of the Law Depart- 
 ment, of which a complete record will be found in the Counsel's report. 
 More detailed records of the work accomplished by the Construction, Engi- 
 neering, Accounting pnd Forestry departments have been prepared and 
 placed on file. Much of this is of interest but not entirely necessary for the 
 purposes of this report and to include all would too greatly extend these 
 pages. Let it suffice, therefore, to describe the organization of the office, 
 engineering and construction forces, and briefly outline their respective duties. 
 
 The Auditing Del^artnient 
 in charge of the Assistant Secretary, Mr. George R. Hilty, has been extremely 
 busy along many lines of work. In addition to the general accounting, cost- 
 keeping, record of tools, equipment and supplies, Mr. Hilty has had charge 
 of the rent and sale of buildings, a difficult work involving much detail, which 
 he has conducted with tact and skill, resulting in the Commission's obtaining 
 favorable prices for the many buildings sold and without the friction and 
 complications often arising in dealings of this character. 
 
 The Assistant Secretary has also supervised the recreation activities on 
 the Parkway, has obtained a very complete and satisfactory photographic 
 record, has secured the abatement of almost all of the one hundred and fifty- 
 four sanitary violations on the Commission's records, and has assisted in 
 negotiations for the purchase of land. Mr. Hilty conducts the Purchasing 
 Department and has assisted in the organization of the maintenance forces 
 of the Commission as well as being in direct charge of the reconstruction of 
 the building to be used for offices at Bronxville. Working under the direc- 
 tion of the Assistant Secretary are: 
 
 Helen L. Pennamacoor, Clerk, 
 William E. Moore, Bookkeeper, 
 William J. Byrne, Parkkeeper, 
 Edward J. Groark, Timekeeper, 
 Gertrude F. C. Nestor, Stenographer, 
 Emilie Surdez, Stenographer, 
 Elmer D. Crapper, Page. 
 
 The Engineering Department 
 is operated in two divisions — the Headquarters' Division, in charge of Mr. 
 Leslie G. Holleran, Principal Assistant Engineer, and the Field Engineering 
 Division, under Mr. Chester A. Garfield, Assistant Engineer. 
 
 71 
 
Headquarters' Division 
 
 The regular force employed in this division under Mr. HoUeran's direc- 
 tion consisted of: 
 
 James J. Lippincott, Map Draftsman, 
 Ellen F. Jones, Stenographer, 
 supplemented, when necessary, by members of the Accounting and Field 
 Engineering Departments. 
 
 The work of this division has had much to do with the acquisition of 
 real estate, preparation of property descriptions for contracts and deeds, 
 preparation and filing of real estate maps, design of structures, engineering 
 studies, investigations, reports, contracts and specifications, as well as mis- 
 cellaneous engineering work and negotiations. 
 
 Under Mr. Holleran's direction the many complicated engineering nego- 
 tiations, with the voluminous correspondence relating to the same, have 
 been handled with dispatch and in a most satisfactory manner. Much work 
 has been done in connection with furnishing and checking descriptions for 
 the Law Department, and negotiations with the title companies to secure 
 the elimination of survey and other exceptions ; also negotiations with the 
 New York Central Rpilroad Company relative to proper boundaries and de- 
 scriptions of lands to be acquired from it. Frequent attendance at hearings 
 before the Public Service Commission and at meetings of official boards in con- 
 nection with matters in which the Commission is interested has been required. 
 
 The work under the direction of the Principal Assistant Engineer has 
 also included preparation of contracts, specifications and contract drawings 
 for construction work, and licenses for sewer connections across Parkway 
 lands, examination and reports on plans and designs for improvements to 
 be made by private corporations or municipalities through, or adjacent to, 
 the Parkway Reservation, the preparation of many designs and studies for 
 details in connection with the development of the Reservation, as well as 
 negotiations of a varied and important character. 
 
 Field Engineering Division 
 The members of this division, working under the direction of Mr. Chester 
 A. Garfield, Field Assistant Engineer, at the date of this report are as follows : 
 Frederick H. Gross, Transitman, 
 Samuel Elkin, Levcler, 
 James Owen, Engineering Draftsman, 
 John Locke, Map Draftsma)i, 
 Morgan J. Brennan, Rodman, 
 Arthur Ehlers, Rodman, 
 William W. Forster, Landscape Draftsman, 
 Robert L. Mutschler, Axeman. 
 Arthur Freud. Axeman, 
 George B. Klein, Chainman, 
 James T. Landreth. Axeman, 
 I. H. McFalls. Axeman. 
 T. J. Sullivan, Axeman, 
 David E. VanBuren, Chainman, 
 Morris Berkcnblit, Chainman. 
 H. M. McKinley, Chainman. 
 
 72 
 
ATTRACTIVE SECTION OF THE PARKWAY, YONKERS 
 
STILL WATERS 
 
The number of employees in this department during the past year has 
 average fifteen, divided as follows : Two ^eld parties of four men each, or 
 a total of eight men, and seven men in the office. 
 
 The most extensive work of this division has been in preparation of topo- 
 graphical and property surveys. There have also been made hydrographical 
 surveys, together with other surveys preliminary to construction and devel- 
 opment work. The Field Assistant Engineer has supervised the carrying out 
 of construction work and inspected and reported upon improvements by 
 outside parties upon or across lands of the Commission. 
 
 Much topographical and engineering data has been furnished the Law 
 Department for use in condemnation proceedings and Mr. Garfield has fre- 
 quently testified before condenmation commissioners. The Engineering 
 Department has furnished data to the construction forces, and locations of 
 paths and roads staked out for construction work. This division has also 
 set permanent Parkway monuments at angle points in outside boundaries 
 along undivided lands. 
 
 In connection with the hydrographical surveys current meter stream flow 
 measurements and gauge height records have been taken and data obtained 
 to determine the volume of discharge at various stages and at frequent 
 intervals up and down the River. 
 
 The land and title surveys prepared by this division under Mr. Garfield's 
 direction have been found to be consistently accurate and dependable, and 
 the topographical data has been prepared with such care as to form a com- 
 prehensive and reliable record upon which to base plans and estimates for 
 improvement work. 
 
 Reclamation of Lands and River, Construction, Maintenance 
 and Forestry 
 
 During the year ending June 30, 1915, this work was continued under 
 the direction of Mr. A. N. Robson, Forester, Init with the increased forces 
 and the necessity for detailed supervision of the tree surgery work, as well 
 as the tedious work of cleaning the River and clearing the lands, the Assis- 
 tant Secretary was detailed to reorganize the maintenance division and the 
 Parkway was divided into four sections, each in charge of a section labor 
 leader with one or more assistants as required. 
 
 With the opening of spring work this season and with further increase in 
 the labor and tree-trimming forces, as well as the commencement of perma- 
 nent landscape construction work with finished grading, etc., it became 
 necessary to secure the services of a construction superintendent, trained in 
 landscape work, who could sympathetically execute the plans. There were 
 no Civil Service lists appropriate for this position with available candidates 
 and Mr. Herm,ann W. Merkel, Consulting Landscape Architect and Forester, 
 was requested to supervise the landscape construction forces until a capable 
 superintendent could be appointed. Application was made to the State 
 Civil Service Commission for a list and a special examination was held. In 
 the meantime the Commission was authorized to make a temporary appoint- 
 ment and, after considerable investigation following advertising and exhaus- 
 tive inquiry, Mr. Gilmore D. Clarke, a graduate landscape architect in 
 charge of construction work for the Hudson County Park Department, but 
 
 73 
 
residing in tlie Bronx, was temporarily appointed as Superintendent of 
 Landscape Construction. 
 
 Mr. Clarke entered upon fiis duties a few days prior to the date of this 
 report and will continue in charge under the general supervision of the 
 Landscape Architect and Forester until a Civil Service list of candidates 
 available for this position Jias been promulgated. 
 
 Preparation of Development Plans 
 
 The Consulting Landscape Architect, Mr. Hermann W. Merkel, has con- 
 tinued with the work of developing general plans and has prepared detailed 
 grading plans for extended sections in advance of the construction work. 
 Mr. Merkel has been assisted in preparation of these plans by Mr. Chester 
 E. Wheeler, Landscape Draftsman. Mr. Merkel has also given general 
 supervision to the landscape construction work and forestry and has advised 
 the Commission as to the best means of protecting the tree growth and other 
 vegetation in the Parkway. His very interesting report dealing with the 
 care of trees, the condition of the nursery and quantity of stock therein, as 
 well as some of the insect enemies to be combated, is appended hereto. 
 
 The Executive Stenographer 
 
 Miss Louise A. Bancroft acts as my private secretary and is in charge 
 of the minutes of meetings, a record of which she takes. She is responsible 
 for the tabulation and preservation of schedules of standard land values 
 used in negotiations for lands, and is in charge of the filing and other records. 
 Miss Bancroft also has general supervision over the distribution and care of 
 correspondence for all the various departments of the Commission. 
 
 A chart showing graphically the organization of the Commission's forces 
 is shown on the following page. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 Jay Downer, 
 
 Engineer and Secretary. 
 
 74 
 
"before taking" 
 
 "after taking" 
 Two views just above Bronx Park 
 
June 30, 1916. 
 
 Bronx Parkway Commission, 
 No. 280 Madison Avenue, 
 New York City. 
 
 Gentlemen — There has been no change in the policy and the character of 
 the work on the Parkway Reservation with which I have been connected, 
 only a broadening and extension made necessary by the acquisition of great 
 areas of new lands and the actual planning of the landscape development. 
 
 The work of the past two years in connection with the preservation of the 
 plant life upon the Bronx Parkway Reservation has been a fruitful one in 
 many ways. The arrest of the destruction of the many noble old trees by old 
 fire scars, or lightning, or breakage wounds, and dead and dying limbs, has 
 progressed steadily and is of incalculable value to the beauty of the Reserva- 
 tion, present and future. Each tree was inspected individually and its 
 treatment indicated only after careful consideration of the desirability of the 
 species, the condition, size and age of the specimen, and in all but the very 
 large examples, due regard was given to the surrounding trees and saplings, 
 upon which depends the future growth and aspect of the woodlands of the 
 Reservation. Nor have all trees been removed whose physical condition 
 was poor and whose life for that reason probably short, for where such a 
 tree had sufficient artistic value (as for instance one overhanging the River), 
 it was carefully saved. 
 
 The force of men employed in pruning, cleaning, and cavity treatment, 
 has become so highly efficient that it is a positive pleasure to see them at 
 work, and I believe that in no other park system is this work surpassed and 
 that only a few can equal it. 
 
 The protection of the Parkway woodlands from fire and marauders has 
 also had very beneficial results. 
 
 Insect Pests 
 
 The Hickory Bark-Borer and the Hemlock Borer seem to have succumbed 
 to the vigorous treatment given, but the Spring Canker Worm is increasing 
 its area of destructiveness and must probably be reckoned with for a number 
 of years, and only very thorough spraying of the hardwood trees in all of the 
 infected area will prevent great damage, especially as several bark-borers 
 appear to take advantage of the weakened condition of the trees, due to 
 defoliation for several succeeding years. 
 
 The Gypsy Moth and the Brown-tail Moth, both, are ever-threatening 
 clouds, one to the north and the other to the east of the Parkway, that must 
 not be lost sight of, nor temporized with should they occur upon, or in the 
 vicinity of, the Reservation. 
 
 Care of Trees 
 
 Every tree on parcels owned at the time they were reached by the Com- 
 mission's arborists. under the direction of the Forester, Mr. A. N. Robson, 
 has been examined and given the preliminary care necessary. In many cases 
 this had to take only the form of " first aid," as in most locations it was not 
 possible to know at that time whether the tree in question would be able to 
 
 77 
 
remain permanently, or would stand in the line of some future development, 
 such as grading, road building, river channels or lake excavations, which 
 would prevent its permanent existence, and it was not thought wise to ex- 
 pend a comparatively large amount of money on cavity work, for instance, 
 until it could be determined that the tree would remain. In all cases, how- 
 ever, wounds were cleaned, dead limbs and Jimb stubs were sawed off, and 
 the wounds given antiseptic treatment, and then sealed against the ingress 
 of water and the agents of decay. 
 
 In accordance with the policy inaugurated all large cavities were allowed 
 to remain unfilled for a period of at least one year in order to be able to deter- 
 mine whether all of the infected area had been removed. While this may 
 be new in tree work it is exactly parallel to the course adopted by surgeons 
 in the treatment of wounds, which they allow to remain open externally 
 during the process of healing. That this course was a wise one has been 
 proven in several instances when the waiting period developed further decay. 
 This spring, however, after the preliminary treatment had been administered 
 to the trees as far as the northerly end of the Reservation, the force of 
 arborists began again at the southerly ,end to carry the work to completion 
 and the filling of cavities has at this writing been done as far as the end of 
 the New York City line and is progressing rapidly northward. Since most 
 of the roadway and other features have been planned in the meantime it is 
 possible to determine just what trees should be treated. 
 
 The filling of the cavities is being done skillfully and in accordance with 
 the best and latest practice known to arboriculture. Since it has become 
 quite evident that the patent claims of certain firms, who have tried to con- 
 trol the most approved methods of bracing and filling trees, are invalid, we 
 have not hesitated to use them ; but, in direct opposition to the practice of 
 many commercial tree surgeons, we have been treating only those trees the 
 size, beauty and condition of which warranted such treatment. All obviously 
 decrepit and moribund trees were disregarded since we have considered it a 
 waste of public funds to spend any time or effort upon them. A number of 
 the best arborists have visited the Reservation and it is the consensus of 
 opinion that the work of tree preservation on the Bronx River Parkway 
 Reservation is the best that may be found in any area of its size in the 
 country. 
 
 Spraying 
 
 The purchase of an additional high-power sprayer was very timely, as 
 may be seen by the fact that the new machine was used for a period of fifteen 
 days and that, with its help, your force was able adequately to protect the 
 areas infested by the spring canker worm, which was larger this year than 
 during any previous season. A great number of scattered infestations of 
 other insects was treated by the smaller outfits to' very good advantage but, 
 since the large sprayer enables your force to reach the top of any tree from 
 the ground, dispensing, therefore, with ladders, scaffolds and a great deal of 
 time wasted in erecting, taking down and moving same away, they were able 
 to move as rapidly as was required, and I consider that the Commission has 
 already obtained in benefit the cost of the new machine. 
 
 The tent caterpillar was especially obnoxious this year and a force of 
 men was sent out to cut out and burn the unsightly nests of this pest through- 
 
 78 
 
DRAINED AND USED FOR NURSERY 
 
out the entire length of the Reservation, destroying in all 7,884 nests. Of 
 other insect pests there may be mentioned as present on the Reservation the 
 following: Tussock moth, walnut caterpillar, yellow-necked apple caterpillar, 
 fall web worm, mourning cloak, elm leaf beetle, cigar case bearer, and the 
 golden oak scale upon some European oaks at Hartsdale, all of which were 
 fought wherever found. 
 
 The chestnut blight is still present on the Reservation on the sprouts 
 which have come up from the stumps of removed trees. This year we will 
 endeavor to remove all infections as soon as discovered and by this means 
 hope to be able to eradicate the blight within a year or two. 
 
 The Nursery 
 
 The nursery at Crestwood, having demonstrated its usefulness even to 
 the most critical observer, has been greatly extended by taking an additional 
 strip of land north of Crestwood Station and enlarging the present planting 
 southward. The nursery now contains : 
 9,000 trees, 
 43,260 shrubs, 
 2,305 vines, 
 1,920 evergreens, 
 
 by far the greatest number being indigenous since it has been considered 
 desirable to exclude from most sections of the Reservation plants foreign in 
 origin and character. 
 
 Of course special care has been taken to have only such plants as would 
 thrive in the soils and (Situations found in the Parkway area. The condition 
 of all these plants at this time may be considered very satisfactory and the 
 nurseries have been kept well cultivated, free from weeds at all times, and 
 have formed an attractive feature of the Parkway. 
 
 The cutting and seedling plants raised by lyour own men have done 
 exceedingly well in the rich soil of the nursery, many of them reaching in one 
 season the size and vigor usually found in two year old stock as commonly 
 purchased from nurseries. 
 
 Landscape Planning 
 
 Planning for the roadway, grading, river diversions and widenings, has 
 been carried on steadily as topographical maps became available, so that 
 practically all of the general planning for this is now finished from the 
 Botanical Gardens to the northern boundary of the City of White Plains. 
 This, of course, involved much study of existing conditions and many con- 
 sultations and discussions with the members of your Commission and your 
 engineers, both in the field and office, as well as the examining of profiles and 
 details of streets and other improvements contemplated by the municipalities 
 touched by the Reservation. 
 
 Based upon this a preliminary plan was then made which was submitted 
 to your Commission for approval, or changes, which changes, if any, with 
 a general indication of the planting features, walks, play fields, et cetera, were 
 then put in the form of a general plan which received the approval of the 
 Commissioners and their Secretary. I am happy to say that no great dif- 
 ferences of opinion have ever arisen and that this work is going along rapidly 
 and smoothly. 
 
 80 
 
Principal rcatitrcs 
 
 The principal features of tiie valley in which the Reservation lies are. of 
 course, the River and magnificent tree growth present in most sections. 
 The River bed in its present location does not represent in all cases the 
 natural channel. It has been arbitrarily moved by the changes of contour 
 brought about by the building of roadbeds, railroads and streets, and the 
 erection of factories and other buildings, no attention being paid during the 
 course of such construction to the aesthetic aspect of the new course. This 
 fact and the necessity of planted strips needed to screen the railroad and 
 other unsightly objects necessitated many changes in the River channel, 
 which at the .'^ame time has been widened and often made into pools and 
 lakes, which will help to make the Reservation more beautiful and will Help 
 to maintain a more equable flow of water than now present and provide 
 opportunity for boating, bathing and skating. 
 
 Large existing trees have been most carefully considered in all of the 
 planning work and it is very gratifying to be able to say that very few really 
 good trees will have to be removed or will suffer as the result of the improve- 
 ments to be made. 
 
 The main feature of these improvements is. of course, the drivewa\-, 
 which will run for the entire length of the Reservation, connecting with 
 adjacent streets wherever an outlet has been considered necessary. For the 
 width of the drive, forty feet has been tentatively settled upon, although this 
 width may not be graded and paved at the outset, thirty-two feet being con- 
 sidered sufficient in certain sections. In sections where the full width re- 
 quired for a single driveway would mean an excessive amount of grading, the 
 destruction of trees or other desirable features, the road has been divided 
 into two one-way drives, which sometimes run at decidedly difTerent levels, 
 reuniting as soon as possible. Excessive grades and dangerous curves have 
 been avoided. 
 
 The walks are, of course, of various widths, with a maximum of twelve 
 feet. The principal one follows the Bronx River on one side or the other 
 for its entire length. Where necessary, cross walks and others leading to 
 points of interest have been provided, but grade crossings on the driveway 
 have been avoided wherever possible. Special attention has been paid to 
 the walks giving quick access to railroad stations, et cetera. 
 
 I would also recommend that provision for bridle paths be made. 
 
 Such recreation features as playgrounds, tennis courts, baseball fields, 
 et cetera, have been taken care of, but they have been placed only where 
 they could exist without interference with, or intrusion upon, the landscape 
 proper. Since it has been considered our first duty to provide a beautiful 
 Parkway, rather than a great number of local parks of diversified character, 
 the rules of naturalistic design have been followed very closely wherever 
 possible and abandoned only where the railroad embankment, a street, or 
 similar feature, has compelled such course. 
 
 Planting 
 
 The planting has been planned chiefly with the object of restoring the 
 flora of the region and permanency in view. Broad effects have been aimed 
 at and indiscriminate mixtures avoided. 
 
 81 
 
Construction 
 
 The landscape construction and grading work carried on during the past 
 year has been carefully supervised by me to insure a sympathetic execution 
 of the development plans. I understand, however, that this work has been 
 described in the foregoing pages of this report so that it will not be further 
 detailed here. 
 
 In conclusion I take the liberty to express to the gentlemen comprising 
 your honorable body my gratefulness for the many courtesies extended and 
 the trust you have placed upon me, and to the members of your staff my 
 thanks for the spirit of helpfulness and co-operation always shown. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Hermann W. Merkel, 
 Consulting Landscape Architect and Forester. 
 
 I 
 
 82 
 
PUBLIC ENJOYING THE IMPROVED CONDITION OF BRONX RIVER AND PARKWAY 
 
Bronx Parkway Commission 
 
 LAW DEPARTMENT 
 
 280 Madison Avenue, New York City 
 
 Report of the Counsel 
 
 IN TWO PARTS 
 
 Part I. Period of June 5, iQij to June jo, igi§ 
 Pari II. Period of June 50, igij to June 30, igi6 
 
 THE LAW DEPARTMENT 
 
 THEODOSIUS F. STEVENS, Counsel 
 
 WILLIAM O. GANTZ, Deputy Counsel JOHN A. KEMP, Deputy Counsel 
 MOSES ELY, Assistant Counsel JOHN M. LATHROP, Assistant Counsel 
 
 ROBERT G. DURLAND, Assistant Counsel 
 
 LOUIS K. R. LAIRD, Managing Clerk GLADYS M. CHERRY, Sec'y to the Counsel 
 DAVID WRIGHT, Entry Clerk ELSIE C. MULLER, Stenographer 
 
 GILBERT HOLMES, Process Server BARBARA G. GOSCH, Stenographer 
 MORRIS LEFKOFF. Junior Clerk MARY KARLIK, Stenographer 
 
 JOSEPHINE HARKINS, Telephone Operator 
 
PART I 
 
 Period of June 5, 1913-JuNE 30, 191 5 
 Chapter I — A brief explanation pf the Commission's system of taking 
 
 TITLE to land BOUGHT AT PRIVATE PURCHASE. 
 
 Chapter II — Proceedings, other than matters of routine. 
 
 Chapter III — The condition of the Commission's law work on June 30TH, 
 
 1915 — ITS COST — plans for THE FUTURE — CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 PART II 
 
 Period of June 30, igi5-JuNE 30, 1916 
 
 Chapter IV — Office Organization — Enlargement Required for Condem- 
 nation Proceedings — Conformation with Civil Service Law. 
 
 Chapter V — Thf, Year's L\w Work with Reference to Progress Made in 
 Purchase of Land at Private Sale. 
 
 Chapter VI — Condemnation Proceedings — Conditions Applicable — Prepa- 
 ration for Their Commencement — Title Examination — Commence- 
 ment Proper of Proceedings — Objections and Contests — Appointment 
 of Commissioners of Appraisal — Progress Made. 
 
 Chapter VII — Miscellaneous — Litigations. Contracts Prepared or Exam- 
 ined, Opinions Furnished, etc. 
 
 Chapter VIII — Conclusion. 
 
 Statistics — Tables and Exhibits. 
 
REPORT OF THE COUNSEL 
 
 Hon. Madison Grant, 
 
 William W. Niles, 
 James G. Cannon, 
 
 Bronx Parkii'ay Commissioners 
 New York City 
 
 Dear Sirs — The report of any technical or professional work, no matter 
 how replete with statistics, will fail to convey much useful knowledge to those 
 not entirely familiar with the circumstances surrounding it, without the 
 injection of a certain amount of explanatory matter. This is especially 
 applicable to the present review, for it is only at this stage of the Com- 
 mission's progress that separate or special account of its law work has 
 become necessary for the information of those concerned officially, or those 
 otherwise interested in its activities. 
 
 The Commission was created inl 1907, but its Authority to buy, condemn 
 and develop the Bronx River Parkway Reserve was not completely vested 
 until five years later, and, although the Commissioners themselves never 
 allowed the project to die during those years, they were obliged to defer the 
 consummation of any work planned until 1913. But, with the enabling 
 action of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of The City of New 
 York, taken on June 5, 191 3, the Commission could, and did, begin to carry 
 to conclusion the negotiations for the purchase pi land in the Parkway 
 Reservation which had been tentatively made before that time. Though 
 having authority in 1913 to appoint counsel, the Commission very wisely 
 decided, in the interests of economy, to detail to special counsel its law busi- 
 ness then accumulating, and to postpone appointing and maintaining per- 
 manent counsel, with an office and staff, until the volume of its law business 
 had reached such proportions that the employment of permanent counsel 
 should become the more economical, as well as the more efficient, method of 
 handling it. This need did not fully develop until the spring of 1914. It 
 would have become pressing at a much earlier date than was the case, had 
 it not been deferred by the assiduity of Commissioner Niles, who has given 
 his time unceasingly, not only to the supervision of the Commission's law 
 work, but to much of its detail as well. The Commission's labors in nego- 
 tiation during the latter part of 1913, and the first part of 1914, were so pro- 
 lific in result, however, that a permanent law department became essential 
 to carry these negotiations into effect without serious and costly congestion, 
 and the department was organized and has been maintained accordingly 
 since 1914. 
 
 87 
 
PART I 
 
 Period of June 5, 1913-JuNE 30, 1915 
 
 CHAPTER I— EXPLANATION OF THE COMMISSION'S SYSTEM 
 OF BUYING LAND AT PRIVATE PURCHASE 
 
 Anyone who has had much to do with real property knows it is easy 
 enough to buy land, but often quite another matter to obtain a perfect title, 
 and that, unless the utmost care is exercised, flaws or defects in the title will 
 be unnoticed when the purchase money is paid, only to be discovered when it 
 is too late to rectify the mistake without additional cost. At this point, it 
 must be particularly understood that the Commission, though acting for the 
 public when it agrees to buy land in the Reservation at voluntary purchase, 
 is in precisely the same condition that a private institution or individual 
 would be. It cannot, merely by paying the purchase price to one who 
 claims ownership in the land, cure defects in the title, if any there be, or cut 
 off outstanding rights in the property, should any exist. To protect the 
 public, therefore, and see that it gets what it pays for, the Commission must 
 do what every prudent individual or private corporation would do, namely, 
 have the title to the land it agrees to buy, not only examined, but also insured 
 to it by a title insurance company, before the! land is paid for. Having and 
 keeping this in mind, the Commission adopted a system of procedure which 
 operates from the time an agreement is reached with a landowner as to price 
 until the deed is offered, the form of title policy agreed upon, and the purchase 
 money paid. The title examination and insurance is furnished at a minimum 
 cost by a recognized title company, upon competitive bids, practically pre- 
 cluding the possibility of a loss, and making the title company, and not the 
 public, pay for curing a flaw in the title, should one ever appear. 
 
 Examination of the several hundred title policies already issued, will show 
 that the Commission's requirements in the matter of accepting a title, strict 
 as they are, have been strictly complied with. There is not a survey excep- 
 tion in any of the policies issued. This simple statement should be suf- 
 ficiently impressive to those who have had experience with the condition of 
 the maps and titles covering some ,sections through which the Reservation 
 runs. To obtain these results, great care has been exercised in the terms 
 and specifications of the award of contracts for title examination and insur- 
 ance, by which the permanent and comprehensive law machinery and plant 
 of a title company is used to full advantage, and far more cheaply than the 
 Commission could begin to do the work of title searching itself, aside from 
 the benefit of title insurance. For example, take Schedule 11, the schedule 
 last closed, comprising thirty-nine parcels, with a purchase price aggregating 
 $138,119. — there the entire cost of title insurance averaged as low as $31.08 
 per parcel, less than .0087 of the purchase price. This low cost has been 
 possible because the award of a contract of title examination covers a num- 
 ber of separate titles at once, and is let by competitive bidding. On a num- 
 ber of titles, if separately considered, the title companies have undoubtedly 
 lost money. I recall one case, to be sure rather an extreme one, where the 
 company must have already spent fifteen or twenty dollars worth of time. 
 The title has not closed yet, and all ,that the company will ultimately receive 
 for its services and risk on that title is the munificent sum of $2.09. 
 
 88 
 
CHAPTER II— PROCEEDINGS, OTHER THAN MATTERS 
 OF ROUTINE 
 
 Since the Commission commenced its active work of buying lands, pro- 
 tecting them, selling the buildings and causing them to be removed, and 
 planting and developing the lands where possible, innumerable questions have 
 necessarily arisen from time to time, many of which required examination 
 for pertinent law, and in some instances, resort to the courts has been 
 necessary. Of course, the settlement of these questions has been important, 
 but I do not consider any useful purpose will be served in lengthening this 
 report by any general enumeration of them, or, in fact, going further than to 
 briefly comment upon several of them which might find some public interest. 
 
 One question which should concern the public is that of the pollution of 
 the Bronx River, but as this problem has hitherto come more in the jurisdic- 
 tion of another department, rather than the Law Department, it doubtless 
 will be reported accordingly, and I pass it with the statement that, in addition 
 to other measures of cure and prevention, special counsel was employed, 
 who examined the statutes and local sanitary codes and ordinances, served 
 warning notices upon offenders, and in many cases of continuing defilement, 
 such as drains, factory outlets, leaky cesspools, etc.. caused offending land- 
 owners to abate the nuisance. The matter of river pollution, owing to con- 
 ditions existing at many spots along the stream, will continue to require 
 attention and in some cases probably action, until title is taken to both 
 banks of the River from the Kensico Reservoir to the Botanical Gardens. 
 Even then, vigilance must be exercised to restrain some of our citizens, and 
 would-be citizens, from their propensity to throw tin cans by the myriad, 
 and larger articles, such as old wash boilers, discarded bath tubs and the like, 
 and all sorts of germ breeding and indiscriminate rubbish and filth, in the 
 river or on its banks. An entire spring mattress even, was found from one 
 of its corners, projecting out of the mud in the river bottom. 
 
 In several instances, the Commission was obliged to prosecute acts more 
 sinister than carelessness, acts of wanton lawlessness, or depredation in the 
 cutting down of trees, and in the clandestine removal of wood and soil from 
 the reservation. 
 
 Questions have arisen, and will arise, respecting the rights of advertising 
 sign companies, ever tenacious in maintaining the seemingly irrepressible, 
 selfish and unsightly billboard. In the future, an enlightened public opinion 
 will doubtless stop and prevent private interests from placing hideous adver- 
 tising signs upon the borders of our public parks and parkways, and so 
 marring the beauty the public has paid for. 
 
 A multiplicity of vexatious detail has been disposed of regarding the levy- 
 ing and payment of taxes and assessments, owing to the fact that in many 
 instances a part only of a tax lot was taken; in other instances, owing to 
 errors and inconsistencies in the tax maps of some of the towns through 
 which the Reservation runs. 
 
 Special contracts, from time to time, have been required for construction 
 work, and forms for the granting of licenses, under proper restrictions and 
 conditions, to property owners to connect their lands with the Bronx Valley 
 Sewer, which runs for some miles of its length beneath the surface of the 
 Parkway Reservation, have been prepared and used. 
 
 89 
 
The sufficiency of the law creating the Commission, especially in its pro- 
 visions relating to the payment by the County of Westchester and City of 
 New York, of the funds required, was called into question, and co-operation 
 of counsel with the Supervisors of Westchester County in adopting a form of 
 resolution that would meet the requirements of the Act, was necessary. 
 
 Riparian rights arising over the proposed diversion of the Bronx River, 
 at several points, were given special study and consideration. 
 
 The Charges Brought Against the Commission in 1914 
 A remarkable set of charges against the present Commissioners were filed 
 in the summer of 1914 with the Hon. Martin H. Glynn, then Governor. 
 These charges were to the effect that the Commissioners had neglected their 
 duties, and their removal by the Executive of the State was demanded. If 
 the charges sought a mere change from one set of ministerial officers to 
 another, their disposition would, Relatively speaking, have had much less 
 importance to the taxpayers of the City of New York and County of West- 
 chester than was the case, but the charges, though nominally directed against 
 the present members of the Commission, were in reality directed against 
 the system of purchase at private sale, inaugurated and pursued by the 
 present Commission ; the system which offered a property owner fair and 
 full market value of his property, but jwhich refused to carry fairness 
 into the realm of generosity at the public expense, and finally, the system, 
 which, above all other things, was opposed to premature or reckless resort 
 to archaic, cumbersome, and inordinately extravagant condemnation pro- 
 ceedings. Intelligent study, and not so much of it at that, would have 
 convinced a person of ordinary intelligence that wholesale condemnation 
 proceedings were quite unnecessary, yet these charges were brought with the 
 intention, thinly veiled, of forcing immediate condemnation proceedings, 
 irrespective of the public good. Two of the three men bringing the charges 
 were unknown to the Commissioners. The third was known, as he had 
 previously requested employment, and the offer of his services had been 
 declined. 
 
 The charges recited that the Commissioners were appointed in 1907. and 
 alleged that they had " wilfully neglected and omitted their duties upon 
 them enjoined by law." It is true that the Commissioners ,were appointed 
 in 1907, but their power to take official action was not vested in them by 
 law until 1913. This was so (because the Legislature made the consent of 
 the Board of (Estimate a prerequisite of the establishment of the Parkway, 
 and the Board of Estimate waited for five years before it saw its way clear 
 to give that consent. During these five years, the Commissioners deplored, 
 I venture to say, much more earnestly than their accusers did, the condition 
 of the Bronx River ; because during those five years the Commissioners did 
 not let the project rest. They worked hard over it with members of the Board 
 of Estimate and other functionaries, not only that, but they did it volun- 
 tarily for some years, without pay of any kind, whereas it is yet to be shown 
 that the gentlemen bringing the charges were heard from at all at that time. 
 Under those circumstances, the charges would have bordered on the humor- 
 ous, were it not for the needless public expense they entailed. All the facts 
 were readily ascertainable — an examination of the statutes of the State on 
 the subject, to say nothing of inquiry at the office of the Commission, would 
 
 90 
 
have elicited them, yet no inquiry was made. During the period when the 
 Commission, perforce, was unal)Ie to act, nothing was heard. Strangely 
 enough, it was not until the Commissioners, in the short space of thirteen 
 months after receiving power, had actually acquired almost half of the 
 Parkway Reservation by private agreement with the owners of the property, 
 and without condemnation proceedings, that they were charged with 
 neglecting their duties during a period when they did not have authority 
 to act. 
 
 The charges were referred by Governor Glynn to :Mr. John Godfrey Saxe, 
 as Special Commissioner. The Commissioners, knowing their triviality, 
 moved to quash them for insufficiency, and they were ultimately di.smissed, 
 and the needless expense occasioned by them, as usual, fell upon the public. 
 
 The Attciiit^t to Force the Coiiiiiiission into Premature Condemnation 
 Proceedings Through Mandamus 
 
 In Xovember, 1914, a former Justice of the New York Supreme Court, 
 and an owner of land in the Parkway Reservation, brought a proceeding in 
 the Supreme Court of New York County against the Commission, in which 
 this former stipendiary of the County government attempted to force the 
 Commission, through the mandate of judicial order, to bring condemnation 
 proceedings at once in the Parkway Reservation. The questions raised by 
 this proceeding were of great importance to the taxpayers of the City of 
 New York and County of Westchester. Had the ex-Justice been successful, 
 it would have meant virtually the end of the Commission's being able to 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 ■PPPPpi9« "'^'iSS^ '''» 
 
 
 
 
 IXl-XD.\TED L.\XDS IN THE XURTII WHITE PL.MXS SECTION 
 
 91 
 
buy property at private sale. Some idea of what that would have meant 
 can be gathered by perception of the fact that, in the ,seven months elapsing 
 since the proceeding was brought and the present time, the Commission has 
 entered into agreements with various owners covering parcels worth an aggre- 
 gate of $720,659. Fortunate, indeed, it is for the tax-laden communities of 
 New York City and Westchester that the Supreme Court did not either share 
 the views of its former incumbent as to what the Commission ought to do, 
 or find any authority for the unnecessary burden of condemnation proceed- 
 ings, which, though benefiting condemnation lawyers, real estate " experts." 
 so-called, condemnation commissioners and stenographers, would all have 
 been at the expense of the public of New York City and Westchester County. 
 It is not necessary to give any detailed account of the proceeding. It will 
 suffice to say here that the ex-Justice wanted $215,275. for his land, when 
 the highest figure the Commission felt justified in oflfering, after considera- 
 tion of independent appraisals by experts, was $55,531. The proceeding 
 was argued at the , Special Term, and the Court, in deciding to dismiss it. 
 said: I 
 
 " On the contrary, they (the Bronx Parkway Commissioners) have improved the 
 property by removing nuisances and otherwise bettering its condition. That their 
 object in not instituting condemnation proceedings is for the purpose of first acquiring 
 all the land they can by purchase, so as to make the expense of such condemnation 
 as small as possible. The papers utterly fail to show that the Commission has 
 abused its discretion, and there being no evidence that it has failed to act, the 
 application must be denied." 
 
 Did the ex-Justice then stop? Not a bit of it. He appealed to the Appellate 
 Division, which tribunal promptly and unanimously affirmed the decision of 
 the Special Term. 
 
 CHAPTER III-THE CONDITION OF THE COMMISSION'S LAW 
 WORK ON JUNE 30TH, 1915— ITS COST— PLANS FOR THE 
 FUTURE— CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS 
 
 It is pleasing to report that the Commission's law work is Well up-to-date 
 in the matter of routine. The details of title closing have been systematized, 
 in so far as system is advisable, but not to the extent of thereby losing elas- 
 ticity of action, which is particularly important here as the Commission, 
 being dependent upon other authorities for funds to pay for the lands it 
 agrees to buy, cannot estimate far in advance the precise time when contracts 
 of sale can be consummated. Even so, opportunity is planned for the land- 
 owner to examine the Title Insurance Company's report upon the title, 
 before he is called upon to deliver his deed, and, when he avails himself of 
 it, the nature of any defects or encumbrances is explained to him and he is 
 told just what he must |do to clear ^p jhis title. The result has been (not- 
 withstanding the total ilHteracy of some of the landowners) that upon 
 Schedule 11 (the one last closed) more than seventy-five per cent, of the titles 
 closed on ]the day they were scheduled, although sixty-one per cent, of the 
 vendors were not even represented by attorney. 
 
 To speak parenthetically, the fact that so many landowners have pre- 
 ferred to act directly with the Commission ;rather than through the medium 
 of an attorney, shows one striking advantage of private sale over condemna- 
 tion. In the latter case, lawyers' charges and " expert " fees dig heavilv 
 
 92 
 
into the award when it is finally made, when, as a matter of fact, the land- 
 owner in probably nine cases out of ten, knows much better what his land 
 is really worth than does either his lawyer or his expert. The Commission, 
 of course, recognizes agents where owners prefer to act through them, but 
 the above figures rather show ((to my way of thinking) that there is no need 
 for a landowner to pay over any great part of the money he receives for the 
 land he sells to his agents or attorneys, unless there are unusual circum- 
 stances surrounding his title. 
 
 To return from what I considered an excusable digression, to the record 
 of the work of taking title. This department, with the very efficient co- 
 operation of the Engineering Department on questions of description and 
 survey, scheduled for closing 131 separate titles, covering 172 parcels and 
 involving the payment of more than $1,000,000, in just 21 days, thereby 
 reducing interest upon the several contracts to a jninimum. All but twelve 
 per cent, of these titles were closed within that time, and so far as the Com- 
 mission was concerned, they could all have been closed on time, had the 
 sellers been ready. 
 
 Upon Schedules i to 11, inclusive, where funds have been provided for 
 payment of the parcels therein included, by the City of New York and the 
 County of Westchester, title has passed upon all 469 parcels, with the excep- 
 tion of 12 titles, the closings of which have been delayed, either by infancy 
 proceedings, or by questions of outstanding interests which the respective 
 vendors will probably be able to clear up in a comparatively short time. 
 Upon Schedule 12 (the schedule of May i, 1915), which covers 104 parcels, 
 title reports will shortly be received, and contracts of sale have been already 
 prepared, in nearly all cases, and sent to the vendors for their signatures, 
 although funds to pay for these parcels will not be furnished for some months. 
 Upon Schedule 13 ,(the schedule of June 30, 1915), where tentative agree- 
 ments to purchase have been made to this date, covering 64 parcels, bids for 
 title insurance have already been invited. In other words, the routine work 
 of this department is as nearly abreast of the agreements with landowners 
 reached by the Commission in negotiations, as it is practically possible for 
 it ever to be. 
 
 Table A of this report, printed at page 113, shows the cost of land pur- 
 chased or contracted for, and the cost of title insurance upon it. from June 
 5, 1913, to June 30, 1915. 
 
 Table B, printed at page 113, shows the entire cost of all the Commission's 
 law work from July 17, 1911, to June 30, 1915. 
 
 The cost of this law work has been extremely low, phenomenally so, 
 when put in terms of percentage of the value of the land acquired. Since 
 June 5, 1913, the land actually acquired and paid for by the Commission, 
 excluding all deferred closings or parcels under contract, has been $2,726,- 
 671.81. The total cost of law work, including fees paid to special counsel, 
 and disbursements of every nature chargeable to this department, including 
 salaries, rent, furniture and office printing, amounts to $10,285.49, which 
 therefore makes about .0039 of the cost of the land now bought and paid for, 
 without including land under contract of purchase. The sum total of all the 
 Commission's disbursements to date has been $3,234,575.44. Of this, the 
 $10,285.49 expended for law amounts, therefore, to only .0032 of the total 
 expense. 
 
 93 
 
I make no invidious comparisons, but to those who are not impressed 
 with this record of economy, I suggest perusal pf the figures of the cost of 
 law work on other lands acquired in recent years for park purposes within 
 a radius of twenty miles of the City Hall. ; 
 
 So far as the future is concerned, the Commission's present law machinery 
 will be adequate only until such time as condemnation proceedings are in 
 actual preparation. When that time arrives, as it inevitably must, provision 
 will have to be made for coping with the situation as ^t will then exist, 
 bearing in mind that there is no escape from the cumbersome demands of the 
 Code of Civil Procedure, which requires the service of process upon every 
 person, known or unknown, who has an interest in any parcel of land to be 
 condemned, no matter how small or long-forgotten that interest may be. 
 Then the duty of properly adducing testimony before Commissioners of 
 Appraisal will require much work and will be expensive, particularly when 
 contrasted iwith the small amount the Commission has been obliged to 
 expend up to the present time. It must be understood, and I desire now to 
 emphasize the statement, that the yearly cost of law work, once condemna- 
 tion proceedings are under way, will be much greater than the minimum 
 now possible. I can only hope that the Commission will be enabled to 
 continue its success in acquiring land at private purchase, so that the amount 
 left to be condemned will be even further reduced. 
 
 BRIDLE PATH THROUGH FOX MEADOWS 
 
 94 
 
PART II 
 
 Period of June 30, igi5-JuNE 30.1916 
 
 CHAPTER IV— OFFICE ORGANIZATION— ENLARGEMENT 
 REQUIRED FOR CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS- 
 CONFORMATION WITH CIVIL SERVICE LAW 
 
 Notwithstanding the immense proportion of pari<way land which the 
 Commission had bought at private sale, or had under contract up to June 
 30, 191 5, the entire cost of all of its law work, not only directly occasioned 
 in taking title to these lands, but necessarily incidental to its business, had 
 been conserved to the rate of .0039 upon the cost of the land acquired. Since 
 last year, however, the institution of condemnation proceedings to take the 
 balance of the land made substantial professional and clerical enlargement 
 of the department a necessity. The extent of this exigency can best be shown 
 by explaining that the law work of condemning the remaining 472 odd par- 
 cels of land entailed investigation of the titles of all the parcels to be taken, 
 preparation and printing voluminous petitions in strict compliance with 
 statute, preparation for trial of objections interposed by property owners, 
 preparation for trial, and trial before commissioners of appraisal of questions 
 of title and value, supervision of the form of the reports of such commis- 
 sioners, and presentation of such reports to the court with briefs, supervision 
 of the regularity of the payment of damages finally awarded, preparation of 
 papers and briefs upon any appeal taken, and the law work on the miscel- 
 laneous questions inevitably accessory to condemnation proceedings. 
 
 There were two ways of meeting the situation, either by retaining a 
 number of trial counsel at a per diem compensation or by building up a law 
 department in the office of the Commission, capable of taking care of the work 
 in its entirety, with the probable exception of a few trials on certain impor- 
 tant parcels. The Commission desired to avoid the first method on account 
 of expense, as attorneys of appropriate fitness, experience and standing in 
 condemnation work, if retained merely by the case at so much per da\. 
 would have to be paid at least at the rate of twenty-five dollars, and as many 
 different attorneys as there were different sets of commissioners would have 
 to be retained, to prevent undue delay. Furthermore, busy attorneys, 
 specially retained by the Commission, would frequently find that they had 
 cases in court which would have to take precedence over their appearance 
 before the commissioners of appraisal; it would then be out of the question 
 to have other counsel prepared to take their places, and many hearings 
 would have to be postponed, with the net result that, while competent trial 
 attorneys could undoubtedly be secured at a rate per da.v, their bills would 
 be large, and the proceedings as a whole would be dragged out. It was 
 decided, therefore, provided adequate arrangements prove possible under 
 the many restrictions of the Civil Service Law, to attempt the ,second 
 method of such professional and clerical enlargement of the law department 
 as would enable the great bulk of law work, with its attendant routine and 
 detail, to be handled by the Commission's own attorneys and clerks, retaining 
 special trial counsel only for those comparatively few cases where particular 
 conditions made such a course expedient from a business point of view. 
 
 In October, 191 5, the time came to secure assistant counsel to undertake 
 the intricate and technical task involved in bringing the proceedings to the 
 point of trial before commissioners of appraisal. A subordinate position 
 
 95 
 
was filled from a list of junior counsel, but it was found, after a thorough 
 canvass, that no suitable civil service list, intended to supply attorneys for 
 more than subordinate positions, was in existence, and the situation was 
 explained to the State Civil Service Commission, which ordered a special 
 civil service examination for positions of assistant counsel, and, in order that 
 the work should not be held up pending the results of such examination, 
 authorized a temporary appointment of an assistant counsel for four months. 
 Mr. Moses Ely received this appointment in October, 1915, and his efficient 
 services were a substantial factor in the progress made. The result of the civil 
 service examination for assistant counsel was certified in January, 1916. and 
 three appointments were made from the list as follows : Mr. Ely's provisional 
 appointment in October was made permanent in January, Mr. John M. Lathrop 
 was appointed in February, and Mr. Robert C. Durland a month later. 
 
 It was not until March, 1916, that development of the condemnation 
 proceedings then pending enabled a forecast to be made with reasonable 
 certainty of the full minimum needs of the department for trial counsel. 
 Application to the State Civil Service Commission to exempt two positions 
 of deputy counsel was made both by written communication and personal 
 appearance before the Civil Service Commission at a public hearing. The 
 impossibility of procuring adequate results without either the exemption of 
 the two positions in question, or the expenditure of large sums of money in 
 fees to high-priced attorneys, specially retained for particular cases, was 
 appreciated by the Civil Service Commission after painstaking attention 
 and consideration. The two positions were exempted, and in April, 1916, 
 Mr. William O. Gantz and Mr. John A. Kemp, both lawyers of long experi- 
 ence and proved ability, were appointed to fill them. 
 
 As the growth of the condemnation proceedings and the enlargement of 
 the department were coincident, it was advisable to formulate office system 
 rather slowly, and so it was not until this month that the department, so 
 enlarged, could be said to be fairly established on its present basis, so as to 
 divide the work and responsibility of the several proceedings to best advan- 
 tage among the several attorneys. 
 
 Since September of last year I have submitted 46 separate written 
 reports to the Commission at its meetings, not only to present matters 
 pertaining to the department requiring action, but also that the Commission 
 might be continuously informed of the headway made, and now that the 
 department has become so enlarged, I have adopted the practice of having 
 weekly meetings of the attorneys, who at that time submit reports covering 
 their individual activities of the preceding week. My own reports to the 
 Commission are predicated on the information thus received, and so without 
 waste of effort, the Commission is kept in constant touch with the affairs of 
 the department. 
 
 The system of office records has received careful thought, and, wherever 
 practical, forms have been devised to save time and insure accuracy, and the 
 end of June sees the establishment of the department virtually complete. 
 
 In May, the offices of the executive and law departments were moved 
 from 100 Broadway to the vicinity of the Grand Central Station, in a new 
 building at the corner of 40th Street and Madison Avenue. The process 
 of moving, while causing temporary inconvenience and derangement, has 
 already greatly facilitated business with attorneys, property owners, real 
 estate appraisers and others, living in Westchester or the Bronx. 
 
 96 
 
CHAPTER V— THE LAST YEAR'S LAW WORK WITH REFERENCE 
 TO PROGRESS MADE LN PRIVATE PURCHASE OF 
 LANDS AT PRIVATE SALE 
 
 We have seen by Table A. page 113, that at the end of June, 1915, the 
 Commission had then acquired lands in the Parkway, inchiding buildings, for 
 which $2,726,671.81 had been paid ; also that contracts of sale had been 
 made or arranged in Schedules 12 and 13, covering 164 parcels, at the pur- 
 chase price of $659,020. which, on June 30, 1915, were awaiting funds from 
 the city and county authorities tn be carried into efTect. 
 
 It is now for me to report that the funds for Schedule 12 were provided 
 in September, 1915, and ten clo>ing dates were arranged from September 27, 
 1915, to October 13, 1915, and all titles on this schedule closed, excepting 
 ten titles, where incapacity to convey or other reasons have so far prevented 
 closing. Funds for Schedule 13 were furnished in November, 1915; six clos- 
 ing dates were fixed from November 8th to November 15th, anil all titles 
 on this schedule were closed, excepting three. 
 
 In the meantime, the Commission's continued efforts in negotiating for 
 purchase at private sale, during the summer and fall of 1915, had borne 
 results in contracts for 22 parcels, at a purchase price of $85,892. * (Schedule 
 14, contracts of October 15, 1915, and December i, 1915.) Funds for these 
 contracts were provided by the city and county in March, 1916, and five 
 closing dates were fixed for March 28th to April 6th, and all titles on the 
 schedule closed, excepting one, where a flaw in title was the obstacle. 
 
 The next schedule, and the last one this year for which funds to close 
 have been provided, was Schedule 15, contracts as of March i, 1916, covering 
 23 parcels, at a total purchase price of $123,490. Funds for this schedule 
 were provided in June, igi6. Three closing dates were set from June 12th 
 to June 19th, and all titles on this schedule were closed without exception. 
 
 Schedule 16, contracts of June 30, 1916, is, of course, not closed yet, as 
 the funds in the ordinary course of business cannot be furnished by the city 
 and county authorities until the autumn. This schedule covers 17 parcels 
 at an aggregate cost of $114,029. Table C, at the end of this report (page 
 114I, shows the progress made, schedule by schedule, in the purchase of 
 land which in value now stands at $3,744,551.61. 
 
 It would be an error to suppose because the expense of the law work 
 involved in obtaining title to the parcels of land the Commission bought 
 was so small (see page 114, and in Table D at page 115), that there was little 
 to be done in having a contract of sale prepared and executed, and in having 
 the land itself conveyed under adequate title insurance. The owners of the 
 smaller parcels usually acted without attorney, and were often illiterate, and 
 in blissful ignorance of the unpaid back taxes or other liens or defects 
 encumbering the title to their properties. Papers improperly drawn and 
 improperly executed * have frequently caused preventable delay. To avoid 
 this, help was given in a great many instances by drafting powers of attor- 
 ney, assignments, and other papers for vendors which they should have pre- 
 
 * I remember one instance of a deed which was signed in South Carohna having to be returned 
 twice to that State for re-execution. First, because the form of acknowledgment, attested 
 by the Secretary of State, was wholly insufficient in substance, and. when that was corrected, 
 it had to be sent back to South Carolina the second time, because the Secretary of State had 
 forgotten to aflix his signature (a rather fatal omission). 
 
 97 
 
pared themselves, because time in the end was saved. Questions on the closing 
 of titles constantly arose with the title companies employed, which, after 
 painstaking effort, have been almost always adjusted satisfactorily. But the 
 payment of the purchase money and the delivery of the deed would not end 
 the work, for the policies of title insurance had to be examined with care 
 by different departments, and in many instances, returned for correction 
 before they could be accepted, filed away, and paid for as meeting the Com- 
 mission's properly strict requirements. 
 
 To insure against acts of inadvertence in the rush and confusion of closing 
 a number of different titles on the same day and hour, a form of chart was 
 devised upon which were checked all the necessary transactions pertaining 
 to each title closing before the deed was accepted, and the purchase price 
 paid over. Taking it all in all. the routine law work in closing titles during 
 the last year has been so systematized that it has l)een carried through with 
 a minimum of waste motion and expense. 
 
 So much for the record of the parcels bought or contracted for during 
 the last year and the law work incident to their acquisition. The cost of 
 such work is so low that the duty of recording it becomes a pleasure. 
 
 Referring to Table B. at page 113. it will be seen that the cost of all law 
 work to June 30, ,1915. was $10,285.49. against $2,726,671.81 actually paid 
 for land acquired up to that date, or .0039 on the dollar. This year $1,017.- 
 879.80 additional land was bought and also contracted for (see Table C, 
 page 114). and the cost of law work chargeable to it was $5,309.50 (see 
 Table D. page 115), v.-hich makes .0052 on the dollar for the year. Com- 
 bining these figures, we have the total of $3,744,551.61 spent for land with 
 $15,594.99 chargeable against it for law work, giving a percentage of law 
 cost of .0042 on every dollar expended. 
 
 In terms of law cost on area, we find that for the area of land now 
 acquired at private purchase, equivalent to about 7.858 city lots of 25 x 100. 
 the total law cost of every nature chargeable to it. to have been $15,594.99, 
 which means an average cost per lot of $1.98 — less than tzi'o dollars a lot! 
 
 CHAPTER VI— THE PREPARATION. COMMEXCEMEXT AXD 
 PROGRESS OF CONDEMXATIOX PROCEEDIXGS 
 
 By far the most important work undertaken by this department within 
 the \ear has been the commencement and prosecution of proceedings in the 
 X'ew York Supreme Court under the general condemnation law. to appro- 
 priate the land in the Parkwa\- area not bought at private sale. 
 
 The Commission, by its efforts at negotiation, has reduced the parcels 
 of land to be condemned to a proliahle niininuim. m> tliat it will, in all likeli- 
 hood, be necessary to condemn vn\y 4-j |iarocls. exclusive of street lands. 
 Condemnation proceedings, all commenced since December last, are now 
 pending against 290 parcels, or about 62 per cent, of all the parcels to be 
 condemned. See Table E, page 116. The precise stage of development of 
 these proceedings is shown liy Table F at page 117, to which I shall have 
 occasion to refer later. 
 
 But tables, after all. are merelx' figures and have significance (inl\ to the 
 extent the subject matter is understood, and the legal se<iucstiaii. n ..f real 
 property is a subject the average per>on knows little about. Having this 
 
 99 
 
thought in mind, I shall preface my narrative of the rapid progress the de- 
 partment made in the direction of condemnation since last December — when 
 the first petition was filed — with a brief description of the system of juris- 
 prudence in general use in New York State when private property is taken 
 for public use and which system the Conmiission perforce is obliged to use. 
 
 The doctrine of eminent domain, or the sovereign right of the State to 
 appropriate land for a public purpose, upon making compensation to the 
 owner, is of ancient origin, evolved in England centuries ago.* The legal 
 procedure through which this right is exercised when occasion arises, is com- 
 monly called a condemnation proceeding which, to most people, who have 
 given the subject a thought, rightly means an almost endless and compli- 
 cated labyrinth of wrangling through the courts to determine the amount 
 of money a man, or his descendants, is to ultimately receive for land taken 
 away from him for public purposes. Probably no other field of public work 
 has been so permeated with an atmosphere of waste, extravagance and scan- 
 dal, or is regarded with such suspicion by the public at large, as proceedings 
 for the condemnation of real property, nor is there a subject over which the 
 public, at large, is so helpless. Quasi-public corporations, such as railroad 
 companies, and the like, will usually, when additional land is required, pay 
 exorbitant prices to escape the huge expenses of condemnation. But the 
 directors of a corporation are in a different position from the members of a 
 public commission or the officials of a municipality. The directors may, 
 with impunity, pay more for land than it is worth and justify their act to 
 the stockholders as good business by showing condemnation as the alterna- 
 tive, but the state or city official can set off no such justification to which 
 
 * The following sketch indicates the evolution of the New York procedure in eminent domain 
 
 In England, at least after the time of the Stuarts, when occasion arose for the appropriation 
 of property for public use, compensation therefor was made. For generations, a jury drawn as 
 for an ordinary trial, was employed; but gradually it was realized that other agencies than juries 
 for ascertaining the damages were more practicable, and equally consistent with the principles 
 of the common law. And so it became the custom in England to appoint commissioners for 
 the purpose, and such procedure was frequently used in England prior to 1775. The practice 
 was for Parliament to pass an act authorizing the taking, naming the commissioners, etc., in 
 analogy to our own method of to-day. 
 
 In the colony of New York, before the Revolution, there seem to have been few public im- 
 provements, save the laying out of highways and turnpikes in the different counties. We clung 
 to the older ideas and there was small variance in the mode of assessing the damages. 
 
 As an example, in 1713, the colonial legislature of New York passed an act for the regulation 
 of highways, authorizing the appropriation of land by agreement with the owners, if possible, 
 and providing therein that if any dispute should arise, the same should be determined by any 
 two justices of the peace and six of the "principal freeholders of the neighborhood," not having 
 any interest in the land about which such disputes arose. 
 
 After independence was an accomplished fact, the State of New York on April 20, 1777, 
 adopted its first constitution and it was therein and thereby ordained and declared that such 
 parts of the common law in England, and the acts of the legislature of the colony of New York, 
 as they existed on the 19th day of April, 1775, should be and continue the law of the State of 
 New York, subject to such alterations as might thereafter be made by the legislature of the State, 
 
 Nothing was expressly said on the subject of eminent domain, in the first constitution, but in 
 1807, the legislature passed an act relative to turnpikes and provided for the appointment of 
 three commissioners of appraisal, — the same to be freeholders of the county in which the land 
 was situated. 
 
 In the constitution of 1821, a provision was inserted prohibiting the taking of private property 
 for public use, without just compensation, but no reference to the mode of ascertaining damages 
 was made. 
 
 In 1846, the State Constitution was amended and followed in the Constitution of 1894, and 
 in 1913, it was finally amended, and now provides as follows; 
 
 "When private property shall be taken for any public use, the compensation to be made 
 therefore, when such compensation is not made by the State, shall be ascertained by a 
 jury, or by the Supreme Court with or without a jury, but not with a referee, or by not less 
 than; three commissioners appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law. 
 . . . Art. 1, Sec. 7." 
 From 1807 till the enactment of the Condemnation Law in 1890, the usage was for the legis- 
 lature, either by general or specific statutes, to authorize the appropriation of land for public 
 purposes, and to provide for a method of ascertaining the damages, and the tribunal of "three" 
 commissioners was conventional. 
 
 In the year 1890, when the practice was codified by incorporating the genera! Condemnation 
 Law into the Code of Civil Procedure, appointment of commissioners was made obligatory. 
 
 100 
 
the public will give credence, though his motive is to save the public purse 
 in the end. 
 
 Condemnation lawyers realize this and are not slow to advise their clients 
 to hold out for big prices, knowing that the public official has practically no 
 alternative but condemnation proceedings, and that means money for lawyer, 
 real estate appraiser, stenographer and condemnation commissioner — mostly 
 at the expense of the party condemning, whether compelled to pay costs 
 (theoretically supposed to repay the land owner for attorneys, expert wit- 
 nesses, etc.), or not, for, in addition to its own lawyers, expert witnesses and 
 incidental disbursements, the condemnor must pay commissioners of ap- 
 praisal, appointed to ascertain the damages, and the official stenographer 
 recording the hearings. But the heavy burden of condemnation expense falls 
 in part upon the property owner as well. Sometimes, when the parcel of 
 land is a large and .valuable tract, and the owner has credit or can afford to 
 advance money without inconvenience and wait indefinitely for recoupment 
 through his award, the burden is not great, but the owner of a comparatively 
 cheap parcel of property is more unfortunate. His expenses are relatively 
 greater than on a valuable parcel, and the protraction of the proceedings, 
 the uncertainty of the amount of damages, or when he will get them, all 
 impose real hardship. This is especially so when the property owner is com- 
 pelled to give up his home and perhaps borrow, if he can, funds to establish 
 himself elsewhere. 
 
 The procedure, under which the Bronx Parkway Commission, as plaintiff, 
 must condemn property, is the general condemnation law (Code of Civil 
 Procedure, Chap. 23), and a more cumbersome and antiquated method of 
 meeting a subject, troublesome at .best, is hard to conceive. In the first place, 
 the plaintiff, or condemning party, must hunt up every person who has any 
 interest whatsoever in the property, and cause such person to be personally 
 served with ,a copy of the petition to the court to condemn the real property. 
 If the plaintiff proves that, after exhaustive efforts, it is unable to effect this 
 service, it must publish the long and cumbersome petition in full a number of 
 times in two newspapers. This may be good for the newspaper business, but 
 it is unnecessarily burdensome and expensive, and forces the plaintiff to make 
 a complete examination of the title to the property from the earliest records. 
 
 When the plaintiff finally secures so-called legal jurisdiction of all the 
 people having interest in the property, it goes before the court with its 
 petition, asking for judgment of condemnation. If the petition be granted, 
 three commissioners are appointed to hear evidence of the value of the 
 property and to report the amount of damages to be paid. Then the usual 
 practice is for the property owner to secure, in advance of trial, the services 
 of two or more real estate men who will put as high a valuation on the 
 property as their individual consciences will permit, and for the plaintiff, 
 who knows that this will be done, to bustle about and retain, asi its expert 
 witnesses, real estate people, who are prepared to swear to a much lower 
 valuation. The case eventually comes to trial. The owner's real estate 
 expert, after solemnly declaring that he knows all about the value of real 
 estate in the vicinity in question, proceeds to swear to his opinion of its 
 value. Then commences a cross-examination which may, and sometimes 
 does, last for almost an interminable period of time. Repetition follows 
 repetition. Extraneous matter is adduced with profligate abandon, with 
 
 102 
 
the consequence that the same useless material has to be gone over again 
 and again in the trial, upon the question of value of other parcels, although 
 conditions surrounding such other parcels are analogous. The commissioners 
 often cannot and sometimes even will not curb the introduction of irrelevant 
 matter, and the stenographer, who is paid for every word transcribed, has 
 no cause to complain. At last the property owner finishes his case, and the 
 plaintiff puts his " experts " upon the witness stand whose opinions contradict 
 the owner's " experts." Finally, the commissioners decide what damages 
 they consider should be awarded, and their report is brought up to the Su- 
 preme Court for confirmation. Very frequently, it is set aside and the lawyers 
 go to work cheerfully to try the case all over again. This may seem like an 
 exaggeration, but, junfortunately. many instances of its truth exist of record 
 in this State. Even preposterous assertions to be properly refuted must be 
 refuted with facts, presented by capable attorneys in the form of sworn 
 testimony of the best real estate appraisers because the mere charge that 
 testimony is grossly extravagant does not supply commissioners or courts 
 with anything to take its place unless counter opinions, having a fair relation 
 to establish facts, are adduced. Sometimes claims are so fantastic that little 
 evidence is needed to prove their absurdity. T have several such instances, 
 which actually took place in the present condemnation proceedings, reduced 
 to data lying upon my desk at this precise instant, but inasmuch as the 
 proceedings are pending, propriety, much to my regret, forbids specific 
 identification of them in this report. 
 
 Now why should all this be. The answer is that a ver>' time-worn system 
 of procedure — which was all very well when conditions surrounding real 
 estate values were primitive and simple — has been allowed to survive to the 
 present date when such conditions are anything but simple. In bygone 
 years, in England, when the procedure for taking property was evolved, the 
 exercise of eminent domain was pretty much confined to taking land for a 
 highway road in the open country.* The owners of land in the county were 
 called " freeholders " and they not only lived on their land, and so were known 
 to their neighbors, but they also knew better than anybody else how much 
 their land, and their neighbors' land, was worth. Hence, a law, requiring 
 that every person owning any interest at all in land to be condemned, should 
 receive personal notice, or his absence strictly accounted for, imposed no 
 unreasonable burden ; and when it was necessary to fix the value of the land 
 needed, a jury of neighboring freeholders was obviously the most efficacious 
 instrument of arbitration. Conditions are very different now. We condemn 
 for railroads, canals, docks, subways, bridges, public buildings — taking not 
 only city, town and country land, but offices, homes, apartments, factories, 
 and whatever structures or even parts of structures stand in the way. 
 Instead of having John Doe, or the widow and heirs of John Doe, as the sole 
 owners of the property, we have, in addition, lessees, mortgagees, judgment 
 creditors and the like, scattered all over the country, sometimes to the tune 
 of hundreds, and yet we still cling to the tradition of the past about personal 
 service of process which has become unnecessarily burdensome, and we still 
 appoint juries of three to pass upon highly complex and technical rules of 
 evidence to determine the present day problematic and often ephemeral 
 value of land. These juries or commissioners, as we now call them, even 
 * See footnote on page 100. 
 
 104 
 
PHOTOGRAPH OF HOUSE IN SECTION I 
 
 Cut in half and to be taken in condemnation proceedings 
 
 when honest and capable, cannot take the place of a judicial officer of special- 
 ized experience, regularly elected or appointed for a term of years, whose 
 whole time is devoted to the work. Lay commissioners may try a few con- 
 demnation cases during their respective lifetimes in addition to vocational 
 duties. A judge can try many such cases during the course of a single 
 year in office and being a responsible public official, can properly be vested 
 with authority which cannot with safety be committed to lay appointees 
 for single cases. Such appointees cannot be expected to prevent the intro- 
 duction of a mass of useless and redundant stuff as evidence by inexperienced 
 attorneys, nor properly enforce the attendance of attorneys and witnesses 
 who drag out the proceedings by deliberately allowing other business to 
 interfere, so that often when commissioners of appraisal meet they have to 
 adjourn because someone, whose presence is necessary, prefers to attend to 
 other matters. If trials were conducted by a judge, his decisions would 
 still be subject to review by the higher courts, but one entire step in the 
 nresent procedure would be eliminated because, when lay commissioners 
 make their report, the evidence must, in any event, be reviewed at length by 
 the court, so there is no saving, even in judicious salary, which is but a 
 minute fraction of the enormous waste the present unscientific system entails. 
 
 Condemnation proceedings will continue to be a public necessity, and, 
 as there is a natural tendency to imbue into customs of the law, formu- 
 lated in the past, a certain sanctity of age, reformation here must come 
 slowly — particularly as a host of beneficiaries of the present slovenly system 
 are always ready to cry loudly against change. But as conditions, which 
 establish land values, grow more and more complex and time becomes of 
 
 105 
 
greater value, the need for drastic modification in tliis branch of law is 
 intensified. 
 
 The City of New York already has been able to obtain far-reaching 
 relief from the Legislature by the enactment into the City Charter (Charter 
 of The City of New York, Sections 1431 to 1452, inc., Laws of 1915) of a 
 statute which does much to emancipate it from the waste in proceedings 
 which obtains under the general condemnation law. Every reasonable safe- 
 guard to the owner of the property is still left to him to have notice of the 
 proceedings, and he still has his day in court in which to put in his defense 
 to the lands being taken, but instead of appointing three commissioners, 
 the question of value can be tried in the first instance by a justice of the 
 Supreme Court sitting without a jury.* 
 
 So much for an explanatory outline of the problem which faced the Com- 
 mission in the summer of 1915, which will not have been written in vain if 
 it brings clearly to the minds of those who read it, the fact that condemnation 
 proceedings, as the Bronx Parkway Commission must conduct them under 
 the general condemnation law of the State, are grossly extravagant, particu- 
 larly when compared to the trifling expenses of purchase at private sale.f 
 So the fact that the Commission's efforts to buy lands at reasonable values, 
 resulting as they did in the acquisition by purchase of about two-thirds of 
 the Parkway without condemnation, means that the Commission, literally 
 speaking, has saved the City of New York and the County of Westchester 
 many hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. 
 
 But while expense under the general condemnation law must be heavy, 
 there is every reason to expect that the expense of the proceedings the Commis- 
 sion must prosecute to secure the property remaining, can be kept to a mini- 
 mum — with the co-operation of the five sets of commissioners of appraisal 
 already appointed, for after all has been said, the cost of the proceedings will 
 depend very largely upon the commissioners of appraisal, and the Bronx 
 Parkway Commission is to be congratulated because of the able, and well 
 qualified men who have thus far been appointed as commissioners of appraisal 
 — men, who will, without doubt, while giving the owners a square deal, co- 
 operate in saving all the moneys possible for the City and County, handi- 
 capped as all of us are by the primitive system to which twe are bound. 
 
 I come now to the record proper of the condemnation proceedings thus 
 far instituted by the Commission. 
 
 The first step, preparatory to their actual conmiencement was, as I have 
 indicated, the complete knowledge of the title to approximately 470 parcels 
 of land to be taken, exclusive of street lands, upon which the identity and 
 whereabouts of all persons who had any interest in any of them could be 
 predicated. As this knowledge could be obtained far more cheaply by a title 
 company, having an established plant, than by the Commission, a sealed 
 bid for the award of a proposed contract, covering this huge task of title 
 examination, was invited in July, 1915, from three responsible title companies 
 operating in the district. In drawing this contract so as to secure the maxi- 
 mum result for the minimum cost, we were unable to find a precedent. This 
 can better be understood by comparing the accepted bid of $12,957.51, with 
 
 * The first condemnation case tried by a justice of the Supreme Court was that of "Matter of 
 opening West 230th Street" tried before Justice George V. Mullan, in Bronx County, on Febru- 
 ary 28th and 29th, and decided March 16, 1916. 
 
 t This I stated a year ago. See page 94. 
 
 107 
 
the next bid of $39,500.00, and the highest bid of $56,400.00. The first in- 
 stalment of title reports was received about the middle of September, but the 
 uncertainty, as to whether the proposed constitution would be ratified by the 
 electorate in November, made postponement of the preparation and filing 
 of the first petition advisable, for if the proposed constitution had been 
 adopted, it would have very substantially modified the procedure to be 
 followed. 
 
 Early in November, work upon the first petition was commenced. The 
 Parkway area was, for the purpose of condemnation proceedings, divided 
 into si.x sections. The plan was adopted of bringing, as soon as possible, a 
 general proceeding against those parcels in each section where sufficient 
 information to draw the petition had been procured, and later to bring another 
 proceeding covering the parcels which were omitted from the first proceeding. 
 By this means it was proposed to have six different sets of commissioners 
 of appraisal appointed for the entire Parkway area to be condemned, and this 
 plan, which has been carried out upon the five general proceedings, already 
 well under way, has unquestionably resulted in advancing the work as a whole, 
 as rapidly and expeditiously as any mode of dividing up the territory into 
 proceedings, which could have been devised. The courts have co-operated 
 with this plan of avoiding an unnecessary number of different sets of com- 
 missioners condemning land in the same section, by appointing in the few 
 separate proceedings which have been so far brought, the same commissioners 
 appointed for the first general proceeding upon the section. 
 
 The five proceedings pending were brought in the following order : — 
 Proceeding i (The Bronx), was commenced in December, 1915. 
 Proceeding 2 (White Plains), was brought on later in February. 
 Proceeding 3 (Bronxville to Crestwood), was brought on in April. 
 Proceeding 4 (Crestwood to Scarsdale), was brought in May. 
 Proceeding 5 (Yonkers and Mount Vernon), was brought in June. 
 
 Table No. F, page 117, gives the precise progress and status of these five 
 pending proceedings. The sixth general proceeding on the district north of 
 White Plains to \'^alhalla, will in due course be brought in the Fall of 1916. 
 
 The actual trials before commissioners of appraisal in Proceedings Nos. 
 I and 2, covering the Bronx and White Plains districts, respectively, were 
 commenced in April. Trials in Proceeding No. 3 (Bronxville) were commenced 
 in May, and arrangements will be made for trials on Proceeding No. 4 (Crest- 
 wood to Scarsdale), and on Proceeding No. 5 (Yonkers and Mount Vernon), 
 immediately after the summer recess. 
 
 Mr. Henry R. Barrett, of White Plains, because of his ability and great 
 familiarity with the section, has been retained as special trial counsel for a few 
 of the important parcels, and it is expected that the attorneys in the depart- 
 ment will be able to efficiently take care of all other trials. 
 
 It must not be thought that the proceedings thus far instituted and 
 carried as to so many parcels through judgment to the point of trial of the 
 amount of damages to be awarded, have been brought to that stage without 
 opposition. Contests upon various grounds were raised involving 18 different 
 parcels. (See Table F, page 117.) One property owner claimed that the entire 
 Parkway Act was not constitutional, but it is not necessary to go into the de- 
 tails of these litigations. It suffices to say that every single contest brought 
 was unsuccessful, and costs in all cases where trials were had were awarded 
 
 109 
 
in favor of the Commission and against the contesting property owner. 
 Objections interposed in two instances have not yet reached trial.* Your 
 law department, therefore, has a clean record of loo per cent, success in all 
 of the contests brought to trial. Appeals may be taken by some of the 
 property owners to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, and the 
 judgments of condemnation obtained by the Commission modified or re- 
 versed by that tribunal. As to that, as this is a report and not a prophecy, 
 I simply give the record as it stands to-day. 
 
 Table G of this report, printed at page ii8, gives in detail the 287 parcels 
 of land included in the different proceedings in which judgment of condemna- 
 tion had been granted on June 30, 1916 — six months after the first pro- 
 ceeding was commenced. The dates, however, when title to these parcels 
 passed to the Bronx Parkway Commission were not when these judgments of 
 condemnation were respectively granted, but were determined as to all the 
 parcels embraced in one proceeding by the date when the commissioners of 
 appraisal appointed by the judgment in that particular proceeding filed their 
 oath in the County Clerk's Office as required by Statute. The last column 
 to the left in Table |G (page 118) ^ives the different dates when these oaths 
 were respectively filed and therefore serves as a record of the precise day 
 when title to each parcel passed to the Commission by condemnation. 
 
 CHAPTER VII— MISCELLANEOUS LAW WORK— REPORTS- 
 OPINIONS— LITIGATIONS 
 
 Public work of magnitude, particularly when affecting property rights 
 of many hundred individuals, raises in its progress a veritable swarm of 
 questions, some big, some little, but all, unless carefully handled, likely to 
 grow into vexatious disputes or even costly law suits later on. The depart- 
 ment had diverse questions to meet and many required careful examination 
 of the pertinent law. Very wisely, the Commission avoided the expense of 
 several thousand dollars in the purchase and maintenance of a library of 
 law books, which would become useless in a few years, by securing a member- 
 ship in a law library, which has been frequently used by the several attorneys 
 of the department at nominal cost. 
 
 Now, I have no intention of enumerating the many matters, outside of 
 routine work, where reports have been made, or opinions have been fur- 
 nished, or contracts and the like have been prepared or examined, for noth- 
 ing will be gained by such enumeration. I shall, however, to show the varied 
 character of such matters with sufficient completeness, cite half a dozen 
 representative items coming to mind. 
 
 A question arose as to storm water drains, on Sheet 21. The relevant 
 law was examined and opinion furnished. 
 
 An elaborate contract on the engineering work of the proposed viaduct 
 to connect the cities of Mount Vernon and Yonkers at Vermont Avenue was 
 examined and approved with modifications. 
 
 A standard form of notice to persons maintaining advertising billboards 
 on the Parkway was prepared and adopted. 
 
 An opinion on the alien labor law was given. 
 * Sheet 5 Parcel 29 and Sheet 25 Parcels 41 and 42. 
 
 110 
 
A special report on questions of law in connection with the proposed 
 Tibbits Avenue viaduct at White Plains was given. 
 
 The law relating to the liability of the land acquired by the Commission 
 for local assessments was examined and opinion furnished. 
 
 Under Section 18-A of the Parkway Law (see page 121), the Commission 
 has power to acquire additional lands adjacent to the Reservation, through 
 which flows a brook or stream, tributary to the Bronx River, provided that 
 the local authorities request such action and agree to pay half of the cost. 
 The town of Mount Pleasant petitioned the Commission to acquire a strip 
 of land near the Kensico Dam at Valhalla. The petition for this action, the 
 proper resolutions and other extremely technical papers, including contracts 
 and options, were prepared by this department. 
 
 The mechanical work of drafting into satisfactory form a bill to amend 
 the Parkway Law by clarifying some of the provisions of the original act, 
 largely fell upon this department. A number of consultations were had, 
 and the bill was duly passed and became Chapter 599 of the Laws of 1916. 
 
 The full text of the Parkway Law, omitting only the detailed description 
 of the reservation, has, for convenient reference, been printed in the report 
 and will be found at page 120. 
 
 In conjunction with the Engineering Department, a permanent record 
 was prepared in which to record the status of all tlie parcels of land shown 
 upon the revised map of the Parkway. 
 
 So much for the description of miscellaneous law work. I might give 
 more illustrations but time and space are valuable. 
 
 As to litigations — outside, of course, of the condemnation proceedings — 
 they are so insignificant that it would seem absurd to tabulate them, so 
 absurd that I shall do so simply to bring out in the clearest and shortest 
 way the fact that, notwithstanding a year of great activity in a great public 
 project, law suits have been avoided to the following extent : 
 
 *No. of litigations pending June 30, 191 5 i 
 
 t " " " instituted since June 30, 191 5 i 
 
 " '■ " disposed of during the year o 
 
 Total No. of litigations pending 2 
 
 CHAPTER VIII— CONCLUSION 
 
 The tables appended to the report will show, in terms of figures, the head- 
 way made in private sale for the last two years, and the progress made in 
 condemnation proceedings since the first petition was filed, six months ago. 
 Tables of cost, which I have already referred to, will also be found, and I 
 have separated the items so that one may tell at a glance what has been 
 expended to date in general law work, and what has been expended in con- 
 demnation. It is useless to speculate upon the probable cost of condemna- 
 tion, though it will, perhaps, be possible to estimate it with fair accuracy 
 when some of the proceedings have been finished, but that must be for a later 
 report. It is sufficient to say now that every effort is being made to keep 
 expenses to the lowest mark. The work has not yet reached its maximum, 
 
 * Bonavia v. Robson on calendar awaiting trial. 
 
 t Jackraan v. Bronx Parkway not yet placed upon calendar for trial. 
 
 Ill 
 
and it remains to be seen whether your staff of attorneys will be sufficient 
 to limit the employment of special counsel to the trial of the cases contem- 
 plated. It is certain that the professional capacity of the department, as it 
 is at present constituted, will be taxed to the utmost. 
 
 The clerical force, at the present time, consists of two clerks, one process 
 server, four stenographers, and one telephone operator. This will only be 
 sufficient for the summer months, and in the autumn, the services of more 
 clerks will be essential to properly keep up to date the rapidly growing 
 records of the office, and to prevent other miscellaneous matters of routine 
 from running behindhand. I 
 
 It is a pleasure for me, before closing, to make a specific matter of record 
 the loyal, efficient and well-sustained efforts of the attorneys and clerks who 
 have been taken into the department under my supervision, and to assure 
 you that a mere perfunctory performance of duty on their Jpart would have 
 made the progress recorded a sheer impossibility, and lastly, I permit myself 
 a word to express my own satisfaction at my opportunity to share in the 
 work of the great public project you have so successfully undertaken. 
 
 I remain, with respectful esteem. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Theodosius F. Stevens, 
 Dated New York, June 30, 1916. Counsel to the Commission. 
 
 TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FLOODED CONDITIONS 
 
 112 
 
TABLE A OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Lands Acquired, and Under Contract, Etc. — June 5, 1913 to June 30, 1915 
 
 
 Contract Price, 
 Including 
 Buildings 
 
 Cost of Title 
 Insurance* 
 
 Average Cost of 
 Title Insurance 
 Per Parcel 
 
 Land acquired by purchase and paid for . . 
 Twelve closings deferred on account of 
 
 question of title 
 
 Land under contract (Schedule 12) 
 Agreements to purchase (Schedule 13) . . 
 
 Total 
 
 $2,726,671.81 
 
 86,096.80 
 506,762.00 
 152,258.00 
 
 $15,229.18 
 
 363.38 
 2,603.74 
 909.16 
 
 $33.32 
 
 30.28 
 26.04 
 14.20 
 
 §3,471,788.61 
 
 $19,105.46* 
 
 $30.18 
 
 TABLE B OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Cost of Law Work— July 17, 1911, to June 30, 1915 
 
 Rent (August 1, 1914, to date) $660.00 
 
 Salaries, Regular (August 1, 1914, to date) 4,217.96 
 
 Paid Special Counsel (July 17. 1911, to date) 4,416.57 
 
 (This item includes all sums paid to special counsel for special services 
 of every nature, from July 17, 1911, to date, including the cost of suc- 
 cessfully defending, at Special Term and Appellate Division, the pro- 
 ceeding to mandamus the Commission to commence condemnation pro- 
 ceedings, and also the cost of dismissing, as trivial and insufficient, the 
 charges brought to remove the Commissioners before the Governor's 
 special Commissioner.) 
 
 Traveling expenses, serving processes 10.60 
 
 Extra stenographic hire to date 518.59 
 
 Stationery, printing, supplies, to date 384.52 
 
 Sundries to date 77.25 
 
 Total $10,285.49 
 
 * Subject to certain deductions upon titles where policies are not finally accepted, and in- 
 cludes title insurance paid upon lands donated. 
 
 113 
 
PEACEFULNESS 
 
FOOT PATH 
 
TABLE C OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Lands Acquired and under Contract (Excluding Streets) — June 5, 1915, to June 30, 1916 
 
 Lands acquired, Schedules 1 to 13, in- 
 clusive, and shown in detail in report 
 ending June 30, 1915 
 
 Contract Price 
 with Buildings, 
 but without 
 Interest 
 
 Cost of Title 
 Insurance* 
 
 Average Cost of 
 Title Insurance 
 Per Parcel 
 
 $3,471,788.61 
 85,892.00 
 123,490.00 
 114,029.00 
 
 $19,105.46 
 525.71 
 594.09 
 519.83 
 
 $30.18 
 23.90 
 25.83 
 30.58 
 
 Land acquired, Schedule 14 
 
 Land acquired. Schedule 15 
 
 
 Total 
 
 $3,795,199.61 
 98,649.00t 
 
 $20,745.09 
 59.17 
 
 $29.56 
 
 (No deduction 
 where report is 
 furnished) 
 
 Less closings on 16 parcels deferred on 
 account of vendor's refusal or in- 
 
 
 83.696.550.61 
 
 $20,685.92* 
 
 
 Valhalla Contracts: 
 
 Harlem Valley Supply Co $8,001.00 
 
 Charles F. Wvckoff 17,000.00 
 
 Shelley Brothers 4,500.00 
 
 Eva M. Shelley, et al 500.00 
 
 F. K. Betts 18,000.00 
 
 * Subject to certain deductions where title policies 
 title insurance paid upon lands donated. 
 
 not finally accepted, and includes 
 
 t The closings upon 16 titles have been deferred for the following reasons: 
 
 Schedule 
 
 Sheet 
 
 Parcel 
 
 Amount 
 
 Cause 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 65 
 
 $410.00 
 
 Infancy proceedings pending. 
 
 
 25 
 
 7 
 
 2,053.00 
 
 Infancy proceedings pending. 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 108 
 
 100.00 
 
 Vendor has not signed contract. 
 
 
 10 
 
 106 
 
 788.00 
 
 Outstanding tax liens. 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 3,538.00 
 
 Foreclosure pending, to clear title. 
 
 
 11 
 
 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 
 
 78,900.00 
 
 Owner has not signed contract. 
 
 
 8 
 
 Strips 
 
 1,242.00 
 
 Mtgs. held by persons unknown. 
 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 200.00 
 
 Owner has not signed contract. 
 
 
 14 
 
 56 
 
 400.00 
 
 Owner has not signed contract. 
 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 6,512.00 
 
 Owner has not signed contract. 
 
 
 26 
 
 16 
 
 725.00 
 
 Outstanding tax liens. 
 
 
 30 
 
 37 
 
 202.00 
 
 Outstanding tax lien. 
 
 
 5 
 
 16, 28 
 
 1,450.00 
 
 Legal incapacity to convey. 
 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 610.00 
 
 Cloud on title. 
 
 
 10 
 
 76 
 
 767.00 
 
 Legal incapacity to convey. 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 752.00 
 
 Fee interest in unknown owners. 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 $98,649.00 
 
 
 114 
 
TABLE D OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Cost to June 30, 1916, of all Law Expenses, Both General and Condemnation 
 
 
 General Law Expenses* 
 
 Condemna- 
 tion 
 Expenses* 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 July, 1911 
 to 
 
 June 30, 1915 
 
 June 30, 1915 
 to 
 
 June 30, 1916 
 
 October, 1915 
 to 
 
 June 30, 1916 
 
 
 Rent 
 
 $ 660.00 
 4,217.96 
 
 4,416.57t 
 518.59 
 
 $ 600.00 
 4,500.00 
 
 $ 487.50 
 12.275.79 
 
 388.25 
 24.45 
 
 170.66 
 
 722.00 
 
 4,869.77 
 
 351.40 
 167.17 
 223.65 
 
 1,708.92 
 180.78 
 
 1,008.44 
 442.30 
 120.11 
 230.07 
 
 $1,747.50 
 20,993.75 
 
 4,804.82 
 665.54 
 
 170.66 
 
 722.00 
 
 362.00 
 522.01 
 223.65 
 
 1,708.92 
 210.46 
 
 1,008.44 
 529.30 
 120.11 
 307.32 
 
 
 Paid Counsel, retained for special 
 
 Extra stenographic — clerical hire .... 
 Clerk's fees on entering judgments. 
 
 122.50 
 
 Paid for Appraisals, and attendance 
 of expert witnesses 
 
 
 
 Title examination for condemnation 
 
 
 
 Traveling expenses, serving process, 
 etc 
 
 10.60 
 1 354.84 
 
 
 Stationery supplies, letterheads, etc. 
 Printing law forms 
 
 
 Law printing in condemnation pro- 
 ceedings, petitions, judgments, etc. 
 Office supplies, record books, etc .... 
 Minutes of condemnation hearings. . 
 
 
 29.68 
 
 
 
 87.00 
 
 
 
 
 77.25 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 510,285.49 
 
 $5,309.50 
 
 $23,371.26 
 
 $38,966.25 
 
 
 * The total general law expenses of $15,594.99 covers a period of four years, from July, 1911 
 to June 30, 1915. The total condemnation expenses of $23,371.26 covers the nine months during 
 which proceedings have been in preparation and progress, namely, from October, 1915, to 
 June, 1916. 
 
 t See Table B of this report. 
 
 115 
 
TABLE E OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Showing Relative Number of Parcels Purchased or to be Condemned 
 
 (Excluding Streets) 
 
 Sheet 
 
 Parcels Acquired 
 or under Contract 
 or owned by R. R. 
 
 Companies and 
 under Negotiation 
 for Purchase or 
 which for Special 
 Reasons Need not 
 be Condemned 
 
 Parcels 
 on which 
 Condemnation 
 Proceedings 
 are Pending 
 
 Parcels 
 Remaining 
 which must be 
 Purchased or 
 Condemned 
 
 Total 
 
 1 
 
 63 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 94 
 
 2 
 
 33 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 44 
 
 3 
 
 36 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 52 
 
 4 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 5 
 
 70 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 84 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 
 46 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 73 
 
 8 
 
 14 
 
 U 
 
 7 
 
 32 
 
 
 53 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 60 
 
 10 
 
 77 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 89 
 
 11 
 
 26 
 
 19 
 
 1 
 
 46 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 25 
 
 13 
 
 76 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 94 
 
 14 
 
 46 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 
 67 
 
 15 
 
 19 
 
 34 
 
 3 
 
 56 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 19 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 22 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 
 34 
 
 24 
 
 36 
 
 35 
 
 2 
 
 73 
 
 25 
 
 47* 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 72 
 
 26t 
 
 3 
 
 
 41t 
 
 44 
 
 27t 
 
 17 
 
 
 lot 
 
 27 
 
 28t 
 
 37 
 
 
 12t 
 
 49 
 
 29t 
 
 16 
 
 
 22t 
 
 38 
 
 30t 
 
 13 
 
 
 39 
 
 52 
 
 Total 
 
 814 
 
 290 
 
 182 
 
 1286 
 
 * In addition to the parcels listed on Sheet 25, there are some 32 small gores or strips of land 
 marking a shift in the Bronx River bed, the Commission has acquired either by purchase or 
 ccondemnation, the right, title and interest to twenty-four of these gores, which are designated 
 on the map as "A" and "B" parcels. 
 
 t The general condemnation proceedings have not yet been brought on Sheets 26, 27, 28, 
 29, 30 (the district north of White Plains and Valhalla). Proceedings will be instituted upon 
 these sheets in the autumn. 
 
 116 
 
TABLE F OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Analysis of Progress of Condemnation Proceedings pending 
 (Excluding Streets) 
 
 
 
 
 Dis- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Purchased 
 
 continued, 
 
 
 Objections 
 
 Trial on 
 
 Judgment 
 
 
 of Parcels 
 
 after 
 
 Jurisdiction 
 
 Objections 
 
 Overruled 
 
 Objections 
 
 of Con- 
 
 Sheet 
 
 in Pro- 
 
 Petition 
 
 not 
 
 Filed 
 
 with 
 
 Pending 
 
 demnation 
 
 
 ceedings 
 
 Filed 
 
 Obtained 
 
 
 Costs 
 
 Granted 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 11 
 
 13 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 15 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 •i 
 
 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 38 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 35 
 
 25 
 
 16* 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 Total 
 
 302 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 287 
 
 * This number does not include 5 small gores or strips of land marking a shift in the Bronx 
 River bed, designated on the map as "A" parcels. (See foot note (*) to Table E on preced- 
 ing page.) 
 
 117 
 
TABLE G OF COUNSEL'S REPORT 
 
 Detail Analysis of the Parcels of Land (Exclusive of Street Lands) upon which Judg- 
 ment OF Condemnation had been Granted on June 30, 1916, and also Containing 
 THE Dates on which the Title to each Parcel Vested in the Bronx Parkway 
 Commission 
 
 Condemna- 
 <^ tion 
 Proceeding 
 Number 
 
 Number of Parcels in the Proceedings by Sheet and 
 Parcel Number on Bronx Parkway Commission Map 
 
 Date Title 
 Vested in 
 Commission 
 
 Number 
 
 Number of 
 Parcels 
 
 Parcel Number 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 3 
 4 
 
 27 
 
 8 
 9 
 10 
 
 3, 4. 9, 11, 13, 15, 20, 21, 24, 26, 32, 33, 
 38, 39, 40, 41, 48, 49, 55, 61, 62, 63, 
 65, 67, 68, 89, 90 
 
 2, 5, 21, 22, 23, 34, 35, 46 
 
 1, 11, 12, 18, 22, 31, 39, 40, 51 
 
 4, 5, 6t, 7, 8, 15, 18, 20, 21, 36 
 
 April 11, 1916 
 
 1-A 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 27, 28, 29 
 
 April 29, 1916 
 
 1-B** 
 
 2 
 
 
 12 
 
 July 13, 1916* 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 16 
 
 33 
 
 10 
 
 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 
 
 34, 35, 36, 39 
 2t, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 
 
 22, 23, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 
 
 39, 43, 46, 48, 49, 54, 56, 57, 59, 68, 
 
 71 
 
 24, 31tt, 37, 38, 40, 43, 51 easterly por- 
 tion, 51 westerly portion, 52, 53 
 
 March 31, 1916 
 
 2-A 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 4, 13, 16, 17, 18 
 
 July 17, 1916* 
 
 2-B 
 
 
 
 Application for judgment pending 
 
 
 2-C 
 
 23 
 24 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 26 
 
 30, 67 
 
 July 17, 1917* 
 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 48, 56, 58, 73 
 
 June 26, 1916 
 
 2-E 
 
 
 
 Consolidated with proceeding 2-E 
 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 11 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 11 
 19 
 
 16 
 
 1, 6, 11, 12, 33, 76, 80, 88, 91, 98, 108 
 
 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 22, 26, 51, 52, 62, 63, 
 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 
 
 7, 8, 9, 10, 28, 70, 71 
 52, 64, 66, 71, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 86, 87, 
 9 It, 96, 99, 106, 107 
 
 May 11, 1916 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 34 
 
 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 29, 30, 
 32, 35, 36, 37, 48, 51, 71 
 
 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14. 15, 16, 
 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 
 39, 40, 43, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 
 59 
 
 5 
 
 July 1. 1916* 
 
 4-A 
 
 16 
 17 
 
 4 
 2 
 
 1, 2, 6, 7 
 
 2, 4 
 
 Judgment not 
 yet entered 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 7 
 
 8 
 9 
 
 10 
 22 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 8, 35, 36, 38, 41, 43, 47, 56, 68, 97 
 
 2, 6, 8, 11, 16, 18, 22, 26, 31, 36, 45, 46, 
 
 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 59, 62, 72, 74 
 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 23, 24, 26, 32, 35 
 35, 41 
 
 July 20, 1916* 
 
 5-A 
 
 
 
 Application for judgment pending 
 
 
 Total Number of Parcels 287tf (upon which judgment has been granted) 
 
 * Judgment of condemnation upon these parcels had been granted prior to June 30, 1916, but 
 title did not vest by law in the Bronx Parkway Commission until the filing of the oaths of the 
 commissioners of appraisal on this date. 
 
 ** Appeal pending. 
 
 t Portion of the parcel only. 
 
 tt Includes Parcel 31A, also. 
 « i It will be noticed that this total corresponds to the total shown by the last column of Table 
 F (ante page 117) 
 
 118 
 
RIVER BAXU 01>['USITE STATION', HARTSDALE 
 
BEAUTIFUL SECTION OF THE RIVER, BRONXVILLE AND YONKERS 
 
BRONX RIVER PARKWAY LAW 
 
 Chapter 594, Laws of 1907, 
 
 as amended ry 
 Chapter 757, Laws of 1913, 
 
 Chapter 599, Laws of 1916 
 AN ACT 
 
 to provide for preserving the waters of the bronx river irom pollution ; 
 creating a reservation of the lands on either side of the river; authorizing 
 the taking of lands for that purpose and providing for the pavmf.nt thereof, 
 and appointing a commission to carry out the purposes of the act, in relation 
 to the purchase and condemnation of lands and payment therefor under the 
 authority of said act 
 
 Section i 
 Description of Lands 
 
 All those certain pieces or parcels of land hereinafter described and situate in the 
 borough of the Bronx, city of New York, and in the county of Westchester, are hereby 
 set aside as a Bronx river reserve and parkway, and the hereby declared to constitute, 
 when acquired and improved as hereinafter prescribed, a public parkway for public 
 use, to wit: a tiact lying and extending along the banks of the said river, from 
 Bronx park in the city of New York, through the city and county of New York to 
 the southerly line of Westchester county : thence in the said county of Westchester, 
 through the cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon, and the townships of Eastchester, 
 Greenburgh, Scarsdale, White Plains. Mount Pleasant and North Castle, and adjoin- 
 ing lands belonging to the city of New York at the Kensico reservoir; the said 
 reservation being designated and shown on a certain map entitled " Map showing 
 proposed extension of Bronx river reserve and parkway, for Bronx river parkway 
 commission, dated December, nineteen hundred and six." and being more particu- 
 larly bounded and described by separate parcels, as follows : 
 
 [Balance of this section is a technical description of parkway area.] 
 
 Section 2 
 Appointment of Commission 
 Within ten days after this act takes effect the governor shall appoint three citi- 
 zens of the state, one a resident of the borough of Manhattan, New York city ; one 
 a resident of the borough of the Bronx, New York city, and one a resident of the 
 county of Westchester, who with their successors in office, shall be the commis- 
 sioners under this act. and shall be known and described as the Bronx Parkway 
 Commission, and are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to carry out the 
 provisions of this act in the manner hereinafter provided for the purposes of estab- 
 lishing a public park for public use in the Bronx river valley, within the county 
 of Westchester, and borough of the Bronx, in the city of New York, and preventing 
 the pollution of the Bronx river. 
 
 Section 3 
 Salaries and Vacancies 
 
 The said commissioners shall each receive a salary at the rate of two thousand 
 five hundred dollars per annum, during their term of office, which shall be in lieu of 
 
 121 
 
all traveling expenses or other disbursements in );he performance of the duties of 
 his office; one of said commissioners shall hold office for the term of three years 
 from the date of organfeation ; one for the term of four years from the date of 
 organization, and one for the term of five years from the date of organization ; said 
 terms to be determined by lot, and at the expiration of each of such terms, and of 
 the terms of their successors in office, the governor shall appoint a commissioner 
 for the full term of five years. In case of a vacancy occurring by death, resignation 
 or otherwise, the governor shall appoint a commissioner to fill the unexpired term, 
 such appointment shall be made |S0 that at all times one of said commissioners shall 
 be a resident of the borough of Manhattan, New York city ; one a resident of the 
 borough of the Bronx, New York city, and one commissioner a resident of the 
 county of Westchester, and each commissioner so appointed shall, before entering 
 upon the duties of his office and within twenty days from the time of his appoint- 
 ment, make and file an oath in duplicate, as hereinafter required of the original 
 members of the commission. 
 
 Section 4 
 Organization 
 
 The said commissioners shall meet in the county of Westchester, or in the bor- 
 ough of Manhattan, or borough of the Bronx, New York city, within twenty days 
 after the passage of this act, and after making oath that they will faithfully and 
 impartially exercise and perform the duties imposed upon them by law, shall 
 organize the said commission, and shall elect from its members, a president, vice- 
 president and treasurer; said oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the 
 county |0f New York, and a duplicate thereof shall be ^led in the office of the clerk 
 of the county of Westchester. 
 
 Section 5 
 
 Power to Adopt Rules and Enforce Penalties 
 
 The commissioners and their successors are hereby created a body politic with 
 power to sue and be sued, to use a common seal, to adopt by-laws, to regulate its 
 own proceedings, to make suitable rules and regulations for the proper exercise of 
 the powers and duties hereby conferred and imposed upon it, and for the govern- 
 ment and use of the public reservation under its care, and to enforce observation 
 of all rules and regulations made in pursuance of this act by prescribing a penalty, 
 not exceeding fifty dollars, in any one case of violation for any person or corpora- 
 tion violating the same, to be recovered, with costs, in a civil action in any court 
 having jurisdiction thereof; the action to recover penalties under the rules and 
 regulations made in pursuance of the authority hereby granted, shall be brought in 
 the corporate name of said the Bronx Parkway Commission, and in such action it 
 shall be lawful to declare or complain particularly for such penalty, stating the 
 section of this act or rule or regulation under which the penalty is claimed. 
 
 Section 6 
 Powers and Duties in Acquiring Land 
 
 The said commission shall annually choose from its members a president, vice- 
 president and treasurer and may appoint a secretary, who shall keep a record of its 
 proceedings, which shall be a public record and be open to public inspection at such 
 times and under such reasonable regulations as the commission shall determine. 
 The said commission shall maintain a suitable office where its maps, plans, papers 
 and records shall be kept, and for the purposes of this act, such commissioners may 
 retain all necessary counsel and attorneys, and are empowered to employ, and at 
 pleasure discharge, a secretary, engineer, landscape architect, and such other officers 
 and employees as it may deem necessary ; and may determine their duties and fix 
 their compensation, and said commissioners shall have power to, and shall, so soon 
 as may be after its organization, and from time to time, proceed to acquire, main- 
 tain and make available for use as a public park, the lands described in section one 
 of this act, and for that purpose shall have power to take, in fee or otherwise, by 
 purchase, covenant, devise or eminent domain, the said lands or any of them, and 
 any rights, interests and easements therein ; and may enter upon any and all the 
 
 122 
 
lands described in this act or adjoining said lands, when necessary to carry out the 
 purposes of this commission, and may survey the same and take levels thereof, and 
 by themselves, their representatives and agents, do all things necessary to the pre- 
 paration for the laying out of a public park from the northerly boundary line of 
 Bronx park, borough of the Bronx, to the lands belonging to the city of New York, 
 at the Kensico reservoir in Westchester county. 
 
 Section 7 
 Survey to be Made; Map to be Filed 
 
 Before any proceedings shall be had for ac(|uiring title to any of the real estate 
 required tor the purposes of this act, the said commissioners shall cause an accurate 
 survey to be made of the lands within the park area, and a map to be prepared 
 therefrom showing the lioundaries thereof, and so far as may be, the several parcels 
 of real estate to be taken ; a copy of which map certified by a majority of said com- 
 missioners shall be filed in the office of the register of the county of New York, and 
 a copy of which map. similarly certified, shall be filed in the office of the register of 
 the county of Westchester. Said maps may be made and filed in sections. 
 
 Section 8 
 
 Public Purpose Declared — Notice of Filing Maps to be Published 
 
 The construction and maintenance of the said park and the work authorized by 
 this act are hereby declared to be for a public purpose. Upon the filing of the 
 maps, or any section thereof, as above provided for, the commission shall give notice 
 thereof by publishing a notice of such filing in a paper of general circulation pub- 
 lished in the county of Westchester, and in a paper of general circulation published 
 in the borough of the Bronx and in one of the daily papers published in the borough 
 of Manhattan. Said notice shall be published once a week for four successive 
 weeks. No recovery shall be had for buildings or other improvements constructed 
 upon the lands so to be taken after the completion of the publication of said notice. 
 
 Section 9 
 
 Power to Enter Upon Any Land or Tributary Waters 
 
 The said commissioners and their agents, engineers, surveyors and such other 
 persons as may be necessary to employ to perform the duties necessary to carry 
 out the provisions of this act, are hereby authorized to enter upon the lands or 
 waters tributaries to said Bronx river, or contiguous to the line of said parkway 
 hereby provided for, for the purpose of making surveys or examinations and pre- 
 paring the maps required by this act. 
 
 Section 10 
 Title of Lands Exempt from Taxes 
 
 The title to all real estate required for carrying out the provisions of this act, 
 shall be taken in the name of the Bronx Parkway Commission, in fee, and shall be 
 exempt from taxes and assessments. 
 
 Section ii 
 Power to Purchase Parcels 
 
 The said commissioners may agree with the owner of any real estate or of any 
 easement necessary to be acquired, as to the amount of compensation to be paid to 
 such owner for the taking of said real estate or easement. 
 
 Section 12 
 Definition of Real Estate 
 
 The term real estate as used in this act, shall be construed to signify and embrace 
 all uplands, lands under water, the water of any lake, pond or stream, all water or 
 mill rights or privileges, and any and all easements and incorporeal hereditaments, 
 
 123 
 
and every estate, interest and right, legal and equitable, in lands or water, including 
 terms for years, and liens thereon by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise, and 
 also all claims for damages for such real estate. It shall also be construed to include 
 all real estate (as the term is above defined) heretofore or hereafter acquired or used 
 for railroad, highway or other public purposes, providing the persons or corporations 
 owning such real estate, or claiming interest therein, shall be allowed the perpetual 
 use, for such purpose, of the same or of such other real estate to be acquired for the 
 purposes of this act as will afford practicable route or location for such railroad, 
 highway or other public purpose, and in the case of a railroad commensurate with 
 and adapted to its needs ; and provided also, that such persons or corporations shall 
 not, directly or indirectly, be subject to expense, loss, or damage, by reason of 
 changing such route or location, but that such expense, loss or damage shall be borne 
 in like manner as the expenses incurred in carrying out ,the provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 13 
 
 Condemnation Authorized— Appoint Commissioners of Appraisal, How Made 
 
 In the event that the said Bronx Parkway Commission shall be unable to agree 
 with the owners of lands described herein, or deemed necessary by said Bronx 
 Parkway Commission, or if by reason of legal incapacity or absence of such owner 
 no agreement can be made for the purchase of such lands or easements, the rights 
 or interests in lands or easements so deemed necessary for the purposes of this act 
 shall be acquired by condemnation proceedings instituted and carried on by said 
 Bronx Parkway Commission, in the manner provided by the code of civil procedure 
 for the condemnation of real property for like purposes, except as herein otherwise 
 provided, and in the name of the Bronx Parkway Commission ; and it shall there- 
 upon be lawful for said Bronx Parkway Commission to ,apply to the supreme court 
 in the county where such lands are located, for the appointment of commissioners 
 of appraisal, and it shall be lawful for the court thereupon to name and appoint as 
 such commissioners of appraisal three disinterested persons, two of whom shall be 
 residents of Bronx county and one a resident of the county of Westchester where 
 the property to be taken is located in Bronx county, and two of whom shall be resi- 
 dents of the county of Westchester and one a resident of Bronx county, where the 
 property to be taken is located in the county of Westchester. Such commissioners 
 shall thereupon proceed in the manner provided by law. 
 
 Section 14 
 
 Title Vestments in Condemnation Proceedings — Power to Construct Roads, etc., and 
 Grant Licenses or Easements, etc. 
 
 Whenever commissioners of appraisal shall be appointed in proceedings for the 
 condemnation of real property pursuant to this act, the Bronx Parkway Commission 
 shall, on filing the oaths of said commissioners of appraisal in the office of the clerk 
 of Bronx county, and a duplicate copy in the office of the clerk of the county of 
 Westchester, be and become seized of all the parcels of real estate, named and 
 described in such proceedings, and the said Bronx Parkway Commission may imme- 
 diately, or at any time thereafter, take possession of the same, or any part or parts 
 thereof, and the said Bronx Parkway Commission, and its successor or successors, 
 acting under its or their authority may enter upon and use and occupy in per- 
 petuity all the parcels of real estate described in the proceedings for the condemna- 
 tion thereof, for the purpose of laying out, constructing and maintaining the said 
 park and its appurtenances. Said Bronx Parkway Commission appointed under 
 this act shall have power to lay out, construct and maintain roads and pathways 
 and boulevards across and over said parkway, and to lay out, construct and main- 
 tain roads and ways connecting the roads and ways within said park with other 
 public roads and ways outside of said park; and may grant easements to municipal 
 corporations to construct and maintain at such place or places as the Bronx Park- 
 way Commission may designate, roads, bridges and viaducts within and across said 
 parkway, and in addition thereto may grant licenses or easements to individuals, 
 copartnerships and corporations, including municipal corporations, to construct sew- 
 ers, lay water and gas mains, and electric conduits within and across said parkway. 
 
 124 
 
Section 15 
 
 Payment of Expenses, Lands, etc.: Westchester County's Share 
 
 Whenever the said Bronx Parkway Commission shall have agreed with any per- 
 son or corporation upon the price to be paid for any parcel of land to be taken and 
 upon confirmation of any report of the commissioners of appraisal appointed to 
 ascertain the compensation to be made to the owner as hereinabove provided, the 
 Bronx Parkway Commission shall forthwith notify the mayor of the city of New 
 York and the board of supervisors of the county of Westchester of the amount 
 necessary to pay for said lands so purchased, together with interest, if any, due 
 thereon, together with the expenses of aciiuiring the same, together with the amount 
 of damages awarded with the interest on such awards from the date of filing the 
 oath of said commissioners of appraisal, together with the compensation of said 
 commissioners of appraisal, as fixed by the court, and only such costs, disburse- 
 ments and allowances of the parties which may be taxed pursuant to the code of 
 civil procedure and thereupon the board of supervisors of the county of West- 
 chester are hereby required and empowered to raise as prescribed in section seven- 
 teen of this act, ieither by tax levy assessed upon the taxable real and personal 
 estate in said county or by an issue of bonds, an amount necessary to pay one- 
 fourth of the total amount for said lands so purchased, together with one-fourth 
 of the interest, if any, due thereon, together with one-fourth of the expense of 
 acquiring the same, together with one-fourth of the amount of damages awarded, 
 together with one-fourth of the interest on the awards made, from the date of filing 
 the oath of said commissioners of appraisal, together with one-fourth of the com- 
 pensation of said commissioners of appraisal as fixed by the court and one-fourth 
 of such costs, disbursements and allowances of the parties which may be taxed, 
 and to pay over the same when raised to the comptroller of the city of New York, 
 who shall apply the same toward the payment of the purchase price of lands so 
 purchased and of such awards, icompensation to the commissioners of appraisal, 
 interest, costs, disbursements, allowances and expenses. 
 
 Section isa 
 Authority to Westchester County to Issue Bonds 
 
 To pay the share of the cost of acquisition of the real estate and of the laying 
 out and opening of the parkway as herein provided, and the expenses incidental 
 thereto which is chargeable against the county of Westchester, the county of 
 Westchester is hereby authorized to issue in the name and under the seal of the 
 said county its bonds in addition to the amount which it is now authorized to 
 raise, in such sum or sums as shall equal the entire proportionate share of the 
 cost of the parkway hereunder chargeable against the county of Westchester. 
 
 Section 15B 
 
 Bonds: Execution and Issuance; How and When Payable; Exempt from Taxation; 
 Legal Investment 
 
 Such bonds and interest shall be payable by their terms by assessment and levy 
 of taxes upon the entire property in the county of Westchester, in ratio prescribed 
 in section seventeen of this act, and they shall be executed when authorized by the 
 board of supervisors of Westchester county. Said bonds shall be executed by the 
 chairman of the board of supervisors of Westchester county and the treasurer of 
 Westchester county. Said bonds are to be issued in serial form and not sold for 
 less than par in amounts to be fixed by the said Bronx Parkway Commission. One- 
 fiftieth of the estimated total issue thereof shall be payable twenty-five years from 
 the time the first bonds are issued : and thereafter one-fiftieth thereof shall be pay- 
 able in each year until the whole issue of said bonds shall be fully paid. The bonds 
 issued hereunder shall be called The Bronx Parkway bonds of the county of 
 W'estchester." Said bonds shall be issued at a rate of interest not to exceed five 
 per centum per annum, and they shall be exempt from all taxation by said state 
 or by any county, city or other subdivision of said state, and shall be a legal 
 investment for savings banks, trust companies, executors and trustees. 
 
 Section 15c 
 Bonds: Form and Terms 
 
 Said bonds shall be in substantially the following form and contain substantially 
 the following provisions : 
 
 125 
 
STATE OF NEW YORK, 
 
 ■n, r> 1 r> J County of Westchester. 
 
 Bronx Parkway Bond. 
 
 Number $ 1,000. 
 
 Know all men by these presents, That the county of Westchester, a municipal 
 corporation in the ,state of New York, hereby promises to pay to bearer one thou- 
 sand dollars ($1,000) on the first day of January, 19. . . ., with interest thereon at 
 the rate of per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, January first and 
 
 July first, upon the presentation of the coupons hereto attached as they severally 
 become due, both principal and interest payable in gold coin of the United States of 
 the present standard of weight and fineness, at in the city and state of 
 
 New York. 
 
 This bond is issued under land pursuant to the provisions of an act of the legis- 
 lature of the state of New York approved , nineteen hundred 
 and seven, entitled for the purposes 
 provided in the said act, and is payable as provided in said act. The full faith and 
 credit of the county is pledged to the full performance ;of all of its duties under the 
 said act, including among other things the levy and collection of taxes within the 
 said county for the payment of the principal and interest of this bond and of the 
 balance of the series of which this is a part, as they respectively become due. This 
 bond, by the law under which it is issued, is exempt from all taxation by said state 
 or by any county, city or any subdivision of said state, and it is a legal investment 
 for savings banks, trust companies, executors and trustees. 
 
 It is hereby certified, recited and declared that all things required to exist, happen 
 and be performed precedent to and in the issuing of this bond have existed, hap- 
 pened and been performed, in due form and manner as required by law, and that 
 the amount of this bond does not exceed any limit prescribed by the said act or by 
 the constitution or statutes of said state. 
 
 This bond may be registered as to both principal and interest upon presentation 
 to the county treasurer, who shall upon such registration cut off and cancel the un- 
 matured coupons on this bond, and write the name of the registered owner in the 
 blank on the back of this bond, and also the signature of the said county treasurer, 
 and thereafter the principal and interest will be paid only to such registered owner. 
 And this bond shall be transferable thereafter only on the books of the treasurer of 
 said county, on the presentation of this bond, together with a transfer thereof, 
 duly executed by the registered owner in person or by attorney. 
 
 In witness whereof the said county of Westchester has caused this bond to be 
 signed by the chairman of its board of supervisors and its county treasurer and its 
 corporate seal to be hereto affixed, attested by the clerk of the said board of super- 
 visors, and the coupons hereto attached to bear the engraved lithographed signa- 
 ture of the treasurer of said tounty, and this bond to be dated the tirst day of 
 January, 
 
 Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 Attest : Treasurer of the County of Westchester. 
 
 Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 (Form of Coupon.) 
 
 On the first day of July (or January, as the case may be), 19. . . ., the county of 
 
 Westchester, state of New York, will ipay to bearer at in the 
 
 city and state of New York, dollars ($ ) in gold 
 
 coin of the United States of the present standard weight and fineness, being six 
 months' interest then due on Bronx Parkway bond of the county of Westchester, 
 
 dated January i, 19. . . ., number , as provided by the law under which said 
 
 bond is issued. 
 
 County Treasurer. 
 
 Date of registration. 
 
 (Form of Registration.) 
 \ Name of registered ] 
 I owner. ' 
 
 County Treasurer. 
 
 126 
 
Section 15D 
 Temporary Loans and Certificates Authorized 
 
 The county treasurer of the county of Westchester is authorized, empowered and 
 directed, during the acquisition of the real estate and of the laying out and con- 
 struction of said parkway by the Bronx Parkway Commissioners, upon the demand 
 of the said commissioners hereunder to make temporary loans and issue temporary 
 certificates for the purpose of paying the proportionate share due and owing from 
 the county of Westchester for the acquisition of said real estate and the construc- 
 tion and laying out of said parkway, and all incidental expenses connected there- 
 with, to carry out the provisions of this act ; said certificates of indebtedness to be 
 duly signed by the chairman of the board of supervisors and the county treasurer 
 of said county. 
 
 Section 15E 
 
 Temporary Certificates: How Payable 
 
 Said certificates shall be payable from the proceeds of the sale of bonds pre- 
 scribed and to be included within the amount of bonds herein prescribed ; and said 
 certificates shall not bear interest at a rate to exceed six per centum per annum. 
 Said temporary certificates of indebtedness shall be payable only out of the pro- 
 ceeds of sale of bonds, or be payable only out of taxes levied and collected, or to 
 be levied and collected as provided by this act. 
 
 Section 15F 
 Providing Funds to Pay Bonds 
 
 To the end that the interest and principal of said bonds shall be promptly paid 
 when due, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of said county to make 
 the said annual levies, as in this act provided, in an amount sufficient, making 
 reasonable allowances for delin(|uencies and failures to collect, to meet the said 
 interest and principal promptly when the same respectively fall due; and if when 
 any installment of interest or principal falls due there shall not be sufficient 
 moneys in the hands of the county treasurer from the said levies to pay such in- 
 stallment of interest or principal, then any amount necessary to make such payment 
 and prevent any default shall be temporarily advanced by the said county treasurer 
 out of any general funds of said county, or the board of supervisors of the county 
 may issue temporary certificates of indebtedness. 
 
 Section 150 
 Supervisors to Prescribe Form of Certificates 
 
 Said certificates of indebtedness may be in such form and bear such rates of in- 
 terest not exceeding six per centum as may be provided by the board of supervis- 
 ors. Matured coupons of bonds issued under this act shall be receivable for any of 
 the taxes levied under the provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 15H 
 
 Payment of Expenses, Lands, etc.: New Yorlc City's Share — Corporate Stock — City 
 of New York to Pay Condemnation Awards, Expenses, Interest, Costs, 
 etc.. Method of Providing Funds 
 
 It shall be the duty of the city of New York to pay the amount of such expenses, 
 and to pay for said lands, together with interest, if any, due upon the purchase price 
 thereof purchased under the provisions of this act, and within three calendar months 
 after the date of the entry of the order confirming the report of commissioners of 
 appraisal, to pay the amount of damages awarded, together with interest on the 
 awards made from the date of filing the oath of said commissioners of appraisal, 
 together with the compensation of said commissioners of appraisal as fixed by the 
 court, and only such costs, disbursements, and allowances of the parties which may 
 be taxed pursuant to the code of civil procedure. Such payment shall be made to 
 the persons, corporations or parties entitled thereto, or by payment into court, in 
 accordance with the provisions of section fifteen, subdivision "J " of this act, and 
 in default thereof, said persons, corporations or parties, respectively, may at any 
 time or times after application first made hy him or them to the comptroller of 
 
 127 
 
the city of New York for payment thereof, sue for and recover the same, with 
 lawful interest, as aforesaid, and costs of puit ; and in order to provide the funds 
 therefore, the proper authorities of the said city of New York are hereby author- 
 ized to issue corporate stock of said city, in the manner provided by law, as may 
 be necessary, less the amount of the funds received by the city of New York from 
 the county of Westchester under the provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 15 i 
 
 Office Facilities and Clerks for Commissioners of Appraisal 
 
 In all condemnation proceedings heretofore or hereafter instituted, pursuant to 
 this act, it shall be the duty of the Bronx Parkway Commission to furnish the com- 
 missioners of appraisal such necessary clerks and other employees, and to provide 
 such suitable offices as may be necessary to enable them to fully and satisfactorily 
 discharge the duties imposed upon them. 
 
 Section 15J 
 
 Disposition of Awards Wliere Owners are under Disability, or Absent, or Unknown, 
 or Wliere Pledged or Assigned, or in Dispute; Remedies 
 
 In all condemnation proceedings heretofore or hereafter instituted, pursuant to 
 the provisions of this act, when an owner, in whose favor an award shall have been 
 made in a final order, or in a report of commissioners of appraisal, which has been 
 confirmed by the court, is under legal disability or absent from the city of New 
 York or the county of Westchester, and when the name of the owner shall not be 
 set forth or mentioned in said fin;il order or in the report of the commissioners 
 of appraisal, or when the owner, although named in said report or final order, can- 
 not, upon diligent inquiry, be found, or where there are adverse or conflicting 
 claims to the money or any part of it to be paid as compensation for the property 
 taken, the city of New York shall pay so much of such award into court as the 
 court may direct, to be secured, disposed of, invested, and paid out as the court 
 may direct, and the court may determine who is entitled to the same, and direct 
 to whom the same shall be paid, and may, in its discretion, order. a reference to 
 ascertain the facts on which such determination and direction are made ; and such 
 payments shall be valid and eftectual in all respects as if made to the owner; and 
 in default of such payment into court, the city of New York shall be and remain 
 liable for such award with lawful interest thereon from the day upon which title 
 to the real property for which said award is made vested in the Bronx Park Com- 
 mission. Where an award shall be paid to a person not entitled thereto, the per- 
 son to whom it ought to have been paid may sue for and recover the same, with 
 lawful interest and costs of suit as to so much money had and received to his use 
 by the person to whom the same shall have been so paid. Payment of an award 
 to a person named in the report of the final order as the owner thereof, if not 
 under legal disability, shall, in the absence of notice in writing to the comptroller 
 of the city of New York of adverse claims thereto, protect the city of New York. 
 In case of the pledge, sale, transfer, or assignment of an award by the person en- 
 titled to receive the same by virtue of the report of the commissioners of appraisal, 
 or by a final order of the court, or any other order of the court, the instrument evi- 
 dencing such pledge, sale, transfer, or assignment, acknowledged or proved as in- 
 struments, are required to be acknowledged or proved for the recording of trans- 
 fers of real property, shall be filed in the office of the comptroller of the city of 
 New York, who shall endorse on the said instrument its number, and the hour, day, 
 month, and year of its receipt. If an assignment of an award be contained in an 
 instrument recorded in an office in which instruments affecting real property are 
 by law required to be recorded, a certified copy thereof may be filed in the office of 
 said comptroller in place of the original. An index shall be kept in alphabetical 
 order under the name of the pledgor or assignor, and also the pledgee or assignee, 
 stating the title of the proceeding, the time of the filing of the instrument, the file 
 number thereof, and what part of the award is assigned thereby. Every such in- 
 strument not so filed shall be void as against any subsequent pledgee or assignee in 
 good faith and for a valuable consideration from the same pledgor or assignor, his 
 heirs, administrators or assigns, of the same award or any portion thereof, the as- 
 signment of which is first duly filed in the office of the said comptroller. Pay- 
 
 128 
 
ment to the assignee or pledgee shown to be entitled to the award by said record 
 in the office of the comptroller shall protect the city of New York from liability to 
 any other person or persons. 
 
 Section isk 
 
 Compensation of Commissioners of Appraisal 
 
 In all condemnation proceedings heretofore or hereafter instituted pursuant to 
 the provisions of this act, each commissioner of appraisal, upon the confirmation of 
 the report or other determination of the proceeding, shall be entitled to receive in 
 full compensation for his services as such commissioner of appraisal, and in bar of 
 all other claims for compensation expenses, an allowance as may be fixed and 
 awarded by the court as herein provided, not exceeding five dollars for every 
 full hour upon each day upon which he attends a meeting of said commissioners of 
 appraisal and is actually and necessarily employed in the performance of the duties 
 imposed upon said commissioners of appraisal at the offices provided for such com- 
 missioners of appraisal or at the meeting of the commissioners of appraisal to view 
 the premises, provided that such compensation shall not be paid until it shall have 
 been awarded and fixed by order of the court upon five days' notice to the Bronx 
 Parkway Commission, and upon proof by affidavit showing the nature and extent 
 of the services rendered, the dates of rendering services, and the number of hours 
 and parts of an hour necessarily occupied upon each date. A copy of such proof 
 shall be served upon said Bronx Parkway Commission with the notice of taxation. 
 
 Section isl 
 Appeals 
 
 In addition to any appeal or appeals which may be authorized by law to be taken 
 from any judgment or order entered, or which may hereafter be entered, in any 
 condemnation proceedings heretofore or hereafter instituted pursuant to the pro- 
 visions of this act, the Bronx Parkway Commission or any party or person affected 
 by said proceedings, and aggrieved by the order fixing the compensation of said 
 commissioners of appraisal, may appeal therelroni to the appellate division of the 
 said court. Such appeal shall be taken and heard ui the manner provided by the 
 code of civil procedure and the rules and practices of the said court in relation to 
 appeals from orders in special proceedings, and such appeal shall be heard and de- 
 termined by such appellate division upon the merits both as to matters of law and 
 fact. But the taking of such appeal shall not operate to stay the proceedings under 
 this act with respect to the order entered on the motion to confirm the said report 
 or reports of said commissioners of appraisal. 
 
 Section i6 
 
 Estimated Outlay for Maps, Plans, and Improving Lands to be Certified 
 Annually — Providing Funds for Payment Thereof 
 
 On or before the tenth day of September, following the approval of the board of 
 estimate and apportionment provided for by section 19 of this act, the said Bronx 
 Parkway Commissioners shall certify to the board of supervisors of the county of 
 Westchester and to the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New 
 York, the amount necessary to pay the expenses incurred by them prior to such 
 date, in procuring the surveys and preparing the maps and plans required by this 
 act, and they shall at the same time submit an estimate of the expenses necessary 
 to be incurred by them in the ensuing year, for the same purposes, and for the pur- 
 pose of improving the lands acquired by them or to be acquired during the ensuing 
 year, and shall annually thereafter submit to the same bodies an estimate of the 
 expenses to be incurred by them, for the same purposes, for the next ensuing year, 
 and thereupon the board of supervisors of the county of Westchester shall proceed 
 to raise, either by tax levy assessed upon the taxable real and personal estate in 
 said county, in the ratio hereinafter provided, or by an issue of bonds or certifi- 
 cates of indebtedness, in the form provided by section fifteen of this act, an amount 
 necessary to pay one-fourth of the total amount of such expenses ; and shall forth- 
 with pay over such amount to the comptroller of the city of New York, to be by 
 him applied to the payment of such expenses, and it shall be the duty of the 
 
 129 
 
proper officials of the city of New lYork to annually provide for the payment of 
 the balance of such expenses, and for the comptroller of the city of New York to 
 pay such expenses upon proper requisition from the commission. 
 
 1 Section 17 
 
 Apportionment of Tax Levy in Westchester County 
 
 The tax to be levied by the board of supervisors of Westchester county to pay 
 its share of the bonds authorized by this act, with the interest thereon, or to pay 
 the cost of acquiring the lands herein described, together with the expense of ac- 
 quiring such lands and the surveying and improvement thereof, shall be assessed 
 upon the taxable real and personal estate in said county in the following ratio : 
 eighty-five per centum thereof upon the whole county and fifteen per centum 
 thereof upon [the towns and cities of said county through which said proposed 
 parkway runs. 
 
 Section 18 
 
 Expenses of Commission and Employees — Providing Funds Tlierefor by Tax Levy 
 
 On or before the tenth day of September, following the approval of the board of 
 estimate and apportionment provided for by section nineteen of this act, and an- 
 nually thereafter, the commissioners appointed by this act shall certify to the board 
 of supervisors of the county of Westchester, and to the board of estimate and ap- 
 portionment of the city of New York, the amount necessary to pay the salaries of 
 the commissioners, office employees of said commission, including the secretary 
 and counsel, and the rent and other incidental expenses of said office, for the 
 ensuing year, and thereupon it shall become the duty of the board of supervisors 
 of the county of 'Westchester to provide for one-fourth of the said expenses, and 
 of the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New York to provide 
 for raising three-fourths of said expenses, by including the amount thereof in the 
 annual budget, and to that end the said board of supervisors of the county of West- 
 chester and the board of taxes and assessments in the city of New ,York are hereby 
 authorized and empowered to annually assess the proportionate cost of maintenance 
 of the said commission, as so certified by them, ^pon the taxable real and personal 
 property within their respective jurisdictions, and the amount so raised by the said 
 board of supervisors of the county of Westchester shall be paid over, as soon as 
 raised, to the comptroller of the city of New York, and be placed by him to the 
 credit of said commission, together with the funds provided by the board of esti- 
 mate and apportionment ,of the city of New York, and the total fund shall be paid 
 over by him to said commission upon its requisition. 
 
 Section i8a 
 
 Parliway Commissioners May Use and Improve Lands of City of New York and Other 
 Municipalities; May Acquire Tributary Streams and Adjacent Lands — Expendi- 
 tures; Apportionment; Issuance of Bonds for Payment Thereof 
 
 In addition to the powers hereinbefore granted to them, the said commissioners 
 shall have power to improve, maintain and use the lands of the city of New York 
 and other municipalities adjoining the parkway between Bronx park on the south 
 and the new Kensico dam on 'the north, with the consent of the local authorities 
 having jurisdiction thereof; also to accept by gift, covenant or devise lands adjoin- 
 ing the parkway reservation or adjoining public lands contiguous to such reserva- 
 tion, and to improve and maintain the same ; also to improve and maintain lands 
 in public streets, adjacent to or within the general lines of the parkway reserva- 
 tion ; also to sell timber, wood, material, houses and buildings of every kind and 
 nature standing upon or attached to lands acquired for reservation purposes. Upon 
 petition by the common council of a city or town board of a town through which 
 a brook or stream tributary to the Bronx river flows, such commissioners may 
 acquire and take in fee or otherwise, by purchase, covenant, gift, devise or emi- 
 nent domain, so much of such brook or stream and the lands thereunder and adja- 
 cent thereto or bordering thereon, and any rights, interests or easements therein 
 within the city or town presenting the petition as may be deemed necessary by 
 such commissioners to preserve the Bronx river from pollution. One-half of the 
 
 130 
 
expense of such acquisition shall be borne by the city or town presenting the peti- 
 tion. The other one-half of such expense, together with the pntire cost of main- 
 tenance and improvement, shall be borne and paid in accordance with the fore- 
 going provisions of this act. When such a petition shall have been presented and 
 the estimated expense of acquisition shall have been determined by the commis- 
 sioners, they shall certify to the proper officers of such city or town the portion of 
 such expense to be borne thereby. Every city or town through which any such 
 stream or brook flows is hereby authorized to pay one-half of the expense of such 
 acquisition as may be made within its boundaries pursuant to this section, and is 
 hereby authorized to issue and sell its bonds for the purpose of raising funds to 
 meet its share of any such expenditure. If a city, such bonds shall be issued and 
 sold in accordance with the provisions of law prescribing the method by which 
 such city shall issue and sell its bonds, and such city shall cause to be raised an- 
 nually by tax in the manner required by law, a sum sufficient to pay the interest 
 and principal of such bonds, as the same shall become due. If a town, such bonds 
 shall be issued and sold in the manner provided for the issue and sale of town 
 bonds to pay a judgment against the town, and such town shall cause to be raised 
 annually by tax in the manner required by law, a sum sufficient to pay the prin- 
 cipal and interest of such bonds as the same shall become due. City or town 
 bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be payable at such times and in such 
 installments as the common council or town board, as the case may be, shall deter- 
 mine. The proceeds from the sale of such bonds shall be paid to the Bronx Park- 
 way Commissioners and applied to the purposes for which such bonds were issued. 
 Any balance remaining in the hands of the commission after the payment from 
 such proceeds of one-half of the cost of acquisition for which such bonds were 
 issued shall be repaid by the commission to the proper municipal authorities to 
 be applied in payment of the principal or interest of such bonds as the same shall 
 become due. Any piece or parcel of land, and any right, interest, or easement in 
 real estate acquired by t"he commission pursuant to this section shall constitute a 
 part of the Bronx river restrve and parkway as established by this ^ct, and be 
 subject to all the provisions of this act in relation to the control, maintenance and 
 improvement of such reserve and parkway. 
 
 Section 19 
 
 Approval of Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
 Before any expense or obligation is incurred under the provisions of this act, 
 the commission appointed hereby shall obtain the approval of the board of estimate 
 and apportionment of the city of New York, to the acquisition of the lands herein 
 described, or some part thereof, for the purposes of this act. 
 
 Section 20 
 
 All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith or contrary hereto are hereby 
 repealed. 
 
 Section 21 
 This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
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 $425.91 
 1,273.85 
 
 iili i 
 
 1 1 
 
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 Grantor 
 
 Total Brought Forward . 
 
 Lucy Silano 
 
 Graman Building Co 
 
 ::::::&;: 
 
 Total land to which title has been 
 taken as of June 30, 1916 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 147 
 
RECREATION IN THE PARKWAY 
 
INDEX 
 
 REPORTS: 
 
 Commission 7 
 
 Engineer and Secretary 71 
 
 COXSCLTING LaNDSI-ME ARCHITECT ...... 77 
 
 Law Department 85 
 
 PARKWAY LAW 121 
 
 TABLES: 
 
 A. Lands Acquired and Under Contract, June 30, 1915 . . 113 
 
 B. Cost of Law Work, June 30, 1915 113 
 
 C. Lands Acquired and Under Contract, June 30. igi6 . .114 
 
 D. Cost of Law Work, etc., June 30, 1916 115 
 
 E. Number of Parcels Purchased or to be Condemned . .116 
 
 F. Progress of Condemnation Proceedings . . . .117 
 
 G. Parcels of Land Condemned . . . . . . .118 
 
 SCHEDULES: 
 
 A. Receipts 133 
 
 B. Treasurer's Report 134 
 
 C. Funds 135 
 
 D. Disbursements ......... 136 
 
 E. Acquisition of Lands 137 
 
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