Hi COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSITE AVERY FINE ARTS RESTRICTED in nil iii AR01 396781 MESSAGE OF $ott. (Seorge p. jWcClellan THE MAYOR TO THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN PURSUANT TO SECTION 115 OF. THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER New York, January 4, 1909 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/messageofhongeorOOmccl M ESSAGE OF %on. #eorge p. JflcCleltan THE MAYOR TO THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN PURSUANT TO SECTION 115 OF THE GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER New York, January 4, 1909 MARTIN B.BROWN A PRESS * New Fork, January k L909. To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen of The City of New York: Gentlemen — In compliance with the requirements of the Charter, I have the honor to transmit to you a general statement of the finances of the City which lias been furnished to me by the Comptroller: Debt Statement as of January 1, 1909. The City Debt. Funded Debt { Including Special Revenue Bonds). December 31, December 31, December 31, 1906. 1907. 1908. Gross Funded Debt *$665,697,392 06 f $735,014,965 05 $$808,433,984 09 Less amount thereof held by the Commis- sioners of the Sinking Fund ^191,044,186 94 fl97,437,164 02 $210,421,340 02 Net Funded Debt $474,653,205 12 $537,577,801 03 $598,012,644 07 474,653,205 12 537,577,801 03 Increase in the year 1907 of Net Funded Debt $62,924,595 91 Increase in the year 1908 of Net Funded Debt $60,434,843 04 Add increase in the year 1907 of Xet Funded Debt 62,924,595 91 Total increase in the years 1907 and 1908 of Xet Funded Debt. . $123,359,438 95 * Includes $40,750,000 of General Fund Bonds, issued pursuant to Chapter 103 of the Laws of 1903. f Includes $54,250,000 of General Fund Bonds, issued pursuant to Chapter 103 of the Laws of 1903. t Includes $68,750,000 of General Fund Bonds, issued pursuant to Chapter 103 of the Laws of 1903. Temporary Debt. December 31, December 31, December 31, 1906. 1907. 1908. Revenue Bonds Issued in Anticipation of Taxes. Amounts Outstanding — - Revenue Bonds of 1902 $3,130,000 00 $100,000 00 Revenue Bonds of 1903 7,800,000 00 5,000,000 00 10,000 00 Revenue Bonds of 1904 9,225,000 00 1,000,000 00 2,570,000 00 Revenue Bonds of 1905 10,150,000 00 7,000,000 00 7,400,000 00 Revenue Bonds of 1906 20,107,270 00 9,397,210 00 9,160,000 00 Revenue Bonds of 1907 31,148,826 92 13,625,000 00 Kevenue Bonds of 1908 41,241,600 00 $50,412,270 00 $53,646,036 92 $74,006,600 00 50,412,270 00 53,646,036 92 Increase in the year 1907 in Temporary Debt $3,233,766 92 Increase in the year 1908 in Temporary Debt $20,360,563 08 Add increase in the year 1907 in Temporary Debt 3,233,766 92 Total increase in the years 1907 and 1908 in Temporary Debt $23,594,330 00 4 Sim mary. Increase in the year 1907 in Xet Funded Debt Increase in the year 1907 in Temporary Debt. $62,924,595 91 3,233,766 92 Total increase in the year 1907 in Net Bonded Debt Increase in the year 1908 in Net Funded Debt $ Increase in the year 1908 in Temporary Debt $60,434343 1 1 1 20,360,563 08 S()«» 1909 ovei 1904. over 1904. Debt service (principal, interest and installments ) $17,51 1 788 38.501 Department of Education 6,557 719 14.417 2,156 MM fc.740 2.071 265 4.553 Department of Street Cleaning 1,970 587 fc.332 1,91 I 101 fc.209 Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity 1,711 291 3.762 1,375 167 3.02 t 1,319 731 2.910 11 These departments have to do with the care of life, health, educa- tion and prope rty. The difficulty and cost of this duty is immensely affected by the fact that New York is the great port of entry for im- migrants, and during the last four years and five months over 3,700,000 immigrants landed at this port. Many of them became residents of New York, more of them stayed here temporarily, and still others passed through. We have a great duty thrust upon us to the strangers who come to us and to their children. If we fail to perform it, we shall surely suffer from disease and the demoralization of our institutions. There are always some who urge upon us an increase in every ap- propriation planned, but generally they wish this increase at the ex- pense of some other equally important activity. The Board of Esti- mate and Apportionment, and even the Legislature, have been be- sieged on behalf of every one of these eight departmnts. In the in- terest of a proper balance in City expenditures, it has even been neces- sary for me to veto bills granting to one department or another an excessive advance. The Department of Education represents 14*1/2 per cent, of the total Budget increase, and this has been due to the maintenance of the new schools, costing over fifty millions of dollars, the pay of the new teachers, the automatic increase in the salaries of old teachers, the extension of playgrounds, recreation centres and the proper provision for the care of the children. The increase in the appropriation for the police has only about kept pace with the population, and the appropriation has been less than has been strongly urged upon us by the Commissioner. The increase for the Fire Department has been chiefly due to the extension of the paid department to the rural sections of the City, for- merly served by volunteers. Our people are no longer satisfied with the old methods of street cleaning, and the number of miles of streets cleaned has increased from 971 to 1,216. 12 The Department of Charities has broadened its actii ities, and the increase in the population brings a greater burden than the mere fig- ures indicate. The Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity has prac- tically relighted the City in the last five years, has greatly extended the water supply, and the revenue of the Departmenl was $2,000,000 more last year than in 1903, a much greater increase of revenue than the increase in the expenditure. The daily supply of water in Man- hattan and The Bronx was 40,000,000 gallons more than in L903, and in Brooklyn 45,000,000. The Health Department has not only cost a greal deal of money, but it has imposed additional expense on the Board of Education by greatly increasing the school attendance through improving the health of the children and keeping them alive. The grow th of population inevitably increases the expenses of the Health Departmenl in increas- ing ratio. But no one can object when money so spent produces the remarkable decrease in the death rate, more fully explained in the de- scription of the activities of the department. The acquisition of new parks brings with it an increase in the ex- penses of the Park Department, which is now caring for 277 addi- tional acres of parks, and 9,860 additional feet of parkway. 'The em- ployees are now paid out of the Budget allowances inste ad of from corporate stock, as was previously done on the theory that their work was a permanent betterment; a theory which is manifestly absurd. The increase for the appropriation of the City Record has been partly to make up the deficiency which existed in 1904. For hos- pitals and correction the increase is due to the increase of population. The volume of litigation has required a large increase in the appropria- tion for the Law Department. The new bridges have made necessan a largely increased expenditure by the Departmenl of Bridges. In regard to appropriations for the Tenement House Department, we 13 have been urged on the one hand to increase the appropriations be- cause the force was inadequate, and on the other, we have been urged to decrease the appropriations on the ground that the Department was too active. The increase in the appropriation has been substantial and the efficiency of the Department has kept pace with the increase in the appropriation. The Department of Taxes and Assessments has only received sufficient appropriation to keep pace with the growth of popu- lation. The Commissioners of Accounts have needed more money for the extensive investigations that have been instituted. The Board of Elections has had imposed upon it new duties by the election law, and the double primary of last year imposed a heavy expense. The Budget for the mayoralty has been increased by the transfer of the salaries of some thirty police in the Bureau of Licenses to the payroll of the Ex- ecutive Department. The Civil Service Commissioners have had an extraordinary number of examinations, due to the creation of the Board of Water Supply, besides the natural increase of 10 per cent, a year in the number of applications for examination. The work of the Board of Assessors lias been increased by the opening of new streets and other local improvements. The office of the Commissioner of Licenses was organized in 1904, hence the entire expense appears as an increased appropriation. TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS. In 1904 the appropriation for the expenses of the Department of Taxes and Assessments equalled $69.77 per million dollars of the as- sessed value of real estate. In 1908 the appropriation equals $67.71 per million, a decrease of $2.06 since 1904. The assessed value of real estate has increased 34 per cent., the number of employees in the Department has increased 39 per cent., and the number of assessment districts has increased 46 per cent., while the appropriation has in- creased only 30 per cent. 14 The law requiring the separate statement of the value of land in the assessment of real estate was drafted by the present President of the Tax Department, and in the first year of my administration the value of land was for the first time stated separately on the record of the assessed valuation. Through this public exhibit ion of the details of the assessment the taxpayers have become better acquainted with the system long in use of assessing real estate by the use of unit values for land and square foot factors for buildings. Deputy Tax Com- missioners are more accurate in their work because they know that it can be analyzed and carelessness will be apparent, and unfair assess- ments are more easily discovered and corrected. When taxpayers appreciate that the assessment of real estate is methodical and scien- tific are more readily satisfied with the judgment of the Department. The improvements in the Department during the last few years would have been absolutely impossible w ithout an increase in the force. In 1904 each deputy in Brooklyn, on the average, had to assess over 16,400 separate parcels of real estate, and each deputy in Queens had to assess over sixteen square miles of territory; in the other Boroughs the districts were also too large. It was physically impossible to do the work as it should be done. Now there are nineteen assessment districts in Brooklyn, instead of twelve, and fourteen in Queens, in- stead of eight. In 1907 the Tax Department secured an amendment to the Charter by which the duty of apportioning the assessment of divided parcels of real estate was transferred Prom the Finance Department to the Tax Department, and apportionment at anv period of the year was made lawful. Under the old law no apportionment was possible until taxes were due and persons were compelled to wait for their bills, sometimes for months, and obliged to pay penalties and int< n st Under the new law taxpayers this year were able to obtain bills as soon as the tax was payable on 9,712 parcels issesscd for over ninety- four millions of dollars. 15 A card inde x of all exempt real estate, consisting of over ten thousand parcels, has been prepared, and tins for the first time pre- sents all City property classified according to its use. In the assessment of personal property persistent efforts have been made to eliminate from the assessment rolls the names of per- sons and corporations not properly liable to personal assessments by the inspection of court and bankruptcy proceedings, by the co-opera- tion of the attorney for the collection of arrears of personal taxes, and many millions of dollars of unproductive assessments have been stricken from the rolls. At the same time the greatest care is exer- cised to assess all persons who may he liable, and to this end the rec- ords of the Surrogates' Courts in numerous counties of New York and New Jersey are annually examined, and all other sources of in- formation are fully utilized. The forms on which corporations apply for the reduction of per- sonal assessments have been revised so as to present with the utmost clearness the details of assets and deductions. The methods of as- sessing personal property of corporations have been changed, with the result that the tentative assessment lias been decreased from the ab- surh figure of one billion, four hundred million dollars to about ten per cent, of this amount, and the final assessment has been increased. By fair and careful methods certiorari proceedings Tor the correction of personal assessments have steadily decreased until for last year only five such proceedings have been instituted. In the last two years seven different bills, prepared by the Tax Department, amending the Charter or the Tax Law. have been enacted. These measures have improved and simplified procedure, saved trouble and annoyance to taxpayers, saved expense to the City, and in one case, that of the repeal of the undesigned exemption of the shares of banks held by trust companies, has saved the City many thousands of dollars a year. 16 The Tax Commissioners have been as vigilant to protect indi- vidual citizens as to conserve the rights of the City. The duties of Tax Commissioners are judicial and this fact has been consistently impressed upon the public. Citizens do not regard Tax Commis- sioners as prosecutors but as impartial judges. The reports of the Department are regarded as works of such value to economists and administrators that they are in demand in all parts of this country and in Europe. The methods of assessing real estate, and of presenting the results have been so clearly set forth that the City of New York has taken its proper place as an example for the whole country to imitate. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS SAVED BY ABOLISHING REBATES. Upon the suggestion of the Department of Finance and the Tax Department the Charter was amended in 1908 so as to do away with rebates for the prompt payment of taxes. Those who obtained the ad- vantage of rebates were chiefly the largest taxpayers and the expense fell on all taxpayers. Owing to the change in the law the amount collected in October and November, 1908, exceeded the sum collected for the tax of 1907 from October to April 1, 1908. The collections during October and November, 1908. amounted to $83,180,968.67, as against the collections during October and No- vember, 1907, of $66,205,131.49. The rebate allowed on the October payments of the tax of 1907 and 1900 was: Tax of 1907 $489,840.1.5 Tax of 1906 526,353.39 17 Owing to the abolition of the rebate the volume of work in 1908 decreased materially from prior years. The payments came in gradu- ally, increasing in amount daily, until they readied the maximum at the end of ( )etober. The temporary clerks assigned to the Receiver's Bureau became proficient in their duties before the work gained in volume, as the Bu- reau was enabled to assign the best of them to the most important work, thereby avoiding the errors, caused in prior years, by being com- pelled to assign, on the day of their appointment, inexperienced clerks in the preparation of tax bills and the entering of payments on the cash books at a time when the volume of work was at its maximum. This simple amendment has saved nearly half a million dollars and rendered possible the prevention of irritating and costly clerical errors. The results are most gratifying and reflect great credit on those who conceived it and secured its enactment. WORK OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION ON TAXA- TION AND FINANCE. In accordance with the policy announced in my message to the Board of Aldermen on January 2, 1905, I appointed in February of that year a Commission to consider certain defects in the financial methods of the City and to recommend remedies. This Commission has recently made its final report to the effect that it has considered all the subjects submitted to it, and has recommended bills which have been enacted. My message to the Board of Aldermen on January 0, 1908, de- scribed at some length the subjects considered by the Commission up to that time, and their relation to the financial system of the City. A brief summary of the Commission's work is here presented: The deficiency due to uncollectible taxes in excess of all pro- visions theretofore made was provided for by the authorization of an 18 issue of corporate stock. Annual deficiencies thereafter arising were provided for by requiring the Hoard of Estimate and Apportionment to insert in the Budget annually a 1 1 amount sufficienl to cover such deficiency. The Constitutional limit of indebtedness svas considered by the Commission and an amendment to the Constitution suggested. The amendment adopted by the Legislature of 1908 was based upon the report of the Commission. In December, 1907, a report was presented by the Commission on the collection of arrears of real estate taxes and assessments. This re- port reviewed the existing method of enforcing the payment of ar- rears of real estate taxes, assessments and water rents, and found that these methods were wholly inadequate to enforce the rights of the City. Accordingly the Commission reported a bill to amend the Greater New York Charter relative to sales of lands for taxes, assess- ments and water rents, which was enacted by the Legislature of L908, and went into effect on October 1, 1908. By the provisions of this Act the old method of enforcing such charges by the sale of a lease was abolished and in its place is sub- stituted a method requiring the sale of the lien of the City for the arrears of taxes, assessments and water rents, with interest, penalties and charges to the person who bids the lowest rate of interest for which he will advance the amount to the City. The lien to the C ity is to be transferred to the purchaser by an instrument to he known as a " transfer of tax lien," and which by the terms of the Act is assimilated as closely as possible to a mortgage on real estate. The delinquent taxpayer is allowed three years in which to pay off and discharge this transfer of tax lien, and in the event of his default the tax lien max he foreclosed in a Court of Record, by a procedure similar to the fore- closure of a mortgage. The substance of this change is the substitu- tion of a judicial foreclosure whereby the rights of all parties in in- 19 terest are protected for the administrative act of the Collector of As- sessments and Arrears in an ecc parte proceeding. The report of the Commission advising against a change in the time for the collection of taxes; the report on the constitutional limit of indebtedness, on the taxation of personal property, on City ac- counts, on the collection of taxes and on the deficiencies arising from uncollectible taxes, constitute a valuable study of the financial affairs of the City. The legislation enacted as a result of the work of the Commission is of great worth and far-reaching importance. The thanks of the City are due to these men who have given time and thought to the City's service without reward. WATER SUPPLY. High Pressure Fire Service. The many large fires in November, 1903, followed by the disas- trous conflagrations in Baltimore and Rochester, brought The City of New York face to face with a situation which had to be met without delay. In spite of the efficiency of our Fire Department, and the ex- cellence of the system under which it was being operated, our own large fires and those in other cities, showed plainly that in our con- gested districts, a fire unchecked for any length of time would result in a conflagration that would be nothing short of a national calamity. After going fully into the subject we decided upon the installa- tion of the high pressure, or as it is more popularly known the Salt Water Fire Service. I called for public hearings on the subject and in the end plans were prepared and have been carried out in Coney Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan. The utmost care was exercised in the preparation of the plans and specifications for this work, while the inspection at the foundries, at the shops and on the ground was thorough and efficient. At the 20 HIGH PRESSURE DISTRICT. Each dot represents a high pressure hydrant. same time the work was so actively and ably conducted, thai the whole distribution system was completed in seventeen working months, or at the rate of 17,500 feet per month, or 700 feet per day. the daily rate sometimes reaching 1,400 feet, a time record hitherto unequaled in this kind of work. It is all the more remarkable considering the ex- acting requirements of the specifications and the well-nigh indescrib- able difficulties under which the work was conducted. As a result, we have now completely installed, thoroughly tried and tested, both during construction and after completion, and in actual and most successful operation since July 6, a high pressure fire system provided with all the safeguards that modern engineering science can devise, and the skill of mechanics carry out, to secure regular and continuous operation and meet all emergencies. It is capable of pumping at the rate of fifty million gallons of water in twenty-four hours, against a pressure of 3.50 pounds per square inch, and this enormous force, against which no imaginable conflagration could stand, can be concentrated at any point w ithin the High Pres- sure Fire District, and made available within, two minutes after the alarm of fire is given. It is consequently ready for operation long before the firemen can reach their posts and stretch their hose lint s: while telephone signal boxes are so located that a fire at any point within the protected district can be readily observed and orders di- rectly communicated therefrom, either to Fire Headquarters or to tin pumping stations. No other city in the world possesses a system of fire protection equalling ours in magnitude and efficiency, and it safeguards, among others, our dry goods district, with its enormous values, a had fire in which has long been the dread of merchants and fire insurance com- panies, since such a conflagration would bankrupt every large fire in- surance company doing business in the United States. 21 The system in Coney Island protects an area of about 146 acres, and has 8,500 feet of mains. The cost of installation was $100,000. The capacity of the station is 3,600 gallons per minute, which may be increased to 4,500 gallons per minute against a pressure of 150 pounds. Salt or fresh water may be used. The pumping station is fitted with three triplex pumps, operated by gas engines. This system has been in successful operation for nearly two years and was for the first time severely tested in the Coney Island fire of last July. This fire had already destroyed many of the frame buildings, with which Coney Island is covered, and the whole island seemed doomed, when the high pressure fire system was brought into play and a line of hydrants, forming a compact water curtain at 150 pounds pressure, quickly arrested its progress. The Brooklyn system protects the dry goods and high office building district, covering an area of about 1,400 acres. It has 123,000 feet of mains, 740 hydrants and two pumping stations. One of these stations has a capacity of 15,000 gallons per minute, consist- ing of three centrifugal pumps with a capacity of 5,000 gallons per minute each, against a pressure of 300 pounds. The other station has three similar pumps, so that its capacity is 9,000 gallons per minute, and the total capacity of the system is therefore 24,000 gallons per minute, against a pressure of 300 pounds. At the main station either fresh or salt water can be used. The cost of the system was $1,400,000, and it is now complete. The pumps are electrically driven. The Manhattan system comprises an area of about 1,456 acres, extending from Chambers street to Twenty-third street, and from the North River to Broadway, Fourth avenue and the Bowery. It has 297,000 feet, or fifty-six miles of mains, with 1,274 hydrants, 2,191 valves and 214 telephone fire alarms. It has two pumping stations, one at Gansevoort and West streets, and the other at Oliver and South 22 streets, so located therefore, that they can never he iii thecentre of a con- flagration, but must be at either the beginning or the cud of one Pri >- vision has been made in both stations for the use of cither Croton w ater or river water, in the latter ease one station drawing from the North River and the other from the East River. Both stations are absolutely fireproof, and provided with exterior water curtains which not only afford additional protection, but serve to give the men operating the pumps a sense of security and comfort while doing their work, in case of a large fire in the adjoining buildings. Each station is equipped with five pumps, electrically driven. Under actual test, each has pumped 3,600 gallons per minute against a pressure of 350 pounds, so that the total capacity of the two stations, under these conditions, is 36,000 gallons per minute, or in round figures, 52,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, while at lower pres- sures, which will be those more generally used, the capacity may be in- creased as much as 30 per cent. The unqualified success of the Manhattan High Pressure Fire Service System, both in design, construction and operat ion, is now well established and recognized, not only by our Fire Department, but by the experts sent from other cities. Notwithstanding its magnitude and difficulties, this work has been done with record speed and at a cost well within the estimates and appropriations granted for that purpose, while the total expense s of inspection, supervision, engineering, etc.. have amounted to less than 5 per cent, of the cost of the work. Plans have been prepared and the requisite appropriations ob- tained for extending the high pressure fire service in Coney Island, and also in the Borough of Manhattan, in the congeste d district from Houston to Chambers streets, and from the Bowery and Park How to the East River, and the work will be actively prosecuted. 23 The almost immediate effect on insurance rates is one of the most gratifying results of the installation of the high pressure service. On December 9, last, the New York Fire Insurance Exchange ordered a general reduction of rates in the Manhattan high pressure zone. This reduction, I am reliably informed, will mean an immediate sav- ing in premiums of $500,000 a year, and is to be followed shortly by another reduction. Of the great reduction in Brooklyn, due to improved water sup- ply, about $250,000 is directly due to the installation of the high pres- sure system, so that this great improvement has already earned at least three-quarters of a million dollars return, annually, to the tax- payers. The system is, therefore, not only to be regarded as a primal protection to life and property, but also one of the most productive investments of the City . Croton Water Supply, Etc. Apart from the Catskill water system, which is dealt with in another place, I wish to call the attention of your Honorable Board to what has been done in the development of the water resources at hand during the past five years. The supply of water furnished from municipal works, which, in 1903 averaged 397,000,000 gallons daily, reached over 479,000,000 gallons daily in 1908, an increase of 82,000,000 gallons daily, of which 43,000,000 gallons are used in Manhattan and The Bronx, and 38,- 000,000 gallons in the Borough of Brooklyn. By the sale of this water, the City's revenues have been increased $2,000,000 annually. In the Croton system, the storage capacity of the reservoirs, which in 1903 amounted to 46,000,000,000 gallons, has been increased to 88,- 000,000,000 gallons, and, with the completion of the Croton Falls Reservoir, 16,000,000,000 gallons additional will be secured. In Brooklyn the development of the available watershed has been most successfully carried out, resulting in an addition to the supply 24 of about 75,000,000 gallons daily. In this connection, the ex- traordinary yield of the infiltration galleries at Wantagh and Massa- pequa, far exceeding the estimates, deserves particular notice. The increase available in the Borough of Brooklyn, since January 1, 11)04. is equivalent to about 70 per cent, of the total amount supplied din - ing 1903, while in regard to the quality of the water the improvement is still more marked. In the Borough of Queens, improvements in the six Municipal pumping stations, including the reconstruction of Station No. 2, which was destroyed in 1902, and the utilization of the waters of Oakland Lake, by filtration, soon to be completed, have materially increased the supply from municipal sources. The greater part of the water supply in this Borough, however, is furnished by private companies, which sell directly to consumers and also to the City. The amount pur- chased by the City has increased from about 4,000,000 gallons daily, in 1903, to about 6,500,000 gallons daily in 1908. In that Borough the areas available for further development of the supply, at a reasonable cost, are held by a private company. I deem the acquisition of this company advantageous, if the purchase can be made at a reasonable price. In this way the development of existing sources, and the extension of the distribution system can be carried out with the sole view of improving the public service. By this means we will also be enabled to discontinue the operation of some of the smaller Municipal plants in Queens, particularly those at Long Island City and Whitestone which, owing to their small yield, are run at a heavy expense. In the Borough of Richmond the City ow ns only one Municipal plant, at Tottenville. It has acquired two private water companies, but is not yet operating them, owing to questions of title transfer. 25 In spite of all efforts to add to our water supply, it is evident that a shortage may be experienced before water from the Catskills is avail- able, so that it is essential to husband our resources and check pre- ventable w aste. This can best be effected by metering' the system. This question has received my careful attention, and in compliance with legislative enactment, a report has been prepared and presented to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, for the installation of meters in typical districts, in order to acquire the necessary data to properly solve this important question and, at the same time, prevent the illegal use of water. While an adequate supply is obviously all important, the dis- tribution system affects the consumer directly, as he is dependent on its efficiency. Mains of insufficient capacity mean unsatisfactory and costly domestic service, and increased fire insurance rates, while, on the other hand, a properly designed distribution system means proper protection and quick development of property, with resultant im- provement in public health and increase in values. In no other respect has the improvement been so marked during the last five years. There have been laid, during that period (ex- clusive of the high pressure fire system), not less than 564 miles of mains in the five Boroughs, to which have been connected 12,000 hy- drants. As an instance of the value of these mains, I refer briefly to their effect in the Borough of Brooklyn. In accordance with plans, prepared four years ago, 211 miles of new mains have been laid, and 47 miles of tubercolated pipe cleaned, in that Borough. This repre- sents 30 per cent, of the total mileage of mains comprised within that system on January 1, 1904, and nearly three times the amount laid during the previous five years. Aside from the improvement in do- mestic service and the development of unsettled districts, the reduction in insurance rates already allowed, in the more important business sec- tions of the City, has been $600,000 annually. This sum, capitalized 26 at 5 per cent., represents many times the cost of the water mains laid in the districts described. The pumping stations in all five Boroughs have been materially improved and extended. The older ones have been remodeled, old boilers have been replaced, new engines have been installed, while at the Jerome Avenue Station, two new pumping units with a capacity of 25,000,000 gallons a day, are ready for installation by the Board of Water Supply, so that the City may, if required, dispense w ith tlx Kensico Reservoir, pending the construction of the new reservoir there. These pumps can be used either for the Williamsbridge Reservoir, or for the high service in The Bronx. Provision has also been made in Brooklyn to increase the conduit capacity, the lack of which lias, at times, prevented the delivery of an adequate supply to Brooklyn, even when available in the watershed, by laying a six-foot steel pipe from the Borough line to Massapequa, a distance of twenty-three miles. About nine miles of this pipe was placed under contract in the early part of 11)08, and has been com- pleted and put into use. The final contract for this line has been let and when completed, it will have a capacity of 50,000,000 gallons daily, or about 40 per cent, of the total capacity of all the other con- duits. The protection of the water supply from pollution has received careful attention. A most thorough and systematic inspection of the watersheds, especially that of the Croton, has been maintained during the past five years, and constant laboratory analyses and examinations have been made. The most threatening danger of contamination has been for sev- eral years the discharge of the sewage from Mouni Kisco, into one of the tributaries of the Croton. After several years of negotiations, an agreement has been made with the Village of Mount Risen for the in- stallation of sewers, already under const ruction, and a disposal plant 27 for the treatment of the sewage, which will effectually eliminate all danger from that source. The City has, furthermore, secured the in- stallation at the Montefiore Home for Consumptives, of a disposal plant for the proper treatment of the sewage which, as previously dis- charged into a tributary stream of the Croton, was a dangerous source of pollution. It must be added, however, that while these temporary expedients will be continued to the fullest extent of our resources, the danger from pollution increases yearly with the increase of population in the watershed, and can only be guarded against by the filtration of the Croton water. In my last annual message I called the attention of your Hon- orable Board to the fact that the engineers of the Department, as- sisted by the most eminent experts in the United States, had made an exhaustive study of this question. Their conclusion was that the best place available was the east basin of the Jerome Park Reservoir, and accordingly all other construction work there was stopped. This has led to some criticism on the part of persons ignorant of the City's plans for this property. There has been some delay, caused by the preparation of plans for the work, and by the City's financial condi- tion. The situation at present is that the Commissioner of Water Supply has made application for an appropriation of $4,000,000 for the masonry part of the filtration plant, including the basin for the treated water, that the Board of Estimate, following the usual cus- tom, has referred the matter to the Department of Finance, and that that Department has not yet reported on it. The Water Department is prepared to start work as soon as the money is available. Aqueduct Commission. I have no reason to change my recommendation of last year that the Aqueduct Commission be abolished. What little work there re- 28 mains to be done can be done more effectively by either the Depart- ment of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity or the Board of Water Supply. In the hands of either of these departments a greal finan- cial saving can be accomplished. Under the amended Law which permits the Commission to exist until its work is completed, it is apparent that the members contem- plate perpetual life. Although the new Croton Dam was completed in 1906, and the Cross River Dam w as finished a year ago, neither has yet been turned over to the control of the water department, which is the proper superintendent of maintenance. Plans for a new storage reservoir in the northeast corner of the Croton Watershed, at a cost of $3,500,000. have been prepared by the Commission without so much as consulting the Department of Water Supply, which is responsible for the supply, as to the- necessity for it. Other expenditures are also in contemplation by the Commission, and it is impossible to escape the conviction thai these works are planned for the purpose of keeping the Commission in existence. If this bi-partisan Commission has the power, as it apparently has, to involve the City in unnecessary expenditures without consult- ing the local authorities, then it should be w iped out without delay. It is my purpose to again recommend such legislation at this session of the Legislature. The Board of Watek Supply. Criticism of the work of obtaining an additional water supply in the Catskill Mountain shed should not be that it is extravagant and unnecessary, but that the City of Xew York should have begun the work long before it did. We should be actually getting water now from the Catskills or some equally good source. Our shortage to-day would be far more serious but for the plentiful rainfall of 1907. 29 The water shortage danger is an ever increasing one, not only be- cause of the demands of a constantly increasing population, but be- cause of the indications of a diminution in the abnormally abundant rainfall of recent years. On account of this situation the City is not only hastening the construction of the Catskill Aqueduct between Ashokan Reservoir and the Croton watershed, but is working on the temporary development of a supply from sources east of the Hudson River. As early as 1899 the inadequacy of the City's water supply began to give concern. On several occasions the City was only saved from a serious shortage by a lucky rainfall. An attempt was made in this emergency to commit the City to a contract with the Ramapo Com- pany, but so much opposition developed to this that it was abandoned. Investigation showed that the Croton supply would last, if properly husbanded, but that there was, nevertheless, urgent need of seeking sources of additional supply. In December, 1902, the Burr-Hering-Freeman Commission was created " to make a thorough, complete, exhaustive examination and investigation of the City's need of water." Its work was limited strictly to sources lying within the State of New York. This Com- mission reported in November, 1903. The watersheds studied in de- tail were those of Fishkill Creek, Roeliff Jansen Kill and Wappinger Creek, east of the Hudson ; Rondout, Esopus, Schoharie and Catskill Creeks, in the Catskill Mountains. New York's population of 3,700,000 in 1903, was increasing at the rate of 33 per cent, per decade, so that b}^ 1930 a population of 7,000,000 could be expected. Manhattan and The Bronx were draw- ing close to the limit of the Croton Shed, so that the works recom- mended for an additional supply from the north must have a ca- pacity of from 500,000,000 to 750,000,000 gallons a day. The works 30 eye* f> THE CATSK1LL AQUEDUCT. The figures in the arch show the comparative size of the tube. THE CATS KILL WATERSHED. Scale 1 , , ? f 10 T CATSKILL AQUEDUCT. The lower water level shows extent to which it would he filled by the water supplied to Rome, A. D., 97, 84 million gallons per day; 600 million gallons per day would fill the aqueduct to the upper mark. recommended for immediate development were Fishkil] and Esopus Creeks. When I came into office January 1, L904, conditions were practi- cally as the Commission had found them. Previous administrations had collected the data on where water could be obtained and had proved beyond a doubt the need of more water. There remained the all-important problems of financing the undertaking, of providing the administrative body to carry out the work, and of securing the necessary legislation. Your Honorable Board is familiar with how these things were all accomplished after many difficulties had been overcome. On April 6, 1905, I publicly pledged myself to lift the entire enterprise out of partisan politics by allowing the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Fire Underwriters and the Manufacturers' Association to name the Commissioners of the Board of Water Sup- ply, and further pledging myself to fill any vacancies that might oc- cur in the same way. I have never violated that pledge, and sincerely trust that the method adopted by me in the beginning will be followed by my suc- cessors in office until the work of the Board is completed. The work of organization was begun immediately on the appoint- ment of the Board, and was pushed with remarkable speed. The plan of work finally adopted has been fully described to your Honorable Board in previous messages from me. The contract for the main or Ashokan Dam was awarded An mist 31, 1907, and up to date contracts for the building of twenty-six miles of aqueduct have been let, involving an expenditure, when completed, of $26,700,000, and varying in time from lour years to seven years. Since its organization the Board has expended or contracted to ex- 31 pend for property acquired, contracts for structural work, and for the force employed, about $,50,300,000. The work may be said, therefore, to be well under way and the expenditures to date have not varied ma- terially in total from what was originally estimated and approved by the Board of Estimate. For a period of about two years investigations have been in progress in Suffolk County, and as a result of these investigations the Board prepared a plan and map for an additional water supply for the Borough of Brooklyn, which was approved by the Board of Esti- mate on June 26, 1908, submitted to the State Water Supply Com- mission July 29, 1908, and is now before it. The Catskill supply and the Suffolk County well system, will, when fully developed, furnish without detriment to the localities in which they are situated, 1,000,- 000,000 gallons of water daily. With as much of the present supply as will then remain safe for use, the City of New York will have a daily supply of 1,500,000,000 gallons. The Esopus watershed, because of its exposure to rain bearing winds and its wooded slopes, furnishes a supply notable for its softness, purity and quantity. This supply and that to be diverted from the Schoharie shed by a ten-mile tunnel through the mountain divide, will be collected in the Ashokan Reservoir. This reservoir will have a maximum depth of 190 feet, and a capacity of 130,000,000,000 gallons. The water will be impounded by Olive Bridge Dam, the adjacent Beaver Kill Dikes, a chain 3.8 miles long, and by the West Hurley and other smaller dikes, aggregating 1.5 miles in length. The type of construction crossing the Hudson River is yet to be determined. Three practical methods are under consideration and test shafts are now being driven on either side of the river in the vicinity of Cornwall. From the east side of the Hudson the water will be carried to the enlarged Kensico Reservoir, which will hold 40,- 000,000,000 gallons, and from this reservoir to the distributing reser- 32 voir at Hill View, just outside of the city of Xonkers, where, from an elevation of 295 feet, the distribution to consumers will be It has been planned, if necessary, to carry this water to Brooklyn and Richmond, but developments of Suffolk County water may make that unnecessary. GROWTH OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. While the installation of the high pressure system has been the conspicuous accomplishment in the direction of fire protection, the natural units of fire-fighting have not been neglected. The uniformed force has been increased in the last five years from 2,9 74 officers and men to 4,210, an increase of forty per cent. In the same period twenty-four new engine companies, twenty-four hook and ladder com- panies and seven hose companies have been organized and seven single companies in service have been reorganized and added to the list of double companies, which now number twenty-six. The hose com- panies include those now specially drilled to handle the high pressure service, so that there is now in Greater New York a combined force of 249 engines and hook and ladder companies. Besides the one flreboat completed in 1904, three new boats — the James Duane, the Thomas Willett and the Cornelius W. Lawrence- have been placed in service. These four are high power boats of the latest type. The fleet of ten boats has a pumping capacity of about 78,000 gallons a minute, or equal to the efficiency of 130 land engines of normal capacity — the equivalent of the entire land force of the Boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx. Brooklyn and Queens. With these new floating engines and the high pressure service, fire protec- tion means have been increased .50 per cent, within the zone of greatest hazard. Xo harbor in the world lias such a force to guard its shipping interests. 33 During this administration nineteen new apparatus houses have been built and sixty-four old houses have been altered and repaired, with sanitary improvements for the benefit of the force. Nine new houses are in course of construction and thirteen others are being re- built. A new and well equipped repair shop offers every advantage for the quick repair of hose and other apparatus. Under the direction of the leading experts of this country plans have been prepared for a new fire alarm telegraph system in the Bor- ough of Manhattan, and it will be your duty to pass upon the request of the Fire Commissioner for an appropriation to install this system, which will dissipate the last objection of the Board of Fire Under- writers to a general reduction of insurance rates. In the meantime a modern telephone system connecting all the apparatus houses with the central office has been put in operation and serves as a supple- mentary alarm system. By an arrangement with the telephone com- pany all these wires pass through the Plaza Station, where the City may set up and maintain an emergency central office in case of any breakdown of the telegraph or telephone systems. A general plan of placing all alarm wires underground for the protection of the system has been followed, and the only wires remain- ing overhead in the Borough of Manhattan are those in the Washing- ton Heights section and these, in the near future, will be placed under the streets. Some idea of the activities of the Department may be gained from these statistics: From January 1, 1904, to October 1, 1908, the Department responded to 43,316 alarms in the Boroughs of Man- hattan, The Bronx and Richmond, and to 20,143 in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. Twelve days before I took office the then Fire Commissioner created a bureau of violations and auxiliary fire appliances, and his successors have amplified the work of that bureau, as has been demon- 34 e. 3 " Has* nlB • 11 ■ , , V. strated by the protective measures enforced on all theatres arid places of public meeting and by the use of stand-pipes, special fire alarm con- nections and the numerous devices approved by the fire underwriting interests. Through the Fire Marshals the Department has closely followed fire causes and has secured 136 convictions for arson. The work of the Municipal Commission on Explosives and the Bureau of Combustibles has increased notably because of the great constructive works calling for the use of dynamite and other high ex- plosives and the larger use of the inflammable products of petroleum. In the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx alone there are 23, 000 places selling or storing inflammable or explosive materials, and all are subject to inspection by the Department. The paid system has been carried intoRockaway Beach, Far Rock- away, Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Flushing and College Point in the Borough of Queens, reducing the number of volunteer companies to forty-two. Of the original fifty-seven volunteer companies in Richmond, only thirteen remain, the paid service being now general in that Bor- ough. Outside of Long Island City the Borough of Queens is pro- vided with a well-equipped fire alarm system which, under this admin- istration, has been extended into Bayside, Douglaston, Queens and Springfield, with a central station at Jamaica. Time off for the men has been increased, so that in addition to one day off in five each man has four additional leaves of twe lve- hours each month as well as his annual vacation. Considering the work of the uniformed men. their time off is well earned. GAS AND ELECTRICITY. Since January 1, 1904, the lighting of the City has been almost entirely changed. The first decided improvement was made in L904, w hen some 16,000 of the old gas lamps in Manhattan and The Bronx were changed to mantle lamps. A beginning w as also made in add- 35 ing to the arc lighting along the main streets. This was somewhat difficult on account of the high prices demanded, but early in 1905 prices were reduced by statute, and since then this work has gone on rapidly. In Manhattan the first section requiring complete electric lighting, on account of extreme congestion, was the lower East Side. This was accomplished in 1905 and 1906. Additional lighting was given to streets under elevated railroads and to the open spaces of the City where great assemblages frequently occur. The lighting at all main street car crossings was doubled and points of danger given special attention. In the northern part of Manhattan Island and in The Bronx, the lighting lines were extended with the growth of the population. Where these sections were at all congested they were treated as in Manhattan. In 1905 the scheme of lighting improvement was ex- tended to Brooklyn, and the same extensive changes made as in Man- hattan. The great area not yet settled in Brooklyn makes the ex- tension of lighting somewhat slow, because of the necessity of con- structing gas and electric mains. It has been closely followed up, however, and now even the remote sections, where inhabited, are well lighted. In 1906 the system was extended to Queens and work on similar lines begun in Richmond. Even more difficulty was met with in Queens on account of lack of gas and electric mains, so that many mantle naphtha lamps were used in place of them. Sections poorly lighted by sparse arc lights were relighted with mantle gas lamps, the distribution of light being greatly improved by this method. In the last year or two the new high efficiency electric incan- descent lamps have been used with great effect in this Borough. The greatly increased illuminating power of these lamps makes them pe- culiarly suitable for lighting along country roads, park avenues and sparsely inhabited sections. There are few places in the country 36 Bishop's Crook Post. Boulevard Gas Post. Lyre Top Post. TYPES OF POSTS USED IN STREET LIGHTING. where they have so rapidly come into use or where there are more of them. These lamps are now being installed in Richmond. Table Showing Lamps and Candle Power. January 1, 1904, and October 10, 1908. Number Free of Lamps Number Street Included of Estimated Sign in Other January 1, 1904. Lamps. C. P. Lamps. Column. Electric 16,704 0,002,900 fc92 89 Gas 41,694 967,864 1,404 Naphtha 4,058 130,392 Oil 100 1,200 Total 62,556 7,102,3.56 1,896 89 Number Free of Lamps Number Street Included of Estimated Sign in Other October 10, 1908. Lamps. C. P. Lamps. Column. Electric 20,414 8,401,030 185 Gas 43,892 2,627,232 Naphtha 4,047 242,244 Oil Total 68,353 11,270,506 185 Total increase. .. . 5,797 4,168,000 Total per cent, in- crease 9% 58% 37 The candle power given for the lamps of all kinds is as close an approximation of the actual as can be obtained: for instance, the i: minal 2,000 C. P. electric arc lamp is figured at -180 C. P. maximum. DEPARTM ENT OF HEALTH. Reduction of Death Rate. I i specially desire to call the attention of your Honorable Board to the \\<>rk of the Health Department during the past five years. There is no other department of the city government, the operations of which are of such vital concern to our people. Since 1903 the work of this Department has increased tremendously, but the results achieved more than justify the expenditures of money that have been made. As a matter of fact the money expended by the City in the maintenance of the Health Department has been a comparatively small factor in the results accomplished. It is to the unselfishness and devotion of the men I have been fortunate enough to have in com- mand in the Department of Health that the City owes the remarkable cr( ase in the death rate since 1903. To Dr. Darlington, Dr. Ben- sel and Dr. Biggs, New York owes a debt which it can never pay. In 1903 there were 997 employees in the Department of Health. There arc now 2.3.5 1 . This increase has been due to my determination to develop to the utmost, every possible line of work leading to the preservation of life and health in this city. For the first eleven months of the present year the death rate was the smallest ever known in our history. For the first eleven months of 1904 there were 71,725 deaths, a death rate of 20.06 per thousand. During the same period of time this year there were 67,311 deaths, a death rate of 16.60 per thousand, a decrease of 3.46 points. This tremendous saving of life will be bet- ter understood when I state that had the death rate of 1904 prevailed during the present year there would have been 15,302 more deaths dur- ing the last eleven months than occurred. It is only fair to the Tene- 38 menl House Department, the Charities Department, the Street Clean- ing Department and Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, to give each its share in this. The functions of these departments allie them closely with the Department of Health, and much of what the latter may ac- complish depends upon their efficient administration. In the face of such results as have heen shown, I do not believe that there can be any serious criticism of the large amounts of money appropriated for the work of these departments by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- ment. In connection with this saving of life I wish to call the atte ntion of your Honorable Board to the section added to the Sanitary Code in 1904 prohibiting the sale of carbolic acid in a stronger solution than 5 per cent. In 1903 there were 345 deaths in this City due to suicide by carbolic acid. These figures were startling enough to lead to an investigation by the Department of Health, the result of which was to convince the city physicians that some restriction on the sale of this poison would materially reduce the number of deaths of this character. Accordingly the addition to the sanitary code mentioned above was passed, and in 1904 the suicides by carbolic acid dropped to 294. In 1905 they dropped to 89, in 1906 to 73, in 1907 to 47, while during the first eleven months of the present year there were but 43. Tuberculosis. In the Department of Charities, the Department of Health and Bellevue and Allied Hospitals a constant war has been waged against tuberculosis, and the educational work that has been done, notably through the recent tuberculosis exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, has been of incalculable benefit to our people. Dr. Robert Koch who, in 1882, definitely placed tuberculosis in the group of infectious, communicable and preventable diseases, has recently paid our City one of the greatest compliments it lias ever re- 39 ceived. Eie stated that conditions in the campaign against tuber- culosis in \c\\ York City arc almost ideal. Through its different departments the City is making every pos- sible effort to provide adequate facilities for the care of tuberculosis patients and there are already nearly 3,500 beds available, supported wholly or Largely by the C ity. I call the attention of your Honorable Board to the fact that this is 25 per cent, of the hospital accommoda- tion for cases of tuberculosis in the entire United States. In November, 100.5, 1,300 acres of land at Otisville, Orange County, New York, were purchased by the City for use as a sana- torium for incipient cases of tuberculosis. It now has accommoda- tions for 250 patients, and it is our purpose to add 750 beds as soon as possible. It is estimated that these additional beds can be installed for $300,000, or $400 a bed. The cost per bed in public and private hos- pitals recently built in Xew York City is from $2,500 to $5,000. With these beds, the 200 beds in the Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island and the 1,500 additional beds in the sanatorium on Staten Island, now being erected by the Department of Charities, there will be in the entire United States about 16,500 beds exclusively for tuberculosis, of which this city will have 6,000, or about 36 per cent. The success of the Otisville Sanatorium has been demonstrated. During the two years of its existence there have been but two deaths from tuberculosis. Five hundred patients have been discharged, of w hom 20 per cent, have been completely cured, and in the remaining SO per cent, the disease has been completely arrested, so that in all cases al ter six months at Otisville the patients have been able to return to their families and their work, with comfort to themselves and safety to the communi ty. At the International Tuberculosis Congress recently held at Washington, this Sanatorium was awarded a silver medal for its high standard of excellence. At the same Congress gold medals 40 were awarded the Department for its method of supervision of tuber- culosis. Some idea of the extension of this work by the Department of Health may be gained from the fact that while in 1904 there were 16,971 specimens of sputum, examined for bacilli of tuberculosis, there were during the first eleven months of this year 26,793 such ex- aminations. In addition to this, clinics for the free treatment of tuberculosis have been opened in the Boroughs of .Manhattan. Brook- lyn and The Bronx. Contagious Diseases. In 1904, 7,790 patients ill with contagious diseases were treated at the hospitals of the Health Department. During the first eleven months of 1908, 10,090 such patients Avere treated. Because of the ac- commodation the City has been able to secure for these cases it has been possible to obtain more control of the spread of infection. Every ease of contagious disease that the City is able to care for means the re - moval of a case from a home, and the consequent elimination of the danger of the disease spreading. I deem it proper to call your atten- tion to the work along this line that has been done at the Kingston Avenue (Brooklyn), the Willard Parker and Riverside Hospitals. In the former we have installed the following improvements since 1904: A scarlet fever pavilion, a measles pavilion, a morgue, an in- cinerator building, two cold storage buildings, a stable, a disinfect ion station, a boiler house and a nurse's home. The improvements at the Riverside Hospital during this period are a disinfecting station at the foot of East One Hundred and Thirty-second street, a storehouse, a cold storage building, a laundry, a rest cure pavilion, a morgue, a dormitory, a solarium, isolation wards, a gas house and a nurse's home. At the Willard Parker Hospital the improvements are a scarlet fever pavilion, an administration building, a laboratory building, a store room and a refrigerating plant. 41 In 190(1 the Department launched the contagious diseases boat Riverside, which is the model craft of its kind in the world. This boai is used to transport patients between the Willard Parker and Riverside Hospitals, and is equipned with every prevention of in- fection known to medical science. It has wards for the sick, a special deck for convalescents and ample quarters for nurses and physicians. In spite of the large expenditures already made, still more accommo- dations are needed, and I believe that your Honorable Board will agree with me that unlimited provision should be made for this pur- pose. Two years ago Dr. Robert Gibson, a bacteriologist of the Health Department, perfected a method of concentration of diphtheria anti- toxin, which has been in use by the Department, and which has proved so valuable that it has now been adopted by all manufacturers, as well as by all the City and State laboratories in the United States, and is beginning to be used abroad. During the past year this method has been still further perfected by Dr. E. J. Banzhaf. These processes have been of great importance in the administration of antitoxin and reflect great credit upon the department. Milk Supply. The City of New York receives its supply of milk from six dif- ferent States: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. About 40,000 farms and dairies ship milk to the City. Before 1905 the control of the milk supply was purely local and consisted of the inspection of the shops where milk was sold at retail. Since that date a system of inspection of the farms and dairies has been instituted, with the result that no dairy or cream- cry can now ship milk to New York City unless it has conformed to the sanitary requirements of the Department of Health. The num- ber of inspectors of milk has been increased from seven, in 1903, to 42 in 1908, and will be still further increased this year. 42 School Inspection. The exclusion from school attendance of children suffering from contagious diseases has decreased from 65,294, in 1903, to 10,146, in 1907. This decrease is due to improved methods of the control of these diseases in the schools, and is largely the effect of the valuable work performed by the school nurses. In 1905 the system of the complete physical examination of each school child was instituted. Since that date 626,7»J7 children have been examined to determine the presence of non-contagious physical defects. Over 80 per cent, of the children examined have been found to be suffering from some physical abnormality. The nurses visit these children at their homes and instruct the parents in regard to the necessity of treatment. The system has been carried out in its present developed state only since the beginning of this school year, and it is yet too early to give definite data, but judging from the results already obtained, it would seem that this work is potentially one of the most im- portant ever undertaken in the line of preventive medicine. It is already looked upon as a model, not only in this country, but also by the cities of Europe. Mosquito Extermination — Staten Island. Since 1905 a vigorous campaign against mosquitoes has been waged on Staten Island by the Board of Health under the direction of Dr. Alvah H. Doty, Health Officer of the Tort. This warfare lias been conducted not only against the striped legged variety, which is most responsible for the great annoyance caused by this insect along the Atlantic Coast, but also against the inland mosquito, of which the " Anopheles," or malarial mosquito is the most dangerous. The work has been attended with the greatest success, especially that against the malarial mosquito. 43 In the year 1905, when the work was begun, 91 cases of malaria were reported on Staten Island. The following year 68 cases were reported. In 1907 there were but five cases, and last year but three cases. There is no doubt but what this remarkable falling off is due entirely to the work of the Department of Health in this Borough. In order to wipe out the breeding places of the striped-legged mosquito, an appropriation of $17,000 was made to the Department of Health in the latter part of 1905, and the draining of swamps was immediately begun. The winter of 1905-6 was very mild, and it was possible to continue the work without interruption. In sections along the edge of the swamps on the south side of the Island are many summer resorts, which prior to 1905, suffered severely from swarms of mosquitoes. At these places the results of drainage are very marked. The mosquitoes have practically disappeared. Equally good results were obtained in sections further in the interior. In 1907 an additional appropriation of $25,000 was granted for the work, and in November, 1908, Dr. Doty reported that the entire swamp land on Staten Island had been drained. All that is necessary now is to keep the ditches clean and free of driftwood, in order to allow of the proper discharge of their contents. Not only has this work destroyed the breeding places of the mos- quitoes, but it has also reclaimed the land for building and agricul- tural purposes, as shown by the fact that during the last year the salt- water hay found on these swamps, which is worth from $7 to $8 a ton, was harvested. In all, some 600 miles of ditches have been dug, and from ten to twelve square miles of swamp land drained during the past three years. The war against the malarial mosquito was also conducted vigor- ously. Thirty thousand circulars were distributed throughout the Island during 1906 and 1907 explaining how the breeding places of these pests might be located and destroyed. The Department had the 44 active co-operation of the people of the Borough. No such remark- able falling off in malaria as the direct result of a crusade against mosquitoes has ever been reported by any community. The figures which I have given do not, of course, include the cases received at the Marine Hospital at Stapleton, all of which were re- moved from incoming vessels, and cannot, therefore, be credited to the Borough. Dr. Doty assures me that there is no doubt of the ultimate com- plete extermination of the malarial mosquito on Staten Island. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CHARITIES. The past five years have seen progress of a most gratifying nature made in this Department. Improved methods of operation have been introduced, and many new buildings have been erected, until to-day it is one of the best equipped departments of the city government, both in plant and personnel. Not only has Commissioner Hebberd arranged adequately to meet the demands of the present time, but also the demands of the future. For the first time we have to-day a topographical survey of Blackwell's Island, and the maps and plans that have bee n made, looking to the ultimate development of the Island as a hospital park, have been approved by the Art Commission. When these plans are carried to consummation, I question if any municipality in the world will have a hospital park approaching it in location and facilities. Like surveys have been made of other properties, and this method will, I feel sure, be a big element in the upbuilding of this most im- portant Department, and in helping us to avoid tin wasteful, mi- business-like and unscientific practice of previous years whereby structures differing widely in architectural form as well as in color and material, have been placed haphazard without study of future growth or needs. 45 Proper provision for the housing of doctors, nurses, orderlies and other employees is essential to proper administration in a Depart- ment. Eight hundred and eighteen such employees are now being cared for in this manner. In addition, the equipment has been greatly improved, particularly in the boat and ambulance service and by the installation of fire-fighting apparatus. The dietary of each institu- tion has also been improved, and the examination of food supplies made more rigid than ever. The subsidiary accounts of the Department, which in previous years were a source of much scandal, have been carefully safe-guarded through the employment of bonded clerks, improvement in the system of bookkeeping, and more frequent inspection of the Auditing De- partment. Through the generosity of Mrs. Russell Sage the income of $300,000 is being used to build up the very important pathological work of the City Hospital and the City Home, Manhattan. Blackweli/s Island. At the City Hospital a new staff house, a superintendent's resi- dence, a large kitchen, dining-room and service building, a new power house, a female helpers' dormitory, and a kitchen and dining-room building at the Nurses' Home, have been added. With the removal of the penitentiary as planned, a large additional area of ground will be given over to the purposes of this hospital. Through the acquisi- tion of a new pier at the foot of East Fifty-third Street, on the grade level, taking the place of the pier at East Fifty-second Street, which was reached by a long flight of stairs, and the construction of a new waiting room, the approach to the hospital ferry has been greatly im- proved. At the Metropolitan Hospital a new building, with a capacity for over a hundred nurses, has been added to the plant, while the present nurses' home has been enlarged by the construction of a commodious 46 wing. Beside these improvements, a male helpers' dormitory and a kitchen and dining-room building has been .added to the equipment of the Tuberculosis Infirmary. The construction of two new tubercu- losis hospital pavilions at this institution has been authorized at a cost of $480,000, while the power plant and the laundry are being ex- tended at an approximate expense of $150,000. A contract has been let for the construction of a new staff house at this hospital, and the erection of a new morgue and pathological building has also been authorized. Contracts have been let for the preliminary work necessary for the lighting of all the hospitals on Blackwell's Island by electricity. The City Home for the Aged and Infirm has also been the seen of extensive improvements. Xew reception pavilions for male and female inmates, with extensive bathing and fumigating apparatus, arc- now ready for occupancy, a new operating pavilion is completed, while a new neurological hospital building and a day room, w hich h is been greatly needed for years, are in course of construction. As so m as these buildings are ready the fire risk will be minimized through the destruction of old wooden buildings which have been in use Tor many years. Randall's Island. At the children's hospitals and schools two new isolation build- ings have been added, thereby helping to control the occasional out- breaks of contagious diseases among the children, while five thor- oughly equipped toilet towers have been raided to as many buildings in which the feeble-minded and the epileptic receive care. The dormitory for male helpers on this Island, in which the em- ployees slept in cells, has been entirely reconstructed by remo^ ing the cells, substituting beds and making other change s and improvements. Plans have also been prepared for the construction of a new nurses home in connection with the Children's Hospital. A new dock has 47 been acquired at the foot of East One Hundred and Twentieth Street for the ferry to Randall's Island. Inasmuch as the State proposes to lake the feeble-minded and epileptic inmates of the Randall's Island institutions to the new State Colony near ThehTs, in Rockland County, and to remove the inmates of the House of Refuge on Ran- dall's Island to a proposed new institution near Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, it has been thought best to move slowly in the matter of expenditures for construction. There is no reason, in my opinion, why. in course of time, Randall's Island should not be de- veloped into a beautiful park for the sick children of the poor. Borough of Manhattan. The new Municipal Lodging House on East Twenty-fifth Street, the construction of which has been delayed through serious engineering difficulties, is nearing completion. It will provide ac- commodation for as many as 1,000 homeless men and women, with every convenience for bathing and fumigation. It will be the most complete building of its kind ever erected, and a valuable and unpre- cedented contribution to the humanities, as well as the sanitation of the City. Borough of Brooklyn. In this Borough the Department now has its own office build- ing. In it are housed the general borough officers, the Bureau of De- pendent Adults, and the Children's Bureau. The new Coney Island Hospital, which will be the first general public hospital constructed in the Borough for many years, is rapidly approaching completion. It has a bed capacity of 100, and can readily and economically be en- larged so as to provide for double that number. It has, in addition to the main building, a new nurses' home and separate quarters for the male and female help. In connection with this hospital, to pro- vide for future extension, real property to the extent of twenty acres has been acquired on the Ocean Parkway. 48 For the new Bradford Street Hospital a site has been purchased and plans are now in course of completion for the- hospital building, the construction of which, at a cost of $2.50,000, 1ms been author- ized. At the Kings County Hospital, Flatbush, a new psychopathic pavilion and a new Nurses' Home have been erected, and a morgue and pathological building are in course of construction. Plans have also been prepared and the means provided for the addition of a new wing to the hospital itself. All of these improvements will add greatly to the facilities of this institution. Borough of Richmond. In this Borough, what I regard as one of the greatest works ever undertaken by the Department of Charities, is now we ll under way. I refer to the new Sea View Sanatorium. This work was considerably delayed by court proceedings, but the contracts for six of the eight pavilions have been let at a cost of $873,000. and it is expected that some of these pavilions will be so far advanced in construction that they can be roofed over before the work is discontinued for the winter. This great tuberculosis sanatorium, which will equal in design and equipment any ever constructed, will ultimately provide effective c are for 1,500 patients. The Department has also obtained a pier at Mariner's Harbor, and has built three new cottages for the care of the poor, and a new dormitory of thirty beds for the use of male employees. Present Conditions. As a result of the work of the past live years it may be stated that the Department of Public Charities is in plant, equipment and administration, in better condition than ever before in its history. The institutions of this Department are subject to the constitu- tional supervision of the State Board of Charities, whose report for 49 1907 contains the following statement with relation to the improve- ments that have heen made: " In conclusion, your Commissioner wishes to emphasize his satis- faction at the generous consideration given by the administration of Mayor McClellan to the request for the appropriations for new build- ings, for improvements, and for more adequate maintenance made by the Commissioner of Public Charities. The results are most marvel- ous. Should reasonable applications yet to be made by this Depart- ment of The City Government within the next few years meet with the same favorable action by the Mayor and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the reproach which has so long been laid at the door of our City that it has neglected its sick poor while spending lavishly for other purposes, will be removed and our citizens enabled to ' point with pride ' to well-planned and maintained public hospitals and homes, as for a generation they have called attention to the excellence of many of the charitable institutions supported by private benevo- lence." BELLEVUE AND ALLIED HOSPITALS. It has been the policy of this administration to keep the work of these hospitals up to the very highest point of efficiency, and under the energetic direction of Dr. Brannan, this has been possible without any extraordinary expenditure of money. There are no similar in- stitutions in the city the work of which is so close to the mass of our people, and it should be a matter of pride to us all to note what has been accomplished during the past five years in this field of municipal activity. First in importance are the new buildings which have been erected. These are Harlem and Fordham Hospitals, opened on May 1, 1907; a new wing at Gouverneur Hospital, opened in the fall of 1907; Pavilions A and B of the new Bellevue Hospital, opened on ]S T ovem- 50 ber 4 last, and the new Training School For Nurses at Bellevue, which will be opened in February. The Harlem and Fordham Hospitals accommodate L50 patients each, the new wing at Gouverneur Hospital accommodates 63 patients and Pavilions A and B, at Bellevue, 397 patients, a net increase of 660 beds. In addition to the completion of the two pavilions at Bellevue, the new pathological department and the dormitory for men employees are well advanced and will be completed next summer. Contracts have also been awarded for a new boiler house and a coaling station. The bulkhead wall under construction by the Department of Docks and Ferries is being pushed rapidly and will shortly add two and one-half acres to the grounds of the hospital. The new building for the training school of women nurses at Bellevue is practically completed. It will accommodate 300 nurses. Plans for a training school at Harlem Hospital have also been pre- pared. Upon the opening of the Harlem and Fordham Hospitals, the nursing of patients, which was formerly furnished by the training school of the City Hospital, was assumed by this department. Owing to the impossibility of procuring pupil nurses it was necessary to appoint graduate nurses at a salary of $600 a year. Later, a course in post-graduate nursing was established and the majority of the graduate nurses have now been replaced by post-graduate nurses at a salary of $300 a year. Considerable attention has been given during the five years to the rules and regulations affecting the medical service of the depart- ment. A rule has been adopted requiring professional experience varying from three to ten years in all appointees to the \ isiting staff, also a rule requiring the presence of a visiting or assistant visiting surgeon at all operations involving genera] anaesthesia. 51 The most important improvements in the administration of the department are the appointment of four paid admitting physicians at Bellevue to examine all applicants for admission, the appointment of two trained nurses to devote their entire time to investigating the needs and home conditions of patients about to leave the hospital, in order to supply needed relief, through the co-operation of philan- thropic societies and from a fund established by voluntary contribu- tions: the establishment of day camps aboard the disused ferryboats "Southfield" and "Westfield," for patients suffering from tuberculosis; the supplying of tooth brushes to all patients in the hospitals of the department, and the appointment of forty dentists at Bellevue to care for and treat the defective teeth of patients, particularly children. A new system of recording cases has been prepared by the Medi- cal Board, a system that has since been adopted by many of the lead- ing hospitals throughout the country. It is also gratifying to note that the nomenclature established by the Medical Board of Bellevue has been made national in its application through its adoption by the authorities in Washington. A volume of medical and surgical reports of cases treated in the hospital which have special scientific interest lias been prepared by members of the visiting staff and published. Four additional volumes are now in course of preparation. It is proposed to establish a neuro-psychiatric department, in which the patients suffering from mild mental disease and functional nervous diseases will be grouped. It is planned to place the alcoholic service also in this department. This grouping will enable the physicians who are skilled in mental diseases to separate those patients in whom alcoholism is an expression of a mental illness from the wilful and habitual drunkards, enabling the former to receive the scientific treatment which they require, and prevent imposition on the city by the latter class. 52 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. New York City is traditionally liberal in the matter of public education. During the past five years the demands on if for this pur- pose have grown at a greater rate than ever before in our history. It has been the constant aim of the Board to return to the community, not only in facilities for obtaining education, but in actual education, full value for every dollar expended. As Mayor of the city, I am very proud of what has been accomplished in this direction during the past five years. There is no such thing as being satisfied with the work of a department of this character, for, with a population which grows like ours, there is always more to be done. Bui the record is an excellent one, as the statistics which I have the honor to place before you show. Since 1904, the new sites acquired number 17 ( .>. not including 11 sites authorized to be acquired. Ninety-six new buildings and L34 additions to existing buildings have been erected in this time, pro- viding 226,552 sittings. In addition to this, 14 new buildings and 14 additions, providing 45,380 sittings, are under contract. On June 30, 1904, there were 501 schools under the jurisdiction of the Department. On September 30 last there were 522 schools. This apparent inconsistency with the above statement of new buildings opened is due to the consolidation of schools and the abandonment of many of the old and smaller buildings. Statistics of School Attendan< r. 1903- 1904- 1905- IQ06- 1907- 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1 908. 622.201 655-503 680.322 695.614 7l6 ? 005 466,571 487,005 505,827 5 -'3,084 545,093 19-330 20.770 -'1.403 2 2.03 1 25.264 Average register in training schools 75S 8)9 1.217 1.463 1,713 Average register in elementary schools. . 496.925 515,526 529.81 1 550.-174 569,782 13,645 13.00 15,609 16.785 20 >8j On January 31, 1904, there were 75,460 pupils on part time in the city. On June 30 last there were 55,965. In this connection I wish (o state that a school day for part time pupils is 3% hours, while the regular school day is 5 hours. Ten evening high schools and 6.5 evening elementary schools were operated in the season of 1903-1904. This season 15 high and 8.5 elementary evening schools are in operation. In addition, the Board has continued the vacation schools, vacation playgrounds, even- ing recreation centres, open air playgrounds, afternoon roof play- grounds, evening roof playgrounds, piers, baths, kindergarten centres, etc. The number of lecture centres has been increased from 143 in 1904 to 178 in c 1908 and the number of lectures delivered from 4,665 to 5.572. The attendance at these lectures has grown in proportion. Xew buildings for the New York Training School for Teachers and the Brooklyn Training School for Teachers were opened in 1907. In 1906, the State Normal School, located at Jamaica, was taken over by the Board of Education, and is now the Jamaica Training School for Teachers. Among the important buildings opened since 1904 are: DeWitt Clinton High School, Manhattan, opened 1906. Stuyvesant High School, Manhattan, opened 1907. Manual Training High School, Brooklyn, opened 1905. Commercial High School, Brooklyn, opened 1906. Erasmus Hall High School (part), Brooklyn, opened 1906. Eastern District High School, Brooklyn, opened 1907. Bryant High School, Long Island City, Queens, opened 1904. Curtis High School, New Brighton, Richmond, opened 1904. A site For a new building for the Washington Irving High School, on Irving place, East Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets, was acquired in 1906 and 1907. 54 V TYPES OF MODERN SCHOOLS. Public School No. 66, Eighty-eighth Street, near First Avenue, Manhattan. A site for a supply depository building on First avenue. East Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth streets, was acquired in 1 ( .)()7. A site for a new high school in Brooklyn, on Irving and Putnam avenues, was obtained in 1908 through the co-operation of the Depart- ment of Parks. A site for a parental school was acquired in 1904, and the build- ings are far advanced toward completion. In 190.5 a beginning was made in the establishment of classes for crippled children, and in the following year two schools for crippled children established as private institutions were taken charge of by the Board. In 1907 the Board secured from the Xavy Department the loan of the gunboat "Newport" as a training ship for the New York Nautical School, to take the place of the antiquated "'St. Mary's." The first public school for deaf mutes in this city was opened in September, 1908. A special school for backward and defective children was estab- lished in Public School 120, Manhattan, in 1906. In 1905, special attention having been directed to the physical condition of the public school children, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, on the request of the Board of Education, authorized the issue of Corporate Stock to the amount of $.500,000 for the acqui- sition, construction and improvement of sites for four athletic fields. In that year and the following year sites were purchased as follow s: Adjoining the Curtis High School. Richmond (Curtis Athletic Field) ; on Avenues K and L, East Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets, Brooklyn (Brooklyn Athletic Field) ; on Orchard and Munson streets and East River, Astoria, Queens (Astoria Athletic Field). In The Bronx a plot of land in Crotona Park was assigned by the Park De- partment to the Board of Education for the Crotona Athletic Field; The work of erecting a grandstand has been completed at the Curtis 55 Field, is nearly completed at the Astoria Field, and is well advanced at the Crotona Field. All of the athletic fields, with the exception of the one last named, have been in active use for some time. The cost of the athletic fields with their equipment was $369,0*21). OS. leaving a balance of $130,970.92. The Third Biennial School Census was taken in October, 1906, showing 953,485 children between the ages of five and eighteen, of whom 557.368 attended public schools and 131,044 other than public schools; the number of truants reported was only 411. DEPARTMENT OF BRIDGES. Municipal Office Building. I regard the erection of the new municipal office building, which is part of the general scheme of extension of the Manhattan terminal of the Brooklyn Bridge, as one of the most important projects the City has ever undertaken. This building is to cost approximately $8,000,000 and when completed will house almost all of the City de- partments. The various departments which it has been decided to place in this building are to-day paying $453,593.46 annual rental. Xot only will this rental be saved each year but it is calculated that ample accommodation will be found in the building for many of the principal courts. It is too early to say just how large a saving will be accomplished, but it may be possible to care for so many of the courts that the construction of a new court-house will be unnecessary. The Commissioner of Bridges, under chapter 670, Laws of 1907, was authorized, subject to the approval of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, to provide for the erection of the municipal build- ing upon land already acquired for the extension of the Manhattan terminal of the Brooklyn Bridge. In my annual message to your Honorable Board two years ago I recommended that all architectural work outside of the minor work of City departments, be awarded after 56 NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING. As it will appear from Chambers Street, west of Broadway. McKim, Mead & White, Architects. competition, the contestants to select their own juries. This plan w as followed with most satisfactory results in the case of the municipal building. On December 12, 1907, the conditions governing the competition were issued to the competitors. These conditions required the design of an office building, not less than twenty stories high, to be located on the plot of land, included in the blocks bounded by Park row. Duane street, Centre street and Tryon row, Chambers street, from Park row to Centre street, passing through the building. Twelve designs were submitted by the competitors on April 15, 1908. These designs were carefully reviewed by the jury already selected by the competitors themselves. Early in May the jury selected the design of McKim, Mead & White. The design selected is for a twenty-five-story building, sur- mounted by a tower ten stories in height. The total height of the building, including the tower, will be 5.59 feet, the third highest oilier building in the City. Immediately after the selection of the architect the development of detail plans was begun. On May 22 the Board of Estimate au- thorized an issue of $2,700,000 of Corporate Stock to defray the cos1 of the foundations of the building and to pay the architects' fees. The general plans of the building were approved by the Art Commission June IT. By October 16 the plans, specifications and a form of contract for the foundations had been prepared in detail and approved by the Board of Estimate, and on November 12, bids for the construction of the foundations of the building were advertised for. These bids were opened on December 3 and a contract subsequently awarded. The plans for the building proper are being rapidly developed and it is expected to let a contract for the steel frame, shell, and all the plumbing and piping of the building in the spring. 57 The Brooklyn Bridge. Since 11)04 there has been a steady increase in both the trolley and elevated railroad service on this bridge. The growth in the capacity of the trolley service since 1003 is shown by a day's record in each of the years from 1903 to 1908, inclusive: 1903 1904 1905 1908 1907 1908 Cars 3,807 3,840 3,972 3,99.5 4,29.5 4,332 During this period the number of trolley cars operated across the bridge during the rush hours has been increased from 220 an hour in 1904, to as high as 347 an hour in 1908. As the result of the construc- tion of a steel viaduct across Sands street, Brooklyn, which was put in operation on September 28 last, the running time of trolley cars across the bridge has been cut down 33 per cent. The work of extending the Manhattan station across Park row to secure greater train accommodation, was started in 1907. On January 27 last, the operation of through elevated railroad trains at all hours of the day was begun, and six-car trains have since been operated during the morning and evening rush hours. The conse- quent retirement of the bridge local trains has eliminated the change of cars and stair-climbing at the Brooklyn end, and the crush and congestion during the evening rush hours at the Park Bow station. We are now operating 388 cars each rush hour in the elevated service, as against a limit of 268 cars an hour in 1905. Seven plat- forms are now used in loading and unloading in place of the single one used in 190.5, while the operation of trains is safeguarded by the most improved electric signal system known. It was distinctly under- stood at the time of the erection of this temporary terminal that it was to be removed as soon as the subway loop was completed, and this understanding still holds. 58 Warren & Wetmore, Architects Warren & Wetmore, Architects. The Williamsburgh Bridge. On January 1, 1904, neither the elevated nor surface car tracks had been laid on the Williamsburgh Bridge, although the bridge had been officially declared open. Contracts were at once made for this purpose, and traffic agreements were entered into with the Brooklyn companies for the operation of cars on the southerly tracks to the station in New York, and with the New York Company for the opera- tion of cars on the northerly tracks to the Plaza at the Brooklyn end. On November 3, 1904, the Brooklyn cars commenced operation, and on February 9, 190.5, the Fourteenth Street and Eighth Street lines of the New York Company were started, followed by the Grand Street line on November 28, 1905, the Fourth Avenue line on January 28, 1907, and the Post Office line on June 7, 1908. On June 30, 1906, the Manhattan terminal of the Brooklyn trolley lines was increased to double its original capacity, and on May 18, 1908, the new subway station, containing eight loops, was opened. This subway station was started and completed during the present administration. The growth of traffic on this bridge is shown by the fact that the daily average for both ways in 1905 was 10.5,182 passengers, while during 1908 it was 177,736. Of this latter number, 45,113 were daily carried on the elevated railroad, trains over which were first run on September 16 last, on the opening of the Subway station at the Man- hattan end, now used for both trolley and elevated trains. With the improvements now completed and available, the bridge can take care of a traffic of 125,000 people an hour in one direction on its elevated and surface car tracks. The traffic now carried during an entire day could almost be transported either way over the bridge in a single hour with the capacity put to its full use. The Subway station furnished accommodations for eight car elevated railroad trains. It has eight trolley loops, with separate entrances and exits to each of the trolley lines and elevated railroad platforms. It is a 59 durable structure and the most commodious of its kind in the country. Jt has been designed so as to form a part of any subway system con- necting with or using the bridge as a part of its route. The Queensboro Bridge. This bridge will certainly be opened early this year. The contract for the superstructure was let in November, 1903. It called for a cantilever bridge with a roadway and four trolley tracks on the lower deck, and two elevated tracks and two foot walks on the upper deck. In December, 1904, the contract was changed to provide for four tracks on the upper deck. After the collapse of the Quebec bridge, also a cantilever bridge, questions were raised in the engineering profession as to whether cantilever bridges were being built with a proper margin of safety. The subject was freely discussed in the public prints, and the Bridge Commissioner, with my approval, retained William H. Burr and Boiler & Hodge, to make reports on all features pertaining to the Queensboro Bridge. The reports have been made public and as a re- sult of them, it is deemed expedient to use but two of the tracks on the upper deck. This has made necessary certain changes and the bridge, when opened, will have the same capacity as the Williamsburgh Bridge, 125,000 passengers an hour. The bridge will immediately be of great public benefit. It will be the gateway through which the farmers of Long Island will bring their produce to the markets of Manhattan, and will also open a thoroughfare for the merchants of Manhattan to send their wares to liOng Island. Freight from all parts of the country will be delivered to Manhattan from the Sunnyside Yard of the Pennsylvania Rail- road, which is at the Long Island City terminus of the bridge. The bridge will probably be used to as great, and probably greater ex- tent for automobile traffic than any other like thoroughfare in the 60 world. I expect the manufacturing industries of Queens to be greatly benefited by the opening of the bridge, as a considerable portion of the vast undeveloped area of the Borough of Queens, convenient to the bridge, is particularly adaptable to manufacturing enterprises. The Manhattan Bridge. This bridge, it is now believed, will be completed late in 1909 or early in 1910. Litigation held up the contract for the steel super- structure from 1901 to 1906. In June of the latter year, however, the contract was entered into, and of the 2.5,000,000 pounds of steel re- quired for the towers, all but 600,000 pounds have been erected. All of the 37,888 wires required in the four cables have been taken from tower to tower and assembled into completed strands. The cables will be fully completed early this year. The 38,000,000 pounds of steel required for the suspended spans has been manufactured and delivered. The erection of this steel is now under way, and the construction of the approaches is progressing rapidly. Studies have been made for terminals for the bridge, but the Bridge Department cannot definitely complete the plans until the Public Service Commission and the Board of Estimate determine how the transit facilities for the bridge are to be used. The bridge will provide for four railway tracks on the lower or roadway floor, and four railway tracks over these on the upper deck. There will be a roadway for vehicles on the lower floor about 35 feet wide, and two footwalks on the same level. With the bridge used to its fullest capacity for railroad traffic, it will be possible to carry across 175,000 passengers per hour each way. The Henry Hudson Memorial Bridge. This bridge, the plans and specifications for which are in course of preparation, will be a reinforced concrete structure about 3,000 61 feet in length. An arch, having a clear span of 703 feet, will form the central part of the bridge. This span will be over twice as long as any other masonry span ever constructed. It will have a clear height of 183 feet above high water. This bridge, with its open roadway and 80-foot wide walks, and its lower deck with four tracks suitable for either heavy trains or trolley cars, will lend itself to any scheme of transportation develop- ment, without impairing the beauty of the architectural effect which has been attained in the design. It is proposed to lay out parks and parkways as approaches and embellishments to the structure. It is also intended to extend Riverside Drive to connect with the bridge, and in this way with the extensive parkway system of The Bronx. Other Bridges. In the enthusiasm over the completion of the great bridges across the East River, we are apt to overlook the large number of smaller bridges which have been built during the past five years across the City's navigable streams. These bridges, however, are not only of great importance to the sections in which they are located, but to the entire City. The Vernon Avenue bridge over Newtown Creek, connecting Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, with Vernon Avenue, Queens, was opened in 1905. It is one of the largest Bascule bridges in the conn- try, its double leaf lifts, having a water span of 172 feet. It is 1,699 feet long and 40 feet wide, has a double railroad track, two sidewalks, each eight feet w ide, and cost $1,250,000. It is electrically operated and can be opened and closed in 90 seconds. The bridge has been a great factor in the development of this sec- tion of the City. The pedestrian travel is in excess of that over either the Brooklyn or Williamsburgh bridges, and at the present time ap- proximately 2,500 vehicles, not including trolley cars, cross the bridge 62 each day. When the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels are completed and the Sunnyside Yard development finished, this bridge will be the direct means of access to them from Brooklyn. The Flushing Bridge, across Flushing C reek, opened in 1906, is also destined to play an important part in the development of Queens, as it is on the main line of travel between the Queensboro Bridge and all points on the north shore of Long Island. It was designed with a view to accommodating the large volume of traffic which will find its way over the Queensboro Bridge. In May last a new bridge across Dutch Kills, known as the Borden Avenue Bridge, was opened. This bridge also is on the main line of travel between the Queensboro Bridge and the roadway sys- tem of Long Island. The section contiguous to this bridge is being rapidly developed. The Ship Canal Bridge, which carries Broadway across the canal at Two Hundred and Twenty-second Street, was reconstructed and open for traffic in January, 190.5. The University Heights Bridge across the Harlem River, con- necting the University Heights section of The Bronx with Manhattan, was opened for traffic just a year ago. It is an important feature of the development of this section of the City, as the Manhattan approach practically runs up to the Two Hundred and Seventh Street station of the Broadway branch of the Manhattan-Brooklyn Subway system. The new Pelham Bay Bridge over Eastchester Bay. was opened in October last, and is of general value to the community, as it is along the Eastern Boulevard, which joins the Boston Post Road at New Rochelle, from which point begins the main line of travel to New England. A new bridge across the Harlem River, connecting One Hundred and Forty-fifth Street, Manhattan, with One Hundred and Forty- ninth Street. Bronx, was opened in August. 1 00.5. 63 In March, L905, four new bascule, or lift bridges were opened across Gowanus C anal. Brooklyn, one at Hamilton Avenue, one at Ninth Street, one at Third Street and one at Union Street. A new IMadison Avenue Bridge is now in course of construction across the Harlem River at One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street. Two sets of railroad tracks will be placed on the roadway of this bridge. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIOX. The Xew Penitentiary. More than two-thirds of the corporate stock authorized for the Department of Correction during this administration will go toward the construction of the new penitentiary on Riker's Island. It will provide for 2,000 men and 500 women prisoners, and will be the largest institution of its kind in this country. The concrete prison wall, twenty-eight feet high, will inclose nearly twenty acres, covering nearly all the north end of the original island. The architects spent a year in the study of the best designed and best conducted prisons of America and Europe, and it is believed that the result will represent the highest type of prison that the science of criminology has de- veloped. Every provision for the keeping of discipline and health has been considered. The men's prison consists of four wings placed in the form of a cross, of which the intersection is the central guardhouse. The wings are oriented in such a manner that each side of each wing is exposed to the sun at some time in the day, and a free circulation of air is assured. Each wing is composed of four tiers of cells, and each tier contains two parallel ranges of sixty-two cells, separated by a utility corridor. In front of the cells a gallery five feet wide, for the use of pris- oners, is enclosed in a burglar-proof steel grating, and outside of this is an open gallery for the guards. 64 All the cell doors are controlled at one point at the head of each cell wing, in such a manner that all the doors or any one door or group of doors may be opened and closed at will by a single guard. The mess hall is 125 by 100 feet under one roof, without columns or other obstructions to the view of the guard, and is capable of seat- ing 2,000 prisoners at one time. The workshops have been designed upon the most modern prin- ciples, the architects having studied the buildings of the great indus- trial plants of this country. Each shop is placed with its main axis north and south, so as to secure sunlight and air at all times during the day. Electric power will be supplied to the shops from the central power plant. The prison for women is similar in principle to that for men, ex- cept that the chapel will be placed above the mess hall. There will be separate hospitals for men and women. Biker's Island, by its location, assures to the penitentiary the most perfect hygienic conditions. The plan of the prison buildings will fully meet the two essential requirements of health and of economic supervision and control. The City of New York will have, not only the largest, but the most perfect institution for the care and cure of criminals. The prison will cost $2,250,000. DOCKS AND FERRIES. Before the close of the year 1909 it is expected that the great transatlantic lines will move from their present piers and be con- centrated in the half mile of water front extending south from West Twenty-third Street on the North Biver, and known as the Chelsea Section. The lines which will be accommodated within this section include the Cunard Steamship Company, the Compagnie Generale 65 Transatlantique, together with the lines of the International Mer- cantile Marine, viz.. White Star, Red Star, American and Atlantic Transport Lines. These rentals will increase the City's revenue $560,000 a year. The piers which these companies will vacate have been leased at rentals which will accrue to the City an advance of $93,327 per annum over the rental now paid. Along the Chelsea Section a marginal street 250 feet wide has been made, and at the north end, at the foot of West Twenty-third street, a magnificent wide approach has been completed leading to the ferries of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, Delaware, Lackawanna and West- ern Railroad Company, the Erie Railroad Company and the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. These railroad companies have im- proved the property leased to them by the City by building an entire new system of ferry slips and ferry houses, containing eight slips and covering about 1,000 feet. An effort was made to secure the consent of the Secretary of War to an extension of the pierhead line north of West Twenty-fourth Street, which would have made it possible to in- crease the length of piers to 800 feet. This request was not granted. The Brooklyn water front from Twenty-eighth Street to Thirty- sixth Street has been bought by the City, and plans have been pre- pared for eight modern steamship piers which will be the largest in the City, the smallest being about 1,200 feet long, and the longest being about 1,800 feet. (The longest pier in the Chelsea Section is 825 feet). The preliminary work of dredging for these piers has been contracted for and is now in progress, and the channel now being dredged to a depth of forty feet by the United States Government in front of these piers, will give convenient access thereto and provide accommodation for the largest steamers now afloat or contemplated. In addition, 422 feet of water front has been purchased between Fifty-ninth and Sixty-first Streets, South Brooklyn, for develop- ment for commercial use. 66 In conjunction with the Department of Highways, an exterior street has been begun between Sixty-fourth and Eighty-first Streets, East River, a distance of 4,606 feet, of which 812 feet of the sea w all is complete and in use. This improvement will permit the use of the water front between these points now cut off by the bluffs on the banks of the river, and outlets will be provided at various streets so as to make it readily accessible for vehicles. The work of building the new sea wall between Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Streets, East River, and the filling in in the rear thereof is being advanced rapidly. It is expected that in the Fall of 1909 the entire new area thus made will be turned over to the authori- ties for the extensive improvements contemplated for the Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. About 8,800 feet of wall has been built around the easterty end of Riker's Island, forming a basin within which the Department of Street Cleaning is depositing the City's refuse. When this filling is completed, about 150 acres of made land belonging to the City will be available for use. At North Brother Island about 1,900 feet of concrete retaining wall has been built, in the rear of which it is intended to deposit filling in a manner similar to that at Riker's Island. These four acres of made land is designed for the use of the Department of Health. A lease has been made to the Central Railroad of New Jersey of land under water easterly of Third Avenue in the Borough of the Bronx for a freight terminal. At this end of the Harlem River are now clustered the freight yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Com- pany, the Erie Railroad Company, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, part of which are iocated upon private property and part leased from the City. The 67 Department has recommended that Congress be asked to provide a navigable channel commencing at a point about opposite One Hun- dred and Twenty-fifth Street, Harlem River, and extending along the northerly side of Randall's Island. At the present time this passage is not navigable, but if this improvement could be effected, a shorter route will be furnished to vessels plying between the Hudson and Harlem Rivers and Long Island Sound, and the probabilities of dis- aster in the vicinity of Hell Gate would be lessened by affording ves- sels a direct instead of a circuitous route around Ward's Island, where strong currents are encountered. This would also save a distance of three and one-half miles, to say nothing of lessening the congestion at the freight terminals in the lower part of Manhattan Island. Five new ferryboats have been built for the Staten Island Ferry service, at a cost of $1,750,000, the boats being named after the five Boroughs comprising Greater New York. For the service to Thirty- ninth Street, Brooklyn, three ferryboats were constructed, the " Gowanus," " Nassau " and " Bay Ridge," and plans for three more ferryboats to be used in the extension of the Municipal Ferry service are being prepared. The dilapidated ferry structures at the Manhattan end of the old Staten Island Ferry have been removed and two new ferry slips with a temporary waiting room completed. The permanent ferry house, which will cost about $464,000, was begun in August last. It is designed to form a part of a uniform structure extending from the Governor's Island Ferry slip to Broad Street, a distance of 627 feet. This house will be a notable addition to the public buildings of the City, and is so designed as to provide a ferry terminal with a recreation structure on the roof for public use. Three new ferry slips at the St. George terminal, begun in 190,5, were, together with the steam rail- road terminal and the trolley line platform, finished in 1907 at a cost 6S of about $583,000. The new permanent ferry house, consisting of a two-story structure with an extensive concourse and unloading plat- form, has been built at a cost of about $600,000, and, in conjunction with the President of the Borough of Richmond, a road is being built from the ferry to Jay Street, St. George. This will overcome the grade now encountered in reaching the street system of Staten Island from the ferry terminal. In consequence of its isolated location, a comprehensive high pres- sure salt water fire service, operated with electric turbine pumps, has been installed, affording protection to the terminal platforms. At the foot of Canal Street, Stapleton, a new ferry slip with ap- purtenant platforms has been built, a temporary ferry house erected and plans for a permanent ferry house prepared. Between Whitehall and Broad Streets — the site of the old Thirty-ninth Street Ferry — three new ferry slips have been built and a permanent ferry house, which will cost about $648,000, is well advanced to completion. At the Brooklyn terminal ferry structures with two slips have been finished. As a more expeditious service is expected in the case of the operation of ferries by the City, it was found necessary to place the structures a considerable distance out- shore from the old location; and the scarcity of material suitable for filling-in purposes, together with the failure of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company to extend its service outshore, has been the cause of much complaint among the patrons of this ferry. Recently the rail- road company has been urged to use the track siding on the north side of the ferry premises so as to bring passengers nearer the ferry house, and the question of extending the tracks on a loop in front of the new ferry building when the filling-in is completed has been taken up. The receipts of the Staten Island Ferry under municipal opera- tion, as compared with the last year of its private ownership, showed 69 an increase of 24 per cent., and in the case of the South Brooklyn Ferry an increase of 18 per cent. The receipts of the Staten Island Ferry for 1907, as compared with 1906, show an increase of $59,000, while the receipts from the South Brooklyn Ferry for the year 1907, as compared with 190G, show an increase of $29,642.49. On the other hand, the expenses for the year 1908, it is estimated, will he considerably less than 1907, for the operation and maintenance of both ferries. Eight recreation piers, with music, are open each summer. Last May the Cedar Street promenade was opened to the public. This is the first attempt in this City to utilize the roofs of the sheds along the bulkheads for this purpose, and the experiment has proven a great success. This promenade extends along the northerly water front from Cedar to Albany Streets, and was much used during the hot summer nights by the residents in the lower section of the City. The total new wharfage room made during the past five years has been about 207,000 linear feet, or about thirty-five miles, increas- ing the area of the piers about three million square feet, including the construction of fifty-one piers and twenty-one new platforms, and the building of extensions for thirty piers. Many improvements in the method of construction for the pro- tection of water front structures against fire have been adopted. Re- enforced concrete decks on piers replace wooden decks; manholes in the piers admit firemen beneath piers and platform structures, and a sprinkler system is placed under the decks of the piers so that the under structure can be drenched with water in less than one minute after connections are made either by fire boats alongside the pier or by engines at the land end. 70 DEPARTMENT OF STREET CLEANING. The generally accepted view that the expenses of a department should not increase at a greater rate than the population of the city, cannot fairly be applied to this Department. The expansion of the work since 1904 has been in two directions; first, in providing for the needs of a greater number of people, and second, in meeting the re- quirements of a great deal of additional territory and a much greater street length. The report of the Commissioner of Street Cleaning shows clearly that the different items of work, taken collectively, have increased at a much greater rate than the population. Under the head of additional work I call your attention to the cleaning of paved streets of Manhattan, formerly cleaned by the De- partment of Parks, and some eighty-seven miles of macadamized streets in Brooklyn, formerly under the control of the Borough Ad- ministration. These, and many similar items, show that the increase of expense in this Department does not depend alone on the increase in population. On January 1, 1904, the Department had under its care 971.1 miles of streets. During the year this mileage was increased to 998.7. To-day the mileage of streets to be cleaned is 1,216, an in- crease of 25 per cent. In 1904 the amount of material collected was 5,945,390 cubic yards. The amount of material collected during 1908 was approximately 7,578,814 cubic yards, an increase of 27.5 per cent. The total expense of the Department, working accounts only, in 1904, was $5,441,917.66. Including snow and ice removal the expense was $7,231,933.74. In 1908 the expense, working ac- counts only, was $6,912,856.19. The total expense, including snow, ice and new equipment, was $7,536,948.69. The cost per capita, based on the expenses of Department work, was $1,495 in 1904. and is es- timated at $1,677 for 1908. The cost per capita on total expense has. however, dropped from $1,987, in 1904. to $1,832 in 1908. n The cost of snow removal fluctuates, of course, from year to year. The " area " system, which had been in use since 1902, was discon- tinued last year, and a system of actual measurement substituted. The result was a very considerable saving to the City. The difference in expense as compared to 1907. was close to $2,000,000, part of which was, of course, due to the fact that less snow fell. It is estimated, however, that had the quantity been the same as in 1907, the net sav- ing would have been a trifle over $1,250,000. During 1903-1904 the length of street from which snow and ice were removed was 241 miles. In 1907-1908 the snow schedule was increased to 470.624 miles in ac- cordance with the recommendation of the Special Commission I ap- pointed to investigate the subject. Notwithstanding the increased work done by the Department, there is a constant public demand for continued extension of the serv- ice. While collectively, civic bodies criticise the expense of street cleaning, individually they make demands which, if complied with, would call for a far greater expenditure. Riker's Island. During the past five years a very considerable addition has been made to the area of Hiker's Island, by utilizing the ash collections to as great an extent as possible. The original acreage of the island, when acquired by the City, was 89 ; to this 63 acres have been added, and 144 additional acres are to be made in this manner. The total future area of the island will be 295 acres, much of which will be used in connection with the new penitentiary. 72 POLICE ADMINISTRATION. A comparison of arrests and convictions by the police attached to the detective bureau during the first nine months of 1907 and 1908 indicates that much better results are obtained since the reorgani- zation of the bureau. The number of arrests increased from 7,927 to 12,704 and the convictions increased from 1,422 to 4,516, showing 35 per cent, of convictions in 1908 as against 18 per cent, in 1907. In the same period the fines increased from $4,201 to $21,418, the total years' sentences from 1,822 to 4,559, and the amount of property recovered from $185,342 to $420,959. Branches of the bureau have been established in various parts of the city, adding greatly to the efficiency of detective work. The five -platoon system gives excellent results. It serves the public better than the three -platoon system and the men prefer it to the two -platoon system. At headquarters important reforms have been accomplished in the way of reorganizing the detective bureau, the telegraph bureau and the bureau of repairs and supplies, and in systematizing the de- partment records. The Book of Rules, upon which all police work is founded, has been rearranged and entirely rewritten. The docket of charges against policemen has been cleared. Some of the cases were eight years old. An investigation of the special patrolmen permitted by the Charter has resulted in the dismissal of many un- desirable men and applications are now granted under more rigid rules. This year there will be one member of the active police force to each 434 inhabitants, at a cost of $3.26 per head of population. The average cost per head of population for the four years beginning January 1, 1906, is $3.20, but in 1906 and 1907 there was but one member of the active force for each 456 inhabitants. The cost per head of population for the active police available to patrol lias been 73 reduced to $3.12, as compared with $3.15 in 1906, $3.10 in 1907, and $3.23 in 1908. There are 1,814 men and 1,232 women and children on the pension roll and the average yearly cost of these to the City is $515.28 each, or 36 cents per head of population for all. The present Police Commissioner has reduced from 2,000 to 1,200 the number of men detailed away from regular police duty. The abolition of the details which still remain would strengthen the depart- ment in the line of more active police duty but would, of course, add to the expense of other departments where police details have been used for many years. Civilian employees should be substituted wher- ever they will be of equal use and whenever economic arrangements will permit of it. In five years the department has been increased by four chaplains, two surgeons, three inspectors, four captains, seventy-five sergeants (formerly roundsmen), 1,207 patrolmen and five doormen. Legis- lation was obtained giving to the Commissioner more disciplinary authority over police inspectors. The new headquarters building at Grand and Centre streets is nearly finished and will be occupied this year. The West Thirtieth street station, which is considered the best type of police station in the United States, is in use and plans have been made for four other new stations. The records of men eligible for appointment to the force are carefully examined. A new system of instruction for recruits is nearly ready for use. REGULATION OF TRAFFIC. Five years of effort have brought the regulation of traffic from the experimental stage to a condition which calls for little improvement. In this important branch of police work New York has now surpassed the foreign cities which had been considered the leaders. It adds to the credit of the various men who have bettered the system when it is re- 74 M -J i ' 111 WKST THIRTIETH STREET POLICE STATION, Considered the best type of station - house in this country. R Thomas Short, Architect membered that New York's topography makes its traffic regulation a very difficult problem. But the problem has been solved, with the resultant saving of many lives and much money. On January 1, 1904, the entire force engaged in the regulation of traffic consisted of 118 men, composed of 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 5 sergeants and 111 patrolmen. One sergeant was mounted, and of the patrolmen, 5 were mounted and 2 assigned to bicycle duty. On August 1, 1904, the then Police Commissioner established the street traffic regulation bureau, with headquarters at City Hall and two sub-stations, one at Xo. 1 East Twenty-seventh Street and the other at Borough Hall, Brooklyn. He increased the traffic force to 246 men, 85 of whom were mounted. Of these, 16 mounted men and 20 foot men, including officers, were assigned to Brooklyn. A force of 663 men is now assigned to traffic duty. Of this number, 502 are on foot, 140 are mounted, and 21 are on bicycles. These men are in charge of 1 inspector, 1 captain, 28 lieutenants and 24 sergeants. The entire squad is known as the Fourteenth Inspection District, and is di- vided into four precincts. Traffic regulations are now in force until midnight at Herald Square, Times Square, Columbus Circle and at the intersection of Seventy-second Street, Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, where formerly the regulation of traffic ceased at 6.30 p. m. The importance of the regulation of traffic at these congested points at night is clearly shown by the number of requests for similar regulation which the De- partment receives from congested points further north. When the necessary men to cover these other congested points, instance One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street and Eighth Avenue, can be spared for traffic duty the regulation will be extended uptown. In the hotel and theatre district north of Twenty-third Street and at points such as the Grand Central Station, many traffic posts are now covered until 9 p. m. 75 \\ IDEXIXG OF FIFTH AVENUE. The process of widening Fifth Avenue, an improvement abso- lutely necessary to relieve congestion, has been slow, not because of legal or engineering phases, but because the administration has con- sidered it only fair to give to the property owners and tenants of the avenue every reasonable opportunity to prepare for what may be, to some of them, a radical change. The avenue has been widened fifteen feet between Fortieth and Forty-second Street, and the relief to traffic is so evident that steps should be taken this year to widen the roadway from Twenty-sixth Street as far north as the present congestion exists. I believe that a further great improvement for the relief of traffic would be a depression of the roadway of Forty-second Street at Fifth Avenue, so as to carry east and west-bound street cars and other traffic under the Avenue at this point. This, as I pointed out a year ago, would leave north and south traffic practically unimpeded, an ad- vantage which must be apparent to all familiar with conditions at the intersection of the two great streets. SUPERVISION OF TAXIMETERS. I respectfully suggest to your honorable body the adoption of an ordinance requiring taximeters to be tested by the City. Within a year it has become evident that the taximeter, with its supposedlv exact measurement of distance and time, is a popular appendix of public vehicles. It is, however, as subject to error as an}^ other me- chanical device and should be inspected as are weights and measures. A system of test is used in some European cities and it seems time that New York adopted means to protect users of cabs from over- charge through design or accident. 76 AUTOMOBILES. I beg to call the attention of }T>ur honorable body to the following extract from my message of last year: " There is no general ordinance in existence at the present time which specifically applies to the licensing of public automobiles. Under an order of the Supreme Court the Bureau of Licenses is now issuing licenses to such vehicles under the general ordinance relating to public hacks and cabs. This ordinance, however, was never intended, in my opinion, to apply to automobiles, and fails to regulate their charges in proper fashion. I recommend, therefore, the adoption of an ordi- nance which will apply directly to these vehicles. At the same time, I believe that some provision should be made for licensing all sight- seeing automobiles, which, at present, pay no fee whatsoever to the City. " In this connection, I also desire to call your attention to the necessity of preventing the use of sirens upon all automobiles other than those of the Fire Department within the City limits. The siren has been adopted as the particular signal of the approach of the ap- paratus and officials of the Fire Department, and its indiscriminate use by others results in confusion of traffic, which necessarily detracts from the value of such signal to the Fire Department. I have caused such an ordinance to be prepared for introduction in your Board, and trust that it will receive your favorable consideration. " I think it also most important that the following regulations should be adopted in regard to the use of all automobiles, both public and private, within the City: " First — That all automobiles should be equipped with adequate mufflers, which never should be cut out within the limits of the built-up portions of the City. " Second — That, except for the first ten seconds after starting the engines of an automobile, no smoke should be allowed to come out 77 of the exhaust pipe. It is wholly unnecessary and is simply an evi- dence of carelessness and incompetence. " Third — That the use of acetylene headlights within the built-up portions of the City should be prohibited. The use of these lights is very dangerous and has resulted in causing many accidents by dazzling pedestrians and drivers of vehicles coming in the opposite direction. These lights are unnecessary on the City street, and I understand that responsible drivers, of their own volition, refuse to use them." BUREAU OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. This bureau was established as a branch of the Mayor's office in 1904. Active operations were begun in January, 1905, since which time 153,546 places have been visited for purposes of inspection. The following table summarizes the work done: Number of instruments tested 1,100,133 Number of instruments condemned 9,983 Number of complaints lodged against users of incorrect instruments by inspection staff 8,853 Aggregate amount of penalties involved in the above number of violations $202,260 The Bureau undertook to stop the sale of short weight coal loads and the weighing of ice by fraudulent scales in the year 1906. Prior to this no such step had ever been taken. There was bitter opposition to this work, but the action of the bureau was fully sustained by the courts. Summary of Coal Re-weighing. Number of loads re-weighed 1,890 Number of tons contained therein 3,017 Number of loads found short 250 The worst fraud detected in this inspection was an attempted delivery of a load 2,320 pounds short on four tons. 78 The efforts of the bureau to stamp out the practice of selling short weight ice has resulted in the condemnation of about 500 fraudu- lent scales. In addition to the routine inspection in stores, the large scales of the different Federal and City departments have been tested. These tests, many of which proved the scales to be incorrect, insure the de- partments against short weight. I call your attention to the amend- ments to the ordinance creating this bureau, which have been presented to you, and which should be, in my opinion, adopted at once. The present ordinance is inadequate, as it fails to properly safeguard pur- chasers of package goods from short weight or measure. The adop- tion of the amendments now in your hands will provide more pro- tection to the purchasing public. CONTROL OF EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES. The office of the Commissioner of Licenses has grown in import- ance since its establishment nearly five years ago. It supervises not only intelligence offices for domestic servants, but labor agencies, ship- ping agencies, stenographers' bureaus, agencies for supplying techni- cal and clerical positions, theatrical agencies and nurses' registries. Many of these agencies were not regulated, not even supervised, prior to the creation of this office. The supervision exercised over do- mestic servants' agencies, especially those on the East Side of Man- hattan, was extremely lax, with the result that the extortion practised drew forth many complaints from the public. Immorality flourished among agencies whose principal business was to furnish employment to immigrant girls. The extortion and immorality complained of have been practically eliminated as a result of the strict system of inspection and regulation to which employment agencies are now subject. The office of the Commissioner of Licenses was not established primarily to collect 79 revenue by means of license fees, yet the income from licenses has been increased by 80 per cent, a year since the office was created. The annual revenue is now about $20,000 from 800 licensed employment agencies. Heretofore many agencies were conducted without licenses. Revocation of licenses is the remedy lodged with the Commis- sioner to ensure compliance with the law. But inasmuch as the revo- cation of a license means the destruction of an agent's business, the Commissioner is loath to exercise this power, unless the offense is flagrant and the punishment is found, after careful investigation and a legally conducted trial, to be well merited. The number of licenses revoked since 1904 is 103, of which 21 were for immoral practices and 82 for extortion and other violations. Peonage, in so far as labor agents in Xew York City are re- sponsible, has been generally eliminated, and the fact that complaints regarding it from various parts of the country have been greatly re- duced is in large measure due to the strict supervision of the contract labor agencies here. The evils of the padrone system, so extensive a few years ago, have been reduced to a minimum. The law governing the various kinds of employment agencies is comprehensive. By a system of intelligent enforcement of this law the evils connected with the agency business have been abolished, and thousands of persons whose sole means of obtaining employment is through these agencies are now afforded all reasonable protection. The office investigates nearly 2,000 complaints a year. TENEMENT HOUSE CONDITIONS. From the organization of the Department in January, 1902, to the beginning of the present administration, January 1, 1904, plans were filed for the erection of 1,924 tenements, containing 24,115 apart- ments, to accommodate about 108,000 persons. From January 1, 1904, to January 1, 1908, plans were filed for 17,836 new tenements, 80 containing 221,801 apartments, or accommodations for over 930. ()()() people. This means that during the four years in question nearly one million persons, or one-quarter of the present population of the greater city, were provided with the higher type of housing in respect to light, ventilation and general sanitary condition, required by the present law, and that the fear that the law would restrict the activity of builders, and limit the supply of housing required by the city's growth, is ef- fectually disposed of. During the above four years a great expansion of building opera- tions was noted, which came to a maximum in 190.5, and has since shown a gradual decline. During 1908 the decline has been marked, so that up to November 30, plans have been filed for only 1,725 new buildings, containing 18,950 apartments, or accommodations for about 85,000 persons. An important phase of the Department's work is the structural alteration of the 80,000 or more tenements already in existence when the law went into operation, to give them in some measure a share in the benefits of the better lighting, ventilation and sanitation required for new buildings. In 1902 there were more than 9,000 school sinks, privy vaults and latrines found in an incomplete canvass of the City. The efforts of the Department to remove these were delayed by litigation until 1906, but between January 1, 1904, and January 1, 1908, 3,258 school sinks alone were removed and replaced by sanitary closets, one for every two families in each house affected. During the present year to No- vember 30, 1908, -100 of these appliances have been removed and the work of removal is expected to go on with increased activity during the ensuing year, by the aid of increased appropriations granted for that purpose. Among the other structural changes of the four years arc the pro- vision of 42,602 new fire escape balconies, the provision of 4.930 sky- 81 lights and the cutting of windows in 24,543 dark interior rooms. During the present year to November 30, 5,941 tire escape balconies have been provided and 2,070 skylights, while 12,401 windows have been cut in dark rooms. The Department is also responsible for the sanitary condition of tenements. It receives from 40,000 to 50,000 complaints each year, mostly with regard to these conditions. About one-half of these are found to require the issuing of violations, and the fact that the number of complaints decreases year by year, indicates a general improvement in conditions. Beside action on complaints, the Department makes a periodic inspection of the lower rental grades of tenements. With the appropriation hitherto available, it has been possible to cover the ground completely once a year. During the coming year it is planned to make two complete sanitary inspections of the city. METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE COMMISSION. This Commission was appointed by me under authority given by the Laws of 1906, to succeed the New York Bay Pollution Com- mission, which had gone out of existence. Up to January last, it had accomplished practically nothing, owing to internal dissensions. I then reorganized the Commission, since which time it has worked har- moniously and with excellent results. The work so far done has been chiefly of an investigating character, and can only be considered as preliminary to a more final and creative work. Nevertheless, two general principles have been established as guides to the disposition of sewage in the Metropolitan District. First, it is considered unwise to permit sewage in large quan- tities and unpurified condition to be brought from municipalities not contiguous to our harbor, for disposal. The members of the Com- mission have appeared before the Commissioner of Health of the State of New York and the State Engineer and Surveyor, in opposi- 82 tion to the Bronx Valley Sewer project. This plan contemplates carrying the sewage of White Plains, and other inland communities, to the Hudson River, and naturally from there into our harbor. The Commission also appeared in opposition to the Passaic Valley project, which contemplates the discharge of the sewage of Paterson and about twenty other municipalities in the State of New Jersey, into the upper bay. The second principle established is that the policy of the City of Xew York to build sewers to carry both household sewage and streel drainage should be modified, and wherever circumstances permit separate sewers be built. In both of these matters the Commission has the hearty support of the present administration. In pursuance of its work, the Com- mission has established a laboratory and made many analyses of the solid matter deposited from the waters upon the bottom of Xew York Harbor. The object of these analyses is to obtain an accurate knowl- edge of the conditions of the water so as to determine to what extent the sewage produces injurious conditions, and to what extent and under what circumstances, it may be discharged in these waters with- out injury to the public health. A report dealing with this subject is, I am informed, shortly to be made by the Commission. With the assistance of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, an exhaustive study is being made of the tidal phenomena of Xew York Harbor, with special reference to the effect of the currents in transporting and disposing of sewage, and systematic inspections have been made to determine the condition of pollution along the ex- tensive water-front of the City and its neighboring municipalities. 83 COMMISSIONERS OF ACCOUNTS. With its legal powers of audit and investigation, the office of the Commissioners of Accounts has possibilities not possessed by any other branch of the City Government. During the past two years the powers of the Commissioners have been extensively used and have proved an important factor in the support of efficient administration. In spite of its powers, the work of the Commission had dropped to a point, two years ago, where it amounted to little more than the perfunctory checking up of department accounts. Its potential power and utility were first brought prominently to notice in connection with an investigation of the office of the President of the Borough of Man- hattan, which was ordered by me in December, 1906, on the written re- quest of the Borough President, and as a result of certain charges preferred by the Bureau of Municipal Research. The powers of the Commission were disputed in this instance, and the matter carried to the Court of Appeals, where the contentions of the Commission were fully established. As the result of this investigation I determined to use the Com- missioners of Accounts more extensively in the work of investigating departmental and divisional activities and this plan has been adhered to. To facilitate the work there has been a complete reorganization of the office under Commissioners Mitchell and Gallaher. The ef- ficiency of the office under this reorganization is best shown by the re- sult of the recent investigation of the Bureau of Licenses. Apart from the mandatory audits of the various revenue receiv- ing departments of the City, the Commissioners have been and are now largely engaged in conducting special investigations. It was with these special investigations in view that authority was given to the Commissioners by the Charter to subpoena witnesses, examine them under oath, and to have produced as evidence the books and papers of persons dealing with the City. Further to aid them in these 84 investigations, an Engineering Bureau was added to their staff, en- abling them to deal with the technical questions arising in every thorough examination of a City Department. The following are among the special investigations which have been conducted in the last two years or are now under way : Office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan, Office of the President of the Borough of The Bronx, Office of the President of the Borough of Brooklyn, Office of the President of the Borough of Queens, Board of Water Supply, Fire Department, Bureau of Licenses, Bureau of Street Openings, Department of Parks, Bronx, Department of Street Cleaning, Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, Department of Correction, The Night Court, Department of Finance, Bureau of Real Estate. It is proposed this year to complete the investigations of the of- fices of the Borough Presidents, and to take up one after another the large City Departments. Such periodic examinations, if systematic- ally and thoroughly handled, will not only serve to check incompetence and corruption, if such exist, but will make possible the introduction of methods to prevent the recurrence of the evils that are disclosed. Furthermore, they will be of incalculable value as a means of effective executive control. 85 REORGANIZATION OF ACCOUNTING METHODS. I regard the work undertaken by the Comptroller during the past year, with respect to the reorganization of the accounts of the several departments and the simplification and improvement of the methods of the Department of Finance, as of the greatest importance. The necessity for complete revision of the accounting methods of the City was made clear in the report of the Commission appointed by me in 1904. Until last year, however, little or nothing was done in this di- rection. The Comptroller lacked a sufficient staff to undertake the work, but last year a Bureau of Expert Accountants was established and the work of reorganization is now being prosecuted vigorously. In this work the Comptroller has had the assistance of Mr. Bruere, of the Bureau of Municipal Research, to whom much of what has been accomplished is due. The service of Mr. Bruere and the Bureau in this purely municipal work marks a new departure in City government, the active co-operation of the public with the City ad- ministration. The plan of accounting reorganization adopted will effect not only uniformity in accounting methods in every branch of the City government and establish central financial control over receipts and disbursements, but will provide information essential to the economi- cal and efficient administration of departmental business. Already, a complete installation has been made in the Departments of Health, Street Cleaning and Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. Included in this plan of reorganization is a method for con- trolling the stores of the various departments through the installa- tion of a double entry system of accounts. The prime purpose of the new system is to secure complete and accurate control over the integrity and accuracy of departmental records. When this is done it will be possible to determine, for the first time, the exact expense of conduct- ing each of the activities of any Department. As a means to secur- 86 ing an intelligent and accurate Budget, no more important step has been taken. By the development of an exact record of expense it will be possible to estimate with close precision the probable necessary expenditures of the succeeding year, and when this is fully accom- plished, a greatly increased economy in the conduct of departmental business should be possible. Every department of the City Government should maintain the most careful supervision of its stores, and receive and disburse no goods without making a record thereof. As a first step in establish- ing accurate store records, every department head has been directed to take a physical inventory of all goods in stores on hand on January 1. It is clearly to be desired, from a business standpoint, that all property in the custody of the departments shall be scrupulously ac- counted for. As a means of carrying into effect the spirit and purpose of the resolution relating to the schedules of positions and salaries accom- panying the Budget for 1909, the Comptroller has undertaken the es- tablishment of accurate time records in the departments with respect to employees paid on weekly rolls. These time records will provide a basis for the audit of payrolls which has hitherto been lacking. I have directed every Department responsible to me, as Mayor, to main- tain the time records prescribed by the Comptroller. I believe that the information thus produced will show many opportunities for economy. CONDEMNATION OF LAND FOR CITY PURPOSES. The existing method of condemning land is and has been for a long time considered by all those who are at all conversant with the subject as indescribably faulty, inefficient and objectionable. The dif- ficulty in suggesting a remedy is largely constitutional. 'Flic con- stitution of the State of New York, provides. Article I., section 7 : 87 " When private property shall be taken for any public use, the compensation to be made therefor, when such com- pensation is not made by the state, shall be ascertained by a jury, or by not less than three commissioners appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law." The difficulties in trying such cases before the ordinary jury of twelve, have been looked upon as so manifest that the universal prac- tice has been to resort to the other method of procedure, by Commis- sioners appointed by the Courts. This method has proved most in- efficient in practice, the two principal grounds of objection to this pro- ceeding being, first, as to the amount of the awards; and second, as to the great delay and tremendous expenses involved most unjust both to the property owners and the public. Under the prevailing system the Commissioners, being quasi ju- dicial officers, have control of their own proceedings, can sit as often or as seldom as they see fit, and grant adjournments whenever they deem proper. The length of time required for any proceeding rests, therefore, with them and is not within the control of the Corporation Counsel, who only acts as counsel for one of the parties in interest. The Commissioners are often not only unfamiliar with real estate values, but also unversed in the rules of evidence as to measure of values and unaccustomed to sifting evidence and that close analysis of testimony necessary to a judicial procedure. The only really effective remedy must be provided by constitu- tional amendment which would relegate this branch of litigation to the regular courts of the State exercising equitable jurisdiction where the matters would be decided by a judge sitting without a jury. Such courts could pass upon values very much as it does in applications for injunctions by abutting property owners to restrain the operations of the elevated railroads. Those actions are practically a condemnation proceeding of the easement of light, air and access and this method of determining' the amount of awards has proved very satisfactory. If condemnation proceedings were prosecuted before the courts in this way, sitting as courts of equity, the question of the value of the prop- erties would be passed upon in regular judicial proceedings by judges accustomed to deal with disputed questions and familiar with the rules of evidence and cross examination of witnesses. The above method is the only real solution of the problem, but it is open to the very plain objection that several years will be required to secure a constitutional amendment. Another suggested remedy has been something in the nature of condemnation courts, or Commissioners appointed by the Appellate Division or in some other manner, at fixed salaries, to try and deter- mine condemnation cases. There are serious constitutional questions as to some features of this plan, but probably a statute along these lines could be drafted which would not be open to constitutional ob- jections, and such a course would have the advantage of giving prompt relief, although it would, while probably proving more satis- factory than the present system, be open to many of the same objec- tions. CHARTER REVISION. Two years ago, in my message to your honorable body, I recom- mended a revision of the Charter by the City itself. The Legislature saw fit to authorize the appointment by the Governor of a Commis- sion for such revision and, although I opposed the bill, as I have op- posed every bill menacing home rule, I have given every possible aid to the Commission. I understand that the Commission, which has been at work all of the last year, will be ready to report to the 1 legis- lature early in the present session. 89 LAW DEPARTMENT. The number of actions and proceedings of all kinds commenced during 1908 was 39,500, the number disposed of was 30,700, and the number pending at the close of the year, 51,200. Another evidence of the enormous volume of litigation handled is contained in the follow- ing record of court work: Number of actions tried in court 2,900 Number of appeals argued at Appellate Division 225 Number of appeals argued at Appellate Term 101 Number of appeals argued at General Sessions 100 Number of appeals argued at Court of Appeals 60 Number of hearings before referees or commissioners 8,250 Number of motions argued 2,184 Number of orders entered 4,319 Number of judgments against City 350 Amount of judgments against City $500,000 Number of judgments in favor of City (not including Personal Tax Cases) 275 Amount of such judgments $125,000 The amount of judgments against the City during each of the past three years has been less than one-third of the average amount of judgments against the City from the date of Consolidation down to and including 1903. Collections and Disbursements — For the year 1908 the moneys collected will exceed $800,000. The average amount of collections during the four preceding years was about $220,000. The total ap- propriations for 1908 were $784,370. The Department, was, there- fore, more than self supporting during the year. Contracts, Etc., Approved — The number of contracts, deeds, leases, releases, etc., approved as to form, was over 4,700. 90 Opinions — The number of written opinions rendered was over 1,700. Bureau of Personal Taxes — Seven thousand nine hundred and thirty actions were commenced, and $109,894.70 was collected. Bureau of Penalties— Over ten thousand violations of Corpora- tion Ordinances were prosecuted. Tenement House Branch — Fifteen thousand sixty-five violations were received on which over 6,500 actions were brought. Tax Certiorari Cases — During the year 1908 184 tax certiorari cases were disposed of. The amount of the assessments under review in those cases was $96,059,107; the amount of assessments in litigation $48,785,497. The amount of such assessments sustained was $38,- 293,030, and the amount vacated $10,492,467. Of these 184 pro- ceedings disposed of, 150 were real estate cases, which included 2.254 separate assessments. Of these real estate assessments 5 were va- cated, 103 reduced, and 2,146 sustained. Special Franchise Tax Cases — Over five hundred cases have been brought against the State Board of Tax Commissioners to review as- sessments on street railway companies, gas and electric light com- panies, etc., for special franchises. The City of Xew York receives the entire amount of the tax collected. The amount of the assess- ments under review in these proceedings is over two billion dollars. and the taxes thereon amount to over thirty mil I ion dollars. The De- partment has been successful in the defense of these proceedings and several of the largest corporations have submitted offers of settlemeiit which are now under consideration. Water Supply Proceedings — Thirty-four separate proceedings to acquire property have been commenced, in 23 of which title has vested in the City. The land thus acquired embraced 10,434 acres. Street Opening Proceedings — Fifty-six proceedings were ter- minated by confirmation of reports. Fourteen and a half miles of new 91 streets were opened. The awards in these proceedings were $4,517,- 231.29, and the assessments on property benefited $4,952,942.22. Other Condemnation Proceedings — Thirteen proceedings were completed in which the City acquired property for dock purposes, brid ge approaches, public schools, libraries, baths, etc. Organization — During the year 1908 the Law Department has been thoroughly reorganized. The legal force has been arranged in divisions comprising a senior assistant, deputy assistants, junior as- sistants and law clerks. Each division handles one special line of litigation, such as contracts, torts, real estate, etc. Practically all posi- tions in the Department, except those of Assistant, are in the com- petitive Civil Service. The office force at the close of the year was almost 400, making the office of the Corporation Counsel undoubtedly the largest law office in the world. CIVIL SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS. The establishment of the Board of Water Supply, the acquisi- tion of the Staten Island and Thirty-ninth street ferries and the extension of the paid Fire Department into the boroughs of Queens and Richmond have added largely to the work of the Municipal Civil Service Commission. In the year just ended the applications for examination have averaged 5,000 a month. The percentage of absentees from examination is large and uncertain, ranging from 20 to 30 per cent, of the number of applicants. This involves such a large waste of time and money for stationery, postage and the em- ployment of monitors that it may be necessary to adopt a system of fees as a pre -requisite to the filing of applications and as a means of curbing indiscriminate application for examination. Among the more important changes in the examining depart- ment may be noted the holding of examinations for promotion once a year only, avoiding the expense and confusion of holding them when- 92 ever called Tor by the various departments; the establishment of a uniform system of efficiency records in all departments of the City government; the requirement that candidates for promotion shall file application for examination; the establishment of a promotion bureau under the responsible charge of a designated examiner; the system of renumbering the papers of candidates to prevent the examiners who rate the papers from knowing the examination numbers; the absolute protection of examination papers unrated and in process of rating; the absolute verification of signatures and statements; the appointment of monitors from the non-competitive class, allowing the employment of advanced students of the higher educational institu- tions; the refusing consideration of appeals which are not based on a reasonable charge of error, and the obtaining of information, in non- competitive examinations, as to the candidate's fitness instead of relying upon the unverifiable statements of the candidates them- selves. In the payroll division a card index system now shows the entire record of all persons employed in the City service and including all who have been so employed since 1898. This system uses 60,000 cards and covers the results of examinations and the appointments and changes in the service since the first enforcement of the Civil Service Law in 1884*. In the past five years the detection of violations of the law and the rules in regard to changes in the service necessi- tated the deduction of about 25,000 names from the payrolls, but in the last year the number of reductions has decreased materially. In the Labor Service, where the number of applications are about 25,000 annually, the Commission has eliminated all theoretical ques- tions from its oral and trade-school examinations and the tests are exclusively practical. The public has come to a better appreciation of the Civil Service Law and its exactions. Schools of instruction have been established 93 in political headquarters and elsewhere and the opportunities for intelligent study of the qualifications of City employees grow con- tinually. Several of the leading newspapers devote space every day to information in regard to pending examinations. ARMORIES. The Armory Board is responsible for the care and maintenance of the quarters of twenty-six military and naval organizations, housed in twenty-three buildings, erected and equipped at a total cost to the City of New York of $14,685,188.26. During the past five years many alterations and improvements, made necessary by the Dick Bill and the new Military Law, have been made to nineteen of those buildings, and the armories of the Thir- teenth, Fourteenth, Twenty-third Regiments and Squadron C, in Brooklyn, and the Ninth and Twelfth Regiments, in Manhattan, have been enlarged. Four new armories have been erected, equipped and furnished for these organizations : Sixty-ninth Regiment, Twenty-fifth Street and Lex- ington Avenue, Manhattan, at a cost of $1,539,964.84 Seventy-first Regiment, Thirty-fourth Street and Park Avenue, Manhattan, at a cost of 1,194,757.90 Squadron C, Bedford Avenue, President and L T nion Streets, Brooklyn, at a cost of 571,679.09 Second Battalion Naval Militia, First Avenue and Fifty-second Street, Brooklyn, at a cost of 582,948.91 In addition to these, a new armory is in process of construction for the Second Battery, at Franklin Avenue and East One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Street, Borough of The Bronx, at a cost of $535,000, and the excavation is completed for an armory to be erected for the Twenty-second Regiment Engineers, at Fort Washington Avenue 94 and One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Street, Manhattan, at a cost of about $1,100,000 (including site, building and equipment). The money for this building will be provided by the sale of the present armory of the organization at Sixty-eighth Street and Broadway, for which the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund have refused an offer of approximately $1,150,000. A long step towards economy in administration has been made by standardizing the supplies and furniture for the various armories, and by the abandonment of obsolete and old-fashioned lighting methods. PARKS. New York now has 7,222 acres of parks, or about three and two-fifths per cent, of its 209,218 acres. Of the 1,4.52 acres in Man- hattan, Central Park has 849 acres; of 1,452 acres in Brooklyn, Pros- pect Park occupies 526 acres; of 3,931 acres in The Bronx, Pelham Bay Park has 1,756 acres, Van Cortlandt Park 1,132 acres, and Bronx Park 719 acres; of 622 acres in Queens, Forest Park has 536, and of 63 acres in Richmond, Silver Lake Park takes up 58 acres. There are 52 miles of parkway in the Greater City. Of the total park acreage, 253 acres were placed under the juris- diction of the Park Department during the last five years. These in- clude Chelsea Park, 58 acres added to Bronx Park; Kissena Park, Greenpoint, Amersfort, Highland and McLaughlin parks in the Borough of Brooklyn, and several small unnamed parks as well as desirable additions to parks already existing. Of the $2,850,608.34 of Corporate Stock properly chargeable to this administration for construction and imnrovement in the parks of Manhattan and Richmond during the last five years, $1,240,000 went to the building of the extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Ait. and $500,000 to the additions to the American Museum of Natural History. Issues of $4,942,000 of Corporate Stock were made neces- 95 sary by the acts of previous administrations, such as the authorization of $3,650,000 for the New York Public Library Fund. In the same period of time Corporate Stock of $4,505,602.9-1 was issued for the parks of Brooklyn and Queens, but $1,875,000 of this went to complete the Shore road. The generally good condition of the parks at the present time will, I believe, justify to the public whatever sums have been spent in acquiring, improving and maintaining them. Central Park, always a difficult problem from its very size, situation and the demands made upon it, lias been brought to excellent condition. Its soil has been re- plenished as far as economy allowed and the removal of unnecessary tree growth gives opportunity for the survival of the necessary. Prospect Park, which has required little criticism since the incom- ing of the present Commissioner, stands as a model of what may be done with a park possessing great natural advantages. In both the parks named the roads have been brought to a state of first-class utility. The proper use of oil has, at a trifling cost, laid the dust, kept the material together and protected the adjoining land. Much construction has been done in the parks of The Bronx, which have come to be enjoyed by the people of all the boroughs, at- tracted by the Zoological Park, the golf links and gardens of Van Cortlandt Park, the athletic grounds and bathing beaches of Pelham Bay Park and the innumerable features of the great system. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. The first section of the new North Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be opened on January 4 by an exhibition of German contemporary art, sent here by a special commission officially appointed by the German Government. The new Central Wing, to accommodate the Hoentschel Collection and other collections of decorative art, will be finished during the early part of the year. 96 THE ART COMMISSION. The annual number of submissions acted upon by the Art Com- mssion has doubled during the last live years, being 90 in 1904, and 180 in 1908, and the total number of submissions for these five years is 681. These submissions cover objects having a total estimated value of $130,000,000, and include 409 public structures. 138 statues, monuments and busts, 9.5 ornamental and drinking fountains, 12 por- traits and mural decorations and 27 tablets. In July, 1907, the jurisdiction of the Commission was extended to all structures built on public land. Previous to this amendment structures costing less than $1,000,000 were passed upon by the Com- mission only when requested to do so by the Mayor. The number of such requests increased rapidly from year to year, for in 1904 the Mayor requested the Commission to act upon 28 structures, in 1905 on 56 structures, in 1906 on 65, and during the first five months of 1907, on 51. The Charter makes the Art Commission, in a manner, guardian of existing works of art ow r ned by the City, which comprise 425 por- traits, sculptural objects and mural decorations. The collection of portraits dates from 1790, but until the investigation by the Art Com- mission practically nothing was known as to the time and manner of their acquisition, and in many cases the artists were unknown. In 1904 the Art Commission printed a tentative list of the works of ai t in the Borough of Manhattan. This was followed in 1906 by a similar list of those in the Borough of Brooklyn. The Commission printed the meagre data found on the small tablets on the portraits, without questioning their accuracy, but in 1907 it began a systematic search through the City's records and from them unearthed the facts concerning nearly all the paintings and sculpture. These facts, with a photograph and a brief description of the listed object, have been put on file in the office of the Commission. The Commission lias just issued a catalogue of the works of art belonging to the City. 97 BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY. Work on the new central building of the Brooklyn Public Library will be started in about a year. This library will cost $5,- OOO.OOO and w ill be built at tbc junction of Flatbush Avenue and tbe Eastern Parkway. CU TS TO THE CITY. Las1 spring Mrs. Russell Sage, who takes great interest in Cen- tral Park, gave to the Park a plantation of hybrid and maximum rho- dodendrons, including all the soil necessary for the planting, as well .is ail the labor required in connection with setting the plants. The plantation is on the East Drive, between Ninetieth and One Hun- dredth Streets, and is the finest exhibition of its kind in the world. This gift, which cost tbe donor about $60,000, has added to the land- scape effect of Centra] Park an adornment w hich will last many years. Mis. Sage has also volunteered to pay for the restoration of the Governors' Room in the City Hall to its original condition. This work will cost more than $25,000. All litigation in connection with the bequest of Angelina Crane, under her will dated January 19, 1891, for the erection of a drinking Fountain to her memory, lias been ended. The Commissioner of Parks for the Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond lias in course of preparation a contract with Frederick MacMonnies for the submis- sion of a suitable design commensurate with the amount of the avail- able fund, about $60,000. When this design is received, it will be submitted to the Art Commission for approval as to design and loca- tion in City Hall Park. The City has recently recovered a legacy of $187,740.84 left to it by the late Betsy Head, to be used for the purchase and improvement of playgrounds. 98 PUBLIC LIBRARY NO. 6. One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street Branch. McKim, Mead & White. Architects. PUBLIC LIBRARY NO. II. Tompkins Square Branch. McKim. Mead & White. Architects. PUBLIC LIBRARY NO. 35. Hamilton Grange Branch, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Street. McKim, Mead & White, Architects. THE INTERNATIONAL ROAD CONGRESS AT PARIS. Last October the International Road Congress, the purpose of which I outlined in my last message to your Honorable Board, was held at Paris. This Congress, the first of its kind ever organized, was arranged by the French Government, and was prompted by the serious effect of high-speed motor cars upon the highways. Three delegates were sent by the United States Government, and several American states and cities were also represented. The Chief Engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, Nelson P. Lewis, and the Chief Engineer of the Department of Finance, Chandler Well- ington, were delegated to represent the City of New York, in the belief that not only would valuable information be secured at the Congress, but that the opportunity to observe the organization and methods under which municipal improvements are planned and carried out in European cities, would be of substantial use to our engineers. This practice of sending technical representatives to other cities and countries is quite generally followed by European cities, with most advantageous results. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Withington have prepared full reports on the Congress. For the following synopsis I am in- debted to Mr. Lewis: The most conspicuous difference between the administration of public works, and especially of highways, in Europe and America, is the centralization of authority and responsibility in the former, and the decentralization, or diffusion of such authority and responsibility, in this country. In general, it may be stated, that greater centraliza- tion is accompanied by increased efficiency and economy, although the experience of Switzerland may be considered an exception. In that country the central government assumes no responsibility and exer- cises no authority over the highways, each canton being responsible for its own roads. In Great Britain the policy of decentralization has 99 been carried to an absurd extreme, there being in England and Wales sonic 1,900 separate boards or councils, having jurisdiction over high- way maintenance, while it is said that within fifteen miles of Charing Cross, London, the re are ninety local road authorities, who act inde- pendently of each other. In the City of Xew York there are separate highway bureaus dealing with the streets and roads in each borough, each independent of the other and each with its own organization, its own methods of administration and its own standards of work. The waste of energy, material and money, and the unsatisfactory results are matters of common knowledge. The general use of the motor car, with its serious effect upon roads of the old type, is necessitating different treatment and different: methods of construction wherever roads of the macadam type are in use. The mileage of such roads in the City of Xew York is, and will continue to be, large, until our suburban wards have been so fully developed as to permit the laying of permanent pavements. These roads cannot be reconstructed at once, but the dust nuisance can undoubtedly be greatly abated by surface treatment. Sprinkling with oil emulsions and coating with tar or other bituminous material have been successfully employed on European and on some American roads. Similar methods have been used to a very limited extent in this city, but this treatment has not had the serious investigation and the technical study which is required to make it a success, and to avoid the nuisance, discomfort and damage which follows a careless or haphazard appli- cation of these materials. If there is a city or a locality which is in conspicuous need of an efficient organization with uniform practice and standards and with distinct responsibility and authority for the administration of its highways, it is the City of New York. During the progress of the Congress, I am informed by Mr. Lewis, the suggestion I made last year to the Prefect of the Seine 100 that the Congress increase its scope so as to take in other serious problems of municipal government, was widely discussed by the dele- gates. The next Congress takes place in Brussels in 1910 and there is every indication there will be an opportunity for an interchange of views and experiences on all municipal problems. MUNICIPAL OPERATION. So far as it has been in my power I have followed the policy de- clared in the last municipal campaign, that municipal operation of public utilities should be resorted to only when private ownership fails to render satisfactory service. It was this policy which resulted in taking over the Staten Island Ferry and the Thirty-ninth Street Ferry and the private water companies of Staten Island. In operat- ing these ferries at a loss the City is carrying out one of its responsi- bilities to a part of its people. In signing the Elsberg Rapid Transit Bill on April 20, 1906, I said: " If it should prove that private capital will not be of- fered under these conditions and that the City, by itself, can- not construct and equip these new roads, it will be perfectly feasible to apply to the next Legislature for a satisfactory amendment to this law. * * * In the meantime the City will have had the advantage of accurately ascertaining just how much it must concede in order to induce responsible persons to invest in its new rapid transit routes." It seems to me that the time has now come to make such amend- ments to the Elsberg law as will encourage private capital to extend our transit facilities. 101 We have the assurance, moreover, under existing Law, that the City's interests in such contracts will be safeguarded by a strict ac- counting system. In closing, I wish to express my thanks to the Department heads who have served under me and to the members of my office staff. Respectfully, Mayor. 102 APPENDIX STATEMENT OF CORPORATE STOCK ISSUED From January 1, 1904, to November 1, 1908, Showing the Amount Thereof Issued for Purposes to Which the City was Committed Prior to January 1, 1901, and the Amounts Issued for Purposes Authorized Subsequent to Said Date. For Water. Additional JVater Fund, City of New York. Commitments. , * \ Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Sanitary Protection of Croton $68,500 00 Watershed $68,500 00 Additional Water Fund (Aqueduct 13,287,063 62 Water Fund, Manhattan and The 6,596,938 37 Water Main Fund No. 3 21,000 00 New Water Supply (chapter 724, Laws of 1905) 5,693,500 00 High Pressure Water System, 3,394,650 00 Water Main Fund, Brooklyn 122,100 00 Water Construction, Brooklyn. . . . 31,500 00 Water Fund, Brooklyn 7,020,404 64 High Pressure Water System. Brooklyn 1,414,600 00 Water Fund, Queens 874,000 00 Water Fund, Richmond 376,200 00 1,869,800 00 $4,727,138 37 21,000 00 5,693,500 00 3,394,650 00 122,100 00 31,500 00 2,371,000 00 4,649,404 64 1,414.600 00 505,000 00 369.000 00 72,000 00 304,200 00 Examination, etc., as to Present and Future Water Supply of the City 2,498 -26 2,498 26 Water Meter Fund (for Purchase of Water Meters) 5,000 00 5,000 00 105 ( Commitments. Total. Water .Main, from Trotting Course Lane to .Myrtle and Cypress Avenues. Queens Selecting Site for Filter Plant and Preparing Plans and Specifica- tions Acquisition of Property, Rye Lake, W ampus River and Pond Land for Pipe Conduits, etc., Brooklvn Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. 22,600 00 50,000 00 640,643 37 3,900 00 22,600 00 50,000 00 640,643 37 3,900 00 Total tor Water $39,625,098 26 $18,355,461 88 $21,269,636 38 For Rapid Transit. Commitments. Total, Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Manhattan and The Bronx $12,536,722 38 $12,536,722 38 Brooklyn and Manhattan 3,514,500 00 3,514,500 00 Brooklyn Loop Lines in Manhattan 3,389,602 80 $3,389,602 80 Total for Rapid Transit. $19,440,825 18 $16,051,222 38 $3,389,602 80 1D6 For Schools. Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1Q04. High School Fund (old account) . . $76,000 00 School Building Fund, Richmond.. 80,000 00 School Building Fund, All Bor- oughs 50,163,430 00 College of The City of New York. 4,156,500 00 Normal College Building, Fire Escapes 5,000 00 Purchase of State Normal and Training School, Jamaica 83,000 00 Boys' High School, Brooklyn 6,000 00 Parental School, Queens 86,500 00 School Buildings, Interior Con- struction — Manhattan 164,822 00 The Bronx 37,000 00 Brooklyn 272,872 00 Queens 69,800 00 Richmond 9,200 00 School Buildings, Construction and Improvements: Contingencies... 114,000 00 School Buildings, Construction and Improvements — Manhattan 9,000 00 Brooklyn 81,700 00 Queens 7,000 00 School Buildings, Fire Protection — Manhattan 96,406 25 The Bronx 7,000 00 Brooklyn 57,000 00 Queens 38,000 00 Richmond 6,000 00 Washington Irving High School. Manhattan 12,000 00 $76,000 oo 80,000 00 12,538,430 00 4,156,500 00 17,625,000 00 5,000 00 83,000 00 6,000 00 86,500 00 164.822 00 37,000 00 272.872 00 69,800 00 9.200 00 114,000 00 9,000 00 81,700 00 7,000 00 96.406 25 7,000 00 57,000 00 38,000 00 6,000 00 12.000 00 Total for Schools $55,638,230 25 $16,850,930 00 $38,787,300 2 107 For Parks and Public Places, Etc. Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. William H. Seward Park in Hester Street $6,300 00 $6,300 00 Chelsea Park 8,500 00 $8,500 00 Improvement of Claremont Park, on Clay Avenue Side, The Bronx 15,000 00 15,000 00 Improvement of St. James Park, The Bronx 14,500 00 14,500 00 Bath Houses and Shelter House, Orchard Beach, Pelham Bay Park 4,100 00 4,100 00 Improvement of Pelham Bay Park Along Pelham Bay Shore 10,000 00 10,000 00 Improvement of Mosholu Parkway 13,500 00 13,500 00 Improvement of Bronx and Pel- ham Parkway 52,700 00 52,700 00 Improvement of Spuyten Duyvil Parkway 45,000 00 45,000 00 Construction and Improvement of John Jay Park, DeWitt Clinton Park. Thomas Jefferson Park and Small Park at Thirty-fifth Street and First Avenue 350,000 00 350,000 00 Additional Public Parks Fund 350,000 00 350,000 00 Public Park in Twelfth Ward. One Hundred and Forty-fifth. One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Streets, Bradhurst and Edgecombe Ave- nues 48 94 48 94 Riverside Park and Drive, Ninety- sixth Street Viaduct 211.128 16 211,428 16 108 Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Riverside Park and Drive, Twelfth Avenue Viaduct, Awards for Damages 220,513 94 Botanical Museum, Herbarium and Garden 441,360 92 Washington Park in Stapleton and Small Park in Richmond, Im- provement of 3,095 76 Construction and Maintenance of Public Parkways 10,000 00 Improvement of Parks, Parkways and Drives, Manhattan and Richmond 575,500 00 Restoration and Improvement of Jumel Mansion and Grounds. . . 11,275 00 Improvement of Parks, Parkways and Drives — The Bronx 563,000 00 Queens 476,000 00 Toilet Facilities in City Parks and Rebuilding Bank, Rock Bridge, Central Park 23,500 00 Widening and Improving Cathe- dral Parkway, Between Fifth and Seventh Avenues, Manhattan 63,000 00 Xew York Zoological Garden in Bronx Park 1,030,870 70 Improvement and Construction of Parks, Parkways, Playgrounds, Boulevards and Driveways, Man- hattan and Richmond 1,457,500 00 Improvement and Construction of Parks, etc., The Bronx 980.666 66 220,513 94 141,000 00 300,360 92 3,095 76 10,000 00 506,500 00 69,000 00 11,275 00 482,000 00 81,000 00 321,000 00 155.000 00 23,500 00 63,000 00 300,000 00 730,870 70 1,457,500 00 980.666 66 109 Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Improvement and Construction of Parks, etc., Brooklyn and Queens 1,476,680 00 Acquisition and Construction of Playgrounds for the Children of the City 903,000 00 Athletic Fields Under Jurisdiction of Board of Education 305,500 00 Reconstructing Bulkhead on the Speedway 2,000 00 Alterations, etc.. in DeWitt Clinton Park 1,000 00 Wire Fence, Bronx Park, at Bronx- dale 5,000 00 Department of Parks. Repairing Drives, etc. — Manhattan and Richmond 1,000 00 Brooklyn and Queens 54,000 00 The Bronx ,476,680 00 903,000 00 305, 500 00 2,000 00 1,000 00 5,000 00 1,000 00 54,000 00 23,000 00 Total, Parks, etc $9,708,540 08 $2,925,386 80 $6,783,153 28 For Public Buildings. Commitments. Total. Improving, etc., New County Court House, Manhattan $50,000 00 New Hall of Records 3,106,164 94 Prior to January 1 1904. $3,106,164 94 Subsequent to January 1, 1904. $50,000 00 110 Commitments. A \ Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1 , January 1 , 1904. 1904. Municipal Building, Manhattan Terminal of New York and Brooklyn Bridge, Plans and Specifications 20,000 00 20,000 00 New Hall of Records, Equipping Offices 33,000 00 33,000 00 Criminal Court Building, Manhat- tan, Completion 56,000 00 56,000 00 Criminal Courts Building, Install- ing Vacuum Cleaning System .. . 5,000 00 5,000 00 Criminal Courts Building, Com- pleting Electrical Wiring System 9,500 00 9,500 00 Court of General Sessions, Equip- ping Additional Court Room, etc. 32,500 00 32,500 00 Repairs to County Court House, New York County 50,000 00 50,000 00 Thirteenth District Municipal Court, Manhattan, Acquisition of Property on Madison Street. . . . 127,000 00 127,000 00 Repairs and Alterations to Build- ing No. 261 Madison Street, Manhattan, for Use of Thir- teenth District Municipal Court . 44,000 00 ll.oOOOO Permanently Bettering Fifty-sev- enth Street Court House, Jeffer- son Market Court House and Harlem Court House 12,000 00 12,000 00 Improvement to Brownstone Build- ing, City Hall Park 20,000 00 20,000 00 Improvements, etc., City Hall, Manhattan 45,000 00 45,000 00 Municipal Electric Lighting Plant. 625,000 00 625,000 00 111 Commitments. A, Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Improving Washington, West Washington. Fulton and Jeffer- son Markets West Washington Market, Recon- struction of Buildings Damaged by Fire Office Building. President of the Borough of The Bronx, Will- iamsbridge Construction and Equipment, Court House, The Bronx Kings County Hall of Records, Metallic Furniture Kings County Hall of Records, Extension, Alterations, etc Municipal Court House Site, Brooklyn New Municipal Building and Addi- tional Court Building, Brooklyn, Construction Court House on Gates Avenue for Second District Municipal Court and Sixth District Magistrates' Court, Brooklyn Gates Avenue Court House, Brook- lyn, Electric Light and Gas Fix- tures Permanently Bettering Borough Hall, Brooklyn Permanently Bettering Kings County Court House Kings County Court House, Coal Vaults, etc 26,500 00 175,000 00 197,700 00 175,000 00 6,500 00 197,700 00 1,100 00 13,000 00 13,000 00 50,000 00 50,000 00 1,500 00 1,000 00 7,000 00 3,350 00 16,000 00 26,500 00 53,000 00 6,500 00 1,100 00 1,500 00 1,000 00 7,000 00 3.350 00 112 Tot; Commitments. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Repairs, etc., Men's Prison, Ray- mond Street Jail. Brooklyn .... Raymond Street Jail, New Build- ing, Plans and Specifications. . . . Public Comfort Station, Wallabout Market, Brooklyn Public Market, Brooklyn. Acquir- ing Title Public Market, Eighth Ward, Brooklyn, Preparing Land Construction of Borough Hall, Queens Rebuilding Queens County Court House Alterations, etc., to Queens County Court House Building, Long Island City Construction of County and Bor- ough Buildings, Queens Queens County Jail, New Fence . . Borough Building, Richmond. . . . Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, Furnishing Quar- ters in Borough Hall New Richmond County Jail. Con- struction Richmond County Court House, Improving, etc Armory Fund American Museum of Natural His- tory Metropolitan Museum of Art 20,000 00 20,000 00 7,500 00 7,500 00 500 00 500 00 752,700 00 752,700 00 146,500 00 146,500 00 42,347 48 42,347 48 280,000 00 280,000 00 39,471 75 39,471 75 15,000 00 15,000 00 9,700 00 9,700 00 619,700 00 619,700 00 4,000 00 4,000 00 105,000 00 105,000 00 3,000 00 3.000 00 3,309,936 12 2,133,422 55 1,176,513 57 739,000 00 308,000 00 431.000 00 759,400 00 20,000 00 739.400 00 113 Commitments. Total. Prior to January 1, 1904. Subsequent to January 1, 1904. Museum oi' Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn. Addition Aquarium Building, Battery Public Bath. Rivington Street. . . . Public Baths. Manhattan Public Baths. The Bronx Heating Equipment, Building at One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Street, Brook and Washington Avenues, The Bronx Public Baths, Brooklyn Public Bath, Eighth Street, First Ward, Queens Interior Public Baths, Long Island City Floating Hath. Long Island City. . ( rouverneur Hospital New Bellevue Hospital Temporary Pavilions, Bellevue Hospital Alterations to Buildings and Fire Protection Devices, Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital Training School for Women Nurses New Bellevue Hospital, Acquiring Property Dormitory. Medical College Build- ing. Manhattan New Harlem Hospital Fordham Hospital Cumberland Street Hospital, Brooklvn, Alterations lilili TOO 00 666 700 00 64,500 00 30,000 00 22,500 00 1,700 00 1,357,567 50 811,500 00 125,000 00 125,000 00 960 00 A A f\ (\<\ i \ 44-y.OOO 00 zO/,000 00 3,500 00 550 00 1 5 ,000 00 350,500 00 350,500 00 1,152,100 00 1,152,100 00 15.000 00 19,800 00 687,500 00 1,622,666 90 1,622.666 90 3,000 00 3,000 00 770,000 00 770.000 00 741,750 00 741.750 00 21,000 00 S 1-.500 00 20,800 00 546,067 50 960 00 181,400 00 3,500 00 550 00 15,000 00 15,000 00 19,800 00 687,500 00 21.000 00 114 Commitments. Total. Prior to January 1, 1904. Subsequent to January 1, 1904. Reception Hospital for Insane, Site^ Manhattan Department of Correction, Build- ing Fund Penitentiary on Rikers Island. . . . Department of Charities — Building Fund Lodging House, Manhattan. . . . Staff House, Metropolitan Hos- pital, Blackwells Island Tuberculosis Infirmary, Metro- politan Hospital, Blackwells Island Morgue, Metropolitan Hospital. Hospital Pavilion, City Home, Blackwells Island Nurses' Home, Children's Hos- . pital, Randalls Island Nurses' Home and Training School, Kings County Hos- pital Acquiring Land for Coney Island Hospital Additional Dormitories, City Colony. Richmond Pavilion for Insane, City Col- ony, Richmond Steam Heating and Lighting Plant, Kings County Hospital New York Public Library Centra] Library Building. Brook- lvn 145,000 00 145,000 00 295,000 00 35,000 00 260,000 00 43,500 00 43,500 00 1,999,800 00 489,500 00 1,510.300 00 20,000 00 20,000 00 2,000 00 2,000 00 4,500 00 4,500 00 1,500 00 1.500 00 9,000 00 9.000 00 3,000 00 3,000 00 6,500 00 6,500 00 127,662 00 127.662 00 3,000 00 3.000 00 500 00 500 00 2,500 00 2,500 00 3,487,400 00 3,487,400 00 18.825 82 18.825 82 115 Commitments. f > Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Enlarging Site. Montague Street Branch Brooklyn Public Library Sites for C arnegie Libraries City Court Building. City Hall Park. Additional Stories Kings County Court House, Con- struction of Additional Stories. . .Municipal Court House Site, Brooklyn Department of Public Charities, Metropolitan Hospital, New Dormitory 30,000 00 30,000 00 1,343,000 00 1,343,000 00 27,000 00 11,000 00 93 75 2,474 02 27,000 00 11,000 00 93 75 2,474 02 Total for Public Buildings $27,312,420 28 $18,765,751 87 $8,546,668 41 For Bridges. Total. Brooklyn Bridge, Gore of Land at Southeast Corner of William Street and Present Property of Bridge Brooklyn Bridge Station. Sands and 'Washington Streets, Remov- ing Supporting Columns Brooklyn Bridge, Reconstructing Manhattan Terminal $1,800 00 9,000 00 380.500 00 Commitments. A . Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. $380,500 00 $1,800 00 9.000 00 116 Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1. January 1, 1904. 1904. Brooklyn Bridge, Acquisition of Property for Manhattan Ter- minal Brooklyn Bridge, Reconstructing Railway Floor Brooklyn Bridge, Constructing Trolley Railway Approaches, Brooklyn Brooklyn Bridge, Track Stringers, Safety Signals and Track Loop. Williamsburg Bridge Manhattan Bridge Queensboro Bridge (Blackwells Island) Bridge Over Harlem River, First and Willis Avenues Bridge Over Harlem River, at Third Avenue Bridge Over Harlem River, at Madison Avenue Bridge Over Harlem River, from One Hundred and Forty-fifth to One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street Bridge Over Harlem River, from Two Hundred and Seventh to One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Street Bridge Across Spuyten Duvvil Creek (Henry Hudson Memorial Bridge) Bridge Over Tracks of Harlem Railroad at One Hundred and Fifty-third Street, The Bronx. . 1,747,492 50 1,747,492 50 99,000 oo 37,655 14 9,762,500 00 9,762,500 00 11,333,500 00 11,333,500 00 10,075,500 00 10,075,500 00 222,827 04 222,827 04 270,740 59 270,740 59 960,876 45 960.876 45 1,037,505 05 1,037,505 05 1.155.980 54 1,155,980 54 79.500 00 30,000 00 99,000 00 37,655 14 '9.500 00 20.000 00 20.000 00 117 Commitments. A Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Widening Bridge Over Harlem Railroad at One Hundred and Sixty-first and One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Streets. The Bronx Bridge to Carry Jerome Avenue Over Mosholu Parkway. The Bronx Extension of Bridge Over Port Morris Branch Railroad at Elton Avenue^ One Hundred and Sixty- seventh Street and Washington Avenue, The Bronx Bridge Over Tracks of Harlem Railroad and Port Morris Branch Thereof, Connecting Melrose Avenue from One Hundred and Sixty-third to One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Street Bridge Over Harlem Railroad and Bronx River at Two Hundred and Twenty-second Street Bridges in Connection with De- pression of Port Morris Branch Railroad Bridge Over Tracks of New Haven Railroad at Westchester Avenue. Temporary Bridge Over Bronx River at Westchester Avenue. . . Permanent Bridge Over Bronx River at Westchester Avenue. . . Bridge Over Bronx River at One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Street 67,000 00 67,000 00 3,000 00 3,000 00 25,000 00 25,000 00 500 00 500 00 12,500 00 12,500 00 184,000 00 184,000 00 30,000 00 30,000 00 1,000 00 1,000 00 286,948 72 286,948 72 28.000 00 28,000 00 118 Commitments. Total. Bridge Across Bronx River and Approaches to Bridge Over Har- lem Railroad at Two Hundred and Thirty-third Street Highway Bridge Over Bronx River, from Becker to Wakefield Avenue Bridge to Extend One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Street Over Harlem Railroad Approaches to Bridges Over Xew York Central Railroad and New York and Putnam Railroad at Depot Place and West One Hun- dred and Seventy-seventh Street. Bridge Over Eastchester Bay in Pelham Bay Park Bridge to Replace Eastchester Bridge Over Hutchinson's River Bridge Over Gowanus Canal at Hamilton Avenue, Union Street, Third Street and Ninth Street, Construction Bridge Over Gowanus Canal (as Above) — Damages, Change of Grade .... Damages, Change of Grade. . . . Bridge Across Prospect Avenue at Seeley Street, Brooklyn Reconstructing Floor. Bridge Over Wnllabout Canal. Washington Avenue Newtown Creek Bridge at Vernon Avenue Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. 169,500 00 169,500 00 1,000 00 16,000 00 16,000 00 135,000 00 135,000 00 476,500 00 476.500 00 9,417 23 455,000 00 455,000 00 268,544 65 268,544 65 89,306 36 89,306 36 16.017 50 16.017 50 6,000 00 957,071 77 957.071 77 1,000 00 9,417 28 6.000 00 119 Commitments. r A Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1. January 1. 1904. 1904. Bridge Over Flushing Creek, Be- tween Jackson Avenue and Broadway 355,000 00 355,000 00 Bridge Across Dutch Kills Creek on Line of Borden Avenue, Queens 133,500 00 133,500 00 Total for Bridges $10,950,183 54 $40,435,811 17 $514,372 37 For Public Works, Streets and Roads. Total. Commitments. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Broadway Parkways, Fifty-ninth to Manhattan Street. Iron Fences Delancey Street. Bowery and Nor- folk Street, Improvement of Roadway Park Avenue Improvement, Forty- fifth to Fifty-sixth Street Seventh Ave nue Improvement, One Hundred and Tenth to One Hun- dred and Fifty-third 'Street . . . . Broadway Improvements, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth to One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street. $1,000 00 23,200 00 120,000 00 $120,000 00 239,000 00 38,000 00 $1,000 00 239,000 00 120 Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Extension of Riverside Drive to Boulevard Lafayette Riverside Drive Extension and Im- provement, from One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street to Henry Hudson Memorial Viaduct, Plans, etc Riverside Drive, Construction of Extension North of One Hun- dred and Fifty-fifth Street to Henry Hudson Memorial Viaduct Repairing Retaining Wall, West Side of Boulevard Lafayette, Near One Hundred and Eighty- first Street Rebuilding Retaining Wall, West Side of Fort Washington Avenue Street Signs, Manhattan Park Avenue Improvement, Above One Hundred and Sixth Street. . Sodding Plots, Prospect Avenue, The Bronx Sodding Plots, Longwood Avenue, The Bronx Change of Grade Damage Commis- sion, Twenty-third and Twenty- fourth Wards Change of Grade Crossing at Broadway, New York Central Railroad Transverse Roads at Tremont Ave- nue, Burnside Avenue and Kings- bridge Road, in Connection with Grand Boulevard and Concourse 3,536,871 03 8,536,871 03 37,000 00 58,000 00 10,000 00 11,000 00 30,000 00 621 08 5,000 00 1,000 00 401,500 00 9,720 51 256,200 00 256,200 00 401.500 00 37,000 00 58,000 00 11,000 00 30,000 00 621 08 5,000 00 1,000 00 9,720 51 121 Commitments. Total. Transverse Roads at East One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Street, East One Hundred and Sixty- seventh Street, Burnside Avenue and East Two Hundred and Fourth Street, in Connection with Grand Boulevard and Con- course 35,000 00 Damages to Property on One Hun- dred and Seventy-seventh Street, Abolishing Grade Crossings, etc. 92,012 50 Fund for Payment of Assessments Imposed Against City 1,000,000 00 Relaying Water Main in Southern Boulevard, Near One Hundred and Forty-first Street 13,650 00 Macadamizing Crotona Avenue in Crotona Park 25,000 00 Improvement of Steps at One Hun- dred and Sixty-sixth Street, Be- tween Fulton and Franklin Ave- nues, The Bronx 7,600 00 Acquiring Right of Way for New Route of Spuvten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad 551,025 00 Rebuilding Retaining Wall, East Side of Edgecombe Avenue, One Hundred and Forty-seventh to One Hundred and Forty-eighth Street 20,500 00 Depot Place, The Bronx, Abolish- ing Grade Crossings, Awards for Damages 8,544 00 Prior to January 1, 1904. Subsequent to January 1 , 1904. 92,012 50 1,000,000 00 13,650 00 25,000 00 551,025 00 8.544 00 ',600 00 20,500 00 122 Commitments. Total. Prior to January 1, 1904. Subsequent to January 1, 1904. Palisade Avenue, The Bronx, Dam- ages, Change of Grade 51,207 75 Atlantic Avenue Improvement, Brooklyn 424,500 00 Street Signs, Brooklyn 5,000 00 Shore Road, Brooklyn, Completion of 101,500 00 Abolishing Grade Crossings, High- ways and Railroads in Brooklyn 1,250,000 00 Paving Farmers' Square, Wall- about Market 4,000 00 Opening, Improving, etc., Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn 325,469 64 Repaying Under Chapter 475, Laws of 1895 10,000 00 Paving Jerome Avenue 4,000 00 Repaying Eighty-sixth Street. . . . 32,500 00 Repaying Streets, Manhattan 5,554,850 00 Repaying Streets, The Bronx 1,464,800 00 Deficiencies, in Assessments, Town of New Lots, Brooklyn 36,120 21 Repaying Streets, Brooklyn Repaying Streets, Queens 1,645,200 00 Repaying Streets, Richmond 1,399,000 00 Fund for Street and Park Open- ings Belmont Avenue Sewer, Extension of, etc., The Bronx 10,500 00 Approving Sewerage System, The Bronx 35,000 00 Approving Sewerage System, The Bronx 424,500 00 1,250,000 00 . 325,469 64 10,000 00 4,000 00 32,500 00 1,913,000 00 414,800 00 36,120 21 7,359,000 00 2,160,000 00 310,000 00 161,000 00 19,932,634 37 12,381,345 09 51,207 75 5,000 00 101,500 00 4,000 00 3,641,850 00 1,050,000 00 5,199,000 00 1,335,200 00 1,238,000 00 7,551,289 28 10,500 00 35,000 00 30.000 00 123 Total. Commitments. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Drainage and Sewer District Plans, The Bronx Sewer in Forty-second Street and Hudson River. Manhattan Sewer in Park Avenue, South of One Hundred and Fifty-third Street, The Bronx Reconstructing, etc., Sewer in East One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Street Reconstruction of Sewers, Man- hattan Construction of Webster Avenue Relief Sewer, The Bronx Rebuilding Sewer in East One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, The Bronx Sewer in Kent Avenue and Division Street, Outlet, Brooklyn Construction of Sewers, Borough of Brooklyn Paving, etc., Bridges Over Harlem River Branch of New Haven Railroad, The Bronx 47,110 00 47,110 00 36,000 00 36,000 00 18,500 00 18,500 00 28,600 00 28,600 00 269,000 00 269,000 00 497,500 00 497,500 00 75,000 00 75,000 00 11,000 00 11,000 00 803,500 00 300,000 00 503,500 00 3,000 00 3,000 00 Total for Public Works, Streets and Roads $47,995,936 09 $25,762,537 47 $22,233,398 62 124 For Department of Health. C'oiinnitmriits. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January I, 1904. 1904. Health Department Building Fund $1,879,500 00 $1,085,000 00 $791,500 00 Steamboat for Transportation of Patients Affected with Con- tagious Diseases, etc 67,000 00 67,000 00 Site and Building for Sanitarium for Tubercular Patients, Orange County 318,500 00 318,500-00 Total, Health Department $2,265,000 00 $1,085,000 00 $1,180,000 00 For Fire Department. Total. Commitments. < A > Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1901. 190i. $106,150 00 25,000 00 $500,000 00 710,000 00 1,188,700 00 19,000 00 95,500 00 3,000 00 New Hose, Wagons, etc $106,150 00 Fire Alarm Telegraph System, Manhattan 25,000 00 For Sites, Buildings and Telegraph System 1,210,000 00 For Sites and Buildings 1,188,700 00 Sites and Buildings, Manhattan and The Bronx 19,000 00 New Apparatus, Manhattan and The Bronx 95,500 00 Purchase of New Apparatus, Brooklyn 3,000 00 125 ( lommitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Sites and Buildings. Brooklyn and Queens 210,500 00 210,500 00 Fire Alarm Telegraph System, Queens 62,600 00 62,600 00 Extension of Fire Alarm System. Queens, Including Apparatus for Volunteer Companies 64,000 00 61,000 00 Construction of New Fireboat 8,500 00 8,500 00 Construction, etc., of Fireboats.. . . 325,000 00 325,000 00 Placing Fireboat " Seth Low " in Condition for Service '. 22,500 00 22,500 00 Fire Alarm Telegraph System, Richmond 23,500 00 23,500 00 Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, Sites, Erection of, etc., Addi- tions to Buildings for an Exten- sion of Paid System 155,500 00 155.500 00 Total, Fire Department.. $3,519,450 00 $710,500 00 $2,808,950 00 For Docks and Ferries. Commitments. A Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1 904. 1 904. Dock Fund $41,404,422 00 $5,614,689 93 $35,789,732 07 Total. Docks and Ferries. $11,101,122 00 $5,611,689 93 $35,789,732 07 126 For Department of Correction. Commitments. Total. Permanently Bettering and Im- proving Harts Island and the Buildings Thereon New Boilers, Second District Prison Repairing Steamboats Purchase of a New Steamboat. . . . Construction and Equipment of Steamboat Total, Department of Cor- rection $40,000 00 3,500 00 30,000 00 600 00 3,000 00 $77,100 00 Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1901. 1901. $40,000 00 3,500 00 30,000 00 600 00 3,000 00 $77,100 00 For Department of Public Charities. Total. Commitment^. Prior to Subsequent t( January 1, January 1. 1904. 1901. New Steamboat $65,500 00 Repairs to Steamboat " Thomas S. Brennan ; ' 22,400 00 Total, Department of Public Charities $87,900 00 $65,500 00 22,400 00 $87,900 00 127 For Police Department. Total, Commitments. , A > Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1. 1904. 1904. $558,720 00 $1,488,200 00 61,000 00 20,000 00 13,000 00 $558,720 00 $1,582,200 00 For Sites and Buildings $2,016,920 00 For Improving, etc., Station Houses 61.000 00 General Repairs, etc., to Steamboat " Patrol " 20,000 00 Two Additional Power Launches.. 13,000 00 Total, Police Department $2,140,920 00 For Street Cleaning. Tota Commitments. Prior to January 1 1904. Subsequent to January 1. 190 1. New Stock or Plant. Manhattan and The Bronx Property for Stable, Northwest Corner of Eightieth Street and Avenue B, Manhattan Property on East One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Street, The Bronx Incinerating Plant. Manhattan.... New Stock or Plant, Brooklyn. . . . Site for and Construction of Stable, Brooklyn Two Automobiles $814,595 00 $193,245 00 $621,350 00 71.000 00 53,500 00 30,000 00 353,000 00 296,500 00 4,000 00 30,000 00 83,750 00 296,500 00 4,000 00 71.000 00 53,500 00 269,250 00 12S Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1. 1904. 1001. Three or More Autos 11.6*50 00 11,650 00 New Stock or Plant, Queens 33,503 92 33,503 92 Crematory, Queens 11,550 00 11,550 00 New Stock or Plant, Richmond. . . 179,631 00 101.634 00 78,000 00 Total, Street Cleaning. . . $1,858,932 92 $742,632 92 $1,116,300 00 For Miscellaneous Purposes. Commitments. f A 1 Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1, January 1, 1904. 1904. Expenses of Commissioners of Esti- mate and Appraisal $1 1,000 00 $9,000 00 $5,000 00 Metropolitan Sewerage Commission 20,000 00 20,000 00 Expense of Commission on Im- provements, etc., Jamaica Bay. . 25,000 00 25,000 00 Comfort Station, Madison Square Park, Manhattan 1,000 00 1,000 00 Public Comfort Stations — Manhattan 215,000 00 215,000 00 Brooklyn 43,000 00 43,000 00 Queens 1,000 00 1.000 00 To Provide for Uncollected Taxes . 3,000,000 00 3,000,000 00 Storage Yard, Park Avenue and One Hundred and Eightieth Street, etc., The Bronx 169,500 00 169.500 00 Garage Under Brooklyn Bridge.. 1.000 00 1.000 00 129 Commitments. Total. Prior to January 1, 1904. Subsequent to January 1, 1904. [mp roving Sanitary Conditions, Gowanus Canal. Brooklyn Monument in Memory of Prison Ship Martyrs Municipal Asphalt Repair Plant, Brooklyn Alterations, etc., Rooms Leased for Eighth District Court. West- chester, The Bronx Topographical Bureau — The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond Map or Plan of Portion of Second. Third and Fourth Wards, Queens Map or Plan of Ward 1, and Parts of Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, Richmond . . Carnegie Libraries, Original Stock of Books— Manhattan, The Bronx and Richmond Brooklyn Queens Acquisition of Property in Connec- tion with Depressing Tracks of Port Morris Railroad Through St. Mary's Park, The Bronx. . . . Corporation Yard for Bureau of Sewers, Brooklyn 65 1.000 00 46,272 15 25,000 00 251,000 00 30,000 00 100,000 00 75,000 00 99,257 89 27,200 00 18,500 00 7,100 00 99,257 89 27,200 00 18,500 00 60,000 00 654,000 00 46,272 15 25,000 00 4,000 00 251,000 00 30,000 00 850,000 00 504,000 00 100,000 00 75,000 00 Total for Miscellaneous Purposes $6,240,830 04 $3,471,957 89 ,100 00 $2,768,872 15 130 Summary. Commitments. Total. Prior to Subsequent to January 1 , January 1, 1904. 1904. dior» ^of: nf\o $39,025,098 20 »pl 8,355, 101 88 $21,209,030 38 Rapid Transit 19,440,825 18 16,051,222 38 3,389,602 80 K K f\ 9 Q O Q. C\ ,0OO yiiOKj Zi) oo, / o / ,oUU »0 City Parks, Public Places, etc 9,708,540 08 2,925,386 80 6,783,153 28 Public Buildings 27,312,420 28 18,765,751 87 8,546,668 41 40,950,183 54 40,435,811 17 514,372 37 Public Works, Streets and Roads 47,995,936 09 25,762,537 47 22,233,398 62 Department of Health 2,265,000 00 1,085,000 00 1,180,000 00 Fire Department 3,519,450 00 710,500 00 2,808,950 00 41,404,422 00 5,614,689 93 35,789,732 07 Department of Correction. . 77,100 00 77,100 00 Department of Public Charities 87,900 2,140,920 00 87,900 00 1,582,200 00 00 558,720 00 1,858,932 92 742,632 92 1,116,300 00 Miscellaneous Purposes. . . . 6,240,830 04 3,471,957 89 2,768,872 15 Total $298,265,788 64 $151,330,602 31 $146,935,186 33 Note — The actual issue of Corporate Stock from January 1, 1904, to Novem- ber 1, 1908, was $298,945,094.84. 131 U £ PQ » - o g So 5. - 1 - — — — I I- Ol *N OJ Ol — O Cs t- CO CO CM O T O O -f l~ O. O O O (M Ol i- co co oj 01 o o OS r. CM co 00 OJ z z CO CO o 7 1 o 00 o AO o CM o CM o iO iO CO o z o 00 00 I— ^ r. i - o t- ••o X *o z — r. CM^ — L~ r: CO CM CM^ o • '. °\ — CM iO 00^ r. = •- X - CO 00 - cs. o c o 00 tr- »o t- 01 t- o" t— -t" L— OS co^ i - ; i OS z o 00 ~r i - =' co o - X lO I- iO lO co" r o" X o-" AO OS — OO -CH of m- co CO 00 00 M0 CM 00 CO CM CO o CM CO CO o o o o CM z o 00 o z z o 00 l- o •o o CO — CO 5 CM -r 00 CO X o . T lO CM — ?0 o o 00 o -. 1 o — o> — 1 - £— ■ T as t— o oo o ' T o CO co ~ 1 o" I- "^1 /-' l~_ V of — cm" *o o — C i r i - C 1 [— " 7 1 as os' — 00 OS 1 - 00 t -" -v 1- CM — ' oo" of cm" z L~ L~ o GO X o o o CO o 00 CO 00 L- o o CO CO o z o o o 1 L~ o o CM 1 - 00^ >z = z_ CO cs co. o CO o_ o X 00 o ' 7 03 00 o CO o »T o o CO ' - oo" X I>r X 1 - ~J CM z as r.' iO °Q X oo" OS -*" r. i - OS CO 00 o" o ^3- 5" i of of - z Oh v z G fin r- ~ Q U Oh Oh Oh CU O Cv O U Q O Q Ph 7~ : o vn ^ 6 o 5 2 < ^ 2 c _ o o rj re ~ re o Oh S ^ 2 J C W C Ph 5 1 CO -r CO L- 00 t— I CM CO ^ iO O t- 00 OS 132 qo -t ^ c: O lO l C ~l 00 L- © CO cc i-r - m — ■- - -tf CO CO CM — —f o CO Ol CO © CO H |> (M (M H CO CM C O oos^ooscxdoooooooooooO'C; - r - - z 00 -f M O O as O O »0 t-h oi O M »o CM O O G lit r> © © i- o M os ^ f>\ c\ ©^ co co o o. . x o c:^ r_ »o ^ ■ cm -r i- oc I - co" ©" ©" L— " co" ©" C■" oT ^o" *o" CO" tJ<" cm" OO" id OT* »-H CO* OO" ©" ->*" o^Cioooooocooic:cr. i-i-i-.-r— — jj h cm if OOCQCMCMi— I i-H l-H i-H i— IrH * * * +- cc as oo 00 o CO (M © © © © © © © f © © © CO X CO o r - r © z © © »o iO © z o as CO © C» ©_ as © CM iO © CO c» co" cm" co' oo" of as" I -" ©" as" ^" co" ©" as" co' ©" ©" co" ©" I—" iO CM CO as © X 1 - Ol ^ CO © © CO' as »o © 1—1 1— 1 1 CO © u 3 2 "55 O-i a Q ^ Q & - p U o .-x o o H U U ffl 2 t/J a, in a3 ■p > Q rt - a - - 5 a. g 7 U u c o >> c ti 2 E s E rt r o — c ' x 'is IS CMCOi5SC; (MMMOIMMCMCMcOCOOOCOOTjCOCOCOCOcO 133 bo os o — - - - ~ * c o > + 00 CO (M O — ' T X> r.' z z z z z_ . T z' " 'Z z z z z z z OS os" o *o co" — I - I - - ' T t *o o o- H C •- / 09- ~* ^ o CO . C- ^ CO O 05 - - — — rr '-. CO*" «-H C5 IS 1—1 00 cr O 1 - o £- 00 CO L"~- o o OS t- CO rc i - CC © co z L- -^f co" -r* co" ■*f ~r of CO CO 00 re CO CM CM CM CS_ »o" I— ' 55- — O! CO CO co 00 — CO CM 00 CM © OS CO CO 00 o — CO OS 1 - ^f" lO co" io" of »o* o I— 1 - CM Tt< OS »o" oo" *o" or o 5> o o< a, < b ° O u 22 22 CO oo CO 00 o Ol Ol o b- OS CO .0 ! s IC s 9 CM o O = 00 Ol o *a 1 - CO — — r. CO co o. - - 1 © 1 - Ol