580 



NEW YORK (CITY). 



The modification of the route by the commis- 

 sioners, and the increase of rock-tunneling, 

 would somewhat enhance the cost of excava- 

 tion, but would reduce that of land-damage. 

 Expert opinions as to the cost of the proposed 

 Quaker Bridge dam, and the time necessary 

 for its construction, varied widely. 



Opening of the East River Bridge. On the 24th 

 of May the great suspension -bridge connecting 

 the cities of New York and Brooklyn, across 

 the East river, was formally opened, with ap- 

 propriate ceremonies, and was delivered into 

 the charge of the two cities by the Board of 

 Trustees, who had had the supervision of its 

 construction. By the subsequent action of the 

 authorities it was continued under the control 

 of the same board. At first only the drives 

 and footway were opened to passengers, and, 

 the legal counsel of the Board of Trustees be- 

 ing of the opinion that they had no authority 

 to make any part of it free, tolls were charged ; 

 the rate for foot-passengers being one cent, 

 and for teams from five to twenty cents, ac- 

 cording to size. Later in the year the railroad 

 was opened, trains of two cars each being run 

 by the cable system of traction, and a fare of 

 five cents for each passenger being charged. 

 At first the footway was used by great num- 

 bers of people, and on the 30th of May a panic 

 was caused by the fall of a woman at the stair- 

 way leading from the New York approach to 

 the central span, during which twelve persons 

 were crushed to death, and thirty-five others 

 were injured. After the novelty wore away, 

 no trouble was occasioned by crowds. 



(For an account of this undertaking, see EN- 

 GINEERING, in the present volume.) 



Evacuation-Day. The one-hundredth anniver- 

 sary of the final evacuation of the city by the 

 British troops, which occurred on Sunday, the 

 25th of November, was celebrated on the fol- 

 lowing day. There was a military and civic 

 parade, in which the President of the United 

 States and other prominent Federal officers, 

 the Governor of the State and his staff, the 

 Governors of several other of the original thir- 

 teen States, and the mayor and other officers 

 of the city participated. There was also a 

 parade of steamers and tug-boats in the harbor. 

 A bronze statue of "Washington was unveiled 

 on the steps of the sub-Treasury building, 

 where an address was delivered by George 

 William Curtis, and the celebration closed with 

 banquets and illuminations in the evening. 



Rapid Transit. Near the end of the year a 

 new Commission was appointed by the mayor 

 under the rapid transit act of 1875, to con- 

 sider _ plans for additional lines of railroad in 

 the city. The cable system of propulsion and 

 the use of improved motors were prominent 

 subjects of consideration, as well as new routes 

 proposed for surface and elevated roads. 



The affairs of the existing elevated roads 

 were subject to considerable litigation. The 

 taxes assessed by the city for five years succes- 

 sively, amounting to $2,286,836.32, remained 



unpaid, and the questions involved were still 

 in court. The agreement made in November, 

 1881, by the directors of the three companies, 

 whereby they were to be merged into one, the 

 stock of the New York Elevated Railroad to 

 be replaced by first-preferred stock of the Man- 

 hattan Company and that of the Metropolitan 

 by second- preferred stock of the same cor- 

 poration, was still in litigation, certain stock- 

 holders of the Metropolitan Company having 

 brought suit to have it set aside, and obtained 

 an injunction pending the trial of the action. 

 In a suit against the Manhattan and New York 

 companies for damage to private property in 

 front of which the structure of the latter line 

 was set up, it was decided that the plaintiff could 

 recover. A scheme for an underground rail- 

 road beneath Broadway to Union Square, and 

 thence northward by two lines, to be known 

 as the Arcade Railway, has been formed and 

 urgently advocated. 



New Parks. In accordance with an act of 

 the Legislature of this year, a commission was 

 appointed by the mayor to select and locate 

 lands for public parks in the twenty-third and 

 twenty-fourth wards of the city, north of the 

 Harlem river. The commission made a re- 

 port to the Legislature of 1884, accompanied 

 by a bill providing for the acquisition of the 

 necessary territory by the city. The tracts 

 selected were an area of 1,070 acres bordering 

 on the line of Yonkers, to be known as Van 

 Cortlandt Park; an area of 653 acres on the 

 Bronx river, to be called Bronx Park; and 

 1,700 acres at Pelham Bay, on Long Island 

 Sound, some distance beyond the present lim- 

 its of the city. These were to be connected 

 by broad parkways, that from Van Cortlandt 

 to Bronx Park being 600 feet wide and one 

 mile in length, and that from Bronx to Pel- 

 ham Bay Park 400 feet wide and 2| miles long. 

 A smaller space of 135 acres, -to be known as 

 Crotona Park, was selected below this series, to 

 be connected with Bronx Park by a parkway. 

 Two smaller spaces, of 38 and 25 acres re- 

 spectively, and to be known as Claremont and 

 St. Mary's Parks, were located still nearer the 

 Harlem river. It was estimated that the entire 

 area selected, 3,800 acres, could be acquired at 

 an average cost of $2,000 per acre, and it was 

 said that their natural attractions were such 

 that there would be little occasion for imme- 

 diate embellishment. The park on Pelham 

 Bay, with its islands, coast indentations, and 

 picturesque views, it was claimed, would excel 

 any pleasure-ground in the world for beauty 

 and healthfumess. Regard was had in the se- 

 lection for the purposes of public reservoirs, 

 parade-grounds, botanical and zoological gar- 

 dens, and a site for great fairs or exhibitions. 

 The bill submitted to the Legislature author- 

 izes the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of 

 New York to take possession of the pieces of 

 land located for parks, and to make applica- 

 tion for the appointment of commissioners of 

 estimate. On the confirmation of the report 





