DEPARTMENT OF PARKS. 7 1 



vised that for considerable distances it will cost no more to fill up 

 the land under water than to take land on the east side of the 

 existing road, with the resultant damages to buildings and lots. 

 Therefore from the northern end of the parkway to Eighty- 

 ninth street the eastern boundary is, much of the way, sub- 

 stantially the same as that of the present road. South of 

 Eighty-ninth street different conditions exist. From here to 

 Fort Hamilton the ridge is so high that filling up the water side 

 would be much more expensive than buying sufficient land on 

 the east side of the road, and would be tedious and unsightly. 

 We have, as far as seemed practicable, avoided disturbing the 

 beautiful private grounds along the Shore road, alterations of the 

 eastern boundary having been made only to obtain graceful con- 

 tours in lieu of lines that have been established partly by accident 

 and partly by strictly utilitarian considerations. But, from 

 Eighty-ninth street to Fort Hamilton the property owners are 

 familiar with the purpose of the local authorities to open and 

 grade Narrows avenue, and on the Town Survey Commission 

 map it is shown eighty feet Avide, the greater part of which must 

 be taken inside present fence lines. Even here, however, our 

 plan takes less than Narrows avenue and spares the lots as much 

 as possible ; and we rely on ultimately filling up the land under 

 water, raising it a few feet above high water mark, and then dup- 

 licating the accommodations of the higher grades. A parkway 

 along the top of the bluff, and another close to the water — the 

 two connected by roads and paths — may be made to surpass in 

 beauty all city parkways of which we have any knowledge. 



At the south end we have provided a dignified and handsome 

 terminus. Carriages must have room to stand and to swing 

 round for the return drive ; wheelmen and equestrians must have 

 places to dismount and rest ; and the masses of people who will 

 be brought here by surface and elevated railroads and by boats 

 must have an ample concourse where they may find shelter and 

 seats. The ground included in our plan will enable all these 

 requirements to be supplied. 



One question is asked by every one who visits the Shore 

 Road : After you have made your beautiful parkway along the 

 shore how are you going to get to it ? We have answered this 

 in a way that will, we believe, become a source of pride and pleas- 

 ure to the entire city. The two great channels that lead from the 

 populated portions of the city down toward the Shore Road are 

 Fourth avenue and Fort Hamilton avenue. The problem for us 

 was how to connect these with the parkway. South of the Man- 

 hattan Beach and Sea Beach railroads there is no street available 

 until you come to Seventy-fifth street, which is nearly half a mile 

 below the beginning; of the Shore Road. Between the railroads 



