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Commissioners, who had the, satisfaction of receiving through 

 an intelligent public press, as well as by the general voice of 

 the people, a hearty approval of the design which had been 

 thus offered for criticism. ISTo material objection was made to 

 any of its prominent features, although valuable suggestions 

 were made, which the Commissioners have since gladly availed 

 themselves of; but the main question had been put, and the 

 public voice had decided in its favor by an overwhelming ma- 

 jority. The tired citizen had here evidently found his beau- 

 ideal of recreation and refreshment ; the hopeful invalid, his 

 coveted supply of balmy air ; the successful man of business, 

 his quiet afternoon drive ; and the artist, the speedy gratifica- 

 tion of his taste for the picturesque. Even the landed pro- 

 prietor found in it an immense addition to the value of his sur- 

 rounding acres ; the economist, an opportunity of increasing 

 the taxable property of the city, and the consequent reduction 

 of individual taxation ; while all classes saw clearly the honor 

 and the eclat which must inevitably result to our city from the 

 consummation of so noble an enterprise. 



The popular judgment was so obviously in unison with 

 their own opinion, as well as with that of their professional ad- 

 visers, that the Commissioners felt assured that the scheme thus 

 adopted was just what the occasion required, and they at once 

 took measures to carry it forward to a full completion, with all 

 the powers entrusted to them. One portion of the plan, it will 

 be remembered, required an important change in the outlines 

 originally fixed upon for the boundaries of the park, involving 

 a considerable enlargement of the premises, both south and 

 west, beyond the original park limits. Application was ac- 

 cordingly made to the Legislature to authorize the proposed 

 change, and a grant of about two hundred and fifty acres of 

 very desirable land was obtained. Commissioners for valuing 

 the same, and for awarding damages to the owners, were ap- 

 pointed by the Supreme Court, and have now nearly completed 

 their proceedings. 



The Commissioners, however, failed to obtain a portion of 

 the land for which they applied, consisting of twelve blocks of 

 land between Ninth and Tenth avenues, extending from Third 

 to Fifteenth streets. A glance at the map will confirm the 

 suggestions made in the report of our landscape architects in 



