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merits of the last century which apply to great towns in general, 

 are. applicable to her special situation with particular emphasis. 



With reference to general commerce, Brooklyn must he con- 

 sidered as a division merely of the port of New York. The city 

 of New York is, in regard to huilding space, in the condition of a 

 walled town; Brooklyn is New York outside the walls. 



The length of suitable shore for shipping purposes which the 

 city of New York possesses is limited. Many operations of com- 

 merce cannot he carried on in the northern parts of the island. It 

 may be reckoned upon as certain, that the centre of the commer- 

 cial arrangements of the port will be in the lower part of New 

 York island. 



It may be also reckoned upon as certain that everywhere, within 

 a limited distance back from its shores, all the ground will be re- 

 quired for commercial purposes. The amount of land enclosed by 

 this commercial border remaining to be devoted to purposes of 

 habitation will then be comparatively small, and will be at a con- 

 siderable distance north of the commercial centre, probably not 

 nearer, on an average, than the upper part of the Central Park, 

 which is more than seven miles from the present Custom House. 

 On each side of it, north, south, east and west, will be warehouses 

 and manufacturing and trading establishments, and, at a little greater 

 distance, wharves and shipping. 



The habitable part of New York island will then necessarily be 

 built up with great compactness, and will in every part be intersected 

 with streets offering direct communication for the transportation 

 of merchandise between one part of its commercial quarter and 

 another. 



If now, again, we look on the Long Island side of the port we 

 find a line of shore ten miles in length, which is also adapted to the 

 requirements of shipping. It may be assumed that the land along 

 this shore will be wanted, as well as that along the shore of New 

 York island, and for an equal distance back from the water, for mer- 

 cantile and manufacturing purposes. Supposing that the district 

 thus occupied shall, after a time, reach as far back as the correspond- 

 ing district on New York island ; in the rear of it, (and still at a 

 distance from the commercial centre of the port, not half as great on 

 an average as the Central Park), we find a stretch of ground gener- 

 ally elevated, the higher parts being at an average distance of more 

 than a mile from any point to which .merchandise can be brought by 

 water. East of this elevation the ground slopes to the shore, not of 

 a harbor or navigable river, but of the ocean itself — a shore in the 

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