255 



The plot in question contains about twelve hundred ordinary 

 sized city lots of land, and would probably realize, if properly 

 laid out and sold, with suitable building covenants, at least two 

 thousand dollars a lot, or a total of say two and a half millions 

 of dollars, to be applied in liquidation of the park debt. And 

 if we increase this valuation by the probable value of the 

 buildings which Ave may reasonably expect to see erected 

 thereon, say five and a half millions of dollars, we shall add, 

 independently of the immense stimulus thereby given to the 

 surrounding property, eight millions of dollars to the taxable 

 property of the city, and enlarge her revenue two hundred and 

 fifty thousand dollars per annum. At the same time, we make 

 a direct saving to the city of at least a million and a half of 

 dollars, which is the probable cost of improving this property, 

 if retained as a park, and of about twenty-five thousand dollars 

 a year for the cost of its maintenance, with interest on both 

 sums. 



The Commissioners also, in a former report, submitted for 

 public consideration the subject of putting the City Park 

 (which it will be remembered is opposite the the Navy Yard 

 wall) to some other use than that to which it is now subjected. 

 Without reference to its natural defects as a pleasure ground, 

 which were stated in that report,. the immediate vicinity of 

 Washington Park, with its superior attractions of air, prospect, 

 and salubrity, rendering it a much more agreeable place of 

 resort than the City Park, the question is unavoidably pre- 

 sented, whether, under these circumstances, it is at all desirable, 

 or even proper, to devote that very considerable amount of ex- 

 pense and labor to its improvement, which would be necessary 

 to make it suitable for the purposes for which it was originally 

 designed ; while its central position, its capacious and con- 

 venient sewerage, its nearness to the East River, and its conse- 

 quent easy communication with all parts of the surrounding 

 country, point to this spot as possessing peculiar advantages 

 for a general market. The suggestions have since received 

 further consideration from the board, and have also obtained, 

 as they are pleased to find, the assent of many of our more 

 experienced and sagacious citizens ; and the board think they 

 are fully warranted in the statement, that public opinion is 

 now decidedly in favor of the change which they have suggested. 



