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over a meadow-like expanse, wherein the first definite obstruction or 

 break in the turfy surface will be at least half a mile away, sometimes 

 considerably more than that, and in which bree tops will be seen in 

 rising perspective fully a mile away. These views will not offer 

 merely peeps, but will comprehend quite broad and well-balanced pas- 

 toral landscapes, free from any object which will suggest the vicinity 

 of the city, from which it- is the primary purpose of the Park to give 

 the means of a ready escape. Views will be had over water surface of 

 equal breadth and distance. The visitor will feel the sense of freedom 

 and repose suggested by scenes of this character, and he impressed by 

 their breadth of light and shadow, all the more because they will be 

 enjoyed in alternation and contrast with the obscurity of the thick 

 woods already established, through the seclusion which he will be oc- 

 casionally led. There is hardly a rood of ground in the Park, which 

 besides serving its own local purpose, will not contribute to general 

 landscape effects, so that every part, whatever its special value, will he 

 associated in such manner with other parts as from some points of 

 view to seem designed to be auxiliary to them, and from others to he 

 supported by them. 



We are unable to see how the ground on the east side of Flatbush 

 Avenue could be laid out in such a way as to obtain these almost inval- 

 uable conditions for a great town park, in anything like a similar de- 

 gree. Nor do we see how it would be possible to secure any distinct 

 unity or valuable landscape relationship between the Park and the 

 land in question. The sunken traffic roads in the Central Park are 

 sometimes referred to as offering a parallel to the division formed by 

 Flatbush Avenue, but for the greater portion of its length along the 

 line in question Flatbush Avenue is a causeway, and constitutes a bar- 

 rier thirty feet high to all views between one piece of ground and the 

 other. Elsewhere, for a short distance, it is true that it lies below the 

 level of the adjoining ground, but it occupies a space one hundred feet 

 wide, and divides a hill. The sunken roads in the Central Park, where 

 the eve ranges over them, are little more than a third of the width, and 

 were laid out with the utmost care to avoid any perceptible break of 

 the surface of the ground where it would be visible to visitors. Where 

 they cross a line of view, it is usually at a distance of more than a 

 quarter of a mile from the observer. There is, on the other hand, no 

 point more than a hundred yards distant from Flatbush Avenue where 

 the eye could range across both the sites in question. 



The pieces of ground on the north and south side of the Reservoir 

 must be regarded as practically distinct from one another, as well as 



