(4) 



The Committee extends to you an invitation to be present 

 at this meeting and to give an expression of your views, either 

 in a short verbal address or in an article addressed to the under- 

 signed Secretary. 



Park Commissioner Willcox will be present at the meeting. 

 Your attendance is respectfully requested. 

 Your obedient servant, 



CORNELIUS G. KOLFF, 



Secretary. 



At a meeting held Oct. 23, 1902, in answer to the 

 above call, the following report of the Committee was 

 submitted and read : 



Staten Island, October 23, 1902. 



To the Members of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, 

 and the People of Staten Island : 



The Committee appointed by President Irving respectfully 

 reports as follows : 



The interest taken by Park Commissioner William R. Will- 

 cox in the establishment of Parks, Parkways, and Public Play 

 Grounds in the Borough of Richmond, is a source of pleasure 

 and encouragement to all residents of Staten Island interested in 

 the welfare of the community. Commissioner Willcox's juris- 

 diction extends over the Borough of Manhattan, as well as over 

 the Borough of Richmond, and it is recognized by those who 

 have given the subject attention that the time for the considera- 

 tion of this important subject is well chosen. 



Staten Island has become a part of the great city of New 

 York, and with the help of municipal authorities interested in the 

 development and adornment of all the Boroughs of the Metropo- 

 lis, the Borough of Richmond promises to keep step in the march 

 of progress which is destined to make New York City one of the 

 most beautiful as well as one of the most enterprising and pro- 

 gressive cities in the civilized world. 



The Department of Parks receives its appropriations from 

 the general fund or budget contributed annually by all the Bor- 

 oughs of New York City, and thus Richmond has been contribut- 

 ing since its annexation to the costs of the parks in Manhattan 

 and the Bronx, as well as in Brooklyn and Queens. It is ap- 

 parent, therefore, that the Borough of Richmond has some rights 

 in the premises. 



The fact that a choice can now be had of some of the finest 

 sites available for Park purposes, and at a minimum cost as com- 

 pared with future prices, is an added reason why the establish- 



