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carry out the park scheme, and the adoption of a plan of develop- 

 ment and improvement of the lands when acquired, and who shall 

 have charge of the maintenance of the park reservation at least 

 I'm- the immediate future. That the members of this Commission 

 should he paid a reasonable salary, sufficient to warrant their 

 devoting the Large amount of time which will be necessary to 

 carry out the scheme in its inception. The commissioners should 

 have power to acquire the lands by purchase, as from inquiries 

 which the present Commission has made it is convinced that a large 

 part of the proposed area to be taken can be acquired from the 

 property owners by private arrangement on practically nominal 

 terms. 



The cost of acquiring the land and of laying out and maintain- 

 ing the park reservation should be divided between the City of 

 New York and the County of "Westchester. The ratio presents a 

 question of some difficulty. The majority of the land to be taken 

 lies within the County of "Westchester, and it might be contended 

 that "Westchester County should bear the larger part of the cost 

 of the acquisition of the land and of the maintenance thereof. On 

 the other hand, the preservation of the river is of vital importance 

 to the citizens of New York. The Bronx Kiver forms the chief 

 beauty of Bronx Park, which is in itself one of the most beautiful 

 of the city park areas and is a dominant feature of the New York 

 Botanical Gardens and the New York Zoological Park. The loss 

 of it to the city would be a public calamity. It is the opinion, 

 too, of the Commission that the park reservation would be more 

 largely used by residents of the city than of Westchester County. 

 As yet the residents of Westchester County do not feel the need of 

 public park advantages, and would resent being called upon to 

 pay very heavily for them. Just what proportion each community 

 should fairly bear it is difficult to determine, but the Commission 

 has concluded that a fair division would be for the City of New 

 York to pay two-thirds and the County of Westchester to pay one- 

 third. As the cost of acquisition will be considerable and the 

 benefit will be for all time, the Commission is of the opinion that 

 the fairest method of raising funds necessary to acquire the lands 

 would be by authorizing the communities affected to issue bonds 

 sufficient to meet the cost. 



The interest upon these bonds will be a comparatively small 

 amount, and in Westchester County, at least, the increase in real 

 estate values in the period for which the bonds will run will make 



