New York City of the Future 
while existing as an independent city, carried 
out its plan and its development with little 
or no reference to its neighbors, and the re¬ 
sult is that while New York’s problem is not so 
difficult as that of London, it resembles it in 
no small degree. The location of New York, 
however, is vastly better than that of Lon¬ 
don, and by its natural advantages, it must de¬ 
velop into a great city, in spite of its faulty plan. 
Careful analysis showed that up to the 
present time millions upon millions have 
been needlessly expended in supposed im¬ 
provements which, at a later day have been, 
by the progress of the city, eliminated. This 
was found to be especially true in adjacent 
districts where modifications made with refer¬ 
ence to local conditions were by the rapid 
growth of the City soon rendered obsolete. 
It was also found that there was no intelli¬ 
gent consideration of a method or basis upon 
which individual citizens, societies and cor¬ 
porate interests could co-operate with the 
Municipality in its development. It was 
found that some of the most important im¬ 
provements for the City had been made by 
private or semi-public effort ; and that the 
government up to the present time had in 
no way recognized the necessity of this senti¬ 
ment, or given it aid or encouragement. 
It was, therefore, unanimously recom¬ 
mended by the organizations conferring that 
a commission should be appointed to devise 
at as early a date as possible a comprehensive 
plan which would not only rectify the tech¬ 
nical errors of the existing plan, but make 
possible co-operation on the part of the great 
corporate interests, semi-public organizations 
and private individuals for the full and per¬ 
fected development of the City. 
The conferring organizations recognized 
that while they were called together, in a 
measure, by the artistic interests, with the 
purpose of securing some way of improving 
and beautifying their City, that no scheme 
of embellishment woidd be possible or 
worthy of consideration unless based upon a 
logical plan devised with reference to the 
commercial and business interests of the 
City. Experience has shown that any effort 
at local embellishment, whether inspired by 
patriotic motives or historical interest, has 
never secured permanent results, unless so 
directed as to take its part in the im- 
298 
COMMISSIONER LINDENTHAL S DESIGN FOR THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE 
