New York City of the Future 
THE REARRANGEMENT OF THE SOUTHERN END 
OF UNION SQUARE 
As suggested by The Municipal Art Society 
ing of every one of the main avenues ; not 
onlv tunneling these for the necessary passen¬ 
ger traffic, hut excavating them from curb to 
curb, or where possible, from house line to 
house line, thus securing at either side the nec¬ 
essary gallery for electric conduits, water mains 
and pipe lines, and saving the constant ex¬ 
pense of repaving, water waste and excavation 
which is necessitated by the present conditions. 
It was suggested that the streets be tun¬ 
neled, taking first not those that are pro¬ 
vided with the best surface facilities at the 
present time, as this but leads to congestion 
through the delivery of a great number of 
passengers at the same point or in the same 
avenue, but that the outlying districts be 
supplied with the necessary tunnel facilities 
so that the passenger traffic may, by this 
means, be successfully distributed. Great 
benefit could be derived by a number of 
Union Stations so placed as to be in direct 
communication with the main railway de¬ 
pots, that passengers might be transported 
and instantly distributed to such points as 
they desire to reach. 
As there existed no previous system of 
underground transit, radical suggestions 
could be made, but it was found that modi¬ 
fications of the system of surface traffic was 
fraught with much more difficulty because of 
the necessity of changing existing conditions. 
Any suggestion made for the modification of 
the present street system, either for the ex¬ 
tension of avenues or the widening of streets, 
must carry with it a large possible expendi¬ 
ture ; but under existing conditions it was 
found that some modifications were abso¬ 
lutely necessary. It was therefore recom¬ 
mended that the bridge terminals be con¬ 
nected as far as possible with the main 
thoroughfares, and that the important ave¬ 
nues be extended to obtain the necessary 
through connection for the service lines with 
the lower or congested portions of the city. 
Thus was suggested at the terminal of Man¬ 
hattan Bridge at Delancey Street, the cutting 
of a new diagonal street to the northwest; 
the widening of Suffolk Street southward 
from the terminal of the Bridge to East 
Broadway; the extension of Christopher 
Street to Union Square at Fourteenth Street; 
the extension of Varick Street northward 
A PLAN FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON PARK 
Prepared by William R. Wilcox , Park Commissioner; Arnold W. 
Brunner , Architect , and Samuel Parsons , Jr., Landscape Architect 
3°4 
