House <y Garden 
A GALLERY OK THE MUNICIPAL ART SOCIETY S EXHIBITION 
monument into 
full view from 
lower Broad¬ 
way. Themon- 
umentof Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln is 
transferred to a 
position north 
of the eques¬ 
trian m onu- 
ment on the 
true axis of the 
park. In its 
present posi¬ 
tion an under¬ 
ground “Com¬ 
fort Station” is 
suggested to 
coincide with 
the equivalent structure on the east side of 
the Park above the underground station. 
On the north side of the square a public 
forum is located, thus giving a large open 
space for public gatherings; the southern 
side of the structure being arranged for the 
use of the Park Department and the con¬ 
venience of the public. 
These small spaces may be made of greater 
use to the City by the introduction of the 
necessary drinking fountains, pavilions, etc., 
such as the model pavilion to be placed in 
Seward Park. 
It was found, however, that while the 
parks, as a whole, had been considered in a 
broad way, the system of parkways as far as 
the older sections of the City are concerned, 
was deficient; and if any radical improve¬ 
ment is to be made in the near future it 
would be in the intelligent suggestion of the 
necessary parkways to connect park areas 
already existing. 
No comprehensive plan would be com¬ 
plete without considering the grouping and 
placing of public buildings. It was found 
that up to the present time the location of 
important public and semi-public buildings 
had been left mainly to accident. A well con¬ 
sidered plan would obviate this by locating in 
advance the possible space for these import¬ 
ant buildings. This question was admirably 
solved in the plan for Washington, and was 
also intelligently treated in the scheme for 
the rearrangement of Cleveland. 
The sugges¬ 
tion made that 
much of the 
city’s work now 
being carried on 
in a dozen dif- 
erent localities, 
s h ouId be 
brought to¬ 
gether in one 
large building 
to be erected 
north of the 
present City 
Hall, should 
certainly meet 
with approval 
and be carried 
out in the near 
future. The scheme suggests that the 
property situated between Chambers and 
Reade Streets, extending from the new Hall 
of Records to Broadway, be condemned, so 
that in the future arrangements could be 
made for the planning and construction of a 
new municipal building of such dimensions 
as to dominate the locality, and which shall 
most economically and liberally provide 
office accommodations for the City’s use for 
many years to come. 
Again, co-operation with private enter¬ 
prise would produce most gratifying results. 
The Metropolitan Museum, Natural His¬ 
tory Museum and the Zoological and Botani¬ 
cal Gardens are evidence of what can be ac¬ 
complished along these lines. The admir¬ 
able solution of the problem in the great 
library—the Astor, Tilden and Lenox foun¬ 
dations—now united, through the accident of 
the reservoir, in a most desirable location— 
the New York University and the College 
of the City of New York are examples of the 
proper treatment of important public build¬ 
ings. These successes have been achieved 
by private subscription in the face of unnec¬ 
essary opposition and great difficulty, and 
are but an earnest of what could be accom¬ 
plished under a comprehensive plan. It 
goes without saying that such buildings 
should be treated with rational exterior em¬ 
bellishment and interior decoration, carefully 
considered in advance. Such embellishment 
and such decoration should have reference to 
3°9 
