MARCH 23, 1912





MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BRONX.





A City of the Rank of Galveston is Built Each Year in the Borough—^
Varied Activities Induced by an Annual Growth of 35,000 in Population.





The flrst part of this article was printed
last week. It dealt especially with local
Improvements and contaioed a map show¬
ing the legal status of all streets in the
Bronx with respect to street opening pro¬
ceedings.





Hishway   Maintenance.

THE streets, when finished, are kept in
good condition. Until two years ago,
it was the practice in the Bronx to allay
dust by water sprinkling. In order to
keep down the dust in hot weather, it
waa necessary to sprinkle the streets
-twice a day. This required a very iarge
equipment and was not satisfactory even
then. The cost of water sprinkling, in¬
cluding water, is $.052 per square yard
per year. During 1910 a small quantity
of road oil was purchased and experi¬
ments were made with oil sprinkling. The
results were so satisfactory that a very
much larger quantity of oil was pur¬
chased for use during 1911.

Oil sprinkling, as well as water sprink¬
ling, v>^as generally confined to streets
having a water-bound macadam pave¬
ment. The appropriations have never
been   stiflicient   to   sprinkle   dirt    roads.





year  by  year  as  additional   applications
of oil are made.

Totnl Assessment AVork.

Before leaving the subject of local im¬
provements reference may be made to a
statement by the Board of Estimate, giv¬
ing [he value of all such improvements
■authorized by the board and for which
assessment Hsts have been returned to
the Board  of Assessors.

The statement includes two tables, one
for the year ended December 31, 1910, and
one for the year ended December 31, 1911.

Columns 1 and 2 in the tables give the
total value of the work that the Board
passed upon. This total appears in col¬
umn 3 under the heading of "Total Com¬
mitments." By comparing the value of
the work finally authorized for the Bronx
with that of other boroughs, it will be
seen that the Bronx has advanced to
final authorization a greater proportion
of its total commitments than any other
borough in either 1910 or 1911, with ihe
exception of Manhattan during the last
year.

Comparing the money value represent¬
ed  by  the  assessment lists  forwarded  to





representing the cost of the first contract
for the extension of Westchester avenue
from Main street to Eastern boulevard, is
deferred by the direction of the' Board of
Assessors, which desires that one assess¬
ment list he made covering the original
contract and the completing contract for
this improvement. The latter contract is
not J'et completed. The assessment lists
for work representing about $75,0U0 has
just been forwarded to the Board of As¬
sessors. This leaves a' balance of about
$165,000 representing work completed and
upon which draughtsmen and computers
are engaged in making the assessment
lists  for forwarding.

The tables, therefore, show not only
that the borough administration of the
Bronx has been active in furthering local
improvements, but that it has promptly
turned in assessmeni lists for confirma¬
tion and collections, a matter of import¬
ance, as delay in turning in assessments
means needless payments of interest on
borrowing capital,

Pnblic Improvements.

As a member of the Board of Estimate,
the   Borough   President   exercises   an   in-







PROGRESS   PHOTOGRAPHS   OP  WHITE    PLAINS   AVENUE   SEWER.
Tbe camera is used to record  the status of construction jobs on suoli dates as are mentioned  in contracts for the completion of a part or
the whole ol  a work.    The photographs  serve as   evidence   ia  connection  with   flnanciai  settlements with contractors.





However,  these have,  as  a rule,  a com¬
paratively  small amount of traflic.

. One application of bituminous dust lay¬
er is ail that was made last year. The
method of doing the work ia to sprinkle
the oil over one-half of the wjdtih of the
roadway and to cover that the following
day with a coarse sand. This does away,
to a large extent, with the main objec¬
tion to the use of oil on roads, namely,
the tracldng of it into houses, A day or
two later, tlie other half of the street is
sprinkled and covered with sand. By this
method, the portion of the street not cov¬
ered with oil during the first sprinkling
is open to traffic, so that vehicles do not
need to pass OA'er the oil before it is cov¬
ered with sand. Experience has shown
that the oil treatment not only allays
the dust but forms a bituminous surface
over the entire street which is more or
less impervious to water, and which with
a certain amount of use forms a surface
cwhich is almost as smooth as asphalt.
Practically all of the macadam roads in
'the borough have been treated by this
process, and the results are most satis¬
factory. These streets are in fairly good
condition even aCter having passed
through the winter.

The cost of the oil sprinkling is J.03
per square yard a year, as against $.052
for water sprinkling. It therefore not
only gives better results, but It is more
economical. It is believed that the sur¬
face of the roads will continue to improve





the Board of Assessors, it will be seen
that in 1910 the Bronx turned in lists
representing practically $4,000,000, or
more than all the other boroughs com¬
bined, and in 1911 assessment lists repre¬
senting about $2,734,000, or more than
any other borough.

The money value of completed works
in the Bronx for which assessment lists
have not been forwarded is only about
$330,000.    Of this amount, about $90,000,





fluence also on public improvements,
which, unlike local improvements are paid
for by the city. As a member of the
Board, he is, indeed, in a position to serve
the interests of his borough, as well as
of the city, in a variety of important
matters. By way of illustration, it may
be noted that Mr. Miller was largely in¬
strumental in having the New York Cen¬
tral Bridge across the Harlem niver at
the   terminus   of   the   Ninth   Avenue   Ele-





Outstanding
Preliminary
Eorough.      Authorizations.

Manhattan   ■.____$   151,000 00

Brooklyn   .......     689,600 00

The  Bronx   .....     634,000 00

Queens   .........     511,400 00

Richmond   ......     195,400 00

Totals  ..'.. .".$2,182,000 00

Outstanding
Preliminary
Borough.      Authorizations.

Manhattan   .....$     58,400 00

Brooklyn   .......  1,154,100 00

The   Brnox......     500,400 00

Queens   .........     892,100 00

Richmond   ......     186,100 00

Total    ......$2,791,100 00





TABLE   1.
Final
Authorizations

in 1910.

$   435,100 00

2,402,500 00

2,111,300 00

1,272,800 00

120,200 00

$6,341,900 00
TABLE  2,
Final
Authorizations

in 1911.

$  551.000 00

2,8.87,400 00

2,278,800 00

949,700 00

237,600 00





Total

Commitments.

$   586,100 00

3.092,100 00

2,745,900 OO

1,7S4,200 00

315,600 00





Assessment

Lists

Returned.

$   243,503 43

1,340,890 34

3,903,534 67

833,(i23 9(i

105,310 56





$8,523,900 00         $6,491,862 96





Total

Commitments.

$   609,400 UO

3,991,500 00

2,779,200 00

1.832,S00 00

423,700 00





Assessment

Lists

Returned.

$   551, asO 78

2,731,184 35

2,733,970 .57

543,983 63

583,656 16





$6,845,500 Op         $9,636,600 00         $7,144,475 49