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APRIL 6, 1912
THE PROPOSED OPENING OF INWOOD HILL.
The City's Street Opening Plan Offers Great Building Possibilities to This
Historic Knoll—A Subway is Also Looked for Along Fort Washington Ave.
I P the plans of certain property owners
A in the extreme north end of Man¬
hattan do not miscarry, one of the most
beautiful residential sections in the entire
city will soon be made available for
building purposes. The area known as
Inwood Hill, comprising over 100 acres of
land, lies along the Hudson River just
north of Fort Washington Heights, and
is bounded on the north by Spuyten
Duyvil Creek and on the east hy the
lower land of the Dyckman tract. It is
really a natural continuation of Port
Washington Heights, but is cut off from
the latter by a narrow valley known as
the Inwood Gap, through which Dyckman
street runs to the river. This gap is on
a level with the Dyckman tract and is
the only point on Manhattan north of
Manhattanville where direct access may
be had to the river without a steep
descent. Jnwood Hill has an elevation of
about 22o feet at its highest point, is
beautifully wooded, and affords a view
from its crest in all directions that cannot
be equalled at any other spot on Man¬
hattan Island,
Owing to its lack of transit facilities,
it has been very little improved, and the
greater part of it remains virtually in
the same condition as when inhabited by
the Indians some 250 years ago. A few
dwellings and three institutions are to be
found on the hill and on a narrow plateau
and that the intervening space be made
into a plaza and parked.
Meanwhile the American 'Scenic and
Historical Society, with several other or¬
ganizations and civic bodies. Is actively
engaged in endeavoring to prevent the
adoption of this improvement. It is con¬
tended that as this hill is the most beau¬
tiful and picturesque spot on Manhattan
Island and is possessed of so many his¬
toric associations, the City should own
it, and a strong effort is being made to
induce the Board of Aldermen to authorize
the purchase of a large portion of it for
park purposes. The purchase was flrst
advocated in 19(>4, and received the ap¬
proval of Mayor Low and his successor.
Mayor McClellan. At that time it was
said that the desired portion could be ac¬
quired for about .$2,000,000, but at present
it is very doubtful if it could he obtained
for anything like that flgure. Scarcely
. any property on the hill is for sale, and
' the last purchase was made about six
years ago. It is difficult on this account
to determine actual values at present, but
it is known that a price of $5,000 a lot
was recently offered and refused for a
parcel on the summit of the hill.
Last year Mrs. Julia Isham Taylor donat¬
ed a tract of about six acres on the eastern
slope to the City, to be maintained as a
park, and tiithin the last few weeks she
has added several acres to the gift. The
a subway plan was drawn some time ago,
but nothing has yet been accomplished
with it. Recently those interested have
received an assurance from Mr. Shonts
of the Interborough that, if the general
subway plans for the City are approved,
he wITl take under consideration the idea
of a subway along the ridge above lOSth
street. The proposed subway would run
from a junction with the present subway
at Broadway and lOSth street, west to
Fort Washington avenue, and north
under that thoroughfare to the Fulton
viaduct. In constructing the viaduct,
provision could be made for carrying the
subway through the heads of the arches
and immediately below the roadway of
the bridge. The subway would continue
across Inwood Hill just beiow the surface
of the ground, coming out at the Hud¬
son Memorial Bridge, where it would
again be carried under the \ia.duct road¬
way to Spuyten Duyvil Hill. From there
it would be continued to the city line or
even into the heart of Yonkers. If pro¬
vision is made in advance for carrying
the subway under the roadwaj's of the
two viaducts, very little would be addeij
to the cost of the bridges, and over a
mile of subway would be furnished at very
little expense.
The following estimate has been made
by engineers on the cost of the subway
and the bridges;
HaDSOX MEMORIAL BRIDGE AT SPUA'TEN DUYVIL.
a.long the Hudson River side several
wealthy people have built flne residences.
For some years the City has been plan¬
ning to make travel to the summit possi¬
ble by extending Riverside Drive from a
point shortly south of the northern end
of Port Washington ridge. The Inwood
Gap is to he spanned by the Fulton via¬
duct, the drive extended over the top of
the hill and then carried by means of
the Hudson memorial bridge over the
creek to the summit of Spuyten Duyvil
hill. Frora there it will be continued to
Yonkers, This work was authorized sev¬
eral years ago and a bond issue to cover
the cost was provided. This issue, owing
to other heavy drains on the City
treasury, was afterward cancelled tem¬
porarily, but it is anticipated that the
work will be carried out before many
years.
The summit of the hill is a fairly level
plateau of considerable area, and for sev¬
eral years the City engineers have been
working on a plan for opening streets
and avenues through the entire area.
The hill is in possession of about a dozen
owners, and nearly all are heartily in
favor of the plans as now prepared. The
survey, which has cost some $.30,000, is
now before the Local Board of Washing¬
ton Heights, and will probably be acted
upon at the meeting on next Tuesday.
The City Engineer's map showing the
proposed layout of streets and avenues is
printed elsewTiere in this issue. Some
slight changes have been proposed hy
several property holders, but the general
plan has received the endorsement of
nearly all the owners. One of the
changes suggested is that the eastern and
western approaches to the Hudson
Memorial bridge be laid out on a curve
tract reaches over the eastern slope of
the hill, west of Broadway, between
Isham and 214th streets, and, with the
recent addition, runs through to Spuyten
Duyvil Creek. It is to be known as
Isham Park. The property owners on the
hill contend that this park is all that is
needed in this section of the city, as the
entire Washington Heights district is
already liberally supplied with parks.
They say also that the hill has such
potential value for residential purposes
that it should be utilized in that way, and
as it could only be acquired by condemna¬
tion, the price would be so high that the
beneflt to be derived from the park would
not warrant the cost. The City at present
is deriving some revenue from taxes on
the hill, and if the proposed improvements
are carried out and additional transit
facilities afforded, a very laJ'ge amount
will be added to the City's income from
increased assessments. In addition to
IshaJTi Park, it is intended to reserve a
strip on each side of the approaches to
the two viaducts, and these will be used'
for park purposes in a manner similar to
that now employed on the strips imme¬
diately adjoining Riverside Drive further
souths In conneetion with the construc¬
tion of the Fulton viaduct, it is proposed
to gradually raise the grade of Dyckman
street from Broadway to a point under
the bridge, where it would be about 36
feet higher than at present. This would
make property along each side of Dyck¬
man street more available for building
purposes.
Desirable as this section is, no exten¬
sive building movement can take place,
either on Inwood Hill or on Fort Wash¬
ington Ridge, unless additional means of
transit are furnished. With this in view.
Subway from 16Sth to Fulton
viaduct under Fort Washing¬
ton avenue .................$2,250,000
Fulton viaduct, with subway
included, the road to have four
tracks ...................... 2,000,000
Riverside Drive extension over
Inwood Hill from the north
end of the Fulton viaduct to
the south end of Hudson
Memorial Bridge ............ 450,000
Subway over Inwood Hill, if
built at the same time as the
Riverside Drive extension ... 550,000
Hudson Memorial Bridge with a
four track subway .......... 4,000,000
Total......................$9,250,000
With this small expenditure of less
than $10,000,000 it- is estimated that at
least 50,000 city lots, at present very in¬
accessible, would be made available for
improvement on Fort "Washington Ridge,
Inwood Hill, Spuyten Duyvil Hill, and in
Riverdale up to the city line. If these lots
are estimated at the low figure of $3,000
each, $150,000,000 worth of taxable land
would be added to the city's assessment
rolls. Probably the average value of these
lots would be much greater than $3,000.
The territories in question are the highest
and most healthful in the city, and could
be used for the erection of private dwell¬
ings and high-class apartment houses,
and the entire cost of all improvements
would soon be repaid by the increased in¬
come which the City would derive by rea¬
son of the added assessments.
It has also been suggested that the
existing extension of the elevated roads
at looth street could be carried under the
Speedway to the hill on the west at about
162nd street, and that from there a sub-