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REAL ESTATE
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NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER It^, 1916
NEW ENTRANCE WAY TO PARK AVENUE APPROVED
Local Board Changes Grade at Thirty-third Street—
Plan Costs Less Money Than Those First Submitted
A FTER many years of discussion and
â– *»• agitation, the Local Board of the
Murray Hill District, composed of Bor¬
ough President Marks, Aldermen Cur¬
ran, Carroll and Cardani, at a meeting
held on Tuesday of this week, unan¬
imously adopted the new compromise
plan for the change of grade at 34th
street and Park avenue.
The plan provides for an additional
ramp on the east side of Park avenue,
between 32nd and 34th streets, similar
to that which now exists on the west
side, which will require the relocation
of the subway kiosk at the northeast
corner of 33rd street and Fourth ave¬
nue. It will allow for the opening of
33rd street to crosstown traffic by rais¬
ing the entire roadway of Fourth ave¬
nue, from 32nd to 33rd street, to the
present elevation of the avenue in the
west side of 33rd street.
From 33rd to 34th street, the present
easterly roadway will be raised so that
vehicular traffic will travel north from
the new elevation of 33rd street to the
present surface of 34th street. To ac¬
complish this, the elevation of the east¬
erly roadway, at 33rd street, will be
raised appro.ximately six and a half feet.
The elevation of the roadway just south
of 34th street will be raised approxi¬
mately fourteen feet. This will provide
means of separating north and south
bound traffic between 33rd and 34th
streets, so that the westerly roadway
will be utilized only for south bound
traffic.
The Fourth and Madison avenue cars
will descend by means of a seven per
cent, grade from a point about eighty-
seven feet north of the north curb line
of 33rd street, north and into the pres¬
ent tunnel under 34th street. Passen¬
gers intending to transfer between the
34th street line and the afore-mentioned
line will be compelled to walk from
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PARK AVENUE AND 33D STRETET AS PROJECTED.
34th street to about ninety feet north
of 33rd street. The retaining wall will
be shortened in its length so that its
southerly limit will be about eighty-
seven feet north of the north curb line
of 33rd street.
No change whatever is made in the
grade of the westerly roadway of Fourth
avenue. In 33rd street a change of
grade is created commencing from a
point about 300 feet east of the easterly
curb line of Fourth avenue and reach-
PARK AVENUE AND SSD STREET AS IT IS TODAY.
ing the points of greatest change at
Fourth avenue, which is approximately
six and one-half feet. By means of this
change, there will be established through
traffic on 33rd street from Lexington
avenue to Madison avenue without any
abrupt drop that exists at present at
Fourth avenue.
In connection with this improvement,
provision has been made for the nar¬
rowing of the easterly sidewalk of
Fourth avenue, between 33rd and 34th
streets, to si.xteen feet. The roadway
width between 33rd and 34th streets on
the westerly side will be thirty-four feet.
That on the easterly side will be twenty-
four feet. The e.xisting steps leading
down from 34th street to 4th avenue
will be eliminated. No change in grade
occurs on the railway tracks in Fourth
avenue, north of the portal of the tunnel.
When President Marks took office, he
found the property owners of the neigh¬
borhood hopelessly divided as to the two
plans which were then under consider¬
ation for this improvement. No deci¬
sion had been reached, although the
project had been discussed for several
years. The neighborhood was divided
into two camps—the powerful Murray
Hill interests to the north and the in¬
fluential Fourth avenue interests to the
south. The Murray Hill people advo¬
cated the plan known as the "Parsons"
plan, which contemplated the preserva¬
tion of the status quo regarding grades,
and was intended as a protection against
the invasion of the Murray Hill district
by business interests. The other plan,
known as the "Collis" plan, contemplat¬
ed a leveling down of the grade at 34th
street so that the trolley cars would
cross at grade instead of as at present
running in tunnel.
Borough President Marks, after a very
thorough investigation, concluded that
no successful action could be obtained
(Continued on page 402.)