Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view About OCR text.

956 RECORD AlfTD GUIDE May 30, 1914 improvement, but must be by future appropriation of the Legislature. No doubt some of the Jamaica Bay advo¬ cates have overlooked this. It is noteworthy that some of the more conservative commercial organiza¬ tions cautioned against unwise or un¬ necessary expenditures at the hearings before the State commission. The New York Chamber of Commerce had a spe¬ cial committee on barge canal terminals and investigated the subject quite thor¬ oughly, and pointed out the inadequacy of data available which would indicate the probable increase in canal traffic reaching New York, or the character of the commodities to which the increase might be attributed. At these hearings the most extravagant expectations were in some instances advanced. For in¬ stance, figures presented regarding a probable increase in tonnage at New York would mean an increase of thirty or forty times the present tonnage. Staten Island, for instance, in the reports of the hearing, is recorded as presenting a formal plan for a terminal which would cost almost $6,000,000, which would be more than half of the total appropriation allotted to New York City. According to the present proposals, even if New York does require $10,000,- 000 worth of terminals, it would be obliged to pay $13,000,000 or $14,000,000 in taxes in order to obtain them, and still vvould have no authority in their operation, whereas the city could pro¬ vide its own terminals at less expense and could also use them when desirable for coastwise or ocean traffic and make them self-sustaining, and thus release the bonds for the construction of other port improvements, instead of having the port dotted with State control ter¬ minals, authorized by an act which is both ambiguous and inadequate. There is nothing to indicate that State con¬ struction or administration is any more disinterested or efficient than municipal. The commission created by law to report to the Legislature on barge canal opera¬ tion included the State Engineer, the Superintendent of Public Works, and three others appointed by the Governor. The State Engineer dissented from the views of the other members of the com¬ mission, who failed to sign their report, and his dissenting opinions are attached to the report which has been filed. It would seem that each city might be entrusted to provide its own terminals, or that the local municipality contribute at least half of the funds for the local improvement, thus insuring some local interest. Terminals should certainly be provided promptly when and where re¬ quired, and paid for in full or in part by the community benefited, or made self-sustaining by efficient management and nominal charges. It is just as essen¬ tial to have boats as it is to have ter¬ minals, and there is no great activity yet in canal boat construction. It is already stated that the railroads have gained control of considerable boat traf¬ fic on the Lakes as feeders to the rail¬ roads, but will not use them as feeders to the canal. It would be well if those interested in the port facilities of New York and property owners' associations, interest in taxes began to investigate the subject of barge canal terminals, ad¬ vocated chiefly by uninformed legislators and local communities eager for any sort of improvements, with State funds, near¬ ly 75 per cent, of which come from the taxpayers of New York City. RICHMOND'S WATERFRONT ADVANTAGES. U" UTURE development of waterfront ■'■ properties in Greater New York is constantly in the minds of municipal authorities and property owners, and periodically commissions make tours of the various boroughs to ascertain avail¬ able sites, where large watercraft may be docked. In speaking of this situa¬ tion, Percival G.. Ullman, Jr., chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Staten Island Civic League, said last week: "Water transportation, the natural highway of commerce, solves forever the question of freights. Richmond Borough occupies an impregnable posi¬ tion, and the future prosperity and the greatness of our commercial life will insure for it big industrial development. Large commercial waterfront acreage lies within the boundaries of Richmond Borough. Like rnany other sections within the harbor of New York, this section is not served to a considerable extent with railroad connections, except in a few instances where private enter¬ prises have provided these facilities which are so necessary for industrial progress. "The industrial section of Richmond Borough is clearly defined; it needs no introduction of city planning; nature has assumed these responsibilities for us; therefore we can dispense with the in- ventative genius of man in creating artificial industrial locations. A Great Water Highway. "Richmond Borough has begun a new warfare; it is not to destroy, but to cre¬ ate and build up its industrial possibili¬ ties, so long untouched by commercial progress. The Staten Island Sound, separating New Jersey from New York, bounds Staten Island on the west for its entire length. I know of no other waterway equal to it in size which sur¬ passes it in the volume of tonnage, or in the value carried through it annually. Therefore it is safe to assert that no other waterway on the American conti¬ nent has a greater or more promising future. "Great progress has been made in re¬ cent years on the New Jersey side of the Staten Island Sound in industrial development, due primarily to marginal railroads which have made manufactur¬ ing' sites available there. The Federal Government, recognizing the Staten Isl¬ and Sound as an important waterway, is deepening the channel to 25 feet at mean low water, at a cost of $19,000,000. "The Richinond Borough side of the Staten Island Sound, when served with railroad connections, will be unsurpassed as a shipping point for export and im¬ port trade. Th,- Fresh Kills is an arm of the Staten Islaiid Sound, averaging 800 feet in width, and it is the only large navigable waterway in Richmond Bor¬ ough that is particularly well adapted for industrial purposes. "The fact that Richmond Borough has made rapid progress as a trans-Atlantic freight terminal must not be overlooked. There are many miles of shore front along New York Bay, from St. George to Fort Wadsworth, which is exceed¬ ingly well adapted for large piers and wharves, by reason of the depth of wa¬ ter and the wide range of the pier line from the shore, and above all its accessi¬ bility to the ocean over any other sec¬ tion of the harbor. The American Dock Company has erected and is building large piers and warehouses for the trans- Atlantic trade at Tompkinsville, and many steamships are discharging or loading cargoes for inland or foreign ports at their docks. The waterfront at this point has railroad connections; how¬ ever, the whole shore from "Tompkins¬ ville to Fort Wadsworth will in due time receive the railroad facilities neces¬ sary to make it a well-developed ship¬ ping terminal. Coal from Mine to Steamship. "It is well within reason that the large coal-carrying railroads of New Jersey should seek an outlet to tidewater on the east shore of New York Bay via Staten Island, in order to discharge the product of the mine direct into the hold of the ship at piers which are to be buijt on the east shore of the borough. This plan would eliminate the slow method now employed for coaling steamers, and the saving in time, labor and expense to the shipping interests of the city would be enormous. The .eeographical location of Richmond Borough is such, and the distance from the coal mines of Pennsylvania via New Jersey to tide¬ water, on the east shore of the borough, is so short, that the island can no doubt be made superior to other shipping points on the Atlantic coast when ade¬ quate rail facilities shall be provided. Here, too, would be the ideal American terminus for steamship lines bound to and from foreign ports. This plfin com¬ pleted would create for Richmond Bor¬ ough an advantage over any other part in the harbor of New York. Richmond Borough's Harbor Plans. "Richmond Borough should be con¬ nected to New Jersey by tunnel, so that a marginal freight railroad would serve our industrial site area on the west bank of the Staten Island Sound. Connection should also be made, by way of Rich¬ mond Borough with Manhattan, Brook¬ lyn, Long Island and the Eastern States. Under this plan all terminals within the port of New York would be so connect¬ ed as to be available to shippers on an equal basis, and all railroads would have equal rights in leasing public terminals at the lowest possible cost. This would be a practical plan for a comprehensive development of New York Harbor. Large piers have been built, and more are about to be contracted for. How¬ ever, unless the waterfront of the Greater City is served by adequate rail connection to the piers and wharves which have been built or are to be built in the future, our past and present costly congested system must continue. "Of all the varying factors which promise future greatness for this city, there is none of so great importance as position, and a comprehensive plan of waterfront rail connection for all the boroughs, and I supo-est that the natural advantages which we possess should be vigorously suoplemented for the imme¬ diate artificial development of the port of New Yorl:." Conference of Mayors. The Mayors of cities in this' State have found a certain advantage in meeting together annually and learning from each other's experience. This year the conference will be held at Auburn, June 3, 4 and 5, with Mayor Fiske of Mount Vernon presiding, and it prom¬ ises to be a notable occasion. At the opening session on the after¬ noon of June 3, the next steps in the municipal home rule campaign in this State will be outlined by Robert S. Binkerd, secretary of the City Club of New York. Governor Glynn will speak on "The State and the Municipality." Lawson Purdy at the evening session will present the results of the tax sur¬ vey of the cities of the State. This survey was completed only recently, and the preliminary study of the data indi¬ cates that the committee will make several important recommendations. The importance of fire prevention work in cities will be described by Joseph Hammitt, Chief of the New York City Fire Prevention Bureau. Xhief Ham¬ mitt will illustrate his discussion with motion pictures, showing fire prevention methods used in New York City. The city officials will hold a breakfast conference the second day. At this session each mayor will discuss the next most important problem his city must solve. At the close of the sym¬ posium there will be a general discus¬ sion of the problems presented. City planning will be the subject for discussion at the afternoon sessioii. Charles Downing Lay, former land¬ scape architect of the New York City Park Department, will present a pro- ,gram of developing parks and play¬ grounds, and Professor James S. Pray, of Harvard University, will talk about making the survey for a city plan. The second big meeting of the con¬ ference will be held in the evening, when Mayor Mitchel of New York will discuss the relation of the city to its employes.