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PARKS
and Parkways

in the Borough of The Bronx
New York City

bind

ISSUED BY THE
BRONX BOARD OF TRADE
NEW YORK CITY

Prefatory Note.

TO THE BRONX BOARD OF TRADE:

In compiling this booklet, the Park Committee have
had in mind its desirability as a reference for those who
are interested in our parks, as a basis for comparisons of
different kinds in subsequent years and as a source of
information, so that criticisms of the Department in this
Borough shall be based on a knowledge of all the facts
and may therefore be helpful.

Care has been taken to have the information accurate.

The Committee desires to express its appreciation of
the conscientious work of Mr. George MacAdam who
undertook the labor of compilation, and also of the very
cordial co-operation and aid of the Zoological Society,
the Botanical Society, Bronx Parkway Commission and
the Colonial Dames.

We want to make especial acknowledgment of the
assistance given us by Park Commissioner Thomas W.
Whittle, without whose co-operation it would have been
impossible to compile a booklet of this character.

Committee on Parks and Parkways :

F. J. MUHLFELD

J. Bow1lEk DASH

GEORGE H. HUBER

ARTHUR C. CHESLEY

JAMES M. KING

M. CARL LEVINE
December 1, 1914. Louis V. Fox, Chairman

Nov, 7 1974

Ge Bronx Parks as a City Asset.

Large Area of Parks.—The Borough of The Bronx contains 26,017
acres, of which 4,154.2 acres, or about 15.2 per cent., are devoted to park
purposes. These 4,154.2 acres exceed by 500 acres the combined park
acreage of all the other boroughs. It is of interest to note in this con-
nection that Boston has 2528 acres, Cleveland 2050 acres, Detroit 1243
acres, Cincinnati 2003 acres.

Remarkable Diversity of Park Scenery.—A unique feature of the
parks of the Borough of The Bronx is the remarkable diversity of land-
scape that they afford. Ina park lying within the boundaries of a great
city, or even of a small city, the visitor rarely sees anything other than
formal stretches of well-kept lawn, more-or-less artistically arranged
flower beds, and tree-shaded walks, and drives. These familiar features
are to be found in all the parks of the Bronx. They give the character
to the smaller parks of that borough. But in its big parks, there are
great stretches of primeval forest; tree-embowered lakes; winding rivers
that afford enchanting vistas; rock-walled river gorges; picturesque
waterfalls; rolling, tree-covered hill-country ; green valleys and meadow-
lands; acre after acre of waving sea-grass; and mile after mile of shore
frontage that looks out across the ship-studded waters of The Sound to
the soft, blue outlines of Long Island.

These figures tell the story of the diversity of the Bronx Parks:

Fine forest lands, over 1,000 acres

Partly forested lands, nearly 1,000 eZ

Playground and athletic fields, 340 3

Lakes and rivers, 44 rt

Artificial lakes, ie

Bay waters, several hundred acres.

Bay shore frontage, 14. —— miles

Roadways, a2 i

Walks, 29 =
Bridges, 10 - am

Distribution.—A glance at the map of the entire park system of
The Bronx, printed herewith, shows the excellent distribution of the
parks throughout the borough. Despite this fact, all the big parks, and

5

many of the small ones, are linked into a unit by a splendid system of
parkways.

Beginning at the easterly extension of McComb’s Dam Park and the
northerly end of Franz Sigel Park, the Grand Boulevard and Concourse
leads northward in an unbroken course to the Mosholu Parkway. Tech-
nically, the Grand Boulevard and Concourse it not a parkway as it is not
under the jurisdiction of the Park Department; but for all practical pur-
poses, this imposing avenue, with its breadth of 200 feet; and its four
rows of trees, is a link in the park system of the Bronx. As it runs
northward, the Grand Boulevard and Concourse passes Claremont Park,
three blocks to the eastward, Echo Park two blocks to the eastward, St.
James Park one block to the westward, and skirts the west boundary
of Poe Park

Mosholu Parkway links Van Cortlandt Park with Bronx Park, and
has a total length of 6,035 feet and an average width of 600 feet.

Crotona Parkway links Bronx Park and Crotona Park, and has a
length of 3,815 feet and an average width of 120 feet.

Bronx and Pelham Parkway links Bronx Park and Pelham Bay
Park, and has a length of 11,861 feet and an average width of 400 feet.

Spuyten Duyvil Parkway has a length of 11,500 feet and a width
that varies from 60 to 180 feet. It runs from the southwest boundary
of Van Cortlandt Park to, approximately, the point where the Harlem
River unites with the Hudson.

In a bird’s-eye view of the Bronx Park system and its general unity,
the Bronx Parkway cannot be overlooked. Officially, it is not a part of
the park system of the Bronx, as it is under the jurisdiction of the Bronx
Parkway Commission. It is a strip of land, being developed as a park-
bordered boulevard, that begins at the northerly boundary of Bronx Park
and runs thence northerly through the beautiful valley of the Bronx
River to the 4,500-acre New Kensico Lake Reservation in Westchester
County. 2

Cash Value. In a report made by the Comptroller of the City of
New York, up to and including the year 1890, the cost of the parks in the
Borough of The Bronx was estimated at $9,969,603.04. To this should
be added, in order to bring the cost up to date, $5,012,987.15, making a
total of $14,982,581.19. Under date of August 26, 1911, the City Record
published a report of the Department of Taxes and Assessments, placing
a value on the same property of $56,627,000.00, or a gain in the assessable
value, over the original cost, of $41,645,000.00. The actual value of the
property to-day has been estimated at from $75,000,000.00 to $90,-
000,000.00, or a gain in actual value, over the original cost, of from
$60,000,000.00 to $75,000,000.00.

-

BAYCHESTER BEACH— PELHAM BAY PARK.

Real Value.—The real value of the parks can not be estimated in
dollars and cents. It has been well said that from the standpoint of
health and consequent happiness and efficiency, it is more important
that an individual give his lungs an atmospheric bath in fresh, pure air
than that he give his body a bath in clean water, great as is the latter
need. The big stretches of quiet woodland where the wearied city
dweller may lose himself for the day; the many acres of meadowland
with their shady nooks where keep-off-the-grass signs do not trouble;
the many athletic fields for the youth and the playgrounds for the young
and the bathing beaches for all:—these are health-giving factors in the
life of the city, the value of which cannot be computed in cash.

No particular record of park attendance is kept; but an estimate
made by those familiar with the matter, places the number of those
using the parks in the Bronx on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays dur-
ing the summer, at 150,000 to 200,000. It is estimated that, during
the season when the polo games are played on the parade ground in
Van Cortlandt Park, or when the National Guard drills and manoeuvers
there, as many as 50,000 people have gathered as spectators. The record
number of persons passing in one day through the turnstiles of the
Bronx Zoological Park is 61,946; the attendance for the year 1913
was 1,943,683.

cAcquisition 9 Bronx Parks.

The Commission of 1883.—In 1883 the City of New York (this
was before the consolidation) stood sixth in the United States in the
matter of area of land devoted to public parks. A number of far-sighted,
public-spirited men, in that year, petitioned the State Legislature for a
commission to choose land for the enlargement of the park area of the
City. In answer to the petition, an Act was passed (Chapter 253 of the
Laws of the State of New York, 1883), which directed the Mayor of the
City of New York to appoint a commission of seven citizens for the pur-
pose described in the petition. The then Mayor, Franklin Edson,
appointed a commission, of which Luther R. Marsh was chairman, and
such well-known residents of the borough as the Hon. Waldo Hutchins,
and the late Hon. W. W. Niles were members. This commission worked
with such zeal that its report was ready for the Legislature of 1884.
This report urged that the city acquire 3,757 acres of new parks, or the
territory now represented by Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Cro-
tona, St. Mary’s, and Claremont Parks. At the time of this recom-
mendation, the territory included in Pelham Bay Park was not within
the boundaries of the City of New York.

8

ORCHARD BEACH— PELHAM BAY PARK.

The report met with considerable opposition; but the Legislature,
never-the-less, authorized the purchase of ali the territory recommended
by the Commission. The fact should not be overlooked that the Com-
missioners served without pay, actuated entirely by public spirit. The
condemnation proceedings took some time. Title in the “New” parks,
as they were called, did not vest in the city until December 12, 1888.

Commemorative Tablets—To commemorate the original Com-
mission appointed in 1883 for the purpose of selecting grounds for the
Bronx Parks, the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences presented to the
City six bronze tablets, each bearing the following inscription:

Pursuant to an Act of Legislature Passed April 19, 1883,
Mayor Franklin Edson Appointed the Following Commission
to Select and Locate Lands for Public Parks in the 23rd and
24th Wards of The City of New York, and in the Vicinity
Thereof : .
LUTHER R. MARSH, President.

LOUIS FITZGERALD, WALDO HUTCHINS:

CHARLES L. TIFFANY, GEORGE W. McLEAN,

WILLIAM W. NILES, THOMAS J. CROMBIE.
The Commission Appointed JOHN MULLALY,
Secretary, and JAMES C. LANE, Engineer.

The Commission Recommended ‘“‘That the Several Tracts
of Land Embraced Under the Following Titles be Appropri-
ated for the Recreation and Enjoyment of the Inhabitants of
New York.’

VAN CORTLANDT PARK

PELHAM BAY PARK

BRONX PARK

CROTONA PARK

CLAREMONT PARK

ST. MARY’S PARK

MOSHOLU PARKWAY

BRONX AND PELHAM PARKWAY

CROTONA PARKWAY
Erected by

THE BRONX SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

MCMXITI.

These tablets were unveiled on April 19, 1913, at Claremont, St.
Mary’s, Crotona, Bronx, Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt Parks.

Acquisition of Other Parks.—Franz Sigel, or Cedar Park, as it
was originally called, was the first park in the Bronx to which the City
acquired title. Title to this park vested in the City on June 4, 1885.
Title to the “New” parks vested December 12, 1888. Since then, 12
named and 20 unnamed parks have been acquired, giving the Bronx a
total park area of 4,154.2 acres.

10

SCENE IN BRONX PARK.

Bronx Park,

Area.—Bronx Park has an area of 719.12 acres, of which 261 acres
are occupied by the New York Zoological Park (popularly known as
“The Bronx Zoo’), 250 acres by the New York Botanical Garden, and
the balance of 208 acres are devoted to the usual public park purposes.

Means of Access.—The means of access are given in the two suc-
ceeding sections devoted respectively to the Zoological Park and the
Botanical Garden.

Special Features——The dominating features are the Zoological
Park and the Botanical Garden, (described in succeeding sections).
Exclusive of these two features, the balance of the Park is well worth
a visit, for here is found a beautiful blending of wild forest land, culti-
vated lawns and variegated flower beds. The celebrated “Hemlock
Grove” is partially within this territory, and the picturesque “Gorge of
the Bronx River” forms its western boundary.

Other Features are:—Lorillard Mansion Museum: Open 11 a. m.
--3 p.m. (free), under the auspices of the Bronx Society of Arts and
Sciences—containing historical relics, photographs and objects of natural
history.

Lorillard Falls.

Lorillard Snuff Mill: now used as Park Department Work Shop.

Old Fashioned Flower Garden: (it used to be said that Pierre
Lorillard’s “Acre of Roses” imparted aroma to his snuff).

Two Baseball Diamonds.

Four Tennis Courts.

Restaurants: The Rocking Stone Restaurant, located in the
Zoological section, and Boat House Restaurant, situated at the Subway
entrance.

Historical Associations.—The old Boston Post Road crossed the
Bronx River at the point where the stream narrows between the two
lakes in the Zoological portion of the Park.

The portion of the Park north of this road formerly belonged to
Pierre Lorillard, who was of French extraction, and who obtained pos-
session of the property in the early part of the Nineteenth century. A
dam was built in the gorge of the river and the snuff mill erected about
1840. Tradition says the mill is haunted. On the high hill overlooking
the dam, Mr. Lorillard built his great stone mansion. It is an excellent
example of the fashionable architecture of the period. The old patent
and manor lines of Fordham, West Farms and Westchester formed a
corner at a point about the middle of the lower lake.

12

WATER-FALL IN HEMLOCK GROVE — BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

A little to the southward, on a small plateau on the east bank of
the stream, there stood in the Revolutionary days, the De Lancey man-
sion. The patriots used to steal through the dense woods that covered
the neighborhood, in the hope of capturing James De Lancey, loyalist
and raider, in one of his visits to his aged mother who continued to
dwell in their mansion during war times, though it was in the turbulent
Neutral Ground.

THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

Means of Access.—Via the Subway, to the Boston Road Entrance.
—The terminus of the eastern branch of the Subway, at “180th St.,
Zoological Park,’ lands visitors at the southeastern entrances to the
Zoological Park, at West Farms. Visitors from points below 96th Street
must be careful to board the “Bronx Park” trains, and not the “Broad-
way” trains.

Routes for Automobiles or Carriages——Via Central Park, Lenox
Avenue, Macomb’s Dam Bridge and Jerome Avenue or Grand Con-
course to Pelham Avenue, thence eastward to the Concourse Entrance,
where motor cars and carriages are admitted to the Park.

Via the Harlem Division of the N. Y. Central R. R. or via the Third
Avenue Elevated.—Visitors should alight at Fordham Station, from which
the northwest entrance is half a mile distant, due eastward, on Pelham
Avenue, via the Union Railway surface cars.

Surface Cars——The Southern Boulevard and the Zoological Park
Cars of the Union Railway now run to both the Crotona (Southwest)
Entrance and the Fordham Entrance. The Crosstown cars of the same
line intersect the Southern Boulevard three blocks south of the Crotona

Entrance.
ADMISSION.

Free Admission.—On all holidays, and on Sunday, Tuesday, Wed-
nesday, Friday and Saturday, the Zoological Park is open free to the
public.

Pay Admission.—On every Monday and Thursday, save when either
of those days falls on a holiday, all members of the Zoological Society
who surrender coupons from their membership tickets, and all other
persons holding tickets from the Society, will be admitted free. All
other persons seeking admission will be admitted on payment of twenty-
five cents for each adult, and fifteen cents for each child under twelve
years of age. Tickets are sold only at the entrance gates.

Holidays on Pay Days——Whenever a legal holiday falls on a Mon-
day or Thursday, admission to the Park will be free on that day.

Hours for Opening and Closing—From May Ist to November Ist
the gates will be opened at 9 A. M. daily, and closed half an hour before
sunset. From November Ist to May Ist the gates will open at 10 A. M.

14

ITALIAN GARDENS— NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK, N. Y. C.

Entrances, Walks, Etc-——The portion of the Zoological Park situ-
ated west of the Boston Road has been enclosed. Access to this area
is provided by six entrances, one situated at each corner—one on the
Boston Road and one at the bridge on Pelham Avenue. The latter is
a carriage entrance for visitors wishing to drive to the north end of
Baird Court. From all these entrances broad walks lead into the Park
and through it, reaching all the collections of animals now installed.

Carriage Roads——The only wagon road which enters the central
portion of the Park now occupied by animals is the Service Road, which
enters from the Southern Boulevard, at 185th Street, and runs eastward,
to the Service Building, Reptile House, Bear Dens, and Rocking Stone
Restaurant.

This road is for business purposes only, and is not open for the
vehicles of visitors. It is utterly impossible to admit carriages to the
center of the Park, save those of officers entering on business, and
visitors must not ask for exceptions to this very necessary rule.

Automobile and Carriage Entrance-——A fine public carriage road
and concourse, leading from Pelham Avenue Bridge and to the upper
end of Baird Court, was completed in 1908. This drive is open to car-
riages or motors, daily, and it affords easy access to the most important
group of buildings. It is subject to the same regulations as all other
entrances, except that carriages and automobiles are admitted.

The Boston Road, which runs through the Park from south to
north, near the western bank of the Bronx Lake, is open at all hours.
It has recently—and for the first time—been finely improved by the
Park Department for the Borough of The Bronx, and a drive through
it affords a fine view of the eastern side of the Buffalo Range, and the
finest portion of the heavy forest of the Zoological Park.

As a matter of course, the ranges of the buffalo, antelope, deer,
moose, and elk, are in full view from the Kingsbridge Road and South-
ern Boulevard, and the Zoological Society has planned that the view
from those avenues shall be left open sufficiently that the herds may be
seen to good advantage.

The Rocking Stone Restaurant has been designed to serve
all the purposes that its name implies. It contains dining-rooms in which
full meals may be obtained, lunch-rooms wherein choice food will be
served at popular prices, and in the basement, toilet-rooms will be found.

The Service Building, near the Reptile House, and at the
geographical center of the enclosed grounds, is situated a building which
contains the Bureau of Administration of the Zoological Park. Here
will be found the offices of the Chief Clerk, several other Park officers,
and the workshops and storerooms.

16

Children lost in the Park, and property lost or found, should be
reported without delay at the Chief Clerk’s office in this building. The
telephone call of the Zoological Park is Tremont 953.

Wheeled Chairs.—By persons desiring them, wheeled chairs can
always be obtained at the entrances, by applying to gatekeepers, or at
the office of the Chief Clerk, in the Service Building. The cost is 25
cents per hour; with an attendant, 50 cents per hour.

Physical Aspect of the Grounds.—Roughly estimated, one-third
of the land area is covered by heavy forest, one-third by open forest,
and the remaining third consists of open meadows and glades. The
highest point of land in the Park is the crest of Rocking Stone Hill, the
elevation of which is 94.8 feet above sea level.

Topography.—Speaking broadly, the Zoological Park is composed
of granite ridges running from north to south. In many places their
crests have been denuded of earth by the great glacier which once pushed
its edge as far south as New York City. In the valleys lying between
these glacier-scraped ridges, great quantities of sandy, micaceous soil
have been deposited; but in one spot—the Wild-Fowl Pond—what was
once a green, glacial lake fifteen feet deep, presently became a vast rock-
walled silo filled with vegetable matter and a trembling bog of peat.
Everywhere in the Park glacial boulders of rough granite or smoothly
rounded trap-rock, varying in size from a cobble-stone to the thirty-ton
Rocking Stone, have been dropped just where the warm southern sun
freed them from the ice. The Park contains thousands of them, many
of which have been removed from walks and building sites only with
great labor.

The Rocking Stone, a colossal cube of pinkish granite, poised
on one of its angles on a smooth pedestal of rock, is the Zoological Park’s
most interesting souvenir of the glacial epoch. Across the bare face of
the rocky hill in which lies the Crocodile Pool, there are several glacial
scratches pointing directly toward the famous boulder; and who will
say it had no part in making one of them?

The Rocking Stone stands on a smooth table of granite on the
southern shoulder of the hill overlooking the Buffalo Range. Its extreme
height is 7 feet 6 inches; breadth, 10 feet 1 inch; thickness, 8 feet 1
inch, and its weight, as roughly calculated, is 30 tons. A pressure of
about 50 lbs. exerted on the most northern angle of the stone causes
its apex to swing north and south about two inches.

Streams and Ponds.—The Zoological Park contains about 34 acres
of still water, of which Bronx Lake comprises 25 acres, Lake Agassiz
51% acres, Cope Lake, the Wild-Fowl Pond, and Beaver Pond together,
about 3% acres. The two larger lakes are fed by the Bronx River,

17

‘DD ‘A 'N ‘XNOUd ‘HUVd IVOIDO’IOOZ MAYOA MAN—HASNOH CUIA AOUV'!

<i sash, oy

which drains a valley about 15 miles long. Even in the driest seasons
the volume of water carried down by the Bronx River is sufficient to
keep the lakes well filled. The areas of still water available for animal
collections are very generous for an institution like this, and are highly
prized.

The Waterfall—At the lower end of Lake Agassiz, and about 300
feet above the Boston Road Bridge, is a natural waterfall nearly 12 feet
in height, where the Bronx River falls over a rugged ledge of pink
granite. In times of high water the foaming flood that thunders over
the rocks makes an imposing spectacle, and it constitutes a most unusual
feature to be found in a city park.

Forests.—The crowning glory of the Zoological Park is the mag-
nificent forest growth which covers, thickly or sparsely, about two-thirds
of its land area. It consists chiefly of white, scarlet, black, red and
pin oaks, tulip, sweet gum, hickory, beech, sassafras, maple, wild
cherry, hornbeam, dogwood, tupelo, hemlock and cedar; but there
are. at least thirty other species of trees and shrubs. It is safe to say
that nowhere else within fifty miles of New York can there be
found any more beautiful forests than those in the central and eastern
portions of the Park. Throughout the enclosed grounds, it 1s absolutely
necessary that visitors should be restricted to the walks; for otherwise
the feet of our millions of visitors would quickly destroy every ground
plant.

Arrangement of Collections.—Inasmuch as the physical features of
the Zoological Park grounds were important factors in locating the
various collections of animals, a perfect zoological arrangement was |
impossible. The existing plan represents the limit of acceptable possi-
bilities in grouping related animals.

Opportunities for out-of-door life are available to seven-tenths of
all the verterbrates. Only a few reptiles, some of the smaller monkeys,
and a number of the birds require indoor confinement the year round.
The ranges for hoofed and horned animals are many times more com-
modious than those of the very largest of the Old World zoological
gardens.

To those who enter by way of the Subway, the historic Boston Post
Road leads to the Boston Road Entrance at the southeast corner of the
Park.

The Zoological Park idea is well illustrated in the twenty acres at
this point which are devoted to the herd of American Bison. This space
has been reduced from time to time, as the Bison have been taken out
to form other herds. In 1907, fifteen were sent to the Wichita Forest
Preserve, and in 1913, a number to the Wind Cave National Park, South

19

Dakota, as contributions from the Society to the preservation of the
species by our National Government. In short, the stock of Bison to
replenish the Great Plains have come from New York City.

Colonies of eland, yak, emeu, ostrich, crane, and fallow deer, now
share the range that once was entirely given over to the Bison. The
delightful sensation of freedom is very greatly enhanced by the light
boundary fences and the entire absence of timidity of the occupants.

The Antelope House, directly west of the Bison Range, shelters
within its spacious stalls and yards—about three times larger than those
of any other antelope house—a fine collection of the rare African ante-
lopes and usually a pair of the awkward but spectacular giraffe.

To accommodate the small delicate deer, gazelles, wild goats, and
sheep that are sensitive to the great extremes of the eastern climate,
the Small-Deer House, original in its conception, which stands close to
the Antelope House, fills an urgent want. In form it resembles the
latter, a huge, elliptical building with spacious yards radiating on either
side.

From the Antelope House a panorama of this section embraces the
greatest range of view to be obtained in the Park. Directly in front is a
broad plaza with irregular plantings of hardy trees, shrubs and gorge-
ously flowering plants. To the left of this are the Ostrich and Small
Mammal House. Yet further west is a large meadow and pond for
wild-fowl. Flanking the pond is the Aviary for pheasants, and directly
south the collection of musk-ox and Rocky Mountain Goats.

To the east and north of the Antelope House are the Reptile House,
Mountain Sheep Hill and Bear Dens.

Mountain Sheep Hill is almost in the form in which it existed when
the Society took possession of the Park. To add to its height, many
huge boulders were stacked about the crest of the ridge. At all seasons
various species of goats and sheep scale these miniature crags. The
Tahr at the north end maintains a family of substantial proportions.

By reason of the improved conditions that surround them—space,
open view, sunlight, abundance of water, rocks, companionship—the
bears are one of the chief attractions of the, Park. If all the bears of
Europe were added together they would not make a collection zoologic-
ally equal to this one. A huge ledge of granite forms an admirable
background for the great collection of bears as well as providing an
anchorage for the cage work. This rugged structure is in admirable
keeping with its shaggy occupants. The polar bears have a shady en-
closure at the north end of the Bear Dens at the head of Beaver Valley. —
Against the bluff end of the bear-den ledge is a semi-circluar structure
of steel, enclosing within its confines a deep pool. For a few hours in

20

the morning the sun strikes through the trees and warms the rocks, but
for the greater part of the day an almost impenetrable shade makes life
worth living for the bears of the northern seas.

Through the trees west of the bear collection lies the Beaver Pond.
The Society has transplanted several of these interesting wilderness engi-
neers to this spot, and now a large family regularly makes and repairs
dams, houses, and canals. Even in the middle of the day, when tradition
states that the beavers sleep, the hereditary timidity of this curious
rodent has been laid aside, and the cares and responsibilities of a beaver
colony may be observed by visitors as they pass to and fro along the
shores of the pond.

Over the tops of the laurels and rhododendrons that fill Beaver
Valley from end to end, may be seen the white walls of the Elephant
House. Architecturally this is the most pretentious structure in the
Park. It stands at the south end of Baird Court, facing a group of
buildings that surround the Court on all sides. The home of the largest
existing land mammals is an elongated building of Indiana lime-stone,
surmounted by a gaily colored, tiled dome. Worthy of the building is
its collection of five elephants, two rhinos, four hippos, three of them
the wonderful, rare and costly pygmy hippopotami, and two species of
tapirs. Large yards enclosed by heavy steel fences flank the building
on either side. A feature is the direct passageway through the building
from south to north.

From the Elephant House, Baird Court, with its grouping of dig-
nified animal buildings, is a classic picture. The Lion House on the
left of the Court is the only one in the world that has wire netting used
for enclosure instead of bars, green tiles in the cage-walls instead of
paint, and that is equipped with a studio cage for animal painters and
sculptors. The sculptural decorations on this building are after designs
and models by Eli Harvey. All of the inmates have access to great
outside cages in the warm months.

Directly across the Court is the Primate House. Despite the deli-
cate nature of most of the apes and monkeys and the ever existing
danger of infection from humankind with virulent maladies, a good
average collection is usually on exhibition. The Society has specialized
in the great anthropoid apes and has exhibited almost uninterruptedly
good specimens, at one time having nine. A gorilla from West Africa,
an adult orang-utan, a chimpanzee and a white-handed gibbon are the
representatives at this time.

Nowhere else in the world can such varied collections of rare and
beautiful birds be seen as those that fill the cages of the Large-Bird
House. An abundance of light, air, and large flying spaces is more

21

‘0 ‘A ‘N ‘XNOUd ‘WUVd ‘IVDINO'IOOZ HYOA MAN—HSNOH LNVHda’lH

nearly akin to freedom than that afforded by any similar institution.
Besides the numerous communal cages, which are for the first time em-
ployed here, a large flying-cage in the center of the main hall is also
an innovation.

The great out-of-door Flying Cage is to be found in other zoolog-
ical institutions, but so far as is known, none others have been equipped
with a swimming pool one hundred by thirty feet, and of sufficient depth
to afford the great showy water birds ample diving space. For several
years some of the shyest birds constructed nests and progressed as far
as to deposit eggs. The last two seasons have. been more promising;
a pair of pelicans actually rearing a young bird hatched in the cage.
In the winter these delicate birds are removed to the Aquatic Bird
House, which was the first structure erected in the Park.

Along the western boundary of the Park, are the deer enclosures.
Beginning with the tropical deer at the northwest and ranging along
through the fallow, red, sambar, white-tailed, and our own native wapiti.
In this particular field the Society has realized one of its greatest suc-
cesses; the deer from these paddocks have formed the nuclei of many
private and public collections, both in the New and Old World. Their
breeding has been most prolific, and the activity in this direction has at
times caused much embarrassment.

The Zebra House and Aviary for eagles and vultures stand close
together south of the Bird House and west of the Lion House. As their
names imply, one, with its large yards, is for the wild equines, and the
other for the varied collection of rapacious birds; eagles, hawks, and
vultures.

The Zoological Society was formed by Mr. Madison Grant in 1895,
and it immediately attracted the support of Prof. Henry Fairfield Os-
born. In 1895, a charter was obtained incorporating the Society under
the laws of the State of New York, through the efforts of Mr. William
White Niles, then a member of the State Legislature, and thereupon
the Society was granted the southern portion of Bronx Park, by the
City of New York, for the purpose of establishing a zoological park.

As a token of good faith, the Society agreed to furnish the original
equipment of buildings to the value of $250,000, and to forever supply
at its expense a collection of living wild animals, birds and reptiles.

Privileges—Because of the fact that the Zoological Society has
undertaken to furnish all the animals for the Zoological Park, the City
of New York has agreed that all the revenue-producing privileges of
the Park shall be controlled by the Society. All net profits derived from
the restaurants, boats, refreshments, riding animals, the sale of photo-

23

graphs, books, etc., and all admission fees, are expended by the Society
in the purchase of animals for the Park. It is well that visitors should
know that all net profits realized in the Park go directly toward the
increase of the animal collections.

The Society maintains a supply of boats for hire, and riding ani-
mals of various kinds for the amusement of children.

Membership in the Society costs $10 per annum. For this sum a
member receives all publications of the Society, a pass admitting him
to the Park on pay days, admittance to the Administration Building
where there is a library, a remarkable collection of heads and horns,
comfortable reading and rest rooms, and the beginning of a collection
of paintings of wild animal life. The Society is desirous of increasing
its membership, and applications may be addressed to the Secretary,
No. 11 Wall Street, New York City.

The Society is governed by a board of thirty-six managers, elected
annually by its members.

The officers for the year 1914 are as follows:

PRESIDENT
HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN

ViIcE-PRESIDENTS
SAMUEL THORNE MADISON GRANT

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Mapison GRANT, Chairman
PrErcy R. PyNrE

SAMUEL THORNE

WiLttiAM WuHite NILES
Wn. Prerson HAMILTON
Frank K. Sturers
LISPENARD STEWART
Watson B. DicKERMAN

HENRY FairFiELpD Osgorn, e4-officio
Secretary, MADISON GRANT, 11 Watt Street
Treasurer, PERCY R. PYNE, 30 Pine STREET
WILLIAM T. HORNADAY, Director, ZootocicaL PARK
CHARLES H. TOWNSEND, Director, Aquarium

24

ENTRANCE TO HEMLOCK GROVE, N. Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN, BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN.

The New York Botanical Garden occupies 250 acres in the northern
part of Bronx Park.

Means of Access.—By the Harlem Division of the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad to Botanical Garden Station.

By the Third Avenue Elevated Railway system to the terminal sta-
tion of that road at Bronx Park.

By the Subway, Lenox Avenue and West Farms branch, with
transfer at 149th Street and Third Avenue to Elevated Railway, thence
to Bronx Park Station.

By trolley car leaving 3rd Avenue and 128th Street and running on
Webster Avenue to 200th Street or the Woodlawn Road. This line
connects with lines from the western part of the Bronx at Kingsbridge
Road, and at 138th Street, 149th Street, 16I'st Street, 167th Street, Tre-
mont Avenue, and also with the line to Yonkers, and West Mt. Vernon,
by changing at Bedford Park.

By trolley line on the White Plains Road east of Bronx Park from
West Farms, Williamsbridge, and Mt. Vernon, connecting with lines
from the eastern part of the Bronx at West Farms and at Mt. Vernon.

By driveways in Mosholu Parkway from Van Cortlandt Park;
from Pelham Bay Park through Pelham Parkway; through the Cro-
tona Parkway and Southern Boulevard from Crotona Park; there are
also driveway entrances at 200th Street, convenient for carriages coming
from Jerome Avenue; at Newell Avenue, at the northern end of the
Garden, for carriages coming from the north; at Bleecker Street on the
eastern side of the Garden for carriages coming from the east; and at
the Woodlawn Road, convenient for carriages coming from Yonkers,
and from other points west and northwest of the Garden.

Purposes.—The New York Botanical Garden was established by
an Act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed in 1891
and amended in 1894 and in 1914, “for the purpose of establishing and
maintaining a Botanical Garden and Museum and Arboretum therein,
for the collection and culture of plants, flowers, shrubs and trees, the
advancement of botanical science and knowledge, and the prosecution
of original researches therein and in kindred subjects, for affording
instruction in the same, for the prosecution and exhibition of ornamental
and decorative horticulture and gardening, and for the entertainment,
recreation and instruction of the people.”

Control and Maintenance.—The Garden is controlled by a Board
of Managers elected from the Corporation established by its Charter,
together with a body of Scientific Directors, and representatives of the
City Government. This Board of Managers has control, except for

26

PUBLIC CONSERVATORIES, RANGE 1—N. Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN, BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

police purposes and for the maintenance of roads and walks, which are
vested in the Department of Parks. It is provided that the grounds
shall be open and free to the public daily and the educational and scien-
tific privileges of the institution shall be open to all alike.

The maintenance of the institution is accomplished by annual appro-
priations by the City, as provided for in the City Charter, supplemented
by funds of the Corporation and by membership dues. The endowment
of the institution, derived from gifts and bequests, has now reached
$522,500, to which will be added $50,000 provided in other bequests.
It is sought to increase this endowment to not less than $1,000,000.

Grounds.—The grounds are of great natural beauty, mostly hilly,
but with some level areas at the northern end. There are over 70 acres
of natural woodlands, including the famous “Hemlock Grove,’ on the
hills bordering the Bronx River, and these woodlands are carefully
protected against fire and vandalism. The Gorge of the Bronx River
is one of the most valuable natural features within the City of New
York. Through the reservation, there have been built about 4 miles
of public driveway and about 8 miles of walks; about one quarter of a
mile of driveway and some 2 miles of walks comtemplated in the gen-
eral plan of development have not yet been constructed.

Greenhouses.—Conservatory Range No. 1, situated near the ap-
proach to the Bronx Park Station of the Third Avenue Elevated Rail-
way, is the largest glasshouse in America; it is 512 feet in length, the
central dome nearly 90 feet high, and contains 15 compartments devoted
to the display of plants from tropical and warm temperate regions.
Houses Nos. 1 and 2 contain palms in great variety and bamboos;
House No. 3 contains many representations of plants of the lily, am-
aryllis and related families; House No. 4 is given to large tropical
plants, many of them of economic importance; Houses 5, 6, 7 and 8
are given to succulent and desert plants, including several hundred kinds
of cactuses, century plants, yuccas, house-leeks and stone-crops; House
No. 9 contains a large concrete tank in which many tropical water plants
are grown, with tall grasses around its margin; House No. 10 contains
a very large collection of tropical plants of the calla and pineapple
families; House No. 11 contains a fine representation of bananas and
their relatives, among them the traveler’s tree and _ bird-of-paradise
plants; Houses Nos. 12, 13 and 14 contain a large and varied repre-
sentation of plants of warm temperate regions, including ferns, orchids,
acacias, evergreen, and hundreds of rare and unusual species; House
No. 15 is given to tropical orchids in great variety; the orchid collection
is largely the gift of Mr. Oakes Ames, who spent many years and in-
curred great expense in bringing it together. In the court of Conserva-

28

AQUATIC HOUSE, PUBLIC CONSERVATORIES RANGE 1—N. Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN, BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

tory Range No. 1| are two large concrete tanks in which water lilies are
grown in great variety, the eastern tank containing hardy kinds, the
western tank those from tropical regions.

Conservatory Range No. 2, situated on the eastern side of the
grounds, near the Bleecker Street entrance, is about one-third completed.
The completed portion consists of 4 houses, containing 7 compartments.
Here may be seen very large and representative collections of tropical
ferns, cycads or sago palms, tropical orchids, and a miscellaneous col-
lection of tropical trees and shrubs.

A small range of propagating and experimental greenhouses, three
in number, each 100 feet long, is located near the nurseries on the
eastern side of the grounds. Here are grown plants for the grounds
and greenhouses and others for scientific experimentation and study.

Plantations.—The collections of evergreen trees (Pinetum) sur-
round the great glasshouse in the southwestern portion of the grounds,
extending to the Botanical Garden Railroad Station on the north and
to the border of the forest on the east, the landscape design here being
to surround this greenhouse with evergreen trees, so that it shall have
a green setting all the year round. Commencing at the approach to the
Elevated Railway Station and proceeding first in a northerly course in
walking around this greenhouse, the visitor will pass consecutively col-
lections of Douglas spruce, hemlock spruces, spruces, firs, pines, bald
cypresses, white cedars, junipers, arbor vitaes and retinisporas. The
collection of larches, true cedars, umbrella pines and yews are some-
what out of this circuit, further to the northeast.

The planted collections of deciduous trees (Deciduous Arboretum)
are in the area east of the Bronx River, extending from the most
southern to the most northern part of the reservation, and many of these
trees are in sight from the new Bronx Boulevard, which borders the
grounds to the east. Proceeding northward from the southeastern cor-
ner of the reservation may be found willows, poplars, hickories, walnuts,
oaks, beeches, Asiatic chestnuts, birches, alders, elms, mulberries, mag-
nolias, thorns, apples, cherries, plums, plane-trees, maples, horse chest-
nuts, persimmons, dogwoods, ashes, catalpas, and a number of other
kinds. Many trees have also been planted for shade along the drive-
ways and thickly set along the railroad in the northern end of the grounds
as a border screen. Prior to any planting on the grounds, there were
about fifty kinds of trees to begin with, many of them very large and
fine specimens.

The collection of shrubs (Fruticetum) is located on a plain north
of the Museum Building and east of the railroad, and is well viewed
from the top of the approach to the Woodlawn Road. The collections

30

FRUTICETUM (Shrub Collection) N. Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN — BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

here established now contain some 800 kinds of flowering shrubs derived
from all parts of the north temperate zone. Shrubs have also been
extensively planted in masses for decorative purposes in various parts
of the grounds, especially in front of the border tree screens and along
parts of the driveways and paths and at the ends of the bridges, while
natural thickets add variety and interest. Rhododendrons are massed
about the lakes, garden roses occupy a plantation 200 feet long at
the foot of the eastern terrace of Conservatory Range No. 1, golden
bells, lilacs, syringas, bush honeysuckles and spiraeas are grouped near
the Botanical Garden Railroad Station, thorns along the western border
screen and elsewhere, and viburnums at a number of points.

The classified collections of herbaceous plants occupy a very beau-
tiful narrow valley east of the driveway running north from the Southern
Boulevard entrance, a large part of which was originally a marsh, and
through which a small brook runs longitudinally. In the southern part
of this valley, the plantations are grouped by botanical relationships,
and the plants exhibited here include about 2,900 kinds, arranged in
128 beds. In the middle of this valley, other beds illustrate the structure
and habits of herbaceous plants, and at the north end are collections
illustrating plants and their products used for food, in medicine, and
otherwise of value to man in the arts, sciences and industries. The
little brook makes possible the growing of water plants close to land
plants to which they are related.

The herbaceous flower gardens are located at the foot of the terrace
on the northern and western sides of Conservatory Range No. 1, extend-
ing on both sides of the path to the approach to the Elevated Railway
Station, and at intervals along the western border screen from this sta-
tion to the Mosholu Parkway entrance. Here are grown a great variety
of garden flowers, and many kinds may be seen in bloom at any time
during the season from early spring until frost, commencing with
snowdrops, squills, tulips, daffodils and other bulbous plants in April
and May and ending with many kinds of autumn flowers in September
and October. Several hundred kinds of flowers are grown in these
collections. The total length of beds of herbaceous plants, including
those in the herbaceous grounds and in the flower gardens, is now about
one mile.

The lakes, formed by the flooding of former swamps, form an
attractive feature in a valley northeast of the Museum Building. The
largest of the three is a landscape feature and unplanted; the middle
one is given to collections of hardy aquatic plants and provides a beau-
tiful display of water lilies from late spring until early autumn; the

32

third lake, occupied by wild water plants of the region, outflows into
the Bronx River.

The Museum Building.—This is the largest edifice in the world
devoted to botany and kindred subjects. It has a frontage of 312 feet.
The architectural style is Italian Renaissance. Its approach from the
main driveway to the south includes garden fountains surrounded by
marble seats, four parallel rows of tulip trees, and a fine bronze foun-
tain immediately in front of the building.

The main floor is given to the museum of economic botany, in which
have been brought together crude and refined products of plants used
in the arts, sciences and industries, including foods, drugs, fibers, gums,
resins, oils, sugars, starches, cork, paper and a great variety of others.
This collection now contains about 8,000 specimens, and is constantly
referred to for information relative to commercial products.

The second floor contains the museum of systematic botany, illus-
trated by specimens, drawings, paintings and photographs of types of
all the families of plants, commencing with those of the simplest struc-
ture and ending with the most complex. This floor also contains,
mounted in swinging frames, specimens illustrating all the kinds of
plants growing naturally within 100 miles of New York City, and a
series of 20 microscopes demonstrate some of the minute plants.

The third floor of the Museum Building contains the library, now
including over 25,000 volumes on botany, horticulture and _ related
sciences, and is one of the most complete collections of books on these
subjects in the United States, and therefore is consulted by students
from all over the country. Laboratories are provided for advanced and
special students from colleges and universities who come to take advant-
age of the facilities offered by the library and collections. The herbarium,
consisting of dried specimens of plants from all parts of the world, is
the largest in the United States.

The basement floor of the Museum Building contains the collections
of fossil plants, which are very extensive, and a large lecture hall, store-
rooms and workrooms.

Educational and Scientific Work.—The collections of living
plants in the grounds and greenhouses, some 13,000 different kinds being
now represented, and the collections in the Museum Building, are labeled
for public information, over 25,000 such labels being now in place.
Free public lectures are delivered in the Museum Lecture Hall every
Saturday afternoon from early Spring until late Autumn, on botanical
and horticultural topics. Assistants guide visitors who apply for informa-
tion to all parts of the grounds and buildings. Children from the public
schools and other schools are received in groups and given lectures and

33

‘D ‘A 'N ‘MUVd XNOUdI — NACUVSY /IVOINVLOG “A ‘N ‘ONICG’TINA WAXSNW

hs iil, Le |

oe

demonstrations on botanical nature study. A great number of inquiries
for information are continually answered by mail, the correspondence
of the institution being very large. The Garden publishes four different
series of botanical works, of which over 50 volumes and parts have now
been issued, containing important contributions to botanical and horti-
cultural science. Over 100 expeditions have been sent to regions little
known botanically, and valuable and unique collections of plants and
specimens have thus been secured. Students are received from other
institutions and given special facilities; many of them, trained at the
Garden, are now occupying important positions as teachers or investi-
gators in colleges, universities, agricultural stations and schools.
The officers for the year 1914 are:

PrESIDENT—W. GILMAN THOMPSON.

§ Vicr-PRESIDENTS—ANDREW CARNEGIE, FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON.
TREASURER—JAMES A. SCRYMSER.
SEcRETARY—N. L. BRITTON.

Van Cortlandt Park.

Area.—Van Cortlandt Park has an area of 1,132.85 acres.

Means of Access.—Broadway Branch of the Subway direct to the
Park.

Broadway surface line which runs along the entire west boundary
of the Park, crossing the city line and extending into Yonkers via South
Broadway.

Jerome Avenue cars of the Union Railway, which cross Mosholu
Parkway, skirt the southeast boundary of the Park, cross the northeast
portion, and run into Yonkers via Central Avenue.

The Crosstown cars of the Union Railway intersect the Jerome Ave-
nue line at many points where transfers are given.

Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad (terminal at
155th Street Station of Sixth and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railway,
Manhattan) to Van Cortlandt Station in Park.

Special Features.—A big stretch of forest land that invites the
rambler, a lake for the canoeist and the oarsman, extensive grounds that
afford opportunity to enjoy as participant or spectator all manner of
out-door sports, elaborate formal gardens, and historical buildings, relics
and associations :—all these are features that make Van Cortlandt a park
of unique value.

Golf.—Until this year (1914), there has been but one 18-hole golf
course. It is picturesquely located in the Tippett’s Brook Valley, extend-
ing for some distance along the west shore of Van Cortlandt Lake. A
new 18-hole course, known as “The Mosholu Course,” has been completed

35

‘D ‘A ‘N ‘XNOUA ‘MUVd LONVILYOD NVA— UONVIN LONVILYOOD NVA

this summer. It is pleasantly and conveniently located on the highest
portion of the park. On the shore of the lake there is a golf house con-
taining 600 lockers.

Water Sports.—There is a long, narrow lake that covers some 131%4
acres. There are boats and canoes on this for rent. In the winter it is
used for skating, the golf house being used as a skate house. Curling
matches are also engaged in here.

Baseball and Other Sports.—There are 23 base ball fields. There
are 8 tennis courts: 4 on the Gun Hill Road, 2 on the Parade Field, 2 on
the new golf links. During the Fall season the base ball fields are used
for football. There is a 120-acre parade ground on the edge of which
are two polo fields and a cricket field. A cross-country course has been
laid out.

Colonial Garden.—A very beautiful feature in this park is the for-
mal Colonial Garden in front of the Colonial Mansion, comprising about
3¥% acres. In the center of it is a handsome marble fountain, surmounted
by the coat of arms of the City of New York, and the sides of which
represent the coats of arms of the Thirteen Original States. This foun-
tain was presented to the City of New York by Mrs. E. M. Thompson,
at a cost of from $12,000 to $15,000.

Van Cortlandt Mansion and Other Historical Features.—The
Van Cortlandt Mansion is one of the old houses within the area of
Greater New York. It is still in excellent condition. It is in the custody
of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York. This society has
gathered a very interesting collection of Dutch and Colonial household
furniture and utensils, arms and documents. It is open tothe public
every day in the week except Thursday.

Historical Associations.—The land comprised in Van Cortlandt
Park was originally included in a vast tract, having at first no particular
bounds, under the control of the Dutch West India Company. This
company acquired a formal title originally from the Indian proprietors,
the tribe called the Manhattans, the Indian overlord or chief of which
was Tackareek, whose campfire burned on the heights of Nevisane, the
region now known as Navesink Highlands.

The first individual owner of the tract was Adriaen Van der Donck,
who acquired it from the resident governor of the Dutch West India
Company, Governor Kieft, in 1646. Van der Donck was further required
at this time to obtain the consent of the Indians to the formal transfer
of the property to him.

He planned to colonize it and erect there his “bouwerie.”

While he evidently did succeed in cultivating his land to a small
extent, his larger plans for its upbuilding were never carried out. He

37

ON QAU EW) A

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WH H

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un

Key to Map of Parks.

Pelham Bay Park.

Comfort Stations.

Bandstand.

Bathing Beaches and Bath Houses.

Camp Colony.

Athletic Field.

Golf Links.

Glover's Rock.

Baychester Station (N Y., N. H. & H.R.R.,
Harlem River Branch; Terminal, Willis Avenue,
Bronx, Second and Third Avenue shuttle train
from 129th Street Station of Elevated Railroads.
City Island Station, same R. R. as above.

Site of Indian Burying Ground.

Site of Pell Treaty Oak.

Pell Family Burial Ground.

Split Rock.

Van Cortlandt Park.

Comfort Stations.

Bandstand,

Van Cortlandt Mansion,

Colonial Gardens.

Skate and Golf House.

Golf Links.

Polo Field.

Parade Field.

Cricket Field.

Van Cortlandt Burial Ground.

Berrian Burying Ground.

Van Cortlandt Station.

Rhinelander Sugar House Window.

Site of original Van Cortlandt House (1700) and
the Van Der Donck House (1650).

Site of Van Cortlandt Saw and Grist Mills.
Indian Field, scene of battle between British
cavalry and party of Indian allies of patriots.

Macomb’s Dam Park.

Bandstand.

Athletic Field.

Playgrounds.

Comfort Stations.

Site of the old Macomb Dam.

Franz Sigel Park.

Comfort Station.

Saint Mary’s Park.

Morris Mansion containing Comfort Station.
Playgrounds.

Bandstand.

School Farms.

Claremont Park,

ComfortiStation.

Zbrowski Mansion containing the offices of the
Park Department of The Bronx.

Band Stand

Playgrounds. —

Crotona Park.

Comfort Stations,

Indian Pond and Refreshment and Boat House.
Athletic Field,

Playgrounds.

Bandstands.

Ball Field.

Bronx Park.

Comfort!Stations.

Bandstand.

Lorillard Mansion now used as a Museum, under
the auspices of the Bronx Society of Arts and
Sciences; contains historical relics, photographs,
etc.; open ira.m.to3 p.m. free,

Old Lorillard Snuff Mill, now used for Park De-
partment Shops.

Greenhouses ot the Park Department,

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had a planting field, which for many years after was known as Van der
Donck’s planting field, on what is now the parade ground of Van Cort-
landt Park. His first house was erected on the banks of the Neperhaem,
now called Saw Mill River, in Yonkers, that name being derived from
the sawmill which he operated there for some years.

The ancient cellar ruins recently uncovered in the park, near the
Van Cortlandt House, could not have been those of a house erected by
Van der Donck, as some have claimed: but were either the ruins of an
ancient block-house or more probably were those of the house of George
Tippett, which he, describing it as his “home lott,” sold to Jacobus Van
Cortlandt in 1713. Whatever, if anything, Van der Donck built on this
site, was at best nothing more than a farm hut, and was certainly de-
stroyed in the Indian uprising of 1655; when they threatened to “wipe
out the Dutch,” and too well, indeed, did they keep their word.

He had obtained from the States General, the authority to devise
his property or Colony of Colen-donck; and upon his death left it to
his widow, who was the daughter of Francis Doughty, an English clergy-
man, who for certain alleged heretical tenets, had been driven out of the
English Colony along the Connecticut, and who had been given safe har-
borage by the Dutch on Long Island, near Flushing. His widow trans-
ferred the Colony of Colen-donck to her brother, Elias Doughty, of
Flushing.

Doughty disposed of it mainly in three parcels. The first parcel,
comprising the southerly part of the Manor and including part of the
planting field, and that part of the Park where the old Van Cortlandt
house now stands, to Wm. Betts and his son-in-law George Tippett, in
the year 1668. This is the only one of Doughty’s sales that need interest
us, George Tippett’s name being perpetuated in the stream that runs
the entire length of the park.

The Van Cortlandts first began to acquire the property in the year
1696; Jacobus Van Cortlandt in that year buying 320 acres. Having
acquired various other parcels of land in the vicinity, largely from Tip-
pett’s and Bett’s heirs, Jacobus Van Cortlandt planned to dam the brook
called by the Indians Muskota, and by the white settlers Tippetts, form-
ing a lake and erecting a sawmill and gristmill. This was in the year
1718. These mills, principally the gristmill, served the people of the
community for more than a century and a half following. The com-
munity suffered a loss historically, when the mills were destroyed by
lightning and fire in the year 1901.

When Jacobus Van Cortlandt acquired the property on which the
Van Cortlandt Mansion now stands, which was in the year 1713, George
Tippett, who sold it to him, stipulated that the burying ground included

41

in the tract transferred, “which having originally been, and still is, for
the use of a cemetery or burying place,” should be held out and reserved
for such use to him, his heirs and assigns. This is the little old burying
ground on the shore of the lake, to the east of the Van Cortlandt Man-
sion. There are a few old tombstones in it now, almost undecipherable,
but some can be yet distinguished as those of Tippett’s ancestors and de-
scendants.

The present Van Cortlandt Mansion was erected by Frederick Van
Cortlandt in the year 1748. He also built a vault and family burying
ground, located on what is now known as Vault Hill in the Park. His
will (probated in 1751) directs that his body should be buried there. |
This vault was used during the Revolution to hide away certain papers
and documents and public records from the British; Augustus Van Cort-
landt being at that time Clerk of the City of New York.

Practically every foot of land in the park was fought over during
the Revolutionary War. First occupied and ranged over by the Ameri-
can Troops as they maneuvered and fought for the passes at Kings-
bridge, and afterwards occupied by the British, as they, by weight of
numbers, gradually forced the American Defenders back.

During one period of the Revolution the Mansion was the head-
quarters for the Hessian Jaegers. In one of the rooms Captain Rowe, of
the Pruicsbank Jaegers, expired in the arms of his bride-elect, having
been mortally wounded in an engagement with the patriots in the Tippett
Valley.

In the northeastern part of the Park is Indian Field. An impressive
cairn of stones and a tablet mark the spot where, on August 31, 1778,
a British cavalry squad under Simcoe, defeated a party of Stockbridge
Indians who were fighting on behalf of the patriots. Eighteen of them,
including their-chief, Nimham, were buried almost where they fell.

In 1781 Washington built camp fires on Vault Hill to deceive the
British, while he was withdrawing his troops to Yorktown. The Van
Cortlandt Mansion is credited with having harbored General Washington
on two occasions. First in the year 1781, when Washington was examin-
ing the ground about Kingsbridge and directing its fortification and de-
fense; and on the second time, on the 12th of November, 1783, a far
more auspicious occasion, as the next day he rode victorious across
Kingsbridge on his way with his troops to repossess the City, from which
he had been forced to retreat several years before.

Close by the Mansion to the east is to be seen an old window, taken
from the “Sugar House,” the old warehouse in Duane Street, which was
built in 1673, and which was used during the Revolutionary War by
the British as a prison for the American soldiers.

42

}

Sicasctw fo

KITCHEN IN VAN CORTLANDT MANOR— VAN CORTLANDT PARK, N. Y. C.

Pelham Bay Park.

Area.—This is the largest park in the city, including within its
boundaries 1,756 acres, over twice as many as Central Park.

Means of Access.—The most direct and convenient means of reach-
ing Pelham Bay Park is by means of the Harlem River Branch of the
New York, New Haven and Hartford R. R. The terminal of this road
is at Willis Avenue, The Bronx, but a shuttle train runs from the 129th
Street Station of the 2d and 3d Avenue Elevated R. R. systems. For the
south section of the park, visitors should alight at the Baychester Sta-
tion; for the northerly and more important section, at Bartow Station,
now known as the City Island Station.

Trolley Lines. The “Southern Boulevard” cars of the Union Rail-
way run from the terminal at 129th Street and Third Avenue, Man-
hattan, to Eastern Boulevard entrance of the park. Visitors can also
reach the park by the Union Railway cars running on Westchester
Avenue and on West Farms Road.

Special Features.—In this park is to be found a remarkable com-
bination of big stretches of untouched woodland, great expanses of lawn
and meadow, salt water bays and inlets, islands, and miles and miles of
shore front. It is an excellent park for a genuine rural picnic or a sea-
side outing. There is space and seclusion, should that be desired for the
basket party; the hotels within the park vary in their service from the
simple and inexpensive to the elaborate and costly.

Sports.—In this park there are 10 baseball fields; 2 tennis courts; a
fine 18-hole golf course covering 100 acres; La Crosse grounds; a 37-acre
athletic field which includes a quarter-mile running track. Convenient
to this is a lodge containing lockers, shower baths, etc.

Recreations.—There are two fine, sandy bathing beaches maintained
by the City in this park. The use of lockers and dressing rooms and
showers is free. Bathers must bring their own suits. There are 1,200
lockers at each beach and it is estimated that as many as 2,000 use these
beaches on week days, and 5,000 on Sundays and holidays.

At Orchard Beach, under permit from the Department of Health,
there are maintained three hundred (300) camp sites for the exclusive
use of families, for which a fee of ten ($10) dollars is charged for the
period from June 15th to September 15th each year. This charge in-
cludes the water rent, which amounts to $3.00 for each site. The site
of these camps is laid out into streets of a normal width of thirty (30)
feet. The sites are of a uniform size, 30x60 feet. The tents erected on
these sites are required to be of a uniform size—15x30 feet. This site
is called the “Tent City,’ and is located near the bathing beach, where
there is a splendid outlook upon Pelham Bay and the Long Island Sound.

44

ORCHARD BEACH — PELHAM BAY PARK.

The Department maintains good order and strict discipline at all times,
and requires all tent-holders to comply rigidly with all ordinances and
park rules and regulations, as well as all rules and regulations of the
Department of Health.

North of “Tent City” is a camp site for men only; and there is a
similar site west of the approach to City Island Bridge. On an average,
60 men use these camping facilities. On Twin Islands, the Working
Girl’s Association maintains two tents. On Hunter’s Island there is a
Boy Scout Camp which averages about 100 campers. The Department
makes no charge for any of these privileges. There are boats to be hired
within the Park. Boating and fishing on the bays and adjacent waters
are popular recreations.

Historical Associations.—When Howe occupied Throgg’s Neck in
October, 1776, he attempted to cross Westchester Creek both at West-
chester Town and at the head of the creek, about where the Bronx and
Pelham Parkway crosses the Westchester meadows. Hand’s riflemen
constituted the outposts at both places and successfully resisted the British
attempts, being supported at the head of the creek by Colonel Graham
with a regiment of Westchester County militia and by Captain Jackson
with a six-pounder. Howe, having failed in these attempts to get across
the creek on Washington’s flank, was obliged to cross from Throgg’s
Neck to Rodman’s Neck in boats, landing near the Bowne house and
marching toward what is now Bartow or City Island Station. He en-
countered 550 men under Colonel Glover, who engaged him in a battle
that began near the big boulder (now known as Glover’s Rock and
marked with a tablet), just south of the City Island Road. Colonel
Glover was driven back, but not until he had succeeded in inflicting heavy
losses on the enemy and detaining it long enough for Washington to
reach White Plains in safety.

Split Rock is a gigantic boulder, cleft squarely in two, a good sized
tree growing in the crevice. Tradition states that the home of Ann
Hutchinson (for whom the Hutchinson River is named) stood somewhere
near the spring a few yards south of the boulder. She settled here in
1642 with her younger children and her son-in-law. In the same year,
her cabin was burned by the Indians, and all but one of her family were
killed. Her eight-year-old daughter escaped but was captured. Some say
she perished on the crest of Split Rock.

Directly opposite the point where the Split Rock Road enters the
Shore Road, a lane leads down to the water’s edge through the Bartow
place, to the ancient burial-place of the Pell family, in which several of
the manor-lords are buried. The plot is surrounded by a fence with
square granite posts at each corner. Upon each of these posts there

46

ad v . ;
Py A | eae
oe‘? eae

TENT COLONY, ORCHARD BEACH— PELHAM BAY PARK.

is carved a pelican, the crest of the Pell family, and also upon each a
different inscription. The oldest gravestone is inscribed: “HER LYES
ISEC PELL D. DEC. 14, ANNO 1748.”

Nearby, there used to stand the stump of a fine oak tree, said to be
the identical tree under whose branches the original proprietor, Thomas
Pell, bought from the Indian sachems the land in the vicinity. The
stump was protected by an iron fence, but fire destroyed the stump and
nothing now remains but the fence.

CROTONA PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 154.60 acres.
Means of Access.—Harlem Division of New York Central Rail-

road; alight Claremont Park Station; walk east four blocks.

Third Avenue Railway; alight Claremont Parkway; walk one block
east.

Special Features.—This park is located in a very populous district
and near several large schools. It is well wooded, containing several
groves of fine old trees. Indian Lake is used for boating in summer
and skating in winter. It has a large, fully equipped athletic field; 6
baseball diamonds; 16 tennis courts; and a playground. At the northwest
portion of this park are the Borough Administration Buildings.

CLAREMONT PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 38 acres.

Means of Access.—Harlem Division of the New York Central
Railroad; alight Claremont Park Station; walk one block west.

Webster Avenue line of the Union Railway; alight Claremont
Parkway.

Third Avenue Elevated Railway ; alight Claremont Parkway Station;
walk west four blocks.

Special Features.—The Zbrowski Mansion, now used as the Head-
quarters of the Bronx Park Department, is a stone building erected in
1859, This park contains 2 baseball diamonds; 4 tennis courts, and a
playground.

ST. MARY’S PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 34.86 acres.

Means of Access.—Bronx Branch of the Subway to 149th Street
and 3rd Avenue Station, thence three blocks east on 149th Street.

The 149th Street crosstown line of the Union Railway passes the
park, and it may also be reached via the 138th Street crosstown line,
alighting at St. Ann’s Avenue and walking five blocks north.

48

SCHOOL GARDEN — ST. MARYS PARK.

Special Features.—This park contains 2 baseball diamonds ; 2 tennis
courts; a playground; and the “school farms.” This latter is a plot of
land on which school children are permitted to raise vegetables. Each
child is assigned a plot 6 feet by 12 feet. There are 180 of these plots.
The children furnish their own seed and utensils and, of course, keep
the produce. The department plows the ground in the Spring. The
“School Farms” is under the supervision and direction of the park fore-
man, the same as are the playgrounds. Two other “School Farms’ were
started (one in Crotona and one in Claremont), but were abandoned by
the department because of lack of interest and neglect on the part of
the children.

McCOMB’S DAM PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 27 acres.

Means of Access.—Sixth and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railways to
155th Street; thence walk or take any trolley across Viaduct and Mc-
Comb’s Dam Bridge.

Broadway Branch of Subway to 157th Street Station; walk south to
155th Street; take any surface car eastward.

Third Avenue Railway to 161st Street Station; thence by surface
car west through 16lst Street to park.

The park can be reached from the East Bronx by any crosstown
trolley of the Union Railway transferring south on the Jerome Avenue

line.
The park can also be reached by any Union Railway line transferring

west on the 161st Street line which goes direct to the park.

Special Features.—Three-fifths of this park is devoted to sports.
There are: 4 baseball diamonds; 10 tennis courts; athletic field with
running track which is lighted at night so that it may be used by those
who cannot use it in the day. Dressing rooms with shower baths, etc.,
are provided. There is also a fully equipped playground. The portion
of the park lying along the Harlem River is nearly all used by rowing
clubs.

Historical Associations.—The present McComb’s Dam Bridge is
practically on the site of the old McComb’s Dam Bridge, near which
was the old McComb Dam, making a pond out of the Harlem to turn
the McComb Mill at Kingsbridge. The dam was broken down by a
delegation of citizens about 1840 and, being declared by the courts a
public nuisance, was abandoned.

POE PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 2.33 acres.
Means of Access.— This park can be reached by either the Third
Avenue Elevated Railway or the Harlem Branch of the New York Cen-

50

tral R. R. Visitors using either of these lines should alight at Ford-
ham Station. There is here a crosstown line of the Union Railway,
running on Pelham Avenue at Fordham, and another line on the Kings-
bridge Road, either of which will take the visitor to the park. It is but
a short walk westward on Fordham Road to the Grand Boulevard and
Concourse and thence one block north to the park.

Jerome Avenue line of the Union Railway; alight at 193d Street;
walk three blocks west to park.

Webster Avenue line of the Union Railway, transferring at Ford-
ham Road.

Historical Associations.—This park was acquired in 1902 and got
its name from the little wooden cottage that stood on the easterly side of
Kingsbridge Road, about opposite the center of the park. During the
years 1846-49, this cottage was occupied by the poet, Edgar Allan Poe.
It was here that he wrote many of his poems, including “Annabel Lee,”
and “The Raven.’”’ Here Virginia, his invalid wife, died and was buried
from the Fordham Manor Dutch Reform Church. To save this cottage
from demolition, it was moved in the year 1913 to the northerly end of
the park. It was formally opened to the public on November 15th, 1913.

JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE PARK.

Area.—This park contains 2.88 acres.

Means of Access.—The cars of the 16lst Street crosstown line of
the Union Railway (here running on Hunts Point Avenue) pass the
park.

The cars of the 149th Street crosstown line of the Union Railway

(here running on Randolph Avenue), pass within one block of the park.
Visitors using the latter should alight at Hunts Point Avenue.

Historical Associations.—This park was created in order to pre-
serve from destruction the old burial-ground of the Hunt family, con-
taining the grave of the poet, Joseph Rodman Drake, author of ‘The
Culprit Pay, =~ Bronx’ and “Ode to the American Flag.” The little
cemetery contains ancient gravestones of the earliest members of the
Hunt family resident in this section.

OLD FORT NUMBER FOUR PARK.

Area.—This park has an area of 6.2 acres.

Means of Access.—Jerome Avenue line of the Union Railway to
Kingsbridge Road; thence walk west to Sedgwick Avenue or. transfer
to westbound trolley.

Historical Associations.—This park is a rocky bluff by the road-
side, located southwesterly from, and adjacent to, the Jerome Park

bl

D ‘A ‘N ‘XNOUP ‘MUVd S\AUVA ‘LS

Reservoir, at the intersection of Reservoir and Sedgwick Avenues. It
is the site of one of the outer defenses which Washington built during
the Revolution to protect the American Army, when it was encamped
on the Heights of Harlem. A flag-staff marks the site of the old fort.
The rounded earthen mound of the redoubt is clearly marked. When
first cleared of brambles, at the centre were uncovered an old brick fire-
place and part of a stone flooring, and nearby were found buttons,
buckles, coins and pieces of crockery. A bronze tablet has been erected
on the rocky face of the bluff.

OTHER PARKS.

The other parks of the Bronx are all “neighborhood parks.” They
are nearly all in a high state of park cultivation with lawns, flowers,
shrubs and trees. The only special features to be mentioned are: St.
James Park, 6 tennis courts; De Voe Park, 2 tennis courts; Mosholu
Parkway, 1 baseball diamond.

Franz Sigel (originally Cedar Park); area, 17.47 acres, location,
between East 153d and 161st Streets and Walton and Mott Avenues.

St. James Park: area, 11.83 acres; location, adjoining St. James
Protestant Episcopal Church on Jerome Avenue, near Fordham Cross-

road.
Washington Bridge Park; area, 8.45 acres; location, Bronx end of

Washington Bridge.

DeVoe Park; area, 5.87 acres; location, Fordham Road, 188th
Street, Sedgwick and University Avenues.

Echo Park: area, 4 acres; location, west of Webster Avenue and
north of 177th Street.

University Park: area, 2.75 acres; location, the Harlem River slope
in front of the grounds of New York University.

Melrose Park: area, .83 acres; location, west of the Melrose Station
of the Harlem Division of the New York Central R. R.

Rose Hill Park: area, .42 acres; location, Webster Avenue and
Fordham Road.

St. Augustine Park: area, .2 acre; location, junction of 166th Street,
Fulton and Franklin Avenues.

UNNAMED PARKS.

Area in

Location Acres

@ne Hundred) Thirty-seventh Street, ‘Third Avenue)..2.......- 0... .04
Bergen Avenue, One Hundred Forty-ninth Street, Gerard

JAVITS. Gol free Ree geen aon Sk Soe TRE ee es Lae aa 05

Sustineelaces One Hundred ornty-ninth- Street. ...)2. 0... 8.265 es .04

Hall Place, Roger Place and One Hundred Sixty-fifth Street....... 38

53

Bay Avenue, Craven.Street, Edgewater Read. ¢22t-. 22 52-2- ene .04

Hunt's Point Road, Spofford Avenue, Paile Stteet-2-:22.-222.2-- 07
Washington Avenue, One Hundred Sixty-third Street, Brook

AVGHUE 2.42 d2i x SUES See aac s ote Jae ae eee .06
iunt’s Point Road, Randall Avenue, Whittier Street............. 12
Washington Avenue, One Hundred Sixty-first Street.............. .26
Washington Avenue, Brook Avenue, One Hundred Sixty-first

SEREEE so accc 6c il 5 Ae Se oe BO ile ee 35
One Hundred Forty-second Street, Morris Avenue, College

PNViCINITE oh ray oes Sohn acy ae ety ate oes 2 een eee ee .06
Third Avenue, One Hundred Eighty-eighth Street, Washington

Avenue 22 nie ce Cale oe 3 Fee ak eee en AD
Aqueduct) Aventie; Bescobel Avenue: 5.) 2 ..saec. 2. ce ee = ee 62
Aqueduct Avenue, Featherbed. Lane. 22. nae-- > ee eee aa
Van Cortlandt Avenue, Mosholu Parkway, South, Grand

Bowleyacd: }).o....s5 Bees ea et gee eee ee 67
Two Hundred Forty-second Street, Waldo Avenue, Fieldstone

Road; Two Hundred Forty-fourth Street... .. 222.222 222 ee 4.31
Two Hundred Forty-second Street, Waldo Avenue..............- es
One Hundred Sixty-Ninth Street, Boston Avenue................ 16
One Hundred Sixty-Ninth Street, Franklin Avenue.............. 15
One Hundred Forty-third Street, Morris Aventie...............-- .06
Boston Road, Third Avenue, One Hundred Sixty-fourth Street..... .06
Webster Avenue, Clay Avenue, Claremont Parkway.............. 28
Jerome Avenue, One Hundred Seventieth Street, McComb’s

Dany Jaa: \205:5../aagucvetsink Sa a eee ee eee .50
Webster Avenue, Parkside Place, Two Hundred Fifth to Two

Hundred ‘Tenth Street. S22. 1.52 eee eee 50

Aqueduct Avenue, One Hundred Fifty-first Street, Old Aqueduct. . .1.10

Bronx Parkway.

This splendid park development is under the jurisdiction of the
Bronx Parkway Commission, organized under Chapter 594 of the Laws
of 1907, amended by Chapter 757 of the Laws of 1913. The Parkway,
as mapped and now legally approved, is a strip of land having a total
area of 1,130 acres, that begins at the north end of Bronx Park and
extends northward 15% miles through the valley of the Bronx River,
to the New Kensico Lake Reservation.

The Bronx Parkway Commission grew out of a suggestion made
in 1905 by the New York Zoological Society. The Bronx River was
rapidly becoming a menace to health because of the sewage run into it;
the lakes in the Zoological Park were becoming open cesspools. The so-
lution for these difficulties was found in the Parkway scheme. The Com-
mission allows no sewage to empty into the Bronx River. The strip will
be pierced by a highway of perfect construction and will become in time
a continuous grove. This parkway provides a desirable connection be-
tween the City’s parks and the enormous areas of picturesque lands
acquired by the City in the Croton and Catskill watersheds.

Wherever practicable, the lands acquired have been made available
for recreation purposes, and many tracts are being used for baseball
fields, playgrounds, parked areas around stations, etc. The improved
water conditions have restored to favor swimming pools adequate in
number to satisfy the heavy demands imposed for this much-to-be-en-
couraged form of recreation. It is planned by judicious planting to so
screen certain of these pools that their use will not be impaired with
increasing density of population adjacent to the Parkway zone.

OU
ou

MAP
SHOWING
BRONX RIVER PARKWAY

RESERVATION

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A>SELEVATED R:R- TERM. Eb

Park Organization.

Park Board.—Section 607 of the Greater New York Charter pro-
vides: ‘“The head of the department of parks shall be called the Park
Board.” This board consists of four members who are “known as Com-
missioners of Parks of the City of New York.’ They are appointed by
the Mayor and hold office at his pleasure. The Charter continues: “One
of said Commissioners shall be the president of the Board, and shall be so
designated by the Mayor. In appointing such Commissioners, the Mayor
shall specify the borough or boroughs in which they are respectively to
have administrative jurisdiction.” There is one Commissioner for the
boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond, and one for each of the three
other boroughs. The offices of the Park Board are in the Municipal
Building, Borough of Manhattan.

Function of Park Board.—All contracts are let by the Park Board,
and are executed by the President of the Board. This function relates
exclusively to the actual letting and execution.

Section 610 of the Charter provides: “The Board of Aldermen shall
by general ordinances from time to time establish all needful rules and
regulations for the government and protection of the public parks and of
all-property placed in. charge of the Park, Board. * * * fhe Pace
Board shall have power to establish and enforce general rules and regu-
lations for the administration of the department, and, subject to the or-
dinances of the Board of Aldermen, to establish and enforce rules and
regulations for the government and protection of the public parks and of
all property in charge of said Board or under its control, which rules and
regulations so far as practicable shall be uniform in all the boroughs.”
To become valid and effectual, a copy of such rule or regulation must be
filed with the City Clerk. Upon so filing such rule or regulation becomes
a general ordinance of The City of New York, and any person violating
it is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction before a City Magis-
trate is punishable by a fine not exceeding $50., or in default of payment
of such fine by imprisonment not exceeding 30 days.

Budget of Park Board.—There is a separate budget for the main-
tenance of the Park Board. This budget includes the salaries of the
Park Commissioners, which is fixed by the Charter at $5,000. per annum,
a landscape architect whose salary is $4,000. per annum, a topographical
draughtsman for the assistance of the landscape architect at a salary of
$2,100. per annum, and a secretary at a salary of $4,000. per annum.
The Commissioner appointed to act as President of the Park Board
receives no additional compensation.

58

BRONX PARKWAY—A TURN IN THE RIVER— BRONX PARK, N. Y. C.

Landscape Architect.—Section 611 of the Charter provides that
the landscape architect’s “assent shall be requisite to all plans and works
or changes thereof respecting the conformation, development or orna-
mentation of any of the parks, squares or public places of the City to
the end that the same may be uniform and symmetrical at all times.”

Bronx Borough Park Department.—The offices of the Park De-
partment for the Borough of the Bronx are located in the Zbrowski
Mansion in Claremont Park.

The Commissioner of Parks for the Borough of the Bronx is charged
with complete administrative control and jurisdiction of all the parks
in the Borough; of all parkways; the care of all street trees, and the
control of streets fronting on parks.

Those portions of Bronx Park used respectively by the Zoological
Park and the Botanical Garden are partial exceptions to the complete ad-
ministrative control and jurisdiction of the Park Commissioner. In the
Zoological Park the entire up-keep is under the supervision and guidance
of the Director. The same is true in the Botanical Garden except that in
the latter the roads are built and kept in repair by the Park Department.
The Park Commissioner, however, has a general jurisdiction over both the
Zoological Park and the Botanical Garden; no trees can be cut nor land-
scape changes made without his consent, all contracts for new buildings
therein are handled the same as contracts for buildings on other Park
property, construction is supervised by the Park Commissioner’s of-
fice, etc.

Salaries and Wages.—The salary of the Commissioner is fixed by
the Charter at $5,000. per annum. All other salaries and wages are fixed
by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The salaries of the Com-
missioner’s immediate staff are:

Secretary to the Commissioner $2,400. per annum
Chief Engineer 4,000. “ Ai
Superintendent 4,000. “ _
2 Assistant Superintendents (each) 1500:.. + ‘

Schedule of Wages.—The schedule of wages and the number of
men employed (August, 1914), in each classification is as follows:

15, Poremen ios Eaborers: 7.).2 Sain cee ee eee $3.00 per diem
OWASsistant seOremen tase. she eee ee eee $2.75- 3.00 “ ms
200 MEaborerss ose ee ee ee eee 250) ce
18) Glimberssand JPrunerse. So: Seon eee ORE 2.50. °* fe
35 Atito. Lawn Mower Pngineers...--5 nie eo ee eee 3:50) =
19% Gardéenersn toss ce ee re eee $2.50- 3.50 “
i Foreman. Carpenter a. os eo eee 5:50. *
O*Carpenters 02k! o5 sn. ee Pa Se eek eee = Sees 5:00 “
BriPainters .22 © ocean ne nice ee eee ee 4.00 * %

gS rao Tad B21) hes) Coe hy Ate CSRS er a te 4.50 per diem

NEARER GHD ORES Se hobs nls tr pone ucla te ae 5.50

MB Laclecriithyrecpe- tyros Mens tor, stay tac EP Acckc cused ts oes 4.50 “

PRE IACKSIMILA SG LLOIDeLS wise 15sec eanle as fei cicusion ae GUO.
Ibe Bynicina thd eae eee Rees Ra hes ee, Ce i oS B00) ue
ee Via chine WWiOOdWOLKEeIaates acm coca cen oh coos oe Sard) "
IL ASE AGIOS Ue heat cas Ee RM, foe ree OS a DRE ES 3:50ian 5
1 Teer he hd FeRUey cee era eed Sr a ps OAR) AR Oe 6.00 “ be
Se Rodd Roller Enginenrent aes sneer nate seine cee AT i
koreman ot Stablesvas- nos ceneecae eee an eae SRO ae i
2 Automobile, Enginemeny icc: ays ro fe dts th elena. 325° ‘
Gial oyshe) (ee fares Mie Pe aan CRM IRE eh RMN nn ENS ele 25092 a
Ae Stablenienives:s wider seman terrae ereae athe oekeimitretrn eka 25 (ee 5
PSO riVveTst.. wamintcn tee eta tie Seat eee ter eee $2:50= 3:25 "
ie etarnesse VMiaken tener ia crcschane ls Miseb cma ate cre eee 4.00 “ “f
UeWihteelivinionite e4.er iert soy. bie ee eee boos etcume ete 4.00 © gu
SMSO SES pete ae eta Sete rune eye ee 3:00) = -
2A CLEAM ETS Ob eA ee Se RCT a ra Roe eee ne eee os ye © y
IRPAE tein ati tara acca ctote Meee nator spiced ts Sesto o cac Oe PL: Z.00) =

Civil Service.—All appointments by the Commissioner are subject
to Civil Service Rules and must be made from eligible lists, with the
exception of the Commissioner’s immediate staff, namely: Secretary to
the Commissioner, Chief Engineer, Superintendent, and 2 Assistant Su-
perintendents. These are in the exempt class, and are appointed by and
hold office at the pleasure of the Commissioner.

The Charter provides that a Civil Service employee of the Park
Department, before being discharged, must be given a hearing by the
Commissioner, but the Commissioner is the sole and final judge of the
charges. This practically puts the discharge of any employee within
the power of the Commissioner. The Civil Service, however, acts as a
safeguard against machine politics inasmuch as the Commissioner can
only make appointments from the head of the eligible list.

The exception to the foregoing rule are veterans of the Civil War,
veterans of the Spanish War, and Veteran Firemen. Under Section 1543
of the Charter, a person belonging to any of these three classes, before
discharge, must have written charges preferred against him, he must
be given an opportunity to be heard, and he has the right of securing
a writ of certiorari with judicial review and possible reinstatement.

Civil Service does not handicap a Commissioner in reducing his
force should lack of work, lack of appropriation, or other contingency
make such a step necessary. In such an event, the employee is laid off
and his name placed upon a preferred list from the head of which any
Park Commissioner. filling a vacancy, must appoint. The Commissioner’s
right so to lay off employees, applies to all classifications, whether they
be engineering, clerical, mechanical or laboring.

61

Park Department Finance.—The Park Department of each bor-
ough draws its financial supplies from the City government through
three channels, namely: the annual department budget, special revenue
bonds, and the issuance of corporate stock.

Department Budget.—The various items of Park expense that enter
into the budget are as follows:

1—Administration—General Expenses

2—Park Supervision and General Expenses

3—Care of Roads, Paths and Driveways

4—Care of Trees, Shrubs, Flowers and Lawns
5—Care of Beaches and Shore Lines

6—Operation and Maintenance of Playgrounds and Athletic Fields
7—Care of General Park Improvements and Properties
8—Care of Bath Houses and Comfort Stations
9—Care of Other Buildings and Structures

10—Music and Celebrations

11—Care of Trees on City Streets

12—Miscellaneous :

General Park Equipment
Greenhouses and Nurseries
Stables

Shops (overhead expenses )

The departmental estimate is based on the needs of the department;
that is, the clerical, supervising, mechanical and laboring forces necessary
to carry on the various activities of the department. Necessary supplies,
equipment, materials, etc., are based on the consumption for the year,
with the additions required to take care of the increasing areas of park
lands opened to the public, and to provide for new activities.

The departmental estimate is submitted to the Board of Estimate
and Apportionment, and referred by them to the Comptroller, who is
the Chairman of the Budget Committee. The Comptroller takes this
estimate under consideration, and, after a personal conference between
his Examiners and officials of this department, a decision is reached as
to the appropriations to be granted. When the report of the Chairman
of the Budget Committee is submitted to the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment, public hearings are held, after which the Board acts
upon and passes the budget. It is then submitted to the Board of Alder-
men, which has the power to decrease, but not to increase it. After action
by the Board of Aldermen, the budget is returned to the Board of Esti-
mate and Apportionment for approval and certification.

Special Revenue Bonds.—The request of the department for
special revenue bonds for improvements not covered by the budget, is
submitted to the Board of Aldermen, and, if the request meets with their

62

AVMWAAVd XNOUAX— YALNIM NI AHAIA XNOUA HHL

approval, they adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of special
revenue bonds, and forward this resolution to the Board of Estimate
and Apportionment for consideration, and, if approved by them, the
resolution, as adopted, is transmitted to this department, and the funds
are then available. Revenue so obtained is used for the same purposes
as that granted for the budget.

Corporate Stock.—Requests for corporate stock authorizations, for
specific purposes, namely the construction of new roadways, buildings,
etc., are transmitted to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and,
if the requests are approved by them, a resolution is adopted requesting
the Board of Aldermen to approve the issuance of corporate stock in
the amount required. After its approval by the Board of Aldermen,
the resolution is transmitted to this department, and the funds are then
available. Revenue so obtained must be spent only for improvements
of a permanent character.

Limitation of Expenditures.—Expenditures of yearly appropria-
tions, including special revenue bond funds, are limited to the year for
which the appropriations are made. Corporate stock authorizations are
available until the authorizations are exhausted or rescinded.

Unexpended Balances.—The unexpended balance of yearly appro-
priations and special revenue bonds is transferred to the General Fund
for the reduction of taxation.

Expenses of the Zoological Park and the Botanical Garden.—
The Zoological Society furnishes all the animals for the Zoological Park.
The Botanical Garden sends out expeditions to gather rare plants to add
to its extensive collections, and does other similar scientific work. Other-
wise, both of these institutions are maintained entirely by funds pro-
vided by the City of New York, and appropriated to the account of the
Bronx Park Department. All employees are paid by the City; all new
buildings are constructed by the City; the maintenance of grounds, build-
ings and animals is paid for by the City.

Appropriations for 1914.—The total appropriation for the year
1914, exclusive of the appropriations for the Zoological Park and the
Botanical Garden, is $453,698.79, of which $358,971.50 is for salaries
and wages. This latter sum includes the cost of administration, the
annual salaries of the 18 employees in the Commissioner’s office aggre-
gating $26,050., and the annual salaries of the engineering staff of 4
aggregating $9,100.

In addition to the above appropriation of $453,698.79, the appro-
priation for the Botanical Garden is $107,163., of which sum salaries

64

and wages approximate $80,000.; and the appropriation for the Zoo-
logical Park is $200,000., of which sum salaries and wages approximate
$125,000.

Income-Producing Features.—The income-producing features of
the parks are: Refreshment privileges, rent of buildings, rent of golf
lockers, golf permits, camp sites and sundries. The sundries for the year
1913 include: Sale of timber from dead trees, sale of grass, sale of
empty barrels, sale of old auto lawn mower, etc.

The buildings on Park property for rent are as follows:

Van Cortlandt 3 (Inclusive of old mansion occupied by Squadron A.)

McComb’s Dam 1 (This does not include 3 buildings occupied as

Pelham Bay g dwellings under permits from the Commissioner,
the law not allowing the leasing of buildings on
public property except for public purposes, such as
hotel, place of refreshment, etc. The permits have
been granted to families who have dwelt in them
for many years and who have an ancestral right-
by-courtesy in them.)

With the exception of the building occupied by Squadron A, all the
buildings leased out by the Park Department, carry with them a refresh-
ment privilege. In addition to these refreshment privileges, there are
four other refreshment privileges as follow:

Van Cortlandt 2
Pelham Bay 1
Crotona 1

It is optional with the Commissioner whether or not refreshment
privileges and leasings of buildings for public purposes be let out by him
privately or whether they be let by competitive bidding after advertise-
ment. As matters stand at the present time (1914), 7 of the buildings
in Pelham Bay Park were let after competitive bidding; one in Van
Cortlandt Park; the building in McComb’s Dam Park was advertised
but no bids being made, it was leased privately. All four refreshment
privileges were rented after competitive bidding.

The rowing clubs on the Harlem River, within McComb’s Dam Park,
have 25-year leases under a legislative act of 1902. This act limits the
occupancy of the park for boat-house purposes to the strip of land lying
between the N. Y. Central Railroad tracks and the Harlem River, and
fixed a lineal foot rental.

There are three yacht clubs in Pelham Bay Park.

Amount of Income.—The amount of income derived from these
various features is as follows:

Ret reshinent |privalesesma-- eae $12,034.28 per annum

Renton buildinast Saar niaetine ae 2.29850" >"

Kent ‘or golf lockers 7. e-paaeee 3.933.750" sf
Golf permits) 4:2 cee eis eee 5,000.00 “ “
CARIPNSICES Shits 4c tet ee r ee 3,000.00 “ ‘
Simedpies ssa Aaa en fhe ne ee eee LTSO:07- ** se

Disposition of Income.—All moneys received are turned over to
the City Chamberlain. In spite of the fact that the earning of this income
puts a heavy drain upon the Bronx Park Department—clerical work,
maintenance of golf links, of golf house, of camp sites, ete.—the Park
Department receives no individual benefit from the income it receives,
but must pass it along to the City Chamberlain for general City use.

Permits.—The sports, recreations, etc., that require permits are as
follows: Golf, tennis, baseball, cricket, football, croquet, lacrosse, curl-
ing, camping, and photography of all kinds. (The permit for the last
named recreation does not give the privilege of taking photographs in
the Zoological Park, the Zoological Society having been given that ex-
clusive privilege by the City.)

The sports, etc., for which a charge is made for the issuance of a
permit, together with the charge therefor, are as follows:

Golf Lockers:

UPPER For LOWER

SS OO rc sey yr One person Wie Ate: $ 7.50 per annum
POSS irate Two persons eo. .4e.2 1000s: a
ONO 0) Pee miar a ee Threes persons... joes. 100 ee if

Golf Permits:
For Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks.
Good @tomionewyeanr ye ee. a tates $1.00 for each person
For non-residents of the City...... .50 daily fee

Camp Sites:
Good for camping season, one year, $10.00 for one site.

Moving Pictures:
Good for One Day Only, as Follows:

1. When not more than 10 persons are
employed in posing or acting for

PICHIRE |. fc) Rs Mea aia saeeen cite eee $ 5.00 per day
With scenery omparapherialian.. 126. LOLOOS tse ra
2. When not more than 25 persons are so
eniplOVed + % eevee vie erase tes une: OOO y Go sie:
With scenery or paraphernalia. .22..- LOO! ine

6c ce

Horses charged at the rate per horse of 1.00

66

3. When the number of people desired for
the use of the picture is in excess of
25, a special rate, based upon the con-
templated use of Park property, is
made by the Commissioner.

Of the $10.00 fee paid for a tent site, $3.00 is turned over to the
Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, for water taxes.

The charge for a camp permit is made only for a permit giving the
privilege of a camp site in the Orchard Beach Camp Colony. In addition
to this colony, there are in Pelham Bay Park two camp sites for men
only, a Boy Scout camp, and two tents maintained by the Working Girls’
Association. The Park Department makes no charge for these.

The question as to whether or not there shall be a fee charged for
any class of permit and the amount of that fee is discretionary with the
Park Commissioner. This discretion, of course, does not apply to indi-
vidual permits: the charge to all individuals engaging in the same sport
or recreation must be the same.

Applications for permits should be made in person or by mail to the

Secretary to the Commissioner of Parks, Borough of the Bronx,

Zbrowski Mansion,
Claremont Park.

Baseball players have time and location assigned by the Commis-
sioner; Football, Socker, Cricket, etc., have location and hours arranged
by the Foremen.

Tennis players may use unoccupied courts, under direction of Fore-
man, for such time as his judgment may determine. Each player must
be provided with a permit and wear rubber-soled tennis shoes while
playing.

For Athletic Meets, Outings, May and June Walks, arrange-
ments should be made with the Foreman in charge, a few days before
these events take place. :

PERMITS ISSUED 1913.
STV STARATS Oe Oa pa tenet Ox Meri eae ONS 7.1" oa DR A USI cae, 5,850
BaSe ial beter ype eee reel t Mt ey och tat tae he rede shes 671

(Each used on an average ten times, eighteen players being
engaged each time makes 120,780 players accommodated. )

May Parties, June Walks and Outings of all kinds... 353
(averaging 82 to each permit, a total of 28,946.)

iGO are eee tee eee ce SS oes Ge aan 69

\Gariaa ata Nar Me te Bee acc ee pao Ruane echo es oaks 8 285

AG meee Sh cca ees eek nas Ou we oe ope 31

AVIS Ce MARIN tIS eee fie ein en choc, 18 oe veka Croce wie wie 103
Gy ait ees eA Sr cr 7 362

Park and Parkway Lighting.—All parks and parkways are lighted
by the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity. Portions of
them are lighted with Tungsten lights, portions with arc lights, and por-
tions with Welsbach naptha lights.

Road Maintenance.—All road repairs are made by Park Depart-
ment labor, with Park Department equipment. All supplies for road
repairs are purchased by contract.

Department Shops.—The department shops, for which purpose the
old Lorillard snuff mill is used, have been fully equipped with modern
electrically driven machinery, and are now (1914), it is reported by the
Commissioner, able to turn out work promptly and at satisfactory cost.
They make all signs, ladders, paraphernalia for playgrounds, etc., all
repairs to wagons, carts, benches, etc. The carpenters, painters, plumbers,
etc., employed by the department, make all repairs to Park comfort sta-
tions, band stands, Park buildings, etc.

Street Trees Census. — The Park Department is charged with the
duty of caring for the trees in the streets of The Bronx.

Finding that no census of these trees had been taken in recent years,
Commissioner Whittle arranged for the taking of such census, which
will show the names of streets containing trees, the kinds of trees, pres-
ent condition of the trees, the street numbers of premises in front of
which trees are located, the mileage of streets containing trees, and the
total number of trees in the streets of The Bronx.

BAND CONCERTS GIVEN IN THE PARKS IN 1913.

Number of Amount
Name of Park Concerts Paid

VAIN SCOR Tren ID oy oa eeae ene Til, ee ee ee $1,210.00
SUS MUARREY aS Fy is aie se RACER: | OPeeeat ae Co t 850.00
GROTON AW 6:5 ois4 5 = sie a eens ae Dy Beat oe ee tre 415.00
NIGCONEBIS wa DAME eo7.. ce eer Ola a4 Wise cere roe 850.00
GIEARESMIOIN GE e23, ct cet ee Se ste nae ie 425.00
BGS bik ces i Sclee O Semen cc meg 40.0)
Se AMOS el Re 8 5 «Bee ee OSG JS 510.00
PELHAM BAY (Ath@¥ield) .. 2.22. Sige 8 oa ged 425.00
CLAREMONT | oo: ds SY s.cetiee ee a Uae eens ener 85.00

Borough. Day ad on ota ec so eee ee Ee Cee $340.00
Unveiling’ Park “Tablets: .)> chee eee Cees 8.00
Total. 22... 233 2408 22 eee ee eee ee $5,543.00

SCENE ALONG THE PARKWAY

Policing the Parks.

When The Greater New York was created, the Park Police was
abolished as a separate official entity by the Charter, and united with
the regular Police force of the City.

Section 614 of the Charter of Greater New York provides: ‘Each
Commissioner’. (referring to the Park Commissioners), “shall have in
immediate charge the control and disposition of such members of the
Police force of The City of New York, as constituted by this Act, as
may be assigned for duty in the parks, squares, or public places subject
to his jurisdiction.”

Various Park Commissioners have urged their right, under this sec-
tion of the Charter, to direct the police assigned for duty in the Parks,
but in each instance the then Police Commissioner insisted that the sec-
tions of the Charter creating the Police force, gave the Police Commis-
sioner exclusive control of the Police force. Such control has always
been exclusively exercised by the Police Commissioner. There has been
no judicial decision on this point.

There are no separate precincts or sub-precincts in any of the Parks.
They are divided into patrol posts and in some cases are simply a portion
of some patrol post and covered by the patrolmen along with other terri-
tory.

The 7th Police Inspection District has a force of 536 patrolmen
doing patrol duty, about 34 of whom cover the parks in this district,
some of them along with streets and avenues in the vicinity. These men
are not detailed at any particular point and are expected to give all parts
of the parks equal protection.

The 7th Police Inspection District includes the following parks:

St. Mary’s, Claremont,
Crotona, Echo,

Franz Sigel, McComb’s Dam,
University, Washington Bridge.

These parks are policed as follows:

ST. MARY’S is divided into two patrol posts. No other territory.
There are 6 patrolmen assigned to duty in this Park, one-third of whom
are on each platoon. They are all on foot.

CLAREMONT is covered by one patrol post. No other territory.
There are 3 patrolmen assigned to duty in this Park, one-third of whom
are on each platoon. They are all on foot.

CROTONA is divided into two patrol posts. No other territory.
There are 6 patrolmen assigned to duty in this Park, one-third of whom
are on each platoon. They are all on foot.

70

FRANZ SIGEL is covered by one patrol post. No other territory.
There are 3 patrolmen assigned to duty in this Park, one-third of whom
are on each platoon. They are all on foot.

McCOMB’S DAM PARK is a portion of five patrol posts, which
also include the section bounded by River Avenue, 149th Street, Harlem
River and 165th Street. There are 7 patrolmen assigned to duty in this
section, one-third of whom are on each platoon. Of this force 3 are on
foot and 4 mounted.

UNIVERSITY PARK is a portion of one patrol post, which also
includes the section bounded by Fordham Road, Harlem River, Sedg-
wick Avenue and 177th Street. There are 3 patrolmen assigned to duty
in this section, one-third of whom are on each platoon. They are all
mounted.

ECHO PARK is a portion of one patrol post, which also includes
the section bounded by East 180th Street, Webster Avenue, 176th Street
and Grand Concourse. There are 3 patrolmen assigned to duty in this
section, one-third of whom are on each platoon. They are all mounted.

WASHINGTON BRIDGE PARK is a portion of one patrol post,
which also includes the section bounded by Harlem River, 177th Street,
Popham and University Avenues, and Highbridge. There are 3 patrol-
men assigned to this section, one-third of whom are on each platoon.
All mounted.

The 14th Police Inspection District includes Bronx, Van Cortlandt
and Pelham Bay Parks.

- The total number of police assigned to this district is 289, and the
total number of patrolmen, detectives, bicycle, motorcycle and mounted
policemen assigned to the parks in this district is 96. This does not
include the patrolling officers.

~The Police assigned to the parks in this district are as follows; these
men confine their attention exclusively to the parks, and one-third of the
number are on duty at all times, the force being divided into three
platoons.

| PATURDAY NDAY.
WEEK SATU s, SU S| Foor | MounTED| BIcycLE

| DAW Si) AND HOLIDAYS
/ - ra = =
Broux Parks. 3402 12 | 2S ECGS AGA he 2 2 Motor-
| 12—Winter Months 9 a cycle
Sai Gone danaebane _ | 26—Summer Months 10 ie nye
sehen 4 E 15— Winter Months Motorcycle
|
SNe aig ics ia 27—Summer Months | 20 7 2 ae
on ms ee 19—Winter Months 9 5 3 Bicycle

—————————————

71

‘MuUVd AVA WVH'148d ‘ANV’ISI WALNOAH — (ae1pirqo pepurur afqaaj Aq payonpuod) —WaVaA ‘IOOHODS

3

Park Ordinances.

All persons are forbidden—

I. To cut, break or in any way injure or deface the trees, shrubs, plants, grass,
posts, railings, chains, lamps, lampposts, benches, tree-guards, buildings, structures
or other property in or upon any of the public parks, parkways, squares or places
of or within The City of New York, under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Parks, or to dig into or upon the soil within the boundaries of any such parks,
parkways, squares or places or of any roads or roadways upon or across the same.

II. To go on foot or otherwise upon the grass, except when and where per-
mitted, or to throw or leave any paper, refuse or rubbish on any of the lawns or
walks of the said parks, parkways, squares or places.

Ill. To expose any article for sale or exhibition, unless previously licensed by
the Department of Parks therefor, on any part of such public parks, parkways,
squares or places.

IV. To post any bill, placard, notice or other paper upon any structure within
such public parks, parkways, squares or places, or upon any street or avenue
adjacent thereto under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks, unless previously
licensed so to do by the Commissioner having jurisdiction, and in accordance with
the provisions of section XVI. hereof.

V. To play upon any musical instrument within such public parks, parkways,
squares or places, or take into, carry or display any flag, banner, target, or trans-
parency without the permission of the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

VI. To erect any structure, stand or platform, or hold any meetings in such
parks, parkways, squares or places, without previous permission therefor from the
Commissioner having jurisdiction.

VII. To use threatening, abusive or insulting language upon any of such public
parks, parkways, squares or places, or doing any obscene or indecent act thereon,
or any act tending to a breach of the public peace.

VIII. No hackney coach, carriage, wagon, cart or other vehicle for hire shall
stand upon any such public park, parkway, square or place, or upon any street or
avenue adjacent thereto under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks without
previous license, and then only at such place as shall be indicated and allowed by
the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

IX. No horse or other animal shall be allowed to go at large upon such public
parks, parkways, squares or places, except that dogs may be allowed therein when
led by a chain or proper dog-string not exceeding six feet in length.

X. No person shall bathe or fish in any of the waters or fountains, nor cast
any substance therein, nor disturb or interfere in any way with the fish, birds or
animals within such public parks, parkways, squares or places, except in the waters
adjacent to Pelham Bay Park, where bathing and fishing shall be permitted, subject
to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Parks for the
Borough of The Bronx.

XI. All drunken, disorderly or improper persons, and all persons doing any
act injurious to such parks, parkways, squares or places, shall be removed therefrom
by the parkkeeper or police in charge thereof. When necessary to the protection
of life or property, the officers and keepers of the park may remove all persons
from any designated part thereof.

XII. No animal or vehicle shall be permitted to stand, nor any incumbrance
of any kind be allowed to remain upon any street adjacent to or bounding upon
any public square or place in The City of New York, under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Parks, without permission of the Commissioner for the boroughs
wherein located, except that vehicles may be permitted to take up and set down
passengers, and to load and unload merchandise in the usual manner, and may
occupy the street a reasonable time for the purpose; provided, however, that they
shall not, while so doing, unnecessarily incumber the street or obstruct travel

therein.
XIII. No one shall throw stones or other missiles, nor beg or publicly solicit

subscriptions or contributions, nor tell fortunes, nor play games of chance or with
any table or instrument of gaming, nor make any harangue, nor climb upon any
wall, fence, shelter, seat, statue or other erection within such public parks, park-
ways, squares or places within The City of New York.

XIV. No automobile or horseless vehicle shall be driven upon or over the
drives of such public parks, parkways, squares or places at a greater rate of speed
than eight miles an hour.

XVIII. No military or target company, or civic or other procession shall be
allowed to parade, drill or perform upon any of the parks, parkways, squares or
public places, without permission from the Commissioner of Parks having jurisdic-
tion, except in the case of the use of Van Cortlandt parade ground in Van Cortlandt
Parle

XIX. No automobile, stage or other vehicle shall be allowed to carry pas-
sengers for hire over or upon any of the parks, parkways or drives, concourses,
plazas or circles, under the control of the Department of Parks, excepting upon
traffic roads and except by special permission of the Commissioner having juris-
diction.

XX. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any automobile or
other vehicle to stop near any of the music stands or other places, in or about any
of the parks, parkways, plazas, concourses, circles or squares, of the said Depart-
ment of Parks, where any number of persons are accustomed to congregate, or
where such automobiles would be a source of danger to life and limb, except by
permission of the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

XXI. No garbage, ashes, manure or other offensive material, is to be carried
over any of the parkways or through such parks, circles, squares or concourses,
except upon traffic roads set apart for such purpose. When such refuse is to be
removed from residences fronting on any of the above parkways, etc., the vehicles
collecting such refuse must leave the parkway as soon as such collection is accom-
plished, and within the time prescribed by the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

No earth, sand or broken stone is to be carted over any of the parkways, except
on traffic roads, unless special permit for the same is obtained from the Commis-
sioner having jurisdiction.

XXII. It shall not be lawful to modify, alter, or in any manner interfere with
the lines or grades of any of the aforesaid parks, parkways, concourses, circles,
squares, avenues, roads, streets, entrances or approaches under the jurisdiction of
the said Department of Parks nor to take up, move or disturb any of the curb and
gutter stones, flagging, trees, tree-boxes, railing, fences, sod, soil or gravel, or to
go upon or cross said parks, parkways, concourses, circles, squares, roads, streets or
avenues, except by the means in the manner provided therefor; nor shall it be
lawful to open or otherwise expose or interfere with any of the water, gas and
sewer pipes, or any of the hydrants, stop-cocks, basins or other constructions within
or upon said places, nor to take any water or gas therefrom, nor to make any
connection therewith, except by special written consent of the Commissioner having

74

jurisdiction, and where such consent is given, a deposit of money may be required
to insure the restoration of the said curbs, gutters, flagging, etc.

XXIII. No person in bathing costume wilk be permitted to walk or ride upon
any parks, parkways or beaches, except Pelham Bay Park, under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Parks. No boat or vessel shall be placed upon any of the
waters of the said parks, except by special permission from the Commissioner having
jurisdiction. No skating or sledding will be allowed on the lakes unless the ice
is declared by the Commissioner having jurisdiction to be in a suitable condition
for that purpose.

XXIV. No one shall fire or carry any firearm, fire cracker, torpedo or fire-
works, nor make a fire, nor make any oration, nor conduct any religious or other
meeting or ceremony within any of the parks, parkways, squares or places in The
City of New York under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks without
special permission from the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

XXV. No one shall enter or leave the parks except at the established entrance-
ways; nor shall any one enter or remain therein after 12 o'clock at night, except as,
on special occasions, use thereof may be authorized beyond the regular hours.

XXVI. The drives shall be used only by persons in pleasure vehicles, on
bicycles, or on horseback; the bridle paths only by persons on horseback. Animals
to be used on either shall be well broken, and constantly held in such control that
they may be easily and quickly turned or stopped; they shall not be allowed to
move at a rate of speed on the drives or bridle paths of more than eight miles an
hour; and when it shall be deemed necessary to safety, good order, or the general
convenience that the speed of an animal or vehicle should be checked, or that it
should be stopped, or its course altered, and the officers on duty shall so direct, by
gesture or otherwise, such direction shall be obeyed; and no horse or other beast of
burden nor automobile shall be driven or suffered to stand anywhere except on the
drive or bridle path.

XXVII. No hackney coach or other vehicle for hire shall stand within the
public parks, parkways, squares or places under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Parks for the purpose of taking up passengers, other than those whom it has
brought in, excepting with the permission of the Commissioner having jurisdiction.
No public omnibus or express wagon, and no wagon, cart or other vehicle, carrying
or ordinarily used to carry merchandise, goods, tools or rubbish shall enter such
public parks, parkways, squares or places without permission of the Commissioner
having jurisdiction, excepting upon traffic roads provided for the purpose. No fire
engine or other apparatus on wheels for extinguishing fire shall enter or be allowed
upon any part of the park excepting the Transverse and Traffic roads. :

XXVIII. No military or target company and no civic, funeral or other proces-
sion, or a detachment of a procession, and no hearse or other vehicle or person
carrying the body of a dead person shall enter or be allowed on any part of the
public parks, except by the permission of the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

XXIX. No person shall bring into or carry within the parks any tree, shrub,
plant or flower, nor any newly plucked branch or portion thereof without a permit
from the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

XXX. No person shall solicit passengers for any coach or other vehicle for
hire within or upon any of the parks, parkways, squares or places within the juris-
diction of the Department of Parks. All drivers or attendants of vehicles for hire
standing upon or within any such parks, parkways, squares or places shall remain
in close proximity to their vehicles while so standing, and shall not follow, solicit
or importune any person entering or leaving the said parks, parkways, squares or
places.

75

XXXIII. No person shall be permitted to run a motor vehicle in the parks or
parkways of this City under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks, which
emits from the exhaust or muffler thereof offensive quantities of smoke or gas or
disagreeable odors.

XXXV. No vehicle of any kind shall be allowed to enter any park or along
any parkway in tow of any other vehicle or device whereby the power, whether
muscular or motive, is not directly attached to such vehicle, but in the case of
breakdowns within parks or parkways such vehicle may be towed to the nearest
point of exit.

1. All vehicles must carry a lighted lamp, showing a white light ahead, from
thirty minutes after sunset until thirty minutes before sunrise.

7. Drivers, riders and cyclists must not exceed a speed of eight cles an hour
in the parks and parkways.

8. Cyclists must not coast in the parks, nor on the parkways, or bicycle paths,
and must keep their feet on the pedals and their hands on the handle bars.

12. Instruction in operating automobiles, bicycles, tricycles, velocipedes or other
such vehicles of propulsion, and all trick or fancy riding on the same, is prohibited
in the parks and parkways at all times.

13. Wheelmen shall not ride on the paths in any park; those walking upon the
park paths may push their wheels along said paths; but in no case shall the wheels
be taken upon the turf.

Ordinances adopted, pursuant to chapter 453 of the Laws of 1902:

1. No shade or ornamental tree or shrub shall be planted in any of the streets,
avenues or public thoroughfares of The City of New York until such tree or shrub
shall have been first approved by a duly appointed employee or expert of the Com-
missioner having jurisdiction, and a permit granted therefor.

3. No stem, branch or leaf of any such tree or shrub shall be cut, broken or
otherwise disturbed until a permit has been granted therefor by the Commissioner
having jurisdiction.

4. No root of any such tree or shrub shall be disturbed or interfered with in
any way by any individual or any officer or employee of a public or private cor-
poration until a permit shall have been issued therefor by the Commissioner having
jurisdiction.

5. The surface of the ground within three feet of any tree or shrub growing
on any street, avenue or other public thoroughfare shall not be cultivated, fer-
tilized, paved, or given any treatment whatever, except under permit granted by the
Commissioner having jurisdiction.

6. It shall not be lawful to attach or maintain any guy rope, cable or other
contrivance to any tree or shrub, or to use the same in connection with any banner,
transparency, or any business purpose whatever, except under a permit from the
Commissioner having jurisdiction.

7. It shall not be lawful to cut, deface, mutilate, or in any way misuse, any
tree or shrub, nor shall any horse or other animal be permitted to stand in a
manner or position where it may or shall cut, deface or mutilate any tree or shrub,
nor shall any building materia! or other material of any kind or any debris be
piled or maintained against any tree or shrub.

8. It shall not be lawful to attach or string any electric or other wire, or to
adjust or carry the same into or over any park or parkway, except under a permit

from the Commissioner having jurisdiction.

9. Any person violating the foregoing ordinances of chapter 453 of the Laws
of 1902 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction thereof before a
City Magistrate be punished by a fine not exceeding $50, or in default of payment
of such fine, by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days.

76

Errata.

Page 5, second and third lines, “4154.2 acres” should read 4169.56.

Page 5, second line, “15.2%” should read 16%.

Page 10, last line, “4154.2 acres” should read 4169.56.

Page 35, area of Van Cortlandt Park “1132.85” should read 1132.35.

Page 35, one line from bottom, “west shore” should read east shore.

Page 36, caption under photograph should read Van Cortlandt House
instead of “Van Cortlandt Manor.”

Page 37, 4th paragraph, “Van Cortlandt Mansion” should read Van
Cortlandt House.

Page 3/7, 3rd paragraph. The name of the giver ‘of the fountain
should read Mrs. Frederick F. Thompson, not “Mrs. E. M. Thompson.”

Page 37, 4th paragraph. The Van Cortlandt House is open to the
public every day in the week, including Sunday, and admission is free on
every day except Thursday, on which day 25 cents admission is charged,
which fee includes a cup of tea served in the old kitchen.

Page 43, the caption for the photograph shown should read Kitchen
in Van Cortlandt House instead of “Van Cortlandt Manor.”

Page 48. Area of St. Mary’s Park “34.86,” should read 34.20 acres.

Page 50, 3rd line under special features of McComb’s Dam Park
“which is lighted” should read which will be lighted. :

Page 51. Area of Old Fort Number Four Park “6.2 acres,” should
read 6.71 acres.

Page 53. Area of Rose Hill Park “.42 acres,” should read .72 acres.

Page 65, 4th line in the 4th paragraph, “7 of the buildings,” should
read 5 of the buildings.

Page 66, top of page. The figures showing detail of income to be
correct for 1913 should omit revenue from golf permits, as no fee was

charged prior to 1914, and the income that year for camp site permits
should read $1,862.

Addenda.

Estimate of the number of permits of various kinds issued by
the Department of Parks for the Borough of The Bronx, for
the Year 1914.

TD CMS ere m9 3.2 cabins le Dale shih Bob Oe Re OE eee 8,100
OUbnes. 5. seats bhdis o Bot arne PA a EO EE eee 400
Footballly442.45.01 4 Senta Oat Ree ee ee ee eee IS
Baseball tbc: 42 sicrs Mees shee «ni erates SOR ee eee ee eee 750
Camping -* ni, Adee Aus os 6 Oe ee OO LE eee 290
(Gricketiel oc. dee. dtis's 8G Pde eg ee canal te Oe eee aoe eee 35
Isockers “(golé) 42. oc ne ene 2 aoa eek Re eee 600
GLE aide bub ate otiale & Mechothaudlee sc Oe Eee ee eee 9,237
Miscellaneous. tins «3 Apne ae eae ER EO eee 200
19,687
Income received 1914.
Reireshment privileges. 74 -eee eee ee $15,385.56 per annum
Rent-of ibtuildings «ator te ec ore eee 2,186.50 “ s
INGE OLE OlnsLOGISET See eee 5 ere ee reer 39061250 ~
Golf permits ....., sr Sama, satea erent Oh ty aa 7,673.00 ”
Gampy Sites. 24 ee EE ere 2,570.00 “ S
Stm@nies ace: Pea ener ee eo Dea Reet 905.76 “ rs

$32,682.07

Comparison of these figures for the year 1914 shows an increase over
1913 of 12,325 in the total number of permits issued; this is almost
triple the number.

The income for the year 1914 shows an increase in the total of
$11,374, which is about 53% more.

In the matter of the Bronx Parkway, reference to which is given
in the booklet on Page 55, it is of interest to note that the original com-
mission appointed by Governor Charles E Hughes in 1907 still serve, and »
the Commission is organized as follows: President, Madison Grant; Vice-
President, William W. Niles; Treasurer, James G. Cannon.

Tima