During the first year the BPC was authorized to purchase land, it acquired 392 parcels of real estate at a cost of $2,525,000. The commissioners considered this sum a "nominal amount" for such a large amount of land. They considered their purchases a marked contrast to the $840,000 paid for the narrow strip of land needed to build Bronx Boulevard. The BPC also pointed out that a significant portion of the amount expended in land purchases went back to local governments in payments of assessments that the commission had to assume.(92)

Discontent With the BPC

Despite the positive image of satisfied landowners presented in the BPC reports, not all property owners were pleased with the commission’s prices for land or its acquisition policies. BPC meeting minutes demonstrate that some businessmen were unwilling to accept the prices and terms presented by the BPC. Many businesses were reluctant to relocate due to difficulties in moving equipment or because they would lose facilities such as railroad sidings. Some businessmen believed that the BPC did not adequately compensate them for their investments or make fair restitution for the cost of buildings, relocation expenses, or the losses suffered as a result of moving. In certain cases, it was simply impossible to reestablish affected businesses in different locations.

A classic example of these disputes was the prolonged series of negotiations beginning in April 1914 between the BPC and the Schwiers Coal Company of Woodlawn. Schwiers wanted the BPC to reduce the amount of land it demanded so that he could continue to operate his business in the same location. The commission had earlier stated that it might be willing to purchase less property if the coal yard was screened from the parkway view. Schwiers presented his plan for screening, but this was rejected by the BPC. According to commissioners, Schwiers’s plan did nothing to hide the unsightly coal trestles and bins. They invited him to return at a later hearing to discuss the situation. At a BPC meeting a month after Schwiers’s appearance, Grant decided that it would be better to purchase Schwiers’s entire parcel and eliminate the coal yard altogether. The other commissioners agreed with Grant. The commission also decided that taking a reduced portion of the parcel would not leave enough land for Schwiers to operate his business, so there was little point in trying to accommodate his demands. Schwiers made two more attempts to negotiate with the BPC, offering to reduce the size of his holdings further and screen his property as the commission saw fit. By this time the BPC did not believe that screening could be effective and was unwilling to change the size of the acquisition to allow Schwiers to continue his operation. Cannon personally inspected the property. He decided that the reservation was too narrow in that location and insisted that it was impractical to allow Schwiers to continue his business. Cannon also inquired as to whether there was another coal business nearby to serve local residents. Upon learning that there was, he opined, "there would be no inconvenience if the Schwiers lands were purchased by the Commission."(93) Schwiers’s personal inconvenience was clearly of little concern to the commissioners, who believed they were acting for the benefit of the broader public by securing land for the reservation while ensuring that the community retained adequate access to vital fuel supplies.

(92)Bronx Parkway Commission, Report, 1914, 18, 20.
(93)Bronx Parkway Commission Minutes, April 24, 1914, 145; May 29, 1914, 192-95; June 30, 1914, 225-27; September 14, 1914, 305-309; September 25, 1914, 316-322; November 11, 1914, 370-78.