HAER Report

The Deadlock Between the BPC and New York City

To fill out the reauthorized commission, New York Governor Charles E. Hughes appointed Madison Grant to represent the Borough of Manhattan, William Niles to represent the Borough of the Bronx, and James G. Cannon to represent Westchester County. The BPC organized in July 1907, with Grant as president, Niles as vice-president, and Cannon as treasurer. J. Warren Thayer was again appointed engineer.(30) Although eager to begin work, the commission was hampered by New York City’s refusal to approve the project and appropriate funding, which delayed much of the commission's work until 1913.

In August 1907, the BPC submitted an estimate of its annual expenses and requested funding from the Westchester Board of Supervisors and the NYC-BEA. In applications to both authorities, the BPC stressed the urgent need for funding to get the project started, emphasizing that the Bronx River was rapidly becoming a menace to public health. The commissioners acknowledged that there was stiff competition for limited public funds and requested $110,000 to get the project underway. Of these funds, $25,000 would go to preparing a survey and map of the proposed reservation in order to begin planning for land acquisition. The commission asked for $75,000 to start purchasing land and $10,000 for commissioners’ salaries and office expenses.(31)

Since the 1907 parkway act was inoperable until the NYC-BEA agreed to approve it, the BPC was particularly emphatic about the urgent need to begin reclaiming the Bronx River in its funding request to New York City officials. The commission emphasized that pollution continued unchecked along the river and had affected 1,305,000 visitors to the zoo during the previous year. They claimed that public sentiment favored preserving the river. Dismissing alternative proposals including the culvert-and-fill scheme, the commission declared that the other options for addressing the pollution problems were "enormously" expensive and lacked the "attractive features" that a parkway offered.(32)

The NYC-BEA’s hesitancy to approve appropriations for parkway development emanated from officials’ concerns over the city’s financial situation as well as its apprehension that granting money would commit the city to the project, the costs of which might rise well beyond the original estimates. The BPC tried to assure New York authorities that Westchester County was not trying to take advantage of its wealthy neighbor. The commission underscored that the city was not assuming the entire expense of the parkway. It also stressed that funding requests would be submitted on an annual basis, so that the NYC-BEA could appropriate funds only when the city’s financial situation was favorable. Grant and Niles met with the comptroller’s and corporation counsel’s staff to try to convince them that funding should be approved.(33) Despite the lobbying efforts, the NYC-BEA cited the city’s fiscal troubles and deferred the BPC’s budget requests.(34)

The following year, the BPC reduced its request to $35,000, which budgeted $25,000 for a survey and map, with $10,000 for salaries and office expenses. The BPC reiterated its concern over the deteriorating conditions along the Bronx River and the need for immediate action. New York City’s real estate appraiser Mortimer J. Brown assessed the BPC budget and the parkway project. Mortimer declared that the project made sense economically. He noted that the greater part of the land to be acquired for the reservation was swamp or river land that ran along the railroad line and could be acquired at little expense. Brown reminded New York City authorities that the project was long term, and that the BPC would only be requesting money when the city could afford such expenditures. Brown advised that the funding for the BPC request, of which New York was obligated to pay three-fourths ($26,250), should be appropriated. New York’s comptroller, Herman A. Metz, agreed with Brown’s report, as did its acting corporation counsel, G. L. Sterling. Sterling similarly emphasized that approving the budget request would not obligate NYC to continue funding the project and commit future funds to land acquisition.(35) Adding to the pressure for New York City to allocate money for the project was a communication from attorney James Kearney urging the city to proceed on the parkway project or face potential legal action from inconvenienced property owners. Kearney represented 350 property owners with land located in the proposed reservation. He claimed that his clients were inconvenienced from the BPC’s lack of activity, since landowners could not sell their holdings or use them as assets to secure mortgages because of the uncertain future of the properties.(36) Despite these recommendations, New York City officials again failed to appropriate money for the parkway.

Off To A Slow Start, 1907-1911

The Deadlock Between the BPC and New York City