After reviewing the possibilities for developing a road and scenic area along the Bronx River in conjunction with the pollution abatement agenda, the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission concluded that these amenities would raise the project’s costs to an unacceptable level. The most economical solution for the pollution problems was to build a sewer and provide flood control along the Bronx River. To control costs, the commission recommended that only the minimal strip of land sufficient for sewer development be acquired and advised that the project proceed in the most "practical and economical manner." It cast the sewer as a "pressing necessity" but determined that the proposal for a park and highway through the Bronx Valley should be dismissed from further consideration.(16)

The Bronx Parkway Commission

Nearly a decade passed before any action resulted from the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission report. In 1905, another sewer commission was appointed and directed to begin building a sewer. Even after the sewer was operational, it did not solve the pollution problems in the Bronx Valley. Many property owners refused to pay for hooking up to the new sewer system and continued to empty their drains into the river. The river and its adjacent areas were left unprotected from dumps, factories and stables that persisted in discharging waste. In addition, there were other nuisances despoiling the river valley, including obstructions to the stream flow that aggravated floods, unregulated tree cutting, and general indifference to the region’s scenic and environmental qualities.(17) Noxious conditions were worse along the lower stretches of the river. Pollution was especially bad in Bronx Park, where much of the waste settled into the park’s small lakes, making them a menace to public health. The malodorous conditions made visits to the park unpleasant and the pollution threatened animals in the park’s Bronx Zoo. Prominent citizens, among them William W. Niles, who was involved with the New York Zoological Society, were concerned over the gradual spoliation of Bronx Park and realized that action was necessary before the river was completely destroyed. In 1905 the New York Zoological Society, with the support of New York City and Westchester County authorities, proposed legislation for a commission to study the problem. The following year the New York State Legislature passed legislation creating the Bronx Parkway Commission (BPC).(18)

Governor Frank Wayland Higgins appointed Madison Grant, James G. Cannon, and Dave H. Morris as Bronx Parkway Commissioners. The commissioners organized in 1906, electing Grant as chairman and Cannon as treasurer. Niles was appointed secretary and J. Warren Thayer engineer. The BPC’s duties were to investigate the feasibility of preserving the Bronx River and creating a reservation along its banks. The commission was required to prepare a map or plan of the proposed reservation, together with cost estimates and suggestions for financing the project.(19)

To familiarize themselves with the situation, the commissioners made numerous personal inspections of the Bronx River between Kensico Reservoir and Bronx Park. The commissioners reported that they were "greatly impressed" by the river’s natural beauty in areas that had not been impacted by the "march of alleged improvement." The Westchester County section still retained some picturesque and unspoiled charm. According to one expert, the Bronx Valley still had a thousand species of native trees and plants.(20)


 

(16)"Report of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission," 7-8, 10, 40-41.
(17)Bronx Parkway Commission, Final Report, 1925, 17; Downer, "Public Parks in Westchester County," 963.
(18)Bronx Parkway Commission, Report, 1912, 5; Downer, "Public Parks in Westchester County," 963; Bronx Parkway Commission, Final Report, 1925, 17; Bronx Parkway Commission, letter to Cyrus Miller, Borough of the Bronx, January 27, 1910, in Bronx Parkway Commission Minutes, January 1910.
(19)Bronx Parkway Commission, Report of the Bronx Parkway Commission Appointed Under Chapter 669 of the Laws of 1906 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, 1907), 3.
(20)Bronx Parkway Commission, Report, 1907, 4; Bronx Parkway Commission, Report, 1912, 10.

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