Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-09-27
THE LUNGS OF NEW YORK.
The Ofty,s Parks-Necessitv for
Their Increase - The Numerous
Breathing Places of the Great
meIrOpOlIs-Whae They Look Like
and Who Frequent Them.


NEW York, September 22-There is
much being said in the papers about the adj
visibility of increasing the number and the
area of our metropolitan parks. The Herald
Of Sunday contained an able and exhaustive
article advocating an extension of their acre
age, and leading editorial gave the idea Of
the journals &c cGthedrG endorsement.
Among the many schemes which the sugges-
ton viii doubtless evolve there must be some
entirely too ambitious and utopiaD and some
probably unworthy of so generous a design.
That great city like New York needs almost
boundless pleasure grounds and breathing
places no one will deny. In spite of the
general comeliness and beauty of New York
there are portions Of the city which more
than rival the sluggishness and filth of the
Rhine Inhabitants of those districts are &C
quainted with all the distinct smells which
Coleridge found by analysis in the city of
Cologne, the reeking odors of Hunters
Point being, 1 venture to add. a
thing unique and unapproachable
We have Chinese quarters and Italian quarters
German quarters and Polish quarters. The
unsavory traditions of the Ghetto, Juden-
Strasse, Seven Dials and Petticoat Lane are the
stern realities of a newer, If not a better,
world. Will it be deemed unwise In face of
these facts TO expend the public moneys in
multiplying resorts for the poor and discover
ing and identifying green fields and pastures
new? Only the most cynical pessimist would
venture to sheer at so humane and beneficent
an undertaking.
But it should seem that in urging his plan for
extending our parks, the writer in the Herald
lad n n IN W
exist. Not that mean to go into a long para
graph upon their stately and noble beauties,
their forests primeval and heights "rock-ribbed
and ancient as the SUM-" The very mlSnomer
of calling such a plat of ground as Union
Square "park," is enough in itself to excite
ridicule. But none the less our shaded and pleas
ant squares are blessings to thousands of peo-
pie, and am satisfied that the poor la6orerS
and mechanics of this city are abundantly
thankful even for the quiet, secluded benches
of our beggarly little parks" One NAV in
deed envy Savannah in her possession of beau
tifully shaded squares and ancient trees. There
are miles upon miles OF streets in New York
which rival the desert itself. in the absence of
anything green. How touching and pathetic.
sometimes, is the sight of few pots of flowers
far up in the window of dark and crowded
dwelling as if their poor fragrance might sug
gest to their owners earlier and more joyous
days. Yes our vandalism has extended to ma
ture itself. 1 fancy the office of forester" in
New York is, so far at least as the streets are
concerned, remembrance Of older and green
or times.
For ali that, New York has fourteen public
squares and parks, aggregating about LOO
acres. The beauty of our parks is that they
are all within the city. The acreage Of the
London parks is put down at 1900 acres, and
that of the Paris parks at 5000; but Rich
mond Park, Windsor Park, Hampton Court
and Bushv Park, which contain together 5000
acres, and are included in the above estimate,
are all some miles from London, and St. Cloud
and st. German are well outside of the utmost
limits of Paris. Central Park, which, when it
was laid out, twenty-five years ago, was sit
uated on the outskirts of the city, is now in
deed the central park for it lies In the very
heart Of the town. In comparing our parks
with those of London and Paris it is menifestly
unfair to place TO the credit of those cities
such 'outside affairs" as have men,
toned. On the same principle we might
Fields, Prospect Park, and, above all,
Coney Island, which, as a breathing
place for the people, eclipses all the others
Our oldest park is the Battery. Dating from
the discovery Of the city by Hendrick Hudson,
1t still exists in green old age. In the early
days, and indeed till well into the present CEN
fury, 1t constituted the fashionable promenade
Of the gentry now it is given over to the poorer
classes OF the lower portions of the city, and to
the broken down nobility who arrive at Castle
Garden from the other side. None the less, its
admirable position at the southern extremity
Of the island, commanding magnificent pros
pect Of the bay and the islands in it, makes the
old Battery a very charming and popular re-
sort
The little lawn in front of Bowling Green.
which is fenced in and contains. l should think,
not more than an acre, is likewise historic
ground, for it once contained the celebrated
statue of George Ill, which was pulled down
by the sons of freedom at the beginning of the
revolution. Immediately opposite stands the
old Washington Hotel monument Of by gone
days-General Washington's headquarters in
New York. Alas even this poor, unoffending
relic must succumb to the modern and unirn,
aginative spirit. 1t has been recently sold to
Mr.. Cyrus W. Field, who will tear it down and
erect mountain In its place.
City Hall Park is now but small affair
Many public buildings, such as the new port
office and the new courts of law, have infringed
upon its purlieus Time was when choicest
and most brilliant exhibitions OF fire works. cal
culated to fire the heart of the small boy and
keep alive within him the embers of smoth-
cred enthusiasm. aroused him here on the
immortal Fourth to a pitch Of wild and
Fourth of July in the City Hall Park are
bright spots in the memory of thousands Oh
the gorgeous rockets and pin-wheels, the pyro-
technic spluttering of the pieces, " with Wash
ington on horseback, the star-spangled banner
waving in fire, and the motto I'm God we
trustp' Even those heroic days are gone now.
The city is too thickly settled for the promis-
cuous and careless firing of rockets. Infringe
ment of the law points to arrest and fine. Thus
he boisterous and spread-eagle Fourth with
its happy memories has been diminished in
glory. The little boy no longer sits upon his
fathers shoulder to view the display above the
heads of the crowd; no longer are those eager
inquiries made about the meaning of the day
which recalled and kept alive our stirring an
nails in the mind of the father not less than they
satisfied the Ingenious curiosity Of the son.
1t is to be feared that in New York, at least we
are becoming too foreign. little less Eng
lishn and good deal more American" would
become us better.
But to return from this depression. A very
unique park" in New York is Tompkins'
Square on the east side. a level plain of ten
and half acres without a single tree or a
square foot of grass. This open space or plaza
is utilized by the children of the neighbor-
hood as play field. and by our standing army
of militia as parade ground for military ex-
erclSe. Here are often held mass meetings
and political pow-wows; and few years ago,
at the time of the labor trouble. the high priest
of the trades unions offered up the golden calf
of monopolizing and tyrannizing capital to the
execration and fury of the great unwashed.
Washington, Union and Madison Squares and
Reservoir Park are small but beautiful
spots, from four to, eight acres in size,
busy New York Their fountains are
indeed sometimes dry. but the grass is kept
closely shaven, the trees high over-arch d en-
bower" and the merry sparrow and agile
squirrel pursue their Vocations here in oblivion
of the madding crowd. Hitler comes troops
of pretty children with their neat French-cap-
ped nurses and play away the morning hours
in driving their hoops or hurrying along on
gentlemen OF leisure who pass their lives in
meditation and sleep; who con the newspapers
with hypercritical eye and refresh their stom-
achs at the free lee water tanks near by. stop
ping now and then to view the progress of a |
well attired lady, or the erection of the tower
ing electric lamp in the centre of the square. |
Surely we have leisure class" here as well |
as In England.
StuyvesaAt Square and Gramercy Park are |
of the same general character, the lat |
ter, however, being a private park, and |
entered only by the residents Of a refined and |
elegant neighborhood. Some of the newer
squares are the Morningside Park, at 10th |
street and Eighth avenue; Mount Morris square,
at 120th street and Fifth avenue and the Riv- |
erside Park which extends along the banks of |
Hudson from I'D street to 125Gh street. This |
able. A magnificent drive Of three miles ex-
tends along the lordly and picturesque river, |
with constant succession of beautiful views |
and sudden surprises. 1t Is the rival of the |
best drives in Central Park, very much |
them, in the opinion of q great |
many. Last and certainly not least, comes
Central Park. which needs no word of descrip-
ton or comment For bits of elegant land
scape gardening 1t is not outdone by the Park |
Monceau, at Paris; for continuous and stately |
beauty, IL takes its rank with the Bots de Bou- |
logne, Windsor and Hyde Parks.
In the face OF all these lovely spots it Is none |
the less true thai We need more room for rec |
reation and rest. The schemes already sug- |
gested are good, but vague. One is to lay oAt |
a park several miles in extent along the HIjd- |
son, in Westchester county (the city limits resch
" -