New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-13
TIE CITY'S VATER-FRONT.
PLANS OF THE DOCK COMMISSIONERS.
Nrw RtIKIEADs AND PIERS FOR THE EAST AND


NORTH RIVERS.
The recent announcement that the Dock
Commissioners purposed to continue the projected I'M
provcments OF the waterfront on the sne OF Mest
sition On the part Of the marketm.n' VINO ned ed
in,,sdi1,ie heginning OF such inprov encnt-. pc
tifinn was presented by them 10 the Commission ers
.. - I'm order To- give The dealers new
places OF business This was granted on the
other hand, the Dock Department Is be
seed at every meeting with applications from
steamship, steamboat and railroad cor Oratlohs lor
more water facilities, and received petition
sirnrd by many large mercantile houses demanding
that tho proposed improvements Shond be began win
out any unnecessary delay Hence the ConIisSiGuels
were Ia q qnandary. SO urgent were The demands OF
commerce Tor more pier room that the Conm- si9hels
hal plans prepared and were nearly iendy 10 Desin
work The Controller requested III August Las = to
niorm tine West Washington Market lfople nat tney
must lind other ACCOMMODATIONS ny January !, Dut
he failed to comply Nth the request The propo-
sed improvements not only include this part OF the
'front.' but also Other sections on Ine NpIth anu
East Rivers and the Department has been for several
month Perlectins plans for ch imptoy e9ets
from PIER No Pier No. 81 East River, under new
strGcted Oh the NORTH RyGr as Is Oticyed uat the
.sues OF commerce and the demands OF increased
shipping require these improvements 70 he made The
plans tOr Improving that part OF the Waterfront from
pier no q To Grand 81. have been under consideration
bv the Commissioners for time This section has
been monopOiized largely by the dry-Gock ana me
sore dock associations for many years In the opinion
of the Dock Board these assocauous do not own the
haze the question Of their continued surpajon Of the
Counsel, and until an opinion - rendered the PLANS Will
remain In allegiance Tie contemplated changes in this
section extend only mp 10 the bulkhead line established
bv The laws OF ISL and for this reason the Commits
sioncrs nave not felt justified IN planning for the eI-
demands OF commerce in that vicinity.
lac proposed buEbcad lines between Grand. ST. and
the la River been established by the Com
n,slo1ers of the Sinking Fund, although the matter
has bson hefore them since ISL Complaints are so
FREQUENT lack OF wharfage facilities the East
River that the Dock Commissioners have urged the
Commissioners the Sinking Fund either to adopt
reiea tie
Tie present Dock Board believes tnat the plans so long
benic tse SINKING Fund Commissioners arc not such as
t. prove beneficial because. If adopted, they will take
away from the present waterfront accommodations
large amount Of wharfage room. even diminishing the
extent OF the piers t1ey exist to-day The Dock Com
missOuers thiUk that the wharfagc facilities should be
increased very largely order the applications
now before them for wharfage premises from Of
vessels Of different sizes aud tonnage. The present
Dock Commissioners have had one or two conferences
with the sinking Fund Commissioners in relation 10
their plans improving the East River front above
Grand-st The DOCK Commissioners were further re.
ferred 10 the Controller and have had confer
with nin. The result has been the preparation OF
pans fc Its improvement Of that part OF the East River
froat extending from Grand st. to Thirty fouTth-st.
The proposition IS 10 construct forty piers OF various
longest Of which will 30 100 feet 1t proposed 10
section solely for steaoboas and other vessels
engaged In The sound traffic The cost OF such i'm
provements Is estimated VI Sl0,00O00O, OF which
81. 100000 Will he needed for the requirement OF pri
ysto property and SI5O0O00 for the contraction Of the
piers and bulAhfads.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PLAN
This plan wCuld give 10 the city splendid pier prop
erty; IL would take up small portion of private prop
erty and n carried out, the Dock Commissioners feel
sutu thai II woGd he OF great advantage 10 commerce.
wd.ch = driven elsewhere for accommodations. "A
compared with The proposed plans OF ST. the Com
mssoners assert that they prepared 10 show that
the plans FAR superior. Besides the proposed
forty piers Ii would give 10 the city commodious
street The proposition 10 set this section aIart cx-
clusiTely Cor vessels employed In 1.-THE Sound traffic has
been met with favor by some OF the steamboat
panieS The piers the Battery. and those now
occupied By the Sound nes, could lie used by deep
vessels which In need OF more The Dock De
parnent has been mich embarrassed because the bulk
head Dnes have not been clearly defined the Harlem
River and on tho upper portions OF the East River
pier roOm and the Commissioners feel that they not
erection OF permanent structures because
have rot been defined. One or the most important
sections OF the Harlem River front has had per
naneut bnlkhead, and there established lines by
which such work could be done The property owners
say that they desirOus OF having the city improve
this part OF tho water front OF being permitted 10
make such improvements upon their own account
For the purpose OF giving temporary accommodations
the various coal lumber and other Interests In YoTkve
and Harlem the Dock Department has expended cOnsid
cradle time aud money for repairs or old bukheads and
tnis Is all the Commissioners felt warranted In doing
The scheme introduced in the Legislature for tho
extension OF Avenue between Twenty third and Fifty
thirdsts. opposed by the Dock Commissioners and
did pass II declared 10 be Job TO benefit some
and II would have made necessary tho
filing in beyond the pier line In places depth
OF sixty feet 1t would have been practically useless for
water commerce.
On the North River waterfront there have been many