New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-02
THE CITYS SMALL PARKS.
THEIR POPULARITY SINCE THEY WE'RE
OPENED TO THE PUBLIC.
SOME OVERLOOKED PLANS OF MAYOR HEWITT
FOR INCREASING THEIR SIZE AND

FOR INCREASING THEIR SIZE AND
ADVANTAGES.
onc of thu legace, left by the administration Oh
MAYOR Hewitt TO tho city Is liluely TO prove more
lasting IN It's benefits than even he haa eAPeo"N.
This was the opening Of tho small parks ihro"suou'
the city 10 the public, a measure eheeted thrOueu
his efforts and those Of Mr Borden then PTsh'n' y.
the Park board. For many years these pb'ehes VI
green had been enjoyed at . distance by lhose VIM
lived near them. The iron pichets which ieheeu h
the Enclosures were like prison bars to the tenement
population which gathered about the paDhss oa'oh'hB
occasional whns Of country Ike fragrance 'nro'sh
them. Tho authorities regarded these Smah PARIS
as objects to be looked at, but not TO DO tonehed OF
handled The small boy who occasionally scsIeh mo
wire pckets did so at the risk Of placing himself
bohnd bars OF moro formidable sort Every
summer evenings groups OF woman With her DsDeS
would collect In the squares around theSo shN" P''
where all the cool brec1es OF the neghborhood seecu
10 centre. Tho walks would be croHdea vim ohulo"
romping TO and fro, or chasing thohghueSs pu'rr-
ny which might have caroiessy strayed peyohu INC
pIckets.
The opening OF the parks vas hailed With delight
and the laying out Of the walks, the erection Oh the
drinking fountains aud the arranging OF me sears
within the Enclosure, followed win the hec"'st
impationoe. From tho time the gates were oPehcu
until thoy worc closed again last fall "heh inc oo"
weather came on the small parks we're hronged niFht
never empty Eveu whom the weather was cola ana
stormy there could almost always be seen groups IN
tho parks who appeared l0sth 10 leave them' lhc
parks we're closed IN the evening al 10 O'CLOCK an"
Il is safe TO say that had they been allowed 10 rmah
open all night during the siihng midsummer season
many dwclers IN tenemonts In the nelghOorhood
would have deserted their hot aud stuhy MONS Ior
the park benches and the cool lawns
The most important Of these small parks arc below
Fourteenth 81 Most OF them are llula triangular
patches some with but single lonesome treo clump
OF bushes and barren looking lawns The lawns ana
foliage have boon greatly improved under the attention
given them since the parks were opened Duane-st
Park IN wost Broadway, and Canal PARK, near
washington st. have been among the most dihcut 10
40 ANYTHING with: but those have been made fairly
prssentable on the East Side Stuyyeoant PARK has
BEEN opened at nj ght and lighted up with electricity
change which people In the neghborhood show ther
appreciation OF by thronglng It's walks At night IN nun
dreds Abingdon Park ~ Hudson-st. and Eghth'aVe :
Jackson Park In West Thlrtoenh-St; and Christopher
street Park, at Christopher and West Tenth sh' Arn
among the larger Of tho so-callcd small parks" which
have been opened Jackson Park Is In tho centre OF
tenement population u Is oqt etEi o' snJ nv
dAy the walks arc crowded with baby carriages ana
their attendsnis ThiS season Para superintendent
" t6s s pssG fS S p fSSs' small hover wherever
they would thrive These VIII Keep ~ Pgnt c, sp
in placing these plants Mr. Parsons sA5 has been 10
and spare in Tho lawns sufficiently expoci to the Sin
Tho parks small that ono or Two cos OF olsI az
siIe rvsrshadOW The Enclosures, aud, while holr
shsas IA nlsasAnt on sultry days, IL prevents most
pIAnts from thriving oenrah them -,
p,rks bsaow Fourteenth 81 which Mr. Hewitt recon-
;ponded hav- bccn dropped rom slshl slnce DC LS
Wa outlined UAs 10 enlarge Abingdon Park by the
purchase Of several adISoont block and me reno.
ccr,tr, Of What YVES Greenwich Village hah q century
ago. Tho Hlnh ward which, up TO- ieS years
s1nes vvas cALcd the American NAri' Of the city
hhs been fat nlllng up With nats and toncmrns,
and changing fs general character; but nc nov
narh n tIr 6esI0n hAd been carried out, would have
have RS ured again something 20 The Old village Or
ooun,ry .lihs appearance of tho noighborhood.