New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-23


spend in purchasing ground and In building their man
sions in these avenues they could have fine estate
somewhere near ii not directly upon. the drive over
looking the Hudson. They could have trees. lawn
and stable room and wonderful view UP ana down
the river Even with the present inadequate means
of travelling they could be within fifty minutes or an
hour Of their places Of business downtown.
There are a number OF exceedingly handsome homes
along the drive. One of these is the home OF Cyrus
Clark which is at Nnetieth.st This Is large white
stone mansion. with towers and bay.wndows. IL
commands q fine view Of the river and Is one OF
the most valuable pieces OF property along the
drive. Not far from it is the homo Oh ITO
lessor Bacon. This house stands ut One'hundred
and. fourthst., and from 1t the view up ana
down the river Is magnificent one The house IS
fashioned from the old English baronial castles with
watch tower and balconies IL Is built OF dark gray
granite and needs only o mass Of trailing IVY ana
drawbrldge to complete the picture. It forms as
nct to the buildings each side OF IT, OH ac
count Of the darkness Of the stone OF which IL was
constructed and the peculiar style OF architecture 'oi
lowed by the builders. Few people pass IL witioas
| stopping TO admire and study It, 1t was said uat
| $4,000 refused for this place. The offer was
made by Y. X stevenson Co., the real estate agents
who lad commission 10 purchase 1t al thae
figure. There other handsome homes In the dnvc'
notably that OF Mr.. Ktcl at Onehundred anu twenty
secOndst., within few rods Of where the Grant
monument VIII stand There are many DulluliiS
along the drive which are yet nothing but massive
rocky knobs 1t may be many years before they VIII
be cut away, but it is they add pcuresqueness and
beauty to the surroundings and 1t would be well worth
the expense to those who afford to buy them ana
let the rocks stand on that account
One improvement which has been made within
short time. and which will meet the Just praise OF
eduestrlans is the construction of soft earth road at
the side Of the drive for the Of horseback riders
ia tod no drjy Z "A
fence and has already become favorite place for
women and children who desire quiet road on which
to ride.
The identity Of the which below Fifty ninth
ST. are known as Eighthave., Nnth-ave. and Tenth
ave. is lost above that street. Eghthave it runs
along Central Park becomes Central Park West, Ninth
ave. becomes Columbus-ave. and Tenth-ave. Manhat-
tan-ayc for distance and then Amsterdam ave.
further north Broadway Is lost in the Boulevard which
at Onchundred and eghth-st absorbs Elevenhave. as
we'll For a considerable distance the Boulevard has
been paved with asphalt but this like most OF the
streets in the city, receives so little attention from the
Street Cleaning Department that an ordinary rain
makes it muddy and disagreeable. The little parks
which divide the boulevard in two when they com
pleed will improve the appearance of this thoroughfare
They are used mainly as storage places for tar
tanks and the tools used by the employed in the
Department Of Public Works.
When the parks are well soddcd and the trees in them
the city streets. II has now become favOrte place
| for BICYCLES on saturdays and holidays 1t Is fairly
alive with the wheelmen. Scores of young men and
| middleaged men and hundreds Of boys mounted on
wheels of all sorts and descriptions speed mp and down
| the boulevard The old-fashiOned "bonebrcaker,"
| The improved tandem, the high-wheeled bicycle,
the new safety the tricycle. and the chd's velocpede
are all there. 1t is merry sight TO see the riders
skmmng noselessly along now with every muscle
strained in friendly contest and again gliding
| rapidly along with apparently no effort. The hand
some uniforms of the riders, The nickelplated wheels
flashing in the sunlight and the swiftly moving
figures Of the wheclmen make a scene which on
pleasant days attracts hundreds to the boulevard.
The West Side of Eighthave., from Twelfh-st.. 10
the entrance TO the Park has been paved with asphalt
and good days there is constant procession up this
thoroughiare toward Fifty -nnth-st When the Boue,
ward has been paved with asphalt for the rest OF It's
length there will be continuous stretch OF smoothly
street for tho bcyolers Of over six miles
| The elevated railroad has practically ruined Ninth
ave-. Columbns-aye for anything but railroad pur
poses. AZ Eighty Wrists ST. the road Is so near the
up in the air avoid this part Of the street. The raj
road runs past Manhattan squars, In which stands
from seventy siXth,st. to Eighty .frstst and from
Central Park West to Columbusave The streets fac
| ing the square both the southern and northern
sides lined with handsome private homes and
apartment houses. -. -, A., - ,
streets on the West side before they will he in con-
dton to warrant praise OF them There has not been
trucking enough done upon them to disturb to any ap
precable extent the payements which at the outset
fairly well laid This is particularly Larry true Of the
which ought to be done soon as the building opera
lions in this section have gotten far enough along to
Justify it. Nothing ruins pavements more quickly
| than constant disturbance OF them by contractors
who obtain permission to tear them up for the purpo
OF connecting the houses which they are building win
| the water. gas and steam pipes ,
Thomas r Groy, the commissioner Of Public 3Ic
his aeparment the right IT., to LAY LAY the mouse
put stop to the rrOmiscuos tearing up OF the streets
by contractors Extensive paving operations are being
carried on now. The contractors who were successful
in getting work from Commissioner Gilroy have large
forces OF at work paving the side streets which
are sat o@ Sare TSe for the paving
are first prepared with great carefuness, and are
over the streets until the earth is level and hard
as stone floor. These big machines can be con s,
so close TO Che curbtcne that sheet of brown paper
could hardly be put between the wheel ahd ne sEe
sructed at the northwestern end of the Central Park
WS Pa1R S Paa c % ue se to IT, large
to be taken this part Of the Park ata pfn no
the Park, connecting them with other drives This
win extend the Central Park drives north to par
viii also improve the one hundred and tenths prop
erty to considerable extent and make that part OF
the city even mora desirable than 1t now Is ior mana
street. which is mo da little pyer n ssy o ises
already been decided upon to nth The width o OF
| compnshed will make a fne broad avenue at the
northern boundary Of the Park a. ,nnthst Is a.,
This street from Fifthave. TO Central Park West VIII
have as many handsome buildings and houses as Fifty
| nlnthst now has between those two avenues.
| Another plan for increasing the number OF drives
| in this part of the city and which up to this timc
exists ONLY I'm prospect is the scheme promulgated by
| Peter b. sweeney. His plan is 10 I'LL in the shallow
water along bank Of the Hudson from sOmewsee
thirty ffth-st and build upon the ground thus made
| a driveway This would Of course necessitate the
destruction Of of the piers and wharves along the
river and the cost would be enormous running away
| into the millions At future time when an
tho railroads which come into New York - . dp
| so under ground, the tracks OF the New
| Central aud Hudson River Railroad. which takes up
lust the land required for this driveway b removes
Then drive could he constructed OF reasonaDle OUT
Law of money The expense OF filling In and reclaim
ing the land along the shore line which Is under "acr
would be such great one that few wouiu just ho"
| advise such expenditure. - III. -
| Washington Heights is city almost BY Itself anu
while included In the district known under the seictd'
| term As the West Side. 1t for long tune was pr