The record-union., 1899-08-21

visited at all.
And now? Where these fostering
tenements were a broad field stretches
itself, unshaded and blazing hot at
monday, dusty and rough, but still
an open place, instead of the many
score Of tenements. Some day it will
be made into a beautiful, shady park,
with such a greensward as slum dwell
| lers love. That will take a long time,
however. Meanwhile. city, and educa-
tional authorities have thrown open the
ground, surrounding it only by a slight
fence, to keep some semblance of
order
| The Hester-street open air drygoods
market to the west looms out on an
altogether unaccustomed sight. 1t sees
| in place of a line of scowling tene-
ments an open air gymnasium, a run
ming track, a basket ball field, two
covered sand Fairgrounds for the
smaller children. tented platform on
which fifty miniature women of all
ages at one time play kindergarten
| games. And, what is still stranger and
more wonderful it sees croquet actu-
ally being taught.
This is the regeneration of the worst
corner of the ghetto slum, viewed at its
. crudeSt now, because, though the old
buildings have gone, there is as yet lit
tie that is attractive to succeed it. But
already it has become a paradise for
the children, and the perfection of rest
| ing places of evenings for those older.
No slun of the town was ever trans
formed to better uses.
| Jacob A. Riis, for this authority on
| the New York tenementS must be quot
| ed again, has spoken many time in
print of the filth of Cat alley and its
| buildings, directly under the nose Of
police headquarters-in front Of 1t, in
| fact. Cat alley grew to be q. we'll known
/ locality among the police reporters.
| who constantly had it before their
eyes. There was much to disgust, to
| horrify, about Cat alley, for it was al
/ ways haunt of lawlessness as we'll as
filth. The kneIl has sounded over that
as we'll. The widening and the exten-
sion of Elmira street are What brought
about its tearing. down.
A slice of the block bounded by Null
| berry, Houston, Crosby and Bleecker
streets has been torn away for the Elm
street lengthening. By rare good for
tune this demolition took the course of
| the little Slum. Only the extension of
the street was being considered, but the
work could not have resulted better. 1t
razed every vestige of the slum, leaving
Only a broad street, with a SemiSquare
| where Bleecker street and Mulberry
street meet it, and Cat alley, with all
/ its turbulence, its crime, it's police rec
ord and, it must be confessed, its pic
turesqueness. is now only a name.
/ Another Little ITALY, this the one
we'll up toward Harlem, on the East
Side, extending from Seventy-seventh
to One hundred and sixteenth street,
and from Second avenue to the river,
has recently felt the broom of 'clean
sweep" among one of its dirtiest pur-
lieus. Tenement and little houses up
| in that region are old, though people
generally are not aware of this. Here
| is the extreme southeast corner of old
Harlem, nearly down to Yorkville, and
the buildings are SO closely packed that
were the people not Italians this might
well be called a ghetto, and it would
deserve the name.
/ Three blocks of tenement houses, be-
tween One hundred and eleventh and
One-hundred and-fortieth streets, Ave-
nue. A and the East River, have met the
| tate OF many OIneT OlQ STRUCTURES III
New York. They are meeting it now,
| in fact, for the work of demolition is
not nearly completed. This bit Of for
mer slum is at present mass of bricks
and beams, of yawning cellars and
| ground that has been torn up into wild
confusion. One of the small parks will
eventually be here, though two years
and perhaps more must certainly
| elapse before it is finally completed.
| The Little Italy" on Harlem's south
| ern outskirts is much like the other
/ Little Italies.' 1t has all the charac-
| teristics of these noted slums and does
not take second place to any of them.
/ There isl the same dirt. herding, iDan!or-
ality and stiletto juggling. The new
park sweeps out of existence one of this
| localitys most crowded parts. But
there is needed here much further puri-
| fication The slums on the East River
bank opposite Wards Island, are not
all gone. But a beginning. and an ex-
cellent one, has been made.-New York
| Tribune.