The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-12
SUPPORT FOR MR.. C0LER.
BROOKLYN CHURCHES BACK THE
CONEY ISLAND PARK PLAN


Meetings in the interest of Comptroller Bird
s. toler'S proposition to transform Coney
Island into public park were held in several
Brooklyn churches last night The Comp
trollcr delivered an address in Plymouth
Church The auditorium was crowded. After
the religious services. which were conducted
10y the Rev. Horace Porter. the meeting was
turned over to $. V. White. who presided.
When COMPTROLLER color said that vice had
no vested rights in u Christian community"
there was long and loud applause. His adj
. dress was in part as follows
II hold it to be an established truth that
every dollar expended tn better the moral and
physical condition Of mankind il a stone laid
in the structure OF higher civilization. Gov
ernments and municipalities. as we'll as ndi-
viduals. may be moral and decent. law abiding
and progressive The proposition to have the
city Of New York transform into public park
locality long notorious for immortality and
crime regard as an important stop forward In
the direction of better government. Ii is. in
fact, so ilnportant that it cannot he classed AS
a sectional issue or a local improvement. To
better thu condition of Coney Island. Of that
part of 1t which 1t IL proposed to convert into
public park and playground, is n matter that
| concerns the people OF the whole city. 1t Is a
movement in the interest OF morality and hu-
welfare, The effort should. and | believe 1t
WILL have the support OF all good citizens.
The only argument advanced against the
plan Is that 1t will drive certain persons out OF
business. reduce the income OF few property
owners. and the negative and untenahle prop
osition that II vice is driven from one locality
1t will quickly find Judgment in another part Of
the city and thrive as before. Not one OF these
suggestions is worth! Of serious considera-
ton. Tho opposition to the proposed improve
ment Is entirely selfish. These selfish inter-
ests charge that We are going to take
expensive property that Yields large
revenue to the owners. II the income
from the land in question Is extra large it is
because the property has been used for I'M
p5od destroy Vested rsRts Without giving T m
that Vice never had vested right in Chris
| tian country. The opportunity to better the
physical and moral condition OF community
must not be neglected because it might reduce
| the income of dance hall
immortality and crime cannot thrive on sun;
| light and fresh air and no good citizen would
tween a pu bic park and Consy Islands Streets
| Of Cairo A hue and cry has been raised 10y
the owners OF Vicious and Immoral resorts;
that the people who go there demand the
| is gross libel on the POOR OF New York to say
| that they demand vicious amusement or
| IhlTOnlIt cTlUllnul TtSOTlb lTOlU CHOICE no
roor, as rule. are as moral as the rich The
workmen. women and children OF the city
to Snsy sana bor 9G tS S s sp OF OF
| them, because there is no Other stretch OF
sand and sea so near and so easy OF access, They
| and these people would b" the first to resent
the, suggestion that they are seeking vicious
and degrading amusement.
The interested defenders Of vice and crime
| tell us that il we drive the dives away from
CGney Island they viii soon reoIen in some
other of the IL that true IL
would be no argument in favor OF Leaving them t,II.
wherever it shows its head Keep IT on the
move. Drive the dives from the island. and #
keep on driving them until they disappear.
You would not Kermit dive to remain next next
that II you drove it away 1t would locate in
Whenever the city builds schoohouse
upon the site OF a dive or destroys Bowery
and creates a park a distinct and permanent
mental, moral and physical Improvement has
been made, and public opinion will sustain
such policy even il dive keeper Is driven
! out Of business and somebody's ground rent is
No radical departure in public improve
ment is contemplated IN the suggestion have
offered to my associates in the city govern
Island into a public park. Tho EXPENSE OF the
connection with the ultimate benefit To tho
est will suffer one cent OF damage. and
natural and convenient summer resort
will be enhanced rather than diminished.
| Tho novelty oi IA park by the sea. a public play
ground and breathing space where the waves
OF the ocean beat upon the sands; Will add i'm,
mensey to TIE W enc "t the RaeSe ana
| open to the million poor people Of the city.
| with all the present Objectionable features
Years ago the locality in the former city Of
New York known as FIVE Points was the head,
was the one quarter in the city where human
| life was never safe. The place was known all
over the country as the ioulest spot in New
| flowers great industrial school. and mis-
zion. three Influences working together TO save
| boys and girls from lives Of degradation crime,
| and poverty and make them useful men and
women. There has never been another Five
| broken up What did itf Wider streets. a
| breathing spot. not large enough to call PARK
more sunshine and a little more fresh air, The
| city widened street, opened there little plot
OF ground to let in the sunlight and crime
=" Not long ago the name Mulberry Bend was
almost synonym for murder and crimes Of
misery OF that dreary tenement quarter The
| city stepped in. tore down the crumbng struc
lures. let in the light and the air and opened a
| Bend Vice and crime had to move on but to-
| day there Is no Mulberry Bend in all Greater
II cite these presidents to show that the So
called argument That l. we drive vice from
|
other quarter Of the city is not well founded. 1
| am confident that II we once break up that In
famous hotDed OF immortality there will never
| be- another like 1t. Anyway. the experiment is
| worth trying, and 10y making that locality
better we will not make any other section OF
| the city worse.
Former Park Commissioner Elijah H. Ken
| ncdy referred to the fact that some years ago
| former Senator stephen NJ. Griswold intro
| duccd bill in the Legislature which secured
| for the people long strip OF land at Con"y
| Island which was reserved for park PURPOSES.
| THIS land il 1000 feet wide and $500 feet
| long. tits on the ocean front facing the Bouc-
| ward u;d has been increased by the sand MI
| ing in on the West Brighton end.
Frederic " Iiinrichs spoke Of the parks in
| the city and said they were a blessing to tho
people. II" observed that Central Park was the
| greatest park in the country and recalled tho
| fact that such grand men as Washington Irving.
| Bancroft the historian, and Charles A. Dana
| were members of the first commission that
was appointed to acquire this tract OF land for
| breathing place for the people.
| Public opinion is all powerful he added,
| land will make any Board Of Aldermen bend
| to its will IL Concy Island is turned into a
park, IFS equal will not be found on the face Of
| this globe"
The Rev. Or, Newell Dwight Hills closed the
| meeting He said that he had been to Conuy
| Island only twice. On the first occasion directly