New-York tribune., 1902-07-11
URGES MOVING PLATFORM,
sRAPID TRANSIT BOARD NOT ENTHUsI-
ASTIc OVER LINDENTHAL'S PLAN.
FOR PERMANENT RELIEF-sPEcIAL
COMMITTEE CHOSEN

ynent submitted - Ions report indorsing that
part Of Mr.. Parsons's plan which provides for
q subway connect ION between the Williams
burg znd Brooklyn bridges, urging that q NOV
ing platform be Immediately Installed on the
Brooklyn Bridge. and recommending that the
remainder of the Parsons plan or that part
providing for trolley tunnel through Nassau
st and a tunnel from Maiden Lane 10 Brook
lyn be set aside until some future time. Mr.
Iindenthal was not present when his report was
read, but came in later He then said that the
Brooklyn Bridge would have TO be almost en-
fireIy rebuilt Il. accommodate Mr. Parsons's
plan The entire suspended superstructure. he
declared, would have 10 be replaced, at a cost Of
100000 He suggested that if the Parsons
plan was started immediately It would be three
or four years before il was completed, by which
time the whtehal-st. tunnel and bridges No.
2 and would be finished. II the moving plat
form was installed on the Brooklyn Bridge, the
subway plan Of Mr. Parsons might not be need
ed He recommended. therefore, that Mr.. Par
eons's plan should not be acted until the
,.oshsr routes 20 Brooklyn were completed.
PLATFORM WHERE CARS NOW RUN.
Mr. LindenthaI said that the moving platform
would have 70 be constructed where the bridge
cars run. When asked by Mayor Low if
the trolley cars would still continue to use the
bridge. M Lindenthsl said he thought It would
turn the Brooklyn Bridge Plaza into a suitable
terminal for the trolley cars The plaza, IL will
be secslled, was originally purchased from one
of the constituent lines Of the Brooklyn Rapid
TRANSIT Company at a cost Of S3.0o00oo. Com
missioner Lndenthai some time ago proposed
turning this tract of valuable land over to the
railroad company. but the move was vigorously
, opposed by The Tribune
Mayor Low was plainly SURPRISED at the argu-
,1lents presented ny Mr. LlndenthaI The Mayor
evidently Is Ia favor Of adopting Mr. Parsons's
plan at the earliest possible moment. He asked
, Mr.. Lndenthai if the moving platform plan
presented by him was not an alternative of the
Parsons plan. and the Bridge Commissioner ad-
: anitted tha4 it was President Orr then called
up the original resolution of Mayor Low which
authorized the Rapid Transit Commission to
provide some permanent relief from the con-
gestion. bat not concern itself with any
temporary plal's.
After the communication from Mr.. LindenthaI
was read Mayor Low said that it showed that
the Commissioner in sympathy with Mr..
| 1arsonss plan as TO the connection between
the two bridges.
I think also" continued the Mayor, that
the doubt or hesitation which he expresses with
regard TO the wisdom Of taking actual steps at
the present time in regard To the tunnel TO the
south is IN line with what l conceive TO be the
,pgblic judgment as expressed through the news
papers. Certainly IL is the judgment 7 have
arrived al myself. and I would withdraw my
resolution iDdorsing the plan as whole and
offer a second resolution sonitting the tunnel
&c the south, but indorsing the remainder Of the
.plan. I believe that the south tunnel requires
ia great eeal more study. but it seems to me
that the connection between the two bridges
has net almost universal appreciation"
I The Whitehall-st. tunnel will not be finished
ktor three years" said Mr.. Lindenthal, land what
otner relief is there in sight? The bridge cannot
carry a single car more than it does now. and
lsdditlonal trolley loops al the Manhattan emo
would not add 10 the transportation capacity OF
1.-THE bridge. The traffic is growing in leaps and
bounds. and we must install a system that will
take the crowds away fast as they arrive
there. ] arn i'm a position 10 say that the COM
lpany viii install the moving platform system
without expense TO the city, if it is permitted
fso charge enc cent fare"
l. PEOPLE PREFER TROLLEY CARS
k} But people now take trolley cars by prefer
Vance" suggested Controller Grout.
"Yon can't have your cake and eat IT," re-
piled s1r. LindenthaI. That one additional cent
Stands in the way Of more decent improve
Snents."
But the people Of Brooklyn like TO travel d.
rect from their homes TO Manhattan said Mr.
Grout Il am a Brooklynite myself People
ere not always masters OF their time"
The moving platform win take the people
Eecross the bridge in six minutes said Mr..
11indepthaJ. ~ bereas the trolley now con-
sume eight minutes We have large plaza
et the Brooklyn END Of the bridge. where you
i1nght raise rice rye. That be arranged
las trolley terminal, that plenty of
fTvouid have room there. The moving platform
zsouid afsord permanent relief II is a waste OF
f1in3e now to take up this proposition TO run
elevated trains over the bridge and through q
funnel In few years the Whitehsl-st tun-
l5lel viii be compLfted. and soon after that
bridges No. and >. and we shall then have
q. better idea Of what should be done with the
13rookivn Bridge. You might change IT then or
jos t9s moving platform do its work The plat
form would transport siXty-f1Te thousand seated
eight thousand passengers cross the bridge in
1sat time IL is crime TO refuse to install
anything that viii improve the disgraceful con-
d3tioD At the bridge entTsnne- The moving
ysss tfCrTu ought 70 he immediate and perrna-
rent improve eInent. Afterward il might be wise
10 reconstruct the Brooklyn Bridge with two
<iscks
7 agree that the day is not far distant" said
-Er. Parsons. when the bridge viii have TO be-
reconstructed. but the carrying of elevated
1rsins would NOT necessitsfe q reconstruction
363Y. and any new Improvement would be as
ibs6ly crowded the trolley cars are now"
After some further discussion, II was agreed
fbet the prohleIn should be placed in the hands
ef committee consisting Of Mayor Low Con-
rrclier GTout. Mr.. Parsons ard Mr.. Iiadenthal
BELMONT DENIES QUEENS PURCHASE
AGsust Belmont last night denied the report that
Sc had bought The franchises. real estate holdings
s.6 rolling stock owned by the New-York and
Queens County Rsirosd Company. Mr.. Belmont
esfd Il tired OF answering questions about that
report Tbfrs is truth In IT." This cornpany
cs2s nearly al OF the trolley lines In Borough
OF Queens ana franchise under E-sst
River from Long Island City 20 Forty-tecond-st
Manhattan. ~'
7fGNCvIuGufa @kII MIN