The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-23
6RoAOW4rAN11f6ER1~ STREET,

In all the mass of proposals for new
always and subway extensions in every
part of the city from the Battery to the
Westchester line, and from the North
River to Coney Island, the great question
Is; Which will be next2
There will be many more subways. OF
that there is no doubt. Plans for at least
half dozen more have been made and are
In a more or less tentative shape now
The lone plan which has received official
sanction so far is an extension Of the Brook
Ign extension of the present subway, now
building, from the terminus at Fatbush
Ind Atlantic avenues under the Plaza
pnd the Willink entrance to Prospect Park,
10 a junction with the Brighton Beach
line near Church avenue. This will pro-
vide at least one through line direct from
The Bronx under the river to Coney Island.
The plan has been adopted by the Rapid
Transit Commission, and it is only necessary
how to obtain the consents Of the Supreme
Court and the property owners Then bids
can be advertised for, a contract drawn and
the line will be In shape for building.
But this extension, after all, is little
thing. though 1t will mean much for the
half developed part of Brooklyn south OF
Prospect Park. The burning question
Is. Which part OF Manhattan shall receive
the benefits Of subway nextf And there
"a no doubt that the greatest demand Is
Tor an East Side subway as part Of a new
tunnel system which will bring the benefits
pf rapid transit to crowded localities OF
which the present subway does not touch
the fringe.
Bankers and real estate operators are
usually good guessers, and there is not a
glimmer Of hesitation among those whose
business leads them to keep a sharp watch
upon developments In the transit problems
with which New York is wrestling in saying
that the wealthy investors In real estate
who have been loading UP with undeveloped
property in The Bronx all last week have
guessed rightly this time
The completion OF this first subway and
ehe glimpses that New Workers. have had
bf It, the revelation to thousands Of these
New Workers who have ridden on the
practice trains that underground travel
tan be made almost il not quite as agreeable
as elevated railroad travel; the constantly
Increasing congestion on existing lines of
trafic-all these have whetted the public
appetite for more subways and have put
hew life In the demand for quick action t.
get them.
And of those who cry for better transit
facilities the people who want an East Side
subway from the Battery to the northern
boundary OF the city by way of Lexington
avenue are the most insistent. Up in that
direction are huge tracts of undeveloped
land within the city limits still to be opened
TO settlement.
Downtown, on that side OF Manhattan. Is |
the most congested district in the city. |
Over there, too, are the new bridges-the |
Williamsburg Bridge complete; the Black
wells Island Bridge, ha II built, and the new
Manhattan Bridge, still to come-all to |
be supplied with traffic.
North Of that side is all the beautiful |
region of the Sound shore at present barely |
touched by development The New York, |
New Haven and Hartford Railroad is about
70 spend many millions upon electric lines
through this very country, and the pas
sengers 1t will bring In increased numbers
Will have to he taken down town quickly
and directly somehow.
All these considerations will result in
settling finally upon the plan for the next
subway, and that is why 1t Is fairly certain
.hat however big and however oompre-
hehsye that plan will be an East Side
main line will form part Of it.
With one subway finished the way will
re clear for another, 10 not for several more.
Inc last obstacle was removed last year.
Oil which passed the Legislature and is
now operative wiped from the statute
books the law fixing $5o,O0OOOO as the
limit of the sum which the city could spend
upon subway construction and left the
RAPID Transit Commissions hands united
The commission had spent almost all
oi It's sj0,0Oo,OO0 anyway on the present
subway and the Brooklyn extension, and the
further extension OF that will account for
'he few millions left. But there is now
no limit on the city's transit expenditures
ouher than the Board OF Estimate, the SUI
preme Court and the Aldermen In their
discretion may set, and the commission
will go ahead
for the naSt subway lines in Manhattan
Two proposed routes have been planned
ny the rival marlborough Rapid Transit
ahu metropolitan Street Railway interests.
No lar the only competitors in the field;
ana there is tentative official plan which
~ combination Of both {
Inc marlborough Rapid Transit Com {
pahy applied about a year ago for leave &
70 extend the present subway south from T
1orty-second street and Broadway to ,