The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-05-22
A Billion and Half to Rebuild New York
No Other City in the World Spending Many Upon Millions
On ITSELF

New York is sprucing up. 1t is do
ing SO at an expenditure of something
like a billion and half of dollars. No
other city in the world, not even Lon
don, is spending so much money by
a good many tens of millions.
Sprucing up is the short way of
saying that the greater city is now
deep in the task of rebuilding itself
in order TO make of itself a metropo-
lis.
Consolidation took place the first
of January, 1899" said Nelson p.
Lewis, chief engineer of the Board
of Estimate and Apportionment, re-
Gently. Shortly after that event the
city awoke TO the realization of the
fact that it was not a metropolis, as
1t had always dreamed it was, but
provincial conglomeration of five
boroughs. 1t was astonished at first
and confused. Then came a strong
popular determination to make over
the five inharmonious boroughs,
bound together by law only, into a
real metropolitan center This has
been our aim during the past FIVE
years, and this is why we are spend
ing millions"
Actuated by this desire to make
New York a metropolis in fact as well
as in fancy, the city, big corporations
and private enterprises of all sorts,
and even the federal government,
are practically rebuilding the entire
city from center to circumference.
What was good enough before con-
solidation, what is plenty good enough
elsewhere, is being ruthlessly wiped
out of existence by blocks, and in its
stead is springing up hundreds of
skyscrapers, stately buildings for the
use of the people or their representa-
tives, beautiful parks and driveways,
rapid transit systems under ground
and bridges over head-all taking mill
lions and still more tens of millions.
Astounding Figures.
While it is practically impossible ia
ascertain definitely, or even within sew
eral millions, the amount of money
that New York is spending or has
spent in this task of rebuilding since
consolidation, the following figures
which has been obtained from Official
sources, clearly serve to convey to the
mind the stupendousness OF the un-
dertaking, which has caused the city
to be torn up the past few years and
Will keep 1t in more or less chaotic
state for some time to come:
Rapid transit ...... ......... $3.50, 900 00C
Eaucatlon ....'.....s......... 1O0, 600 00t
Bridges 49,. ............... 60, 000, 00C
Beautifcation -. .......... 5000 00C
Philanthropy and public
health ....... ............. 2S,OOO,OOC
Additional water SUPPLY. 1000 ,00G
Federal government ..., 20. 600 DOC
Ferries and piers ........ u. 600 000
Municipal buildings ...... $1,000 600
1881, 600. 900
Half billion dollars are accounted
for in this table. In the boroughs of
Manhattan and the Bronx, since 1899
excluding the Bronx for 1902 and the
year following. the building operations
reach an aggregate value Of s47o. 900.
5000. This, subtraoting the ten mil
lions for municipal buildings and a few
other millions, represents the eontri-
button Of private enterprise. Another
half billion. with three other borouRhs
unaccounted for, among them that Of
Kings, In which lie Brooklyn, where
tens OF millions Of money have beer
put into buildings. Then consider
how the city has spent money like wa,