The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-09
MUST KEEP The PARK INTACT.
HERMAN KNUBEDS VIEWS on 5TH
AVE. IMPROVEMENT PLAN.

Man Who FOught Jay Gould's Scheme 20
Use Fifty.nlnth street Cries out Against
the BOuleVArd-n q Boulevard On One
Side why Not on All? lie Asks.
The plan for the improvement Of Fifth
avenue from Fifty-ninth to 10th street,
which calls for the removal Of the stone
wall along the parks east side and the
sacrifice Of considerable part OF the park
width for the construction Of a wide boule-
ward, has aroused opposition. The plan,
avn up by Louis A. Riis, and backed
| by a petition signed by twenty-eight
| property owners in Fifth avenue, including
Henry Phipp5, j. Henry Smith. Senator
! within A. Clark, Mortimer l.. Schif,
Lloyd s. Brice, George Ehret, Al Hay
man, Louis Stern. Henry Morgenthau, Sol
/ Sulzberger and others Is now in the hands
/ Of the City Improvement Commission.
! Action on It Is not looked for soon.
Herm n Knubel, whose father owned
a large section Of the park before the civil
war, who prevented the late Jay Gould
! from using the park walk along Fifty
ninth street as a base for pillars for an
extension OF the elevated road along Fifty
| ninth street to Ninth avenue, had this to
say yesterday Of the scheme
1T seems to me that the wishes Of nine
out Of ten Of the people of this city might
/ be expressed in the heading of a Sun edi-
| torial saw this morning; oh, let the parks
| aloner have given this proposition
good deal Of consideration and it strikes
me that there Is only one argument for
taking down the east wall and opening
! the park-that the view Of those gentlemen
who are fortunate enough to possess fine
mansions along that part Of Fifth avenue,
is interfered with by the wall. That argu-
ment may be very forcible to Messrs. j.
Henry Smith, Al Hayman and the others
but certainly it does not appeal to the vast
majority Of New Yorkers that want the
park to stand intact.
This fact cannot be put too str ongly;
let inches be subtracted from the area Of
Of the park and after while miles will go.
II the property owners on the Fifth avenue
side should be granted the right to have the
wall removed and the avenue widened at
the expense Of the park area, why shouldn't
the people Of Central Park West have the
same night to demand the widening Of that
thoroughfare and the removal Of the wall
On that side2 It is, after ALL largely
question Of the improvement Of already
valuable real estate. Certainly there is
nOIllnR OF toLutAlG W 10 VI bSh
in favor Of the scheme.
sThe present East Drive is the most beau
tiful in the world. Merely because il Is
behind a gray stone wall does not detract
from its beauty OF it's usefulness. To my
mind, and the mind Of many another man
the wall itself Is not a homely object. Per-
haps IL IL should be gilded or painted red,
white and blue, the objections OF the gentle
men who signed the petition might be over
come.
1T is a queer thing, as THE Sun has
pointed cut / believe, that no matter what
vandalistic suggestion may be made In re-
gard 10 the park, there will be always some
estimable gentlemen in favor OF It. There
was Robert B. Roosevelt, for instance,
who went 50 far as 10 favor the cutting up
Of the park and called that great beauty
spot an irredeemable Disagreement Of the
city, e. ugly, inappropriate square Of will
derueSs slapped down into the middle Of
the city, He also said, believe, that IL
was about as picturesque as cabbage
patch But a wilderness Is exactly what
we want in this overcrowded Manhattan
and was exactly what the men who laid out
Central Park desired. A hundred years
from now. when there will be no people
living south Of Ffty-ninth street, 1t might
be well TO cut the park up and lay out one
frrther uptown. But for the present. no!
A thousand times mol
walking down town and | saw along Fifty
ninth street, by the park walk, a lot Of
pillars and poles. ] inquired what these
things we're for and was told that Jay Gould
was going 10 dig holes in the walk to set
the pillars in. He was going TO build an eX-
tension Of the elevated from Sixth avenue
to Ninth avenue. | didn't work that day,
and the forces / started going nlpped Mr..
Goulds plan right In, the bud. Yet l re-
member very we'll that plenty Of good |
citizens thought It would be all right for Mr..
Gould 10 use the park walk, and some even |
didn't think 1t would be wrong for him 70 |
nun a line Of elevated road straight up !
through the park. Had that sidewalk been |
used for elevated supports there is no doubt |
in my mind that the park by this time would !
have been wiped out and built upon.
Doubtless a grand boulevard, such as /!
has been proposed, will enhance the beauty /
and val eof the handsome private residences !
Immediately fronting 1t. do not see how |
anybody else would be benefited. The |
amount Of driving in Fifth avenue above !
Fifty ninth street IS e1oeedingly. snail, |
ninth street two-thirds Of the carriages !
enter the park. The avenue above Fifty |
ninth st rect is therefore amply wide enough, |
and will be for long time to come.
1T Is hardly necessary TO point out !
numerous objections TO the plan. The /
taking down Of the park wall would mean !
throwing open the park 70 all sorts Of depre
dators, When | was boy and lived in the /
Now. II the wall were down boys and tramPs
would get in and trample the lawns and
thousand policemen couldn't stop it.
The a proach 20 the Metropolitan Mu-
scum Of Arts would be ruined. Its magnih-
cent sweep would be reduced to a short,
stubby width Of sidewalk.
i believe the best way 20 keep the park
for all time Is 20 make its entrances 30 beau
tiful that nobody would dare TO sugges
disturbing them. ] was In hopes that the
suggestion for a magnificent colonnade at
the Grand Circle and Eighth avenue would
be carried out. In this respect Prospect |
Park in BROOKLYN Is far In advance our
own Brooklyn people, too, are very loyal
70 their park just let ANYBODY make such
a suggestion affecting Prospect Park as
the one received by the City Improvement
Commission and there would be a storm
raised
what New York needs Is a committee
on parks-cal II commission or what
not-a body Of men who will see TO Il that
a.