New-York tribune., 1905-06-18
HAFFEN'S GREAT DREAM.
n TWENTY-MILE PARK.
Plans BouIeUard Pak7cay from
59th-st. to City Island.

Borough President Haffen with the support Of
the local boards of Morrisania and Chester, Is
planning the establishment of boulevard park
way drive by which all of the existing parlKways
and boulevards of the North Side will be brought
into one united system. The plan means making
the whole area of The Bronx park annex Of
the Central Park and Boulevard systems OF
Manhattan BY this means 59th-st at the lower
end of Central Park and Belden Point at the
southerly end of City Island, will be brought
into communication by the finest series of
boulevards and pleasure drives in the world. To
realize this object no new streets or avenues are
required. as those already In existence suffice TO
complete the chain.
Starting at 59th-st. the parkway chain moves
northward through Central Park to 72d-st. and
thence into Riverside Drive. From, here the
route is to the Boulevard Lafayette, and thence
along that roadway to 1S1st-str and so across
Washington Bridge 20 Aqueduct-aver on The
Bronx side of the Harlem River. 1t is proposed
to convert Aqueduct-ave. into a duplicate or fth-
ave. with a width of $50 feet far north as
Featherbed Lane, which is to be made 100 feet
wide up to its intersection of Belmont-st-, at
about 113d-st. BY this last street. which is to
be given width of 100 feet, the great drive Is
carried across the Grand Boulevard and Con-
course and easterly to Claremont Park.
Once within the boundaries of Caremont Park,
the monotony of straight lines and angles is re-
lieved by the curves which the drives within
the park are laid out. Claremont and Crotona
Parks are connected by Wendover-ave, and 1t
is the policy of the borough administration to
have trolley tracks forever prohibited on this
interpark thoroughfare. In Crotona Park are
more winding roadways. The drive circles In
dian Lake. and on the easterly side of the park
emergeS into Crotona Parkway, continuing
thence to the Southern Boulevard. which con-
meets with Pelham-ave. By this avenue Bronx
Park and the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, by
connecting with Pelham Park, are reached.
At Barlow station the route veers off to CITY
Island and across to Belden Point on its south
ern extremity. Here the proposed journey
comes to an end after a distance of twenty miles
has been covered. This is a long trip for horse
flesh, and, generally speaking, those who make
it Will cover the distance in automobiles instead
of carriages For auto" people twenty miles
is too short to be satisfactory, and so turning
back to Barlow station or when Barlow sta
tion is first reached, those who want to see
the country keep straight along through
Pelham Park; they go to New Rochelle, or
any other Westchester town, or more distant
sections of this State and Connecticut.
While the main point in the rapid transit
plans of the city authorities is to make the new
parks easy of access to the multitudes who
travel by the subway, elevated and trolley lines.
the boulevard lines required for carriages ana
automobile traffic are wholly outside Of this
scheme Under existing conditions the new
parks are not accessible to the carriage and
automobile public except by routes which are
broken by intervening stretches Of disagreeable
roadway These missing links, while numerous,
are short, and when taken all together make UP
a considera BILE total. 1t is this fact which will
appeal strongly to the public and the city au-
thorities as by expenditure of thousands q
results worth millions will be attained.