New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-01
Realty Experts Urge APP
plying Home Rule Prin-
ciple to Canal Stations.
STATE WATER ROUTES
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Millions Being Expended,
Under Ambiguous Laws,
on These Projects.
ny WILLARD r. MESSENGER

/ The Erie Canal and its lateral
branches in New York have been I'M
der construction and improvement by
the state for Just one hundred years.
at an expense of about s2OO'Ooo'ooo'
Of which New York City pays about
10 per cent but nobody knows wnen
the present improvements will De
completed, and no one has an estimate
of the character or volume of ton
mage which may be shipped to New
York CITY or where canal barge ear
goes will wish to discharge "heh 'he'
arrive. ,,
Instead of New York City allowing
itself 10 be taxed s14,000000 for slO,-
600 600 worth Of terminals under state
control. with ambiguous and made.
ouate laws. with no expectation of
their being self-sustaining. 1t would
be better business to apply the nome
rule principle and provide It's own
terminals when and where needed or
utilize some of the existing city
owned docks providing facilities
shippers need, rather than expending
taxpayers' money for crudely devised,
half-completed plans prematurely con.
ceived by uniformed, non-resident
legislators.
At present four canals are being i'm
proved, namely, the Erie. or main canal,
extending from the Hudson RIVER 70
Lake Erie, the western sections OF which
are not even expected TO be completed
until the spring of 1918; the Champlain
branch, running northerly from the
eastern terminus of the Erie TO Lake
Champlain, connected to the north with
the St Lawrence River, which branch,
il is hoped, may be completed in the
early part of 1917; the Oswego branch,
running north midway on the line OF
the Erie to Lake Ontario, which branch
il is also hoped, may be completed IN
the spring of 1917. and, lastly, the
Cayuga and Seneca branch, running
south about midway on the Erie, flrst
20 Cayuga Lake and then to Seneca
Lake. .
This makes total Of 100 miles OF
canal, canalized lakes and rivers. OF
which 440 miles are canal construction,
providing a minimum depth OF IL 1eet,
with 35 locks on the Erie, ii on the
/ Champlain. 7 on the Oswego and on
the Cayuga and Seneca canals, the
standard length Of lock chamber beng
3l1 feet. Is feet wide and II feet OF
water over the stills.
sl9,s00,O for Terminals.
By the referendum vote OF 1911, N9,-
800. 900 is appropriated for terminals
at about fifty cities and villages along
the canals, and sixteen terminals are
provided at New York City and the
locations specifically mentioned by the
act, and t9,740,000 of the appropriation
allowed for their construction and pur-
chase, although New York City's share
of the tax for state barge canal ter
minals will be about t14,0OO,OOc. The
laws of 1911, Chapter TAG, provides
that the funds are 70 be raised by the
issue of thirty-year 4 per cent tax ex,
empt bonds, the interest and prlnclpal
of which must be met by direct tax
ION each dollar OF valuation of real
and personal property IN this state
subject to taxation"
The whole subject OF the barge canal
terminals appears TO be strangely CON
ceived and similarly executed. The
act makes no provision whatever for
terminals along the line of the Hudson
River. In New York City, in 1914, land
was acquired by the state by condem-
toria and Long Island City, not specl-
fed in the act, although less than half
of the locations which were specified IN
the act have been acquired. II is now
estimated that the entire appropriation
allotted to New York City will be en-
tirelv exhausted for the terminals now
ACQUIRED and their improvements, leav-
ing no funds for the purchase or I'M
provement of several locations spe-
officially mentioned in the act. This
point is forcibly emphasized by the
State Engineer in his report, and also
the danger of the state finding itself
the owner of large plots of waterfront
property in New York City, with no
money to improve them.
At Gowanus Creek, South Brooklyn,
the state now has under construction
n bulkhead with thirty-five feet water
depth, and also provision for the con-
struction of one or two 1,2OO-foot piers,
! 100 feet wide, with pier sheds and
! travelling cranes and locomotive cranes
| on the bulkhead, at total expense OF
about 81, 500 900. Piers and 8 on the
East River, the state has acquired from
the CITY for Sl9l 900 for the structures
/ alone. A contract for S91 900 has just
| been let for rebuilding Pier 6, which IS
coo feet long with a width OF 50 feet
and a water depth of about hfteeni
feyt. and this pier will be equipped
with sheds and cranes.
The state has also acquired property
at Newtown Creek, where two existing
wooden piers are to be reconstructed
and one new concrete pier built. Con
tracts for about $4,000 are shortly to
! be let. A. l3sth Street and the Har-
/ lem River $50 feet OF water frontage
by about 100 feet in depth has been
acquired, and about $4,000 is to be
/ expended to move the bulkhead and
pierhead lines, which are coincident,
back As feet. There is also to be n
warehouse or shed constructed at this
point. AT West Fifty-third Street and
/ the Hudson River 700 feet of bulkhead
by $50 feet in depth has been acquired,
/ but no improvements are contemplated
/ for few months. Land has also been
| secured on the Hudson River at the
north end OF Manhattan. This includes
/ all Of the locations at which land has
/ been bought or improvements begun.