New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
New Park Avenue
Traffic System to
Open in a Week
Expansion of Neck of 'sBot-
tle'' at 34th St. Will Pro-
vide New Artery and Re.
lieve the City's Congestion

The long traffic veins which extend
down the narrow arm of Manhattan
Island will be augmented by another
one on April ID, when the Park Avenue
improvement will be thrown open to
the public. The completion Of this en-
gineering job at Thirty fourth Street
expands the neck of what had been a
traffic "bottle" relieves congestion in
front of the Vanderbilt and Park Ave-
nue. hotels and permits an uninter-
rupted stream of pedestrian and vehi-
cular travel from the northern reaches
of Manhattan to the City Hall.
The Thirty-fourth Street Board of
Trade has celebrated the prospective
street opening by making public an in
teresting history of Park Avenue, which
as much as any other traffic artery, has
linked together what was string of
rampantly fourishing villages so as to
form one great city.
In 1856 the New York Central Hudson
River Railroad Company was chartered
by the State of New York to run it's
trains into New York City. In 1859
steam engines were forbidden to 90
lower than Forty second Street, and
passengers of ante -bellum days were
drawn by horses through the cut on
Fourth Avenue to the terminal at
Twenty seventh Street and Fourth Ave
nue., where Madison Square Garden now
stands.
The first Grand Central Station.
erected in 1871 on the site of the pres
ent structure eliminated Twenty
seventh Street rs railway terminus
and Immediately in the Intervening
territory between the old and new sta
tions the wealthy families of New York
bought land and built homes that were
Of the finest in the country.
North of Forty-sccond Street, along
the path now occupied by Park Ave,
nue. all property had been given over
to the railway system and the dense
smoke clouds emitted by the steam en-
gihes as they emerged from the Fifty
sixth street tunnel retarded real es-
tate development. in 1904 the change
from steam to electricity and the sub
merging of tracks made possible the
greatest step in the development of
Park Avenue, that of tho erection of n
boulevard supcrstructure over the
nlultl-track system which flowed into
the Grand Central Station
io ll'Ht movement was the compile
tlch OF nn elevated driveway around
Grand Central Station which permitted
traic to flow with but II slight dotour
from the new Park Avenue into the
old
Then came thc idea, conceived by
city. officials in 1913, Of lowering the
grade ut the intersection Of Thirty
fourth Street and Park Avenue. thus
permitting traffic to flow on toward tho
south. The ultimate plan conceived
by Mr. McAneny late president of the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment,
fostered by Mr.. Marks, late President
of the Borough of Manhattan, designed
by William Barclay Parsons and car
rled out under the direction of Frank
K: bowling, President Of the Borough
OF Manhattan, is that which meets the
view to-day.
A graded driveway was laid on the
east. side of Park Avenue, where for
merly there had been none, and the
raising and depressing of surface car
level s had been accomplished so adroit-
ly that traffic is in nowise impeded at
point which was once the despair of
traffic officers.