The New York herald., 1922-10-29

later, on October l3, the Board or EStl-
mate finally gave it's approval of this
bid.
After year and four. months de-
lay. the last stage Of the Fourteenth
street work is, therefore. about TO be
undertaken. Not only has there been
a waste of several hundred thousands Of
dollars in interest charges because of
the blockade in the Board of Estimate,
but the eastern district of Brooklyn
has been deprived Of its subway.
while all this was going on. the
Livonia avenue extension of the Eastern
Parkway line in Brooklyn-being a mile
OF elevated track leading toward
Brownsville--was similarly held up.
The structure had been completed, but
request for s9.045 to pay for signal
tower, essential to operation, sent to
the Board OF Estimate by Commissioner
Delaney on March Is. 1921. six weeks
before the Transit Commission took Of
flee, was held for something over a
year and two months, no approval being
given Hntil June 3, 1922. In the mean
while, no trains could be operated over
any part OF this extension, and the
Brownsville district was kept that much
further from relief.
"On November %. 1921, the commits
sion awarded the contract for the extern
sion from Grand Central Terminal
across Forty-second and Forty-first
streets to Eighth avenue at figure of
approximately $4,000 Although
this work had been long delayed. and
although both the Board of Estimate
and the Mayor months before had ap-
proved changes in the route designed to
hasten it, no action whatever was take l
until four months after the date of the
award by the commission Every de-
scription of pressure was exerted by the
civic bodies Of Queens and by the
commission itself but the Board of Es-
innate held up it's approving vote until
March "a, 1922.
Early in the present summer the
commission, acting with the railway
companies, the engineers of the Bor-
ough of Queens and the representatives
of the Queens civic bodies, worked out
plan under which joint operation of
the lnterborough and b. r. T. strains
from the Greensboro Plaza to Astoria
and Corona might be Immediately ef-
fected. This called for an appropria-
ton of s107 600. The contracts for the
work were sent to the Board of Esti-
mate on August 1. They have not beer
approved yet.
These are the cases in which the
delays have proven most serious. Many
others might be cited.
"NO Action on Transit Plan.o
The commission presented its plan
for new subways in May last. The
routes selected were those recommended
by it's engineers in the order of i'm
mediate Importance. They cover thirty
six route miles and would involve an
expenditure for construction of S21S,-
Ooo,O0O. ard for equipment of approx.
neately S100,000.000 more. Some of the
routes covered have already been legal
! lied by the Board of Estimate and the
courts. Others require the approval of
the Board of Estimate before any fur
ther steps could be taken leading to-
ward the preparation Of plans and con
tracts.
The more important of these routes
when sent to the Board of Estimate
received the announcement that no pres
ent action would be taken upon any of
them. On the contrary, on September 6
the Mayor presented his now familiar
plan for the construction of enormous
new mileage, the recapture of part of
the existing dual subway system, and
for municipal operation
IL need say nothing more than 1 hav.
said about the merits of this scheme
That IT was intended. however, for mere
blocading purposes can hardly be doubt
ed. There is immediate proof of this
In the fact that none of the plan. even
IL possible, could be put into effect unit!
1t had been submitted for the consd-
Grafton and approval of the Transit
Commission, and that the Mayor openly
declared that it would not be so sub
| mitted.
ssvr>t-
The fact that all of the city's avail
able borrowing capacity in sight would
be required for payment in cash to the
interborough and b. r. T. companies
for recapture purposes alone, and tha,
nothing. therefore, would be left for
actual subway building for years ahead
orters further proof under this head.