The New York herald., 1922-08-02
Queens Borough President
Says He'll Fight Project
Unless He Has His Way.
BRIDGE TO JERSEY URGED
Commissioner Whalen Says
Cost, Capacity and Comfort
All Against Tunnel.

Borough President Connolly oi
Queens said yesterday he would op-
pose the s50.o00.00o project of Com
missioner Nhalen of the Department
OF Plant and Structures for a new
East River bridge unless it ran to
Queens. He suggested Thirty fourth
street, Manhattan. to Long Island City
as the natural route.
President Murray Hubert of the
Board Of Aldermen wrote to Mr.. Wha-
len from Waterloo, where he is on
his vacation, suggesting route from
Ferry Point, in The Bronx, to White
stone.
Although he is member Of the
New York and New Jersey Bridge
Commission, which has decided We
hicular tunnel can be safely built
under the North River. Commissioner
Whalen, in a reply last night to the
suggestion that tunnels and not more
bridges are needed as an outlet from
bridges.
II would not consider it possible to
build a tunnel free from the danger of
ssphyxiation by gasses until after the
New York and New Jersey tunnel had
been in successful operation for some
years." he said. while the engineers
OF that tunnel reported they had solved
the problem of ventilation. there are
Just as many engineers who say 1t has
not been settled.
Then, a bridge can carry more traf-
fic than a tunnel. The bridge / have
in mind would be triple decker with
levels for rapid transit trains. for
vehicles and for foot passengers. At the
most. all you could put in a tunnel
would be a road for automobiles and
fcotpaths One tunnel would cost less
than one bridge, but enough tunnels to
carry the traffic of one bridge would
cost more than that bridge. Then, the
people want to be in the open air. They
would not make use of = tunnel"
IF a bridge were to land In the
Greenpoint section II would be in q
dead end OF Brooklyn" said Borough
President Connolly. "Only one street.
Manhattan avenue, which Is already
congested-could lead from it. On the
other hand, IL the bridge landed in Long
Island City one OF the approaches could
cross Newtown Creek into the Green.
point section. One approach could ex.
tend up Jackson avenue and form a con.
nection with the Queens Boulevard. An.
other could turn off into Vernon ave.
nue., connecting with the great industrial
plants along the East River In the
Ravenswood section.
II am having studies prepared by en-.
gineers in my office and expect they
will be ready for any special meeting
Of the Board of Estimate the Mayor
may call.
President Hulberts letters follows:
Before you make any recommends
tion to the Board OF Estimate. I would
appreciate it very much IL you would
give consideration to the proposal tc
build bridge from Ferry Point in The
Bronx to Whitestone. IL you have not
already done So This is the logical
location for the next bridge. The river
is narrow at that point: and II will d.
vert traffic from the already con-
Rested section of Long Island and al
the same time afford direct trans.
portation of food products TO the fast
est growing borough. and relieve upper
Manhattan as well. There is no reasor
why people above Eighty-sixth stree
should be compelled to go down e
Fifty-ninth street or below to trave
out on Long Island"