New-York tribune., 1922-08-30
Despite McAneny's Fight on
5000, 900, 900 Plan, II
Will Be Put Into Effect
Mayor Says Wrathfully0
Projects Future iii Doubt
Board of Estimate Has No
Intention Of Submitting
Sch e M e TO Commission

! the Transit Commission.
This was made by way OF reply to
the comments made by Mr.. McAneny
on the Mayors se0o,ooo,0oo plan for
building thirty-five new subways.
The Mayor restatcs all cf his Oft
repeated charges against the Transit
Commission, asserting that that state
body is "the hope of the traction ring
and that it's main purpose Is to make
the city pay for lot of surface and
elevated lines which the Mayor holds
to be worthless.
It was learned yesterday, both at the
City Hall and In Albany, that the Board
Of Estimate has no intention of sub
mitting the Mayors subway plan to the
Transit Commission, which Is charged
under the law with the duty of initial
ing all new routes.
Attack on Chairman
1t is the purpose of Mayor Hylan to
have the Board Of Estimate hold hear
ings on his plan and, after obtaining
the Endorsement of various civic bodies
and citizens, to send it to the Legisla-
| ture and ask for its approval and for
the abolition Of the Transit Commits
sion and turning over to the Board of
Estimate sole authority to build sub
ways.
In this way the Mayors plan will
escape the analysis of the Transit Com
mission engineers, who are committed
to the commissions comprehensive plan
| for new subways at cost of S218, ,00G,-
| COO.
"Mr. McAneny's reason for scathing-
| ly condemning my subway proposals is
clear" says the Mayors statement
from Saratoga. "My plan does not in
clude the purchase of useless and
| worn-out surface cars, tracks, power
houses and other antiquated surface
car equipment, nor does it provide for
the purchase Of elevated structures,
which will be removed from the city
streets as soon as sufficient new sub
way lines are built by the city to take
their places"
After describing quite in detail the
"malevolent purposes and motives" of
Mr.. McAneny, the Mayor says:
IF ne remains in Office as chairman
until doomsday he will never be able
to accomplish this purpose, because the
people will never permit him to do so.'
"People Want Subways"
Apparently referring to the Transit
Commissions S21s,00O,000 plan Of last
May, the Mayor, whose routes very
closely parallel the commissions
routes, says:
"For brazenness and sheer nerve this
plan of Mr.. McAneny and the transit
ring transcends anything they have put
out
"The people of New York want new
| subways and they will get them be-
cause I and the other members of the
Board of Estimate were elected to pro-
| vide them and other modern trans
| portation conveniences, and we intend
| to provide them"
| When the Mayors dictated message
was handed to Mr.. McAneny with re-
| quest for comment, he said:
| ~ am not surprised that the nrst
/ puncture should bring forth note Of
! pain from the author of the thing
punctured. / would advise the Mayor,
however, to reserve his vocal strength
be many more of them. have no
comment to make upon his telephone
message except to point out that in my
statement published this morning did
not condemn his plan as worthless
silly ridiculous or 'idiotic djec-
! tives that, for some reason or other,
| he attributes to ME. He may be as
] sured that the members of the Transit
/ Commission, in the course of the dis
cussion he is provoking, will confine
! themselves to parliamentary language
and to the facts. Much will depend, OF
course, upon the fair and clear expo
!. sition of facts. Toward that end the
commission proposes to give the Mayor
every opportunity to- prove the state
ments it now disputes and to verify the
| figures upon which his apparently I'M
| possible scheme of financing is based.
Warns of Delay
at has not undertaken to do more
at the moment than TO point out that
neither the Board Of Estimate nor the
Mayor could even begin to carry out
such a plan as he has proposed, for
the reason that they lack the legal au-
thority; that to carry out much more
than half the plan would demand the
use of more credit or borrowing capac-
ity than the city will have for every
municipal purpose, transit included, for
years ahead; that the first step the
scheme proposes would tear to pieces
the existing fve-cent fare system, and
that instead of fastening the construc-
tion of new lines it would indefinitely
put off such construction.
'The lines shown in the Mayors
plan, covering a period of fifteen years
ahead, are taken, with few variations,
from the list Of lines to be constructed
throughout the period that the com
mission itself has before it, published
it a report of it's consulting engineer
dated August 2, 1920 In its construc-
tion program of May last the commits
sion covered the first five-year period
In that respect the Mayors recon-
mendations for the first five years are
comparable with the commissions, and
cover approximately the same mileage
The commissions engineers are pre-.
pairing a comprehensive conparisos.
based upon its own 'ffteen-year period.
When this is ready it will return to the
matter of routes with the Mayor with
an absolutely open mind, and, natural
ly, will be glad to make any changes
that may be shown to be desirable
y either in its own general routing plan
or in the order in which particular
! lines shall be scheduled for construc-
tiou."
Equitable Lite Joins IL,
I 4. II. TT" Adjustment