New-York tribune., 1922-03-22

the possible danger Of surrend.r;. ~.
sovereign power Of the stets eh'esa"s ~, .ne
vi the transit amendments Il. .ss,.,
his telegram. "ouia follow
49," oi 'he commissioners said las,
.iehe mat even If there should he ~
a'NeiNershlp for the interborourh sucL
proceeding would not necesser;lv H.,
eer1sre with the working OUT ~ tho
ooh'mlsSion' plan for unifyinp the swss
.eh'S' The Federal court has iur;sj;c.
,'cn III receivershipa and can di.con-
! .."u' an Improbable line, but the nrac-
.'sai supervision of the lines in re-
&c s'e''ershlp are under the jurisdiction of
tn. commission. Va
,ity to Investigate II. r. T. Contracts
IN view OF the report that the Brook
,in rapid Transit Company NAV sue
me cl'y Ior large sum Of money "na
t.:onlpesa'ion for delays in construc-
, v'on u"aer thelr part of the dual sub
way contracts, Mayor Hylan instructed
Corporation Counsel O'Brier sst vsstsnie.' us;eu
20 nave thorough and exhaustive
investigation made to determine
wAefher the city has any ground to
n@Ie 'hesc contracts set aside because
Si 'fauo practlced upon the city or the
i,aEduient overreaching Of the citv Mt
'ne 'hne these contracts were made on.
otner violations of these contracts"
- IN ms letter to the Corporation
Hounse the Mayor declared that tho
enreat from the B. r. 4. was probably
.nrown out In bad faith. While these
'hrea's lack substance, the Mayor said.
IT made it necessary for the citv to
TOOK into the circum stances Of the con-
tracts VIII
Cne item stands out as gross illus
trauon OF how the city was overreached
Dy the b. r. I. in the dual subway
contracts said the Mayor. Bear in
NINA 'hat the city was represented in
these negotiations by Mr.. McAnenv.
now chairman of the State Transit
commission, and by the Public Service
Sommlsslon. The contract with the B.
n. |. provided that the railroad com
pany should advance $13,5O0.OOO in
cash. 1t permitted the B. r. T. to turn
over to the city, in lieu Of 81 10000 Of
=. ght Of We in the cut at Thirty-si
street, South Brooklyn. 1t appears that
Tn tne cost Of the land for this cut was
$4,000 and the cost Of construction
work was $16600o. making a total of
$2Sl, 900. For this the B. r. T. subsid-
.ary acquired outright the ownership
IN ice of the cut and all the surround
ing property and improvements not en-
oraced in the cut. The city got only a
mere easement-that is. the right to
run trains over part of this land-and
was charged therefor S1,O00,00o.
TINS incident in high finance at
the expense of the City of New York,
thanks to Mr.. McAneny, has been capt
talized by the B. R. r. The city was
mulcted in this single deal with the
a,nt b. R. ;ptors T; Of about $4,000, plus per
charged against operating expresses.
during the entire life of this contract
There are, no doubt, many similar high
finance incidents contained in this B.
r. 7. contract. and l urge you to ferret
them out with the purpose in mind of
determining whether they furnish a
basis for legal action to set aside the
contract"
The Interborough has been directed
by the Transit Commission TO install
an additional escalator at the Park
Place. station on Its West Side line.
The development of traffic at this sta
tion warrants the installation Of an
escalator of greater capacity