Year: 1869

We do Mayor Hall the justice to believe that
O twO-fold ambition fired his breast when no
wrote his recent message to the Common COun-
Gil. He purposes becoming not only the Necker
of the Tammany treasury. but the Haussmann
of the new metropolis With his schemes for
perpetual repletion of the pockets of the Ring,
he unites plans for the renovation and improve
ment of the city, beside which even NapOleOn's
remodeling of Paris loses its magnificent pro-
portions. He dreams of paradise of brick
and marble Only give him the money, and he
will carve out all the thOroughfares we want,
knock down a tenth of all the buildings in the
lower wards, keep the streets as clean as a
ballroom, give us perfect systems of sewerage
and water supply, line our harbOr with magniti-
cent docks, and pave all New-York with con-
crete, OF asphaltum, or Guidet blocks.


There is not much probability that Mr.. Hall
will ever get the power to carry out his grand
(thOugh slightly expensive) designs in full; bat so
far as certain street improvements are concerned,
he assures the Common Council that they can
go straight ahead without anybOdys permis-
sion, distribute the plumber among their favor
ties, and leave posterity to pay the bills. The
work which he lays out for them is stipend



thrown into the carriage road, and sort of
arcade for pedestrians constructed within the
first stories of all the buildings! This, of
course would ruin at least half of the most
costly structures on our principal street, and
probably large proportion of them would
have to be torn down altogether. Architectural
beauty on Broadway would henceforth be I'M
possible. Fifth-ave is to be cut through to
Canal-st.-we suppose by pushing across Wash


ngton Parade Ground, and widening ThOmp-
son-st. Hudson-st. to be extended diagonally
through four blocks to the corner of Church and
Barclay -sts; Lafayette-place to be prolonged
to Marion ST., and the latter widened to Centre;
Sixth-aye to be cut through TO Canal-st., and
various alterations and enlargements to be made
in Ann, Yesey, Catherine, Franklin, and other
cross streets to facilitate travel from river to
river. The City Hall Park is then to be
turned into on open plaza, from which numer-
ous thOroughfares will radate to the northern,
eastern, and western parts of the city.


IL we had honest officers to carry out these
plans, many Of them would be attractive. But
with Tammany Hall to direct the work and
control the payments. these city improvements
would be nothing but carnival OF corruption,
whereof 10 man of this generation would live
to see the end. Unchecked even by the grOans
of assessed property owners, and raising all
the money they needed by a sort of municipal
post obii, the extravaganza and peculaton Of
the Ring would be bOundless. The whole
Democratic party could be supported on the
proceeds; naturalization mills could be run in
every town and a liberal investment i'll judges
might place the rOgues entirely beyond reach
of punishment. We say nothing of the scheme
for tearing down all the shops on Broadway,
because that is n black-mail operation, the
proposers of which only want to be bought
Off; but for the rest Mayor Hall threatens
enough to terrify the stoutest heart, and we
shall be surprised if the public alarm do not
find an emphatic voice.