A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 80

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 80

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Previous to the annexation of the town of

516

IIISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

New Lots to the city of Brooklyn an economi- cal political government had made taxes small with very few public improvements. The first expensive improvement was the grading, curb- ing and paving in part of Atlantic avenue, which was done in 1870 by a special commis- sion under an act passed April 16, 1869. This cost about $100,000. Thereafter a few prin- cipal streets in the old East New York section were improved by grading, curbing and flag- ging, which aggregated about $90,000 more expended under a New Lots improvement commission. When the agitation of the an- nexation question commenced, it was deemed wise to bond the town for $500,000 for public improvements, which was done.

There was a balance in this fund of accrued interest amounting to about $20,000, which was expended in part on certain other street improvements, or still remains to the credit of the ward.

Since annexation to Brooklyn the sewers have been laid and are being paid for by as- sessments on the property benefited.

The Park Department has improved Glen- more avenue, through the ward, and has also improved the eastern parkway extension and Pennsylvania avenue. These improvements were not assessed directly upon the property benefited, by an anomaly in political diplo- macy.

The Twenty-sixth Ward, known up to 1886 as the town of New Lots, may deserve the credit of being the pioneer in annexation and consolidation to the city, because the annexa- tion of that locality to Brooklyn caused a phenomenal boom to suburban property in the old town of New Lots that became a strong argument among real estate men and influ- enced the subsequent annexation to Brooklyn of all the other county towns of Kings county. The town of New Lots was ripe for annexa- tion when it came. for it had secured perfect railroad transit via both steam and elevated railroads, as well as being the terminus of the trunk horse car lines to the Brooklyn ferries, which for five cents carried one to the ferry, day or night. Besides these railroad advan- tages water was secured at a small cost to the individual and without a dollar of town in- debtedness. No wonder that the population of this ward increased from 10,000 in 1872 to nearly 80,000 in 1900.

Since annexation to Brooklyn the sewers have been laid and provided with the only

perfect outlet in Kings county, and, as these sewers were prosecuted on long term bonds- and as these bonds are about one-half paid off, it will be discovered ere long that the Twenty-sixth Ward has indeed secured great advantages in laying the foundation for a great and solid future to the real estate in- vestor. This locality has passed through all the experimental schemes of suburban de- velopment, and whatever advantages it has had physically, they have all been a factor in its- rapid growth. This ward may be said to be the gateway to Long Island, for all the bridges and railroads, elevated, surface or depressed, go through this gate to the island with their stream of travel. This ward will be the first to develop a water front on Jamaica Bay, and the wonder is that, with navigable water within two miles of a population of nearly 80,000 people, not a public dock for coal, lumber and all material necessary to cheapen the building and sustaining trade of such a community has- been built.

There the annexation movement rested until, after much negotiation and delay, Flat- bush became Brooklyn's Twenty-ninth Ward April 25,. 1894, Gravesend became the Thirty- first Ward on May 8, and New Utrecht the Thirtieth Ward on July 1. This brought all of Kings county within the city of Brooklyn excepting the town of Flatlands, and that wheeled into line in 1896 and took rank with her old Dutch sister communities as the Thir- ty-second Ward. There was naturally great jubilation in Brooklyn over this consummation, and as by the time Flatlands had surrendered the trolley was opening up new routes daily and the land boomers were organizing fresh tracts of land into home sites, it was felt that a splendid future had opened up for the enlarged city,-Greater Brooklyn, they called it, and the orators were wont to enlarge upon the ex- tent and importance of a city that extended from the East River to the sea, that practically had space enough for a century's growth, that had a magnificent water front, a well-supplied treasury, a population of over a million and all varieties of landscape from the crowded streets around the City Hall to the festal scenes

CITY HALL, BROOKLYN.

517

"THE END OF AN AULD SANG."

of Coney Island and the hopeful isolation of Flatlands and New Utrecht.

But even in the midst of this expansion and jubilation the evidences were not wanting that a much greater transformation was at hand; that once the comedy of annexation was over the drama of consolidation,-some regarded it as a tragedy .- would begin. The movement toward the consolidation of Brook- lyn and New York had long been agitated. Mr. Stranahan had ventilated it for years, and with the completion of the bridge many thoughtful persons saw in that event but the first tangible evidence of the complete civic union that was bound to come. While the scheme was but a dream, Brooklyn regarded the matter somewhat jocularly, but in 1894. when the question became serious and agita- tion on the subject became acute, it was seen that the voting population was pretty evenly divided, for and against. In 1890 the advo- cates of union had so far matured their plans as to have a commission appointed by the Legislature to consider the expediency of con- solidating the cities. The Long Island mem- bers were J. S. T. Stranalian, E. F. Linton and W. D. Veeder, of Brooklyn, and John H. Brinckerhoff, of Queens. Under the engineer- ing of this commission a test vote as an ex- pression was taken at the November election in 1894, with the following result :

FOR. AGAINST.

Kings county

64.744

64,467

Queens county

7,712

4,74I

New York.

96,938

59,959

With the rest of the vote we are not here concerned. On the Long Island side the only district to give a majority against consolida- tion was Flushing ( 1,407 against, 1,144 for, union) ; but the most curious fact brought out was that Brooklyn's exploits in the way of annexation had really sounded the knell of its own separate history. The majority in Kings county for consolidation was only 277, and this was brought about by the vote of the annexed towns, for in Brooklyn city proper

the vote showed a majority of 1,034 against. The vote had hardly been counted before defi- nite action was taken by the opponents of the question which had now become a live and most important issue. The League of Loyal Citizens was formed and began a vigorous campaign, using the press, enlisting orators, issuing leaflets and even a newspaper which was called "The Greater Brooklyn," and in- troduced into the Legislature a bill supported by a petition signed by over 70,000 voters of Brooklyn, calling for a resubmission of the question to a vote of the people. On January 13, 1896, the league organized a mass meet- ing in the Academy of Music, where Dr. Storrs presided and declared that while resubmis- sion was the topic to be considered, "there is now a strong sentiment against consolidation with or without resubmission." "Let Brook- lyn's future remain in the hands of Brook- lyn's people," was the watchword of the meet- 'ing, and its entire proceedings showed the keen antipathy which had been aroused to any at- tempt at union. In March, 1896, however, a bill favoring consolidation was passed in the Senate by a vote of 38 to 8 and in the Assem- bly by 91 to 56. When submitted as required by law to the executives of the municipalities affected, Mayor Strong, of New York, and Mayor Wurster, of Brooklyn, vetoed the bill, and Mayor Gleason, of Long Island City, ap- proved it. When the bill was returned to Al- bany it was promptly repassed and became a law. A mass meeting in New York, in which A. A. Low and the Rev. Dr. Cuyler took a prominent part, asked Governor Morton to veto the bill, but it was signed on May II, 1896, and so the first stage of the struggle was over.

By the terms of the act consolidation was to go into effect on January 1, 1898, and in the meantime a commission was to frame a charter for the proposed great municipality and setting out the basis of the union. This commission consisted of Seth Low, Benjamin F. Tracy, John F. Dillon, Comptroller Stew-

518

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

art L. Woodford, Thomas F. Gilroy, Silas B. Dutcher, William C. De Witt, George M. Pinney, Jr., and Harrison S. Moore. That body accomplished its task, and the charter it , prepared, after being amended to please the whims of some of the legislators, was duly passed and became a law by the signature of the Governor on May 2, 1897. In November of that year the Mayor of the consolidated municipality and all the other elective officials provided by the charter were chosen after a heated campaign, and then the consolidation movement had only to wait a few weeks be- fore coming to its full fruition.

It was truly a mournful gathering that assembled in the Council Chamber of Brook- lyn's City Hall on the closing hours of De- cember 31, 1897, to observe the passing into history of the City of Churches. There was no lack of expressions of hope for the future ; it was even felt by many that Brooklyn was about to enter upon the highest phase of her history; that she was to preserve her indi- viduality in the cluster of boroughs which the next day were to unite into the Greater New York; but even the most optimistic in the gathering could not but feel that they were face to face with "the end of an auld sang," as the Chancellor of Scotland remarked with the passing of the last vote which united that

country to England. The meeting,-"the wake," some one irreverently called it,-was arranged mainly by the Society of Old Brook- lynites and the city officials, and the following formed the committee in charge: Joseph C. Hendrix, William Berri, Herbert F. Gunnison, John S. Mckeon, Richard Young, James L. Watson, D. T. Leverich, John Hess, E. D. White, Stephen M. Griswold, Mayor Wurster, Comptroller Palmer, Auditor Sutton, Alder- men J. R. Clark and David S. Stewart. The City Hall was bedecked with flowers and seemed gay even in the waning hours of its pre-eminence. Over the exercises Mayor Wurster presided, and in a graceful manner performed his last public official duty. The in- evitable "oration" without which no Amer- ican gathering would be complete was deliv- ered by St. Clair McKelway, whose theme was "From Great to Greater." Will Carle- ton, the poet, read an original ode, "The Pass- ing of Brooklyn," and Rev. J. M. Farrar, D. D., delivered an address on "Commerce and Church." An informal address was made at the close of the exercises by ex- Mayor Seth Low.

The proceedings were kept up until the toll- ing of the bell in the tower announced at once the dawn of 1898 and the end of the long and honorable story of the City of Brooklyn.

QUEENS

CHAPTER XLIII.

QUEENS.

DEVELOPMENT FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIFE-THE FUTURE OF THE BOROUGH- HORSE RACING-AN INTERESTING STORY OF THE CONSOLIDATION.

ITH the advent of the Greater New York the old county of Queens be- came little more than an expres- sion. Shorn of its ancient bound- aries it retained its county organization, its County Clerk, District Attorney, Surrogate, Sheriff and other legal officials, but for admin- istrative purposes it became one of the bor- oughs of the Greater New York with its repre- sentatives in the Council and on the Board of Aldermen of the great city, its own local Bor- ough President, Board of Public Improve- ment, its school board and the like. It is as much a distinct borough as Manhattan or Brooklyn, with the same official staff as has any of the other component sections of the greater city.

But that fact does not make it any the less true that many of the old residents of the Queens County as it was, believe that in its present status as a borough much of its old glory has departed, that its birthright has been sold for a mess of pottage and that even that reward or price is still in the future. At the election of Nov. 6, 1894, at which the question

of consolidation was decided by the people Queens county voted in favor of the change by 7.712 votes to 4.741, the large majority being rolled up mainly through the votes of Long Island City. Flushing township voted 1,407 against consolidation and 1,144 in favor of it.

The boundaries of the old County of Queens were as follows: On the east by Suf- folk County, on the west by Kings County, on the north by Long Island Sound and on the south by the Atlantic, and included 410 square miles. In its territory was the North and South Brother, Riker (Hallet's) and several smaller islands. The whole was divided into the six townships of Newtown, Flushing. Jamaica, North, Hempstead, Hempstead and Oyster Bay. For a long time its population increased slowly-slowly, that is, considering its contiguity to Manhattan Island. In 1731 the figure was 7,895 ; in 1786, 13,084; in 1800, 16,983 ; in 1830, 22.460; in 1880, 90,574; and in 1890, the last official census in which the county figured, 128,415, The details of the two latest censuses follow :

522

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Flushing town.

1890. 19,803

1880. 15,906

Including College Point vil-

lage .

6,127

4,192

Flushing village.

8,463

6,683

Whitestone village.

2,808

2,520

Hempstead town.

23,756

18,164

Including Far Rockaway vil- lage .

2,288

Hempstead village.

4,831

2,52I

Inwood village. .

1,277

Lawrence village.

626

Rockaway Beach village.

1,502

....

Seaford village

503

Jamaica town.

14,44I

10,088

Including Jamaica village.

5,36I

3,922

Ozone Park village.

539

Richmond Hill village .. .

626

.....

Long Island City

30,506

17,129

Ward I.

8.359

Ward 2.

3,303

Ward 3.

4,813

Ward 4.

.9,263

Ward 5.

4,768

Newtown town.

17,549

9,804

Including Corona village

2,362

750

Middle village.

504

Winfield village.

819

Woodside village.

710

500

North Hempstead town.

8,134

7,560

Including Roslyn village.

1,25I

I,IOI

Oyster Bay town, including Sea Cliff village ( organized

in 1880)

13,870

11,923

Totals

128,059

90,574

Since the change which incorporated it into New York, what remains of the old coun- ty as the Borough of Queens still continues to show an increase, and that in a more marked degree than formerly. Long Island City has now an estimated population of over 50,000 and the other sections are increasing in great although not equal proportions. Of late years the land boomer has been energetically at work and devoting to Queens some at least of that energy which helped so materially to build up the old outlying sections of Brooklyn, and as a result many new settlements are opened up each year. But the increased facilities of travel with the various sections of the Greater City

in the way of bridges over the East River and tunnels under it and the splendid programme of the Long Island Railroad as to its immedi- ate extension and the adoption of improve- ments which will make it a trunk line are the stirest reliances for the wonderful growth which will come to Queens within the next decade. Its population of 152,999 in 1900 will, it is confidently expected, be doubled.

For a long time in the last century the pop- ulation of Queens increased very slowly so far as immigration was concerned. Little effort was made to entice settlement and it was so inconveniently situated that even intercourse between it and Brooklyn was difficult. Long after Brooklyn and its associate towns and even the villages of Westchester were more or less marked by the influx of settlers from abroad, Queens county went on the even tenor of its way, contented with its isolation, proud of its old families, and careful of the ancient customs which had been handed down, gener- ation after generation. But such a state of things could not endure for ever and the in- troduction of the railroad in Queens as well as elsewhere brought a change. Long Island City, for instance, may be regarded as a prod- uct of the railway, and it has had for years, as it has now, a larger proportion of foreign born citizens in its population than any other part of the borough. Jamaica, too, has felt the change, although it was not until the in- troduction of the trolley and its cheap and speedy method of transit that it began to really feel the full effect of the modern impulse.

But gratifying as this increase of popula- tion is in one sense-in every practical sense- it has not been witnessed without a sentiment of regret by some of the representatives of the old families. The late Gov. R. C. McCormick, who for fifty years had his home in Jamaica, remarked a few weeks before his death (1901) to the writer with considerable pathos: "I re- member when I used to walk along these streets of Jamaica and everybody knew me and spoke to me. I knew all the children, and.

523

QUEENS.

could send kindly messages of enquiry with them to their homes. I had something to say to every man or woman I met, I knew much of their history, their hopes, their disappoint- ments, their anxieties and sorrows. They all knew me, knew of my interests, my politics, my purposes, my standing in the community. Now I can walk from my home here to the postoffice and back again and not exchange a word with any one. It is very sad; it is not as it used to be; we have lost the old friendli- ness and neighborliness, we are growing in strength, new streets are being opened up each year, we have no fault to find with the new- comers, they are here to found homes-the very best class of settlers who can come to any place, but somehow the old charm of personal acquaintance has been lost."

' In one respect the statistics of Queens County are peculiar, as they show, until almost a recent date, a very small proportion of pau- perism. In 1835, for instance, with a popula- tion of 25,130, there were only 71 persons re- cerving public relief. This slim proportion continued all through the history of the coun- ty until the introduction of the railway, and the figures before us tell the story so familiar to students of sociology that as the county ad- vanced in wealth so did the number of its pau- pers increase. In a purely agricultural com- munity, and especially in a community where the ground is tilled by its owners, pauperisni does not flourish, and such a community was Queens County until it began to fall under the influence of the spirit of "modern improve- ments."

But the future of Queens borough is not to lie in agriculture; that much seems certain from a survey of existing conditions or condi- tions promised. It will be by the growth of its manufactures, the development of its seaside resorts and its advantages as a place for home building. Long Island City is already a manu- facturing centre, so is Jamaica, and scattered through the country are places like Steinway

devoted solely to one branch of trade. All that is really needed to upbuild local manufacturing prosperity is cheap and adequate communica- tion with the rest of the continent, and that is promised in the fullest measure in the near fu- ture. Land is cheap in every section of the borough and water privileges are plentiful. In the way of summer resorts contiguous to New York, it has splendid advantages. On the Atlantic coast the Rockaways, Arverne, Woodsburgh, Lawrence and Edgemere are al- ready famous and popular ; on the other side North Beach now attracts thousands each year, and Flushing Bay is ready to provide a dozen resorts, while College Point, Whitestone and the shores of Little Neck Bay already boast populous summer colonies.

For home building with the trolley system daily becoming more ubiquitous, and the prom- ised development of the Long Island Railroad, and the tunnels and bridges now in course of construction, all' insuring rapid and convenient travel, there is no section better for practical purposes on Long Island. Real estate in Brooklyn-throughout old Kings County, in fact-has long lost its old time quality of cheapness-a quality that still presents itself abundantly in Queens. Then according to the schemes now being put through, Jamaica will really be nearer the centre of business on Man- hattan Island than are Flatbush or Gravesend.

A ridge of high hills runs east and west through the borough along its northern part, throwing out spurs to the Sound and breaking the shore into indentations of bays and head- lands. On this ridge, facing the water, are some of the most finished home settlements in the city, while the broad interior plain stretch- ing southward to the Atlantic is covered with agricultural villages, railroad towns and thriv- ing suburbs. Throughout both the Sound and plains settlements city improvements, such as water, gas and electricity, are universal, and larger places, like Flushing and Jamaica, have sewerage systems.

524

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

Writing on the certain progress of Queens Borough, a recent writer, who evidently had the facts at his finger's end, wrote :

This tremendous prospective growth of population must of necessity follow the lines of least resistance, which, in the presence of adequate transportation, are determined by the cost of land. On this basis Queens should receive a disproportionate share of whatever investment takes place, for land in Queens is selling at hundreds of dollars as against thousands in the case of land in Manhattan and The Bronx at an equal distance from the Manhattan City Hall. The Long Island Rail- road's passenger service will come into direct contact with the Manhattan Rapid Transit system at the Brooklyn terminal of the tunnel from the Battery and in Manhattan itself through the tunnel from Long Island City. Through these tunnels the principal settie- ments in Queens will be tapped without change of cars, except to board those of the Man- hattan Rapid Transit road, and these new out- lets to Manhattan will be supplemented by three others dispensing with water passage- the East River Bridge, the Blackwell's Island Bridge and the bridge at Peck Slip, all of which are under way. The combined effect of two tunnels and three new bridges on the passen- ger service from Queens will be tremendous, revolutionizing travel not only over the Long Island Railroad, but over the elevated and trolley lines as well.

How susceptible the growth of the borough is to betterments of transportation appears from the progress made in the past three or four years. Consolidation with New York induced the construction of a network of trol- ley lines throughout the borough by the New York and Queens County Railway Company and the New York and North Shore Railway Company, which are identical as to manage- ment. The former system starts at the Long Island Railroad ferry in Long Island City and the latter at the terminus of the Kings County Elevated road at the Brooklyn borough limit. The two systems, which also connect with the Long Island Railroad and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit lines at numerous points in the inte- rior, served the needs of local travel, besides bringing formerly inacessible places into con- tact with the highways of travel to Manhattan. The formation of the New York and Queens Electric Light and Power Company not only

supplied the illuminant that is now essential in public lighting but made economical power for manufacturing available throughout the borough, except the Rockaway district.

These notable improvements, together with the admission to Brooklyn Bridge of the trolley and elevated lines of the Brooklyn Rapid Tran- sit Company, which sends one branch of its system to Jamaica and another to Flushing, started a building movement which spread far beyond the customary limit of housing im- provements. However, the bulk of the travel from the farther parts of the borough must continue to be over the Long Island Railroad. Hence the supreme importance of the tunnels which will connect that road with the Manhat- tan Rapid Transit system, implying a saving of at least fifteen minutes in distance which now consume an hour in travel, besides dis- pensing with ferry transfers. But although the improvements in transportation that have been obtained since consolidation with New . York appear slight by comparison with those now in sight, they were sufficient to initiate a far-reaching movement in real estate, until in 1900 the number of conveyances practically equalled those of The Bronx with its direct approach to downtown Manhattan and its years of start in municipal progress.

Outside of farming, only one of the old industries of Queens remains, that of horse racing, although it must be confessed that the sorry and sometimes silly exhibitions at Aque- duct are but a poor succession to the old glories of Hempstead or Union Course. Horse racing really was the first industry of Queens county and its meets were long the most famous in the country. In 1665 Gov. Nicolls ordered a race course to be set aside on Hempstead "for encouraging the bettering of the breed of horses which, through great neglect, has been impaired." His successor, Gov. Lovelace, also lent his aid to making the sport a success and it seems to have been a popular feature from the first. Daniel Denton in his "Brief De- scription" (London, 1701) says: "Toward the middle of Long Island lveth a plain 16 miles long and 4 broad, where you will find neither stick nor stone to hinder the horses' heels, or endanger them in their races, and

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 80

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188