USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 44
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
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New York from Williamsburg.
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
nected by a bridge with the Battery, is Castle Garden, the fortress of olden times, and subsequently the well- known locality of the American Institute fairs, and the scene of the triumphs of Jenny Lind, Truffi and Bosio ; now transformed into the depot of the Commissioners of Emigration. The Sound entrance is defended by Fort Stevens and other works ; and, in case of a hostile inva- sion, the city could scarcely again fall so easy a prey as it did in the days of Petrus Stuyvesant.
Twenty-two ferries connect New York Island with the neighboring shores. At Harlem River, it is joined more substantially with the mainland by the Harlem turn- pike and Harlem Railroad bridges, McComb's Bridge and the High Bridge of the Croton Aqueduct ; while Spuytenduvel Creek, the northern boundary of the island, is spanned by the well-known Kingsbridge, first built there of wood by order of the corporation, as early as the year 1691.
At the Dry Dock, on the northeast shore of the island, and also on the opposite shores of Long Island, are the extensive ship-yards of the city. At the foot of Pike street is the Sectional Dock ; and across the river, at the U. S. Navy Yard, in the Wallabout, is the Naval Dry Dock-the largest in the world-constructed at an expense of two and a quarter million dollars.
From the single market of the Dutch settlers under the trees on the Bowling Green, have sprung up eleven well-filled market-houses-the Washington, Fulton, Cath- erine, Essex, Tompkins, Centre, Jefferson, Clinton, Franklin, Gouverneur and Union-each under the super- intendence of its respective clerk, who is in turn
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HISTORY OF THE
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subordinate to a general superintendent, appointed to office by the city inspector.
The public parks are eighteen in number ; the principal ones being the City Hall Park, the Commons of the Revolution ; the Bowling Green and the Battery at the foot of Broadway, Washington Square, Abingdon Square, Union Park, Tompkins Square, Madison Square, Reser- voir Square, and the new Central Park, as yet unfinished. Cemeteries have been banished in a great measure from the city ; a few of the old church burial-grounds still remain, together with the Marble Cemetery in Second street, from which the remains of President Monroe were removed in the spring of 1858 to Richmond, Virginia ; but burials are no longer permitted there, and a city of the dead is growing up silently along the range of hills which separated the rival armies previous to the battle of Long Island.
The public buildings of the city are numerous, and are mostly in keeping with its wealth and importance.
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
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WELLS DEL
All Souls Church, corner of Fourth Avenue and Twentieth Street. The spire, which forms part of the design of the church, has not yet been erected.
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Among the exceptions, we may mention the old Post- office, in Nassau street, outgrown by the community many years ago ; and the dilapidated City Hall, which is already doomed by vote of the corporation, and will soon be replaced by a more commodious structure. At pre- sent, the public offices of the city are scattered through five buildings in the Park ; the City Hall, the Hall of Records, the Rotunda, the Hall of the Superior Court on Centre street, and the Chambers street building, occu-
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Custom House.
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pied by the office of the receiver of taxes and several other of the municipal bureaux.
In Wall, at the head of Broad street, on the site of the old City Hall and of the first Custom House of the city, erected in the beginning of the century, is the Custom House of the city of New York, a Greek temple, built of marble from Massachusetts, at a cost of nearly a million of dollars. Adjoining this, in the banking-house of the old Bank of the United States, is the U. S. Assay office, an institution of great importance to the com- merce of the city. On the block bounded by Wall, William and Hanover streets, and Exchange Place, is the Merchants' Exchange, built of blue Quincy granite at a cost of over a million of dollars, directly after the destruction of the first in the conflagration of 1835.
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Lower Arsenal,
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Merchants' Exchange.
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
The old U. S. Arsenal on Fifth Avenue, between Six- ty-second and Sixty-fifth streets, now included within the limits of the new Central Park, has been replaced by another on the corner of Thirty-fifth street and Seventh Avenue, and is fast being converted into a gymnasium. The Arsenal, or City Armory, is on the corner of White and Elm streets, and contains an interesting collection of Revolutionary trophies.
On the site of the old Collect, on the block bounded by Centre, Elm, Leonard, and Franklin streets, are the Halls of Justice, popularly known as " the Tombs," built in the Egyptian style of architecture of light granite from Maine, and finished in 1838. The open court within its walls is used as a place of execution of State criminals. The Essex street prison, the Jefferson Market prison and the Eldridge street jail, with twenty police station-houses, make up the complement of kindred institutions.
The venerable New York Hospital still occupies its original site in Broadway, though rumors are rife that this ground has grown too valuable to be left longer in its possession, and that this landmark of olden times is doomed soon to give place to banks or warehouses. The New York Dispensary-the ancestor of all the others-first established in 1790, retains its place at the corner of White and Centre streets ; from this have sprunS up the Northern Dispensary on the corner of Waverley Place and Christopher streets, established in 1829; the Eastern Dispensary, in Ludlow street, on the corner of Es- sex Market Place, founded in 1834; the Demilt Dispensary on the corner of Twenty-third street and Second Avenue, erected by the munificent bequest of Miss Demilt, from
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whom it received its name ; the Northwestern Dispensary, in Eighth avenue, and the New York Infirmary and Dis- pensary for Women and Children, opened in 1857 under the auspices of Drs. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell and Marie E. Zakrzewska, and notable for being the only institution in the country in which female medical stu- dents can obtain the advantages of hospital practice. All of these institutions receive pecuniary aid from the State.
On the Bloomingdale Road, about seven miles from the City Hall, is the Lunatic Asylum of the New York Hos- pital, a sketch of which, as well as of the Hospital at Bellevue, we have already given in a preceding chapter. Besides these, are St. Luke's Hospital on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fiftieth street, the Eye and Ear Infirm- ary in Second Avenue, the Ophthalmic Hospital in Stuyvesant street, the Woman's Hospital recently estab- lished by Dr. J. Marion Sims, and many other kindred institutions, supported by public and private charity, the Home for the Friendless, the House of Industry, various Orphan Asylums, etc., and many more, the number of which forbids the catalogue. Among the most interest- ing of these are the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, at Fanwood upon Washington Heights, under the care of Dr. Harvey P. Peet; and the Institution for the Blind, a fine granite building on Ninth Avenue, near Thirty-second street. Columbia, the King's College of 1764, forced by the upward march of business to quit its first site at the foot of Park Place, is now located, under the charge of the venerable Charles King, on the corner of Fiftieth street and Fourth Avenue, in the
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CITY OF NEW YORK.
building formerly occupied by the Deaf and Dumb Insti- tution. On Washington Square is the New York Uni- versity, founded in 1831; a fine edifice of West- chester marble, built in the English collegiate style of architecture with a central chapel with wings flanked by towers, reputed to be one of the most beautiful of the kind in America.
On the corner of Twenty-third street and Lexington Avenue is the Free Academy, founded in 1848 under the charge of Prof. Horace Webster, by virtue of an act of the Legislature, passed the year before, and notable for being the first institution established in the country for the purpose of extending a university education, free of charge, to the pupils of the public schools. ¿ Near this, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-third street, is the College of Physicians and Surgeons, founded in 1807. In Fourteenth street, between Irving Place and Third Avenue, is the University Medical School ; and at No. 90 East Thirteenth street is the New York Medical College, also occupied by the College of Pharmacy. All of these institutions have fine libraries and museums attached.
Three theological seminaries are located in the city- the Union Theological Seminary, founded in 1836, in University Place near Washington Square ; the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, on the corner of Twentieth street and Ninth Avenue, near the shores of the North River ; and the Seminary of St. Francis Xavier, a Roman Catholic Institution, at No. 39 West Fifteenth street.
The libraries of the city are numerous and worthy of
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notice. The only free library now open to the public, is the Astor, in Lafayette Place, between Fourth street and Astor Place, erected by means of a bequest of $400,000 made by John Jacob Astor in 1839, and dating from his death, which took place in 1848; $75,000 of which were to be appropriated to the erection of the edifice, $120,000 to the purchase of books, and the remaining $205,000 to be invested in a permanent fund for the support of the institution. The building was completed and first opened to the public in 1854, with a collection of eighty thousand volumes, under the superintendence of Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell. The building has since been doubled in size and the collection increased to more than one hundred thousand volumes by the munificent dona- tion of Wm. B. Astor, the son of the founder. The edifice is in the style of the royal palaces of Florence, and is composed partly of brown cut stone and partly of brick ; in point of convenience and adaptation to the purposes for which it was designed, it is unsurpassed by any in the country.
The Society Library, founded in 1754, the history of which we have sketched elsewhere, is located in Uni- versity Place, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, in a spacious edifice, with a collection of over forty thousand volumes, and is under the charge of John MacMullen.
Next in order comes the library of the New York Historical Society, founded in 1804, and now located in a tasteful stone edifice in Second Avenue, corner of Eleventh street, with a library of thirty thousand volumes, a choice collection of coins and curiosities, and
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a fine gallery of pictures from well-known artists, com- prising many valuable historical portraits. This library is under the charge of George H. Moore.
In the Clinton Hall building, once the Astor Place Opera House, is the library and reading-room of the Mercantile Library Association, organized in 1836 with a collection of seven hundred volumes, for the purpose of affording the advantages of a circulating library and reading-room to the merchants' clerks of the city, and thus inciting them to mental cultivation. The experi- ment, doubtful at first, has proved eminently successful ; the library now contains a collection of nearly fifty thousand well-selected volumes, while the reading-room is well supplied with the different periodicals of the day, and courses of instruction in the languages, book-keeping, music and drawing, given at a moderate charge to the members of the association, place the means of a useful education within their reach, and, by inducing them to employ their leisure to advantage, thus further the original design of the society. S. Hastings Grant is the librarian of the institution.
Beside these, are the Apprentices' Library, with a collection of eighteen thousand volumes, designed for the use of young mechanics ; the library of the American Institute, founded in 1833, and containing about eight thousand volumes ; the library of Columbia College, with a collection of twenty-five thousand volumes ; the New York City Library, containing two thousand volumes, the Printers' Free Library, with three thousand volumes ; the library of the Union Theological Seminary, with twenty-four thousand volumes ; the library of the New
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York Institute, with six thousand volumes ; the library of the Free Academy, with six thousand four hundred volumes, and many others beside, attached to the various institutions and schools of the city.
Cooper Institute.
Kindred with these is the Cooper Institute, recently erected by the munificence of the well-known citizen, Peter Cooper, for the purpose of furnishing free courses of lectures, rooms for debating and other societies, an I exchange office for literary persons seeking employment, and a public library for the benefit of the community at large. This edifice, which is but just completed, is of brown stone, six stories in height, and is located in Astor Place in front of the new Bible House. The
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original cost of the ground and building amounted to nearly $600,000 ; the whole, the donation of Mr. Cooper. Henceforth, the institution is designed to be self- sustaining from the rent of the stores and offices of the first and second stories ; the third story is reserved for the specific purposes of the "Union," and the upper story is devoted to the Academy of Design for Women, an institution in which the founder takes a lively interest.
But it is useless to attempt to enumerate the costly institutions which are scattered in such profusion over the city. Seventy banks and one hundred and six insurance companies are now in the full tide of successful operation ; eleven telegraph lines convey messages to distant cities with the rapidity of thought ; seven lines of railroad intersect the city ; eighteen steamboat lines ply between its harbor and the transatlantic, southern and Californian ports, and from the half-sheet New York Gazette of William Bradford, have sprung up three hundred and fifty-one newspapers, of every class, opinion and size-a journalistic force unsurpassed by that of any other city in the world.
Our task is ended. Statistical lists we do not intend to give, nor shall we trespass upon the limits of that modern institution, the directory, by further mapping out the city, with its massive banking-houses, its magni- ficent churches, its marble-fronted palaces, and its count- less wealth of commerce, all changing from hour to hour with such kaleidoscopic rapidity that the picture of to- day would scarce be recognized to-morrow. It suffices to say that, in palatial splendor, in gorgeous magnifi- cence, in lavish display of inexhaustible wealth, New
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York may well be regarded as bearing off the palm from all the cities of the Union. Yet were this, indeed, all- did her claims to her proud title rest merely upon the power of gold-were she but the Golden City, the Venice of the western continent, then might we trem- ble for her future, sure that the seeds of decay were lurking in her heart. But far different from this has been the rôle which she has played in the history of our country, as her past career abundantly testifies. The first to practise that religious freedom which the eastern colonists emigrated from the Old World to preserve, and to throw open her doors to the persecuted and oppressed of her sister settlements ; the first to vindicate the freedom of the press ; the first to enter a practical protest against the arbitrary Stamp Act by dooming herself to commercial ruin ; the first to offer up a sacrifice on the battle-fields of the Revolution, and the last to witness the departure of the enemy and to enter again into possession of the rights of which she had so long been despoiled, New York has not since falsified the promise of her youth. Not only has she given an impetus to gigantic schemes of internal improvement that challenge the admiration of the whole world-the steamboat, the Erie Canal, the Croton Aqueduct, and last, but not least, the magnificent Central Park, which promises, to surpass all others in beauty-not only does she, by her open liberality, attract to herself from her sister cities, men of science, of enterprise, of broad and earnest thought-far-seeing merchants, ingenious mechanics, artists of every kind, and literary men of the highest ability, but she has fostered within her own
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bosom statesmen, philosophers, inventors and authors who may well compete with any who have contributed by thought or works or words to politics, science or lite- rature. That her venerable college has sent forth gra- duates than whom none stand higher in the annals of the nation, the names of Hamilton, Jay, Livingston, Mor- ris, Colden, Verplanck, and many more attest ; in the literary world, Irving and Cooper have carried off the palm in the region of legend and story ; first in the ranks of daring projectors stands De Witt Clinton, the father of the Erie Canal ; and in the line of mechanics, the inge- nious George Steers has carried off the palm from all competitors, and placed American-built vessels at the head of any in the world.
We have simply endeavored to chronicle the progress of the city, to select and briefly make mention of the most important facts from the mass of rich material which lies temptingly about us, looking longingly, mean- while, at the accessory incidents which would so charm- ingly fill up the picture and relieve the dullness of mere details, yet forced to desist by the conviction that the task would swell the volume beyond the compass of an entire library. What we could do, we have done, and if any of the facts which we have thus collected and woven together shall suggest to the future historian the desire to rescue the story of the past career of our city from the neglect with which it has hitherto too often been treated ; or shall inspire her citizens with love and pride of their native or adopted city, and urge them to perpetuate the memory of a glorious past by a still more glorious future, and to make their chosen home the
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Empire City in truth, not only of wealth, but of science, of learning, of art, of all that can elevate and beautify humanity, we shall feel that we have not labored in vain.
The future destiny of New York rests with the pre- sent generation ; their verdict must decide whether she will patiently bear the name of the Golden City, by some so tauntingly bestowed upon her, or vindicate herself, not only by past proof but by present action. Thatitis in her power, through her immense resources, her bound- less wealth, her buoyant elasticity, her composite popu- lation, the vast array of talent which lies at her disposal, and most of all, by the breadth and comprehensiveness of the character of her people, to mold herself into what she will-to become the Athens of America, the centre of culture and of art-must be evident to all. Her fate is in her own hands ; whether her future fame is to rest on marble palaces or erudite universities-on well-filled warehouses or wealth of brain, she alone can decide. Let her but choose the latter position-let her but expend her wealth, regardless of outside display, in fostering talent, in encouraging art, in attracting to her- self by liberal patronage the intellectual power of the whole country, in endowing universities, and in develop- ing the mental resources of her own citizens, not by a lavish expenditure of money alone, but by a judicious and efficient system of public instruction, carefully superintended in its smallest details, and the time is not far distant when she will be cordially acknowledged, both by friends and foes, as the EMPIRE CITY, not only of the UNION but also of the WORLD !
APPENDIX.
NOTES A AND B.
CHARTER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
GEORGE, the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, etc. To all whom these present letters shall come, greeting :
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty and six, Thomas Dongan, then lieutenant-governor and vice-admiral of New York, and its dependencies, under our predecessor, James (the second), then king of England, etc., did make and execute a certain grant, or instrument in writing, under the seal of the province of New York, in these words following :
1. Thomas Dongan, lieutenant-governor and vice admiral of New York and its dependencies, under his majesty James (the second), by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ire- land, king, defender of the faith, supreme lord and proprietor of the colony and province of New York, and its dependencies in America, etc. To all to whom this shall come, sendeth greeting :- Whereus, the city of New York, is an ancient city within the said province, and the citizens of the said city have anciently been a body politic and corporate ; and the citizens of the said city have. held, used, and enjoyed, as well within the same, as elsewhere, within the said province, divers and : sundry rights, liberties, privileges, franchises, free customs, preëminences, advantages, jurisdictions, emoluments, and immunities, as well by prescription as by charter, letters patent, grants, and con- firmations not only of divers governors and commanders-in-chief, in the said province, but also of several governors, directors, generals, and commanders-in-chief, of the Nether Dutch nation, whilst the same was, or has been under their power and subjection. And whereas, divers lands, tenc- ments, and hereditaments, jurisdictions, liberties, immunities, and privileges, have heretofore been . given and granted, or mentioned to be given or granted, to the citizens and inhabitants of the said c'ty, sometimes by the name of schout, burgomasters and schephens of the city of New Amster- damn; and sometimes by the name of the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of New York ; sometimes by the name of the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of the city of New York ; some- times by the name of the mayor and aldermen of the city of New York; and by divers other names, as by their several letters patent, charters, grants, writings, records and muniments, amongst other things, may more fully appear. And whereas, the citizens and inhabitants of the said city have erected, built and appropriated, at their own proper costs and charges, several public buildings, accommodations, and conveniencies for the said city, That is to say, the city hall, or stat-house, with the ground thereunto belonging, two market-houses, the bridge into the dock, the wharves or- docks, with their appurtenances, and the new burial-place without the gate of the city ; and have established and settled one fer y from the said city of New York to Long Island, for the accommo- dation and convenience of passengers, the said citizens and travellers.
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And whereas, several of the inhabitants of the said city, and of Manhattan's Island, do hold from and under his most sacred majesty respectively, as well by several and respective lette.s patents, grants, charters, and conveyances, made and granted by the late lieutenants, governors, or commanders-in-chief, of the said province, as otherwise, several and respective messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, upon Manhattan's Island, and in the city of New York, aforesaid, and as well as the said mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the said city, and their successors, as also, the inhabitants of the said Manhattan's island, and the city of New York, aforesaid, and their heirs and assigns respectively, may hold, exercise, and enjoy, not only such and the same liberties, privileges, and franchises, rights, royalties, free customs, jurisdictions, and immunities, as they have anciently had, used, held, and enjoyed ; but also such public buildings, accommodations, conveni- ences, messuages, tenements, lands, and hereditaments, in the said city of New York, and upon Manhattan's Island aforesaid, which, as aforesaid, have been by the citizens and inhabitants erected and built, or which have, as aforesaid, been held, enjoyed, granted, and conveyed unto them, or any of them, respectively.
2. Know ye, therefore, That I, the said Thomas Dongan, by virtue of the commission and autho- rity unto me given, and power in me residing, at the humble petition of the now mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the said city of New York, and for divers other good causes and considerations, me thereunto moving, have given, granted, ratified, and confirmed, and by these presents, for and on the behalf of his most sacred majesty aforesaid, his heirs, successors, and assigns, do give, grant, ratify, and confirm unto the said mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the said city, all and every such and the same liberties, privileges, franchises, rights, royalties, free customs, jurisdictions, and immunities, which they by the name of the mayor and commonalty, or otherwise, have anciently had, held, used, or enjoyed. Provided always, That none of the said libert es, privileges, fran- chises, rights, free customs, jurisdictions, or immunities be inconsistent with, or repugnant to the laws of his majesty's kingdom of England, or any other the laws of the General Assembly of this province ; and the aforesaid public buildings, accommodations, and convenience in the said city, That is to say, The aforesaid city hall, or stat-house, with the ground thereunto belonging, two market-houses, the bridge into the dock, the wharves or dock, the said new burial-place, and the aforementioned ferry, with their and every of their rights, members and appurtenances, together with all the profits, benefits and advantages which shall or may accrue and arise at all times here- after, for dockage or wharfage, within the said dock, with all and singular the rents, issues, profits, gains, and advantages which shall or may arise, grow, or accrue by the said city hall, or stat-house, and grounds thereunto belonging, market-houses, bridge, dock, burying-place, ferry, and other the abovementioned premises, or any of them ; and also, all and every the streets, lanes, highways and alleys within the said city of New York, and Manhattan's Island aforesaid, for the public use and service of the said mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the said city, and of the inhabitants of Manhattan's Island aforesaid, and travellers there ; together with full power, license and authority to the said mayor, aldermen and commonalty, and their successors forever, to establish, appoint, order, and direct the establishing, making, laying out, ordering, amending and repairing of all streets, lanes, alleys, highways, water-courses, ferry and bridges, in and throughout the said city of New York and Manhattan's Island, aforesaid, necessary, needful and convenient for the inhabi- tants of the said city, and Manhattan's Island aforesaid, and for all travellers and passengers there : Provided always, That this said license so as above granted, for the establishing, making, laying out of streets, lanes, alleys, highways, ferries and bridges, be not extended, or be construed to extend, to the taking away of any person or persons' right or property, without his, her, or their consent. or by some known law of the said province. And for the considerations aforesaid, I do likewise give, grant, ratify, and confirm unto all and every the respective inhabitants of the said city of New York, and of Manhattan's Island aforesaid, and their several and respective heirs, and assigns, all and every the several and respective messuages, tenements, lands and hereditaments, situate, lying, and being in the said city, and Manhattan's Island aforesaid, to them severally and respect- ively granted, conveyed and confirmed, by any of the late governors, lieutenants, or commanders- in-chief, of the said province, or by any of the former mayors and aldermen of the said city of New York, by deed, grant, conveyance, or otherwise howsoever : To hold to their several and respect- ive heirs and assigns forever.
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