New Parks Act

The New Parks Act is a New York state law passed in 1884. It provided for the creation of parks in the future New York City borough of the Bronx. The West Bronx had recently been annexed and was largely undeveloped, as was the yet unannexed East Bronx. Three parkways and six parks were established as part of the New Parks Act.

Bronx Park is at the center of the system, and is now mostly occupied by the New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo. The new system of Parkways in New York connected it to Van Cortlandt Park in the northwest via Mosholu Parkway; to Pelham Bay Park in the east via Pelham Parkway; and to Crotona Park in the south via Crotona Parkway. There were no direct parkway connections to Claremont Park and St. Mary's Park, the other two parks in the system.^[1]

In 1876, Frederick Law Olmsted was hired to survey the Bronx and map out streets based on the local geography. Olmsted noted the natural beauty of the Van Cortlandt family's estate in the northwest Bronx, comparing it to Central Park which he had designed, and recommended the city purchase the property.^[2][3] The land was part of a proposed greenbelt across the Bronx, consisting of parks and parkways that would align more with existing geography than a grid system similar to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 in Manhattan. That grid had given rise to Central Park, a park with mostly artificial features within the bounds of the grid.^[4][5] However, in 1877, the city declined to act upon his plan.^[6]

في نفس الفترة تقريبًا، سعى جون مولالي، محرر صحيفة نيويورك هيرالد، إلى إنشاء حدائق في مدينة نيويورك، مشيدًا بشكل خاص بممتلكات عائلتي فان كورتلاندت وبيل في غرب وشرق برونكس على التوالي. وأسس جمعية حدائق نيويورك في نوفمبر 1881. ^{[ 7 ] [ 8 ]} وأشار مولالي إلى أن مدينة نيويورك لديها مساحات أقل من الحدائق للفرد مقارنة بالعديد من المدن الأوروبية الكبرى، وأن إنشاء سنترال بارك عام 1853 قد رفع قيمة العقارات المحيطة بالحديقة مباشرة بعد إنشائها. ^{[ 9 ] : 107، 111} وأرسلت جمعيته منشورات إلى شخصيات بارزة في نيويورك، تدعو فيها إلى إنشاء حديقة جديدة. ^{[ 10 ]} ومع ذلك، نشأت خلافات حول مقترحات إنشاء حدائق جديدة في برونكس، ^{[ 11 ]} ولذلك لم تُصرّح المدينة بتشكيل لجنة للحدائق الجديدة المزمع إنشاؤها. ^{[ 12 ] : 3} نظرًا لرفض المدينة تشكيل لجنة للحدائق، لجأت جمعية حدائق نيويورك إلى المجلس التشريعي لولاية نيويورك . ^{[ 7 ] [ 12 ] : 3 [ 13 ]} في 19 أبريل 1883، أصدرت الولاية قانونًا يُجيز تشكيل لجنة من سبعة أشخاص برئاسة لوثر مارش، عضو الجمعية، تتولى مسؤولية استكشاف مواقع الحدائق المستقبلية في الدائرتين 23 و24 من مدينة نيويورك (الجزء الغربي من برونكس حاليًا ) . ^{[ 14 ]} عُيّن مولالي سكرتيرًا للجنة. في يونيو 1883، زارت اللجنة موقع الحديقة، ^{[ 10 ]} وبحلول يناير 1884، كان مارش قد صاغ مشروع قانون إلى المجلس التشريعي لولاية نيويورك بشأن نظام حدائق مُقترح في برونكس، يتألف من ست حدائق متصلة بثلاثة طرق سريعة. ^{[ 15 ] : 14}

There were objections to the system, which would apparently be too far from Manhattan, in addition to precluding development on the site.^[16][17] Prominent opponents included Mayor Franklin Edson, who believed that the system of parks was too big and expensive to acquire, and Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt, who opposed the bill's being pushed through. However, newspapers and prominent lobbyists, who supported such a park system, were able to petition the bill into the New York State Senate, and later, the New York State Assembly (the legislature's lower house).^{[18][9]:117–138} In June 1884, Governor Grover Cleveland signed the New Parks Act into law, authorizing the creation of the park system.^[19]

Legal disputes carried on for years, exacerbated by the fact that Marsh owned land near Van Cortlandt Park in particular. Opponents argued that building a park system would divert funds from more important infrastructure like schools and docks; that everyone in the city, instead of just the property owners near the proposed park, was required to pay taxes to pay for the parks' construction; and that since Marsh was trying to parcel off some of his land to developers, the park's size should be reduced in order to prevent him from profiting off park usage. However, most of this opposition was directed at the construction of Pelham Bay Park, which was then in Westchester outside New York City.^[20] Supporters argued that the parks were for the benefit of all the city's citizens, thus justifying the citywide park tax; that the value of properties near the parks would appreciate greatly over time; that the Commission had only chosen property that could easily be converted into a park; and that Pelham Bay Park would soon be annexed to the city. Ultimately, the parks were established despite the objections of major figures like Mayors William Russell Grace and Abram Hewitt; Comptroller Edward V. Loew; and Assemblymen Henry Bergh and Theodore Roosevelt.^[20]