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Vol. LXXXVIII
JULY 8, igii ,
No. 2260
BAD ROADS RETARD THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUEENS.
Residents of the Borough Meet to Protest Against Conditions Which
Drive Prospective Dwellers Away—Officialdom Passes Blame Along.
A ROUSED to concerted action by the
warning issued recently by the Auto¬
mobile Club of America to all auto tour¬
ists, advising' them to avoid Queens roads
if they are on pleasure bent, a general
meeting oC representatives of real estate,
civic, development and boosting associa¬
tions, with a plentiful scattering of prop¬
erty owners, was held yesterday after¬
noon in the office of President Grosser
of the Borough of Queens in the Hackett
building, Long Island City. Resolutions
were introduced calling for immediate re¬
lief from conditions which have become
capitalists who are asked to finance de¬
velopment projects. It is not the indi¬
vidual property owner who holds title to
a single lot or two that is raising his
voice in the campaign for good roads.
IL is the voice of large interests that have
already expended fortunes in private de¬
velopment and in park sites. Among
these is the Sage Foundation. These in¬
terests demand co-operation on the part
of the city. Without the automobile
Queens can do nothing, because it \s a
borough of magnificent distances and the
transit problem is just being worked out
without the aid of the city.
Where good roads exist there is found
their questionings, T'hey expressed this
weariness when the Ord^vay investigation
began. President Gresser was .exoner¬
ated, but the people Tvant to know where
the blame lies, hence yesterday's meeting.
Through his secretary, John N, Booth,
President Gresser this week replied to
the Automobile Club of America, and in
it is revealed the difficulties under which
the head of the borough government has
worked. He puts the responsibility up
to Comptroller Prendergast, who says
that Queens is getting all the aid it asks
for within reason, and Mr. Stirling, who
has charge o£ this matter in the Corpora¬
tion Counsel's office, says the city is
T.
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Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village. Juniper Avenue. Middle Village.
Shell Road, Long Island City. Ventou Avenue, Long Island City.
A FEW SAMPLES OF ROAD CONDITIONS IN QUEENS BOROUGH.
intolerable. Instead of requesting action
the meeting demanded it, and July 15
was set as a time limit.
The Borough of Queens is determined
to have its roads put into such shape as
to encourage rather than discourage their
use by automobilists, and herein is seen
the close relationship that now exists be¬
tween suburban development and the
motor car.
In the good old days, before 10O6, the
first question the prospective purchaser
of suburban realty would ask was: "How
far is it from the railroad station?" or
"How far is it from the trolley?" To¬
day his question is: "Are there good
roads between the site I am asked to buy
and the city?" or "How are the roads in
the surrounding country?"
But the point that is still more im¬
portant to the owner of property in
Queens Borough just now is, to get the
roads m such shape that they can speak
laudably of them; not to prospective buy¬
ers of individual lots, mind you, but to
the greatest suburban development. Tlie
Bronx had good roads before the Subway
brought the homeseeker in hordes. It is
the policy of New Jersey municipalities
of the highest type to build good roads
and streets first, and then let the popula¬
tion catch up with them. But Queens
moved in before the house was ready.
Rapid transit has come and with it a
rapidly increasing population, and yet
inter-town communication by road is
worse than bad. This is what ails the
borough. It is the cause of its rural as¬
pect, although its natural advantages are
superior to any suburban section in the
country. Up to now the borough has
been building on this asset. It can go no
further without better road facilities.
The development that has taken
place there lacks harmony and consecu-
tiveness. Civic pride is high, despite
this, and it is this virtue that has been
the deciding factor in demanding imme¬
diate highway action. People over there
are tired of the "Not me; him" reply to
doing all it can at present. Mr. Booth
said:
"The City of New York has for sev¬
eral years appropriated $3,000,000 in
corporate stock yearly for road im¬
provements in the entire city. Queens
portion of this fund has been $350,000.
In 1910 the corporate stock budget com¬
mittee of the Board of Estimate did not
allow Queens any part of this fund and
deducted .?3G,000 from the balance of
1900. This left Queens without any cor¬
porate stock fund for road improve¬
ments in 1010 and $36,000 worse off
than nothing,
"The roads had commenced to disin¬
tegrate in 190(i under the tremendous
automobile traffic, an entirely new
feature in transportation, and the Pres¬
ident was powerless to maintain the
highway with the amount of money at
his disposal. In 1911 $330,000 was ap¬
propriated to Queens for road improve¬
ments, but in 1910, there was a bill
passed by the State Legislature, known