B. FUNDED DEBT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK AS CONSTITUTED PRIOR TO JAN. 1, 1898. Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. 1. Payable from the sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt (first lien) under ordinances of the Common Council.. 2. Payable from the sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt (second lien) under the provisions of section 213 of chapter 378 of the Laws of 1897. 3. Payable from the sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt under the provisions of section 229 of chapter 378 of the Laws of 1897.. 4. Payable from the sinking fund for the redemption of the city debt under the provisions of section 1 of chapter 79 of the Laws of 1889.. 5. Payable from the sinking fund for the redemption of 6. Payable from taxation $1,827,300 00 9,700,000 00 108,451,658 75 9,823,100 00 41,977,000 00 35,290,450 00 9,332,536 21 216,402,044 96 ISSUED $330,500 00 35,000 00 735 000 00 6,325,483 35 1,341,234 17 E. FUNDED DEBTS OF CORPORATIONS IN THE BOROUGH OF RICHMOND, INCLUDING RICHMOND COUNTY, ISSUED PRIOR TO JAN. 1, 1898. Payable from taxation...... Total bonded debt... 8,767,217 52 $2,961,386 70 2,961,386 70 $358,104,307 11 7,600 00 $358,111,907 11 358,104,307 11 $80,642,952 74 SUMMARY. Total gross funded debt.. Less amount held by the commissioners of the sinking fund on account of sinking fund No. 1... Less amount held by the commissioners of the sinking fund on account of sinking fund No. 2 Less amount held by the commissioners of the sinking fund on account of sinking fund of the city of Brooklyn... Less amount held by the commissioners of the sinking fund for account of the sinking fund of the city of New York.. Less amount held by the commissioners of the sinking fund for account of the water sinking fund of the city of New York.. Less amount held by the special sinking fund of Long Island City for the redemption of revenue bonds.... (The remainder of bonds ($319,000) held by this fund are not yet approved, and are not included in the foregoing statement.) Net funded debt. Revenue bonds... redemption of the city debt, $4,576,561.76; installments payable in 1900, $3,362,511.59; rents, $315,379.91; borough officers, $51,300; the Law Department, $399,758; Board of Public Improvements, $239,500; Department of Highways, $2,251,844.67; Department of Sewers, $803,173.17; Department of Bridges, $431,957; Department of Public Buildings, Lighting, and Supplies, $3,819,683.75; Department of Water Supply, $1,442,914.17; Department of Parks, $1,825,113.45; Department of Public Charities, $1,896,812.97; Department of Correction, $762,775; Department of Health, $1,055,515; Police Department, $11,327,503.42; Bureau of Elections, $665,000; total, Police 77,680,225 93 Department, $11,992,503.42; Department of Street Cleaning, $5,031,282.27; Fire Department, $4,840,676.52; Department of Buildings, $546,525; Department of Taxes and Assessments, $334,450; Board of Assessors, $42,700; Department of Education, $14,594,111.09; College of the City of New York, $200,000; Normal College, $175,000; total, Department of Education, $14,969,111.09; Coroner's office, $165,150; Commissioners of Accounts, $156,000; Civil Service Commission, $76,000; Board of City Record, $460,200; Bureau of Municipal Statistics, $11,200; Examining Board of Plumbers, $3,594; for library purposes, $214,779.30; courts, $966,050; charitable institutions, $2,857,084.27; miscellaneous, $549,000; grand total, city budget, $79,201,763.26; New York County, $8,391,332.16; Kings County, $2,613,663.46; Queens County, $436,039.58; Richmond County, $136,174.02; total of counties, $11,577,209.22; grand total, city and counties, $90,778,972.48. The total budgets for all boroughs of New York city for 1899 aggregated $93,520,082. The budgets for 1900 therefore show a decrease of $2,741,109.52. Taxes and Assessments.-These are under the care of a department of which Thomas L. Feitner (salary, $8,000) is president. The other members are Edward C. Sheehy, Arthur C. Salmon, and Thomas J. Patterson (salaries, $7,000 each). Office, 280 Broadway. They reported the total valuations of real and personal property for taxation at $3,478,252,029, of which $2,932,445,464 was for real estate and $545,806,565 for personal property. The valuation for the real estate was subdivided as follows: Manhattan, $2,054,903,875; Brooklyn, $609,822,267; the Bronx, $123,702,030; Queens, $103,752,600; and Richmond, $40,264,692; total, $2,932,445,464, an increase of $403,912,023 over last year. That for personal property was subdivided as follows: Manhattan, $483,575,942; Brooklyn, $45,270,713; the Bronx, $6,806,988; Queens, $6,314,032; and Richmond, $3,838,890; total, $545,806,565. Among the larger properties assessed are the following valuations: The Washington Building, 1 Broadway, $1,250,000; Brown Brothers & Co., 59 Wall Street, $650,000; the Sampson Building, 63 Wall Street, $670,000; the Seamen's Bank for Savings, 74 Wall Street, $425,000; the Hoyt Building, 44 Pine Street, $390,000; the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company, 13-17 Dey Street, $475,000; the Corbin Building, 192 Broadway, $580,000; the Evening Post Building, 206 Broadway, $525,000; the St. Paul Building, 218 Broadway, $1,300,000; the Park Row Building, 13-19 Park Row, $2,000,000; the Temple Court Building, 5-9 Beekman Street, $850,000; the Vanderbilt Building, 132 Nassau Street, $450,000; the American Tract Society Building, $1,000,000; the Casino Theater, $450,000; the Empire, $260,000; Wallack's, $575,000; the Waldorf Hotel, $1,800,000; the Astoria, $3,150,000; and the Murray Hill Hotel, $650,000. Applications from William W. Astor, Bradley Martin, and others for the reduction of their personal property assessment on the ground of nonresidence (having removed to England) was denied by this board, and in consequence it was publicly announced later that Mr. Astor had become a citizen of Great Britain. Law. This department is under the direction of the Corporation Counsel, who receives $15,000 a year. The incumbent during the year was John Whalen. His report was for the thirteen months previous to Jan. 31, 1899. He said of the bills introduced to the Legislature affecting the city, 402 were defeated, 7 were vetoed by the Governor, and 57 by the Mayor on representations of his office. Had these bills been enacted the city's debt would have been increased $48,000,000. The number of suits disposed of was 5,860, and 4,356 cases were begun. The judgments against the city aggregate $1,305,000, and those in favor of the city, $17,091.15. By the increased number of assistants which he was able to employ he was enabled to dispense with the services of high-priced experts, which resulted in a saving of $217,035.71 in legal fees paid by the city. The District Attorney, Asa Bird Gardiner, having been denied permission to enter any part of the Court of General Sessions during important procedures by the Recorder, sought redress in the Supreme Court. Later charges were preferred against him by members of the City Club, and a committee named by the Governor had them under consideration. On Nov. 9 Job E. Hedges was appointed by the Attorney-General of the State as Deputy Attorney-General, with charge of the prosecution of election law violations in the city. The new Courthouse for the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, at Madison Avenue and 25th Street, was opened Dec. 20, 1899. Surrogates' Court.-There are two surrogates in New York city, each of whom receives a salary of $15,000 and serves for a term of fourteen years. At the beginning of the year Frank T. Fitzgerald and John H. V. Arnold were in office. In January, rumors of the inefficiency of the office having been circulated, the Assembly ap pointed a committee to investigate the manner in which the various judicial, clerical, and other duties were performed in the Surrogates' Court and office in New York. As this investigation was specially directed against Mr. Arnold, he soon resigned, and James M. Varnum was appointed to the vacancy on Feb. 15, and then held office until Dec. 31. Of 2,059 wills offered for probate in 1899, 121 were foreign and 1,835 were admitted to probate. Of the 112 wills contested, 90 have been decided, not including 18 that were unfinished on Jan. 1, 1899. The surrogates heard 4,462 motions and held 462 hearings in will contests, rendering 3,270 written decisions and 1,741 oral decisions. There were 87 hearings on issues of fact. Public Improvement.-The Board of Public Improvements consists of the president of the board, Maurice F. Holahan (salary, $8,000), the Commissioners of Water Supply, of Highways, of Street Cleaning, of Public Buildings, Lighting and Supplies, and Bridges, each of whom receives a salary of $7,500. Offices, 15 Park Row. The reports for 1898 were issued during the year. That on water supply shows that the watersheds of Manhattan and the Bronx have an area of more than 360 square miles, and that there are 93 miles of conduits, with a maximum daily capacity of 400,000,000 gallons. In the Croton, Bronx, and Byram watersheds the reserve supply in 10 reservoirs and 5 lakes is more than 42,000,000,000 gallons. The total cost of the Croton, Bronx, and Byram systems to Dec. 31, 1898, was $86,236,630.75, including, under the new aqueduct system, $38,036,519.29 for the new aqueduct, reservoirs, lands, etc. The revenue was $4,459,905.17. Brooklyn's watershed has an area of 154 square miles, and the supply is from the Hempstead reservoir and 15 ponds, with 1,283,480,000 gallons' capacity, and from streams and wells. The water revenues for Brooklyn were $1,928,581.85. Part of the borough of Queens has public water plants and part private water companies. The receipts from water revenue were $85,690.96. Richmond borough has a water plant at Tottenville with a daily capacity of 400,000 gallons; 52 supply wells with a capacity of 510, 000 gallons, 5.1 miles of water mains, and 69 fire hydrants; and 2 private water companies with a daily capacity of 14,000,000 gallons. The water revenues of the borough were $413.32. The report of the Department of Highways shows that 38 contracts, involving $356,726.49, were entered into, and that 84 contracts were completed at a cost of $2,075,762.11. In the borough of Manhattan 18.49 miles of asphalt pavement, 1.91 mile of asphalt blocks, and 1.09 mile of granite pavement were laid. In the borough of the Bronx 40 miles of streets were paved, repaved, or repaired; and in the borough of Brooklyn 270,000 square yards of paving were laid. The report of the Department of Street Cleaning showed that 1,623,041 cart loads of refuse matter were collected in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, and 525,730 cart loads of snow and ice were removed. The expense incurred was $3,366,879.48. In Brooklyn the refuse material collected amounted to 1,112,477 cart loads, and the snow and ice removed to 183,185 cart loads. The total expenditures were $854,142.60. The collection of refuse and removal of snow in Brooklyn was done under contract. During the year hearings were held on the proposition of widening Pell Street to 100 feet from Chatham Square westward to Mott Street, with an extension from Mott Street to Mulberry Bend Park. The unfinished state of the Elm Street improvement was made the subject of an investigation by the August Grand Jury, and it was found that records in the Mayor's office show that ordinances providing for the grading, regulating, and paving of Elm Street through its entire length had been passed by the Board of Public Improvements and the Municipal Assembly and signed by the Mayor. But this work could not be done until the sewers had been laid. The sewer ordinances were faulty in form, and the Mayor vetoed them all on June 13. Ordinances were signed during the year changing the name of the Boulevard between 59th Street and Spuyten Duyvil to Broadway; also the name of Elm Street was changed to Dewey Avenue, and Whitehall Street to South Broadway. The name of Mail Street was changed to Van Cott Place. Parks. This department is under the charge of three commissioners, one having jurisdiction in Manhattan and Richmond, one in Brooklyn and Queens, and one in Bronx, each of whom serves six years and receives a salary of $5,000. During 1899 the commissioners were: George C. Clausen, Manhattan and Richmond; George V. Brower, Brooklyn and Queens; and August Moebus, Bronx. The office is in the Arsenal, Fifth Avenue and 65th Street. According to the report for 1898 the city's total park area is: In Manhattan and Richmond, 1,288,287 acres; in Queens and Brooklyn, 1,573,378; in the Bronx, 4,057,880; total area for the city, 6,919,545 acres. The proposition to convert Coney Island into a park was considered, and two plans were submitted, as follow: The first was the purchase of that part of Coney Island embraced between the Ocean Boulevard and Sea Gate and between the ocean and Coney Island creek. The estimated cost of the land is $9.000,000, while the improvements would cost about $6,000,000 more. The other recommends the purchase of a strip 400 feet wide from Sea Gate to Ocean Boulevard, and includes the treating of Surf Avenue as a boulevard. This plan, which would be far less expensive than the other, would give a beach 250 feet wide, extending along a mile of ocean front; a board walk 50 feet wide, with broad steps leading to the beach; a bicycle path 15 feet in width, and a driveway and promenade adjoining. This plan provides for 4 new recreation piers. The Commissioners of Estimate for the Colonial Park submitted their report to the Supreme Court on April 7, and the court heard argument on a motion to confirm. The park embraces the territory comprised between 145th and 155th Streets and Edgecombe and Bradhurst Avenues. There were 192 parcels of land to be appraised, and the commissioners fixed the values at sums that aggregate about $1,500,000. Progress on the development of Grand Boulevard and Concoursewhich, when completed, will run from 161st Street and Mott Avenue north to the city linewas stopped. About $3,000,000 of the city's money had been expended in payment for land condemned, and in the near future a million more will be paid out. The plan shows a speedway 54 feet wide, with a sidewalk of artificial stone 15 feet wide, an asphalt driveway 24 feet wide, a macadam bicycle path 7 feet wide, and a promenade 18 feet on either side of it. Nearly 5,000 shade trees will be required. The estimated total cost is about $14,000,000. The visitors at the Aquarium in 1899 numbered 1,841,330, a daily average of 5,045-the greatest number of any year in its history. The excess of 1899 over 1898 was 171,245. Zoological Park. This is under the care of the New York Zoological Society, of which Levi P. Morton is president. It is in the Bronx, and is a splendid stretch of 261 acres. The present collection of animals includes 43 species of mammals (157 specimens), 36 species of birds (175 specimens), 1 species of alligators (16 specimens), 13 species of lizards (71 specimens), 18 species of turtles (94 specimens), 36 species of serpents (293 specimens), 10 species of batrachians (37 specimens), making a total of 157 species (843 specimens). The park was formally opened to the public on Oct. 8. It is open daily free to visitors from 10 A. M. till sunset, except on Mondays and Thursdays, when an admission fee is charged. The aggregate cost of all the buildings and animals' quarters thus far constructed and in process of construction was upward of $90,000. The society collected $49,760 for the park during the year, making a total of $160,779 thus far obtained. The membership is 736. Fire. This department is managed by a single commissioner, who receives a salary of $7,500. The incumbent during the year was John J. Scannell. The chief of the department on Jan. 1 was Hugh Bonner, who resigned on May 1, and was succeeded by Edward F. Croker. The headquarters are at 157 East 67th Street. In 1899, for the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens there were 2,404 officers and men; 134 engine companies, including fire boats; 40 hook-and-ladder companies; 6 fire boats; and 4 water towers. There were in the year 8,050 fires; 33 arson cases were tried, of which 23 resulted in dismissal, 8 in conviction, and 2 are still pending. The receipts for licenses, permits, and penalties were: In the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, and Richmond, $50,452.50; in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, $43,150.50; total, $93,603. There is a volunteer force of 2,000 in Queens, and 1,500 in Richmond, making a total of 3,500. Health. The collection of vital statistics is under the care of a board consisting of the president of the Board of Health, the health officer of the port, and three commissioners, one of whom must have been for five years a practicing physician. The officials for 1899 were: Michael C. Murphy, president (salary, $7,500); Dr. William T. Jenkins, Dr. John B. Cosby, Health Officer Dr. |
