With the inauguration of the department of public improvements a new order of things obtained soin the North Side, and it presently began to be realized that the styled " annexed district " was something more than an outlying integral locality, and was in process of rapid transformation into an of part of the metropolis. When it is considered that the portion nearly River Bronx the of west Bronx the of Borough the present n' Island in area, while the portion east of that in equals Manhatta stream exceeds it, the difficulty of the problems to be dealt with ed. appreciat readily be will Side North the on building up the city have With regard to the district annexed in 1871, these problems

HISTORY

WESTCHESTER

COUNTY

already been largely solved, and the outcome arrived at, viewed in its grand proportions, is not merely impressive from the circumstance of the material results accomplished, but is peculiarly satisfying in its esthetic aspects. New York City above the Harlem has been laid out with pre-eminent good taste, and the greater public works in that quarter have been characterized by breadth and generosity of conception and alacrity and thoroughness of execution. One of the most valuable improvements of the last ten years, apparent to anybody who makes a trip out of the city over the Harlem road, is the depression of the tracks of that railway, so that from the Harlem River to above Bedford Park it nowhere crosses a public thoroughfare at grade. Magnificent avenues and parkways have been opened, and there is now in process of construction a grand concourse and boulevard which, when completed, will be the finest driveway in the world. The most conspicuous public improvement connected with the history of the North Side is the Harlem Ship Canal, opened to commerce on the 17th of June, 1895.