would be avoided, and Adams
Street would be made better for traffic and business than it is now.
Part of this large item would be paid by the railroad company. Under
the terms of the third tracking certificate already issued the company
is to pay all of the cost of reconstruction and betterment of the
structure in its present locations, and it is understood that the
company will pay at least an equal amount when the tracks are
re-located under the new law. If the re-location brings other benefits
to the company it would seem that even a greater portion of this item
should be borne by the company. The new law provides that the division
of expense shall be arranged between the Public Service Commission and
the company, subject to the approval of the Board of Estimate.

The new court house according to this plan would be 600 feet from the
Hall of Records. Although the books and files kept in the Surrogate's
and Register's offices are not needed so frequently in trials as the
papers from the county clerk's office, it is a distinct disadvantage
to have them so far away from the court house.

The new court house, on this site, would be unrelated to any other
improvement. It would also be entirely surrounded by private property,
admitting of no architectural development and bearing no relation to
the court house itself. The land is entirely covered with buildings
valuable for their present use and is a recognized center for
physicians. If the court rooms are made to face toward the streets
they will increasingly be subjected to street noises, for we find that
no streets in this locality are quiet. Automobiles and auto-trucks
abound. If this site were acquired for the new court house the Board
of Estimate would probably refuse either to open the bridge plaza or
widen Washington Street. The result would be that practically no
general improvement to the financial center would be made. The
Joralemon Street front of Borough Hall Park, probably the most
dominating site in the borough, would contain three buildings, the
Hall of Records, the old court house and the new municipal building,
none of them harmonizing with the others, and bringing little or no
distinction to the most prominent site in the borough. The old court
house would be relegated to criminal business to the detriment of this
vicinity.

It would seem that the city's plan for future buildings should make
some use of the Polytechnic Institute land. It is only a quest