Iii Transportation and Communication

The Catskill aqueduct delivers its water just north of the city line into Hill View reservoir, which has a storage capacity of 90o million gallons. From the Hill View reservoir, Catskill water is delivered into the five boroughs of the city by a circular tunnel in solid rock at depths varying from 200 ft. to 75o ft. below the street level, and reducing in diameter from 15 ft. to 11 feet. The total cost of the Catskill water-supply system was about $185, 000,000. The average daily consumption of water in New York city for 1935 was 95o•1 million gallons. The present public water-supply systems provide a dependable yield of about 1,050 million gallons per day. In view of the narrow margin between this and the mounting consumption a new construction program to draw water from the Delaware was begun in 1936.

Sewers.

There are more than 2,800 m. of sewers, over one third of which lie in the borough of Brooklyn. The sewers in the older and more densely settled sections are generally on the com bined plan, serving for storm water as well as for domestic and industrial waste. In Manhattan many of the sewers are egg shaped, with a minimum size sufficient to enable them to be en tered and cleaned by hand. In Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, the extensive low-lying areas have required the construction of large trunk sewers which have generally been of concrete. The older sewers were of brick or vitrified pipe, although for many years cement pipe was employed for the smaller sizes in Brooklyn. Most of the sewer mains draining the city empty into the rivers and the tidal waters. With the growth of population, the pollu tion of the harbour has increased, with the result that fine screen ing has been resorted to where this will suffice, and at those points where a higher degree of purification is considered neces sary, land has been secured for the establishment of activated sludge treatment plants. One such plant on Ward's Island, the largest of its kind in the world, was nearing completion at the close of 1937, and three other large disposal plants were either under construction or projected.

Public Works.

The commissioners of public works control the bureaux of audits and accounts, design and survey, sewers, highways, public buildings and offices and the bureau of build ings. There are in addition 24 local improvement districts; for each district there is a local improvement board.

The work of the street cleaning department includes the col lection and disposal of all municipal waste. Snow removal is one of the most costly and difficult problems; in the winter of 36 when there was a total snow-fall of 32.8 in., its removal cost

over $6,500,000. For the collection and disposal of garbage, ashes and rubbish (about 15 million cubic yards annually), over 9,000 persons are regularly employed. Formerly most of the garbage of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn was loaded on scows and dumped at sea. But on July 1, 1934, as the result of a court action decided in favour of New Jersey against the city in 1932, this practice was discontinued ; and thenceforward the garbage of all boroughs has had to be disposed of by incineration. Ashes and rubbish are utilized for land fills. The appropriation for the Department of Sanitation in 1936 was $34,480,326.91.

City Planning and Zoning.—The Greater New York charter adopted in 1898 provided that the responsibility for laying out street systems should be primarily vested in the borough presidents with specific approval resting on the board of estimate and apportionment, and independent approval by the mayor for changes in plan. In 1903 the board of aldermen created an improvement commission which reported in 1907. In 1913 a heights of buildings commission was created. This led to the building zone resolution of July 25, 1916, which regulated the height and bulk of buildings thereafter erected and the boundaries for trades and industries. This resolution divided the city into "use," "height" and "area" districts. The "use" districts are: (I) "residence," where no building can be erected other than for specified uses, such as dwellings, clubs, hotels, etc.; (2) "busi ness" where specified trades considered as either offensive or dangerous are prohibited; and (3) "unrestricted," where no zoning regulations or restrictions are provided. The "height" districts provide for "setbacks" in buildings erected in excess of certain heights, the height and extent of the "setbacks" depending on the width of the adjoining streets. There are six "area" districts desig nated as A, B, C, D, E, and F, and the size of court and rear yard required bears a definite ratio with the height of the build ing. Changes in the zoning resolutions of 1916, and amendments thereto are vested in a standing committee of the board of esti mate and apportionment, called the City Plan and Public Im provements Committee. Appeals from the actions and decisions of the different superintendents of buildings and officers of the fire department who are charged with the enforcement of zoning regu lations are made to the board of standards and appeals.