Found 4 collections related to City planning -- New York (State) -- New York

The minutes of the Brooklyn Park Commissioners, 1860-1862, 1864-1873, in one volume, document the formative years of Brooklyn’s park system and its crown jewel, Prospect Park, as established and developed by acts of the New York State Legislature. After an initial commission was appointed by Act of April 18, 1859 to select grounds for a public park and parade ground in Brooklyn, the Act of April 17, 1860 appointed the first board of Commissioners of Prospect Park to carry out the development of designated lands. Minutes begin on June 28, 1860, the first convening of this board; the last entry is dated December 29, 1873. During that period, under the leadership of Commissioner James S. T. Stranahan, Prospect Park was laid out, designed and constructed, and adjacent roadways were developed. In 1867, the Commissioners were given oversight of the public parks within Brooklyn, and in 1868 the board was reconstituted as the Brooklyn Park Commissioners. The year 1873 marked the beginnings of an economic depression which halted most park work for several years. Entries for early meetings are sporadic, focusing on the valuation and clearance of private properties, protection of park land, and the hiring of engineer Egbert Viele to survey and map the park. Following the Act of April 28, 1864, the minutes document more frequent meetings, the creation of by-laws, and the hiring of landscape architects Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, who submitted their proposal in January, 1866. Entries document discussions as to funding and expenditures, and dealings with Vaux and Olmsted and the implementation of their plans. Topics include the sale and purchase of land to change and extend boundaries, budgets, staffing, park security, plantings, water drainage, road work and transportation access, rules and regulations for the park, donations of animals and statuary, and the use of park land for entertainment, recreational, and commercial purposes. Roadwork projects include the improvement of the Coney Island Plank Road and the creation of Ocean Parkway to link the Prospect Park area to Coney Island. Plans for other parks, such as the proposed vault at Washington Park in Fort Greene for the remains of the Prison Ship Martyrs, are also mentioned. less

Calvert Vaux (1824-1895) was a British-born landscape architect who practiced in the U.S. He worked on the designs for the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution. In 1857 he began collaborating with Frederick Law Olmsted on the construction of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Central, Morningside and Riverside Parks in Manhattan. They also worked on the South Park in Chicago and the state reservation at Niagara Falls, N.Y. Vaux was the landscape architect for the department of parks in New York City for many years. Collection consists of correspondence, documents, drawings, maps, plans, reports, speech, photograph, newsclippings, and other printed matter. Correspondence includes letters, 1860-1894, by Vaux relating to the design and construction of Central Park; letters, 1865-1895, to Vaux from Olmsted and others concerning Prospect and other parks, and Olmsted's life and work in California; letters to the editor of the New York Tribune about the roles of Vaux and Olmsted in the design of Prospect and Central Parks; and letters, 1921, between C. Bowyer Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. concerning their fathers' letters. Also, documents relating to Vaux's work'; drawings, maps and plans for some of his work; reports on parks; speech, 1908, by Samuel Parsons about Central Park; photographic portrait of Vaux; clippings on the work of Vaux and Olmsted; and other printed materials. less

Adriana Kleiman received her master's degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962 and was employed by the New York City Planning Commission. Her papers consist of correspondence, reports, and research files relating to the rezoning of the SoHo neighborhood between 1962 and 1990, and its development as a cultural district during that time period. less