PLAN OF NEW YORK AND ITS ENVIRONS
 

PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

ONE of the most important features of a regional plan is the provision for
recreation. The map on page 29 shows the parks, cemeteries, and open
spaces in the entire territory. The scale, however, is so small that it is
impossible to show, except by symbols, any of them less than 50 acres in area.
Cemeteries have been included for the reason that, while not available for pub¬
lic recreation, they may be considered permanent open spaces; and, looking
far ahead, they may some day be converted into actual parks, as has already
been done in several cases within the district.

The conspicuous feature of this plan is the great Bear Mountain Park, under
the jurisdiction of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. It also shows
the excellent system established by Essex County, N. J., and the fine beginning
of a Westchester County Park System in the Bronx River Parkway and the
Mohansic tract of 1,100 acres lately ceded by the State of New York to West¬
chester County for park purposes. The shaded area in which is located the sys¬
tem of reservoirs of the Pequannock Watershed is owned by the city of Newark.
Less extensive areas around the various reservoirs of the Croton Watershed are
owned by New York City, and consideration should certainly be given to the
possibility of making these areas more available to the public. The reservoirs
themselves provide a system of lakes of rare beauty, and while the use, by large
crowds, of the shores of these lakes for recreation purposes will be inconsistent
with the proper security of water supplies for domestic use, it might be possible,
without excessive cost for sanitary supervision, to give the public the benefit
of limited enjoyment of these areas.
 

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