| OCR Text |
Show FORMER NEWSPAPER MAN DRIVES GOOD BARGAIN FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK In the September American Magn-z Magn-z no appears an article about George McAneny, president of the Borough of Manhattan In Now Yok, who dictated dic-tated tho city's terms to tho managers mana-gers of the street railway campanles and then compelled both street commissioners com-missioners and railroad directors to Blgn tho document (which ho wrote), cheating tho $300,000,000 subway system. sys-tem. This piece of work took him a year and n, half and Is a bargain decidedly de-cidedly favorable to tho public. Mr. McAneny Is forty-thrco years oid and was formerly a Now York nowspaper reporter. An extract from tho article follows: "Tho new borough president started start-ed tho work of widening, straightening straighten-ing and planning now streets, and It is still going on today. Show windows, win-dows, show cases, flower stands, bootblack boot-black stand, newspaper stands, fruit stands, handsome Fifth Avovnuo porticoes, por-ticoes, barrooms, slipway kiosks, bedrooms, bed-rooms, markets, aro being removed from the public streets, tho congestion conges-tion opened up and traffic let through. McAneny asked and got $3,500,000 w'th which to begin replacing tho Island's nntlquatcd pavements. He built a municipal asphalt plant and on plans and specifications prepared at his request by representative highway high-way engineers of the country tho borough bor-ough Is now laying an absolutely now system of paving. In 1911 thirty-nine miles of pavement were laid as against twenty-flvo for tho last year of tho preceding administration, and this year tho mileage will run over fifty. "New York City is trying to understand under-stand McAneny. Ills deslro to get things done, his thoroughness, his patience, pa-tience, nnd his persistence are almost lost over tho heads of easy going metropolitans. met-ropolitans. What thoy do catch quickly, quick-ly, however, is his never-falling sense of humor, and his sharp and ready reply re-ply In open debato No ono yet hns appeared who could toll tho borough president of more evils existing In his department than ho already knows; and on moro than ono occasion ho hns been suspected of supplying material ma-terial to committees of citizens for iiso against himself. "McAneny' training was that of tho city room and the enthusiasm of a city editor started him at work upon municipal problems. There Is nothing of mystery nbout McAneny or his administration. ad-ministration. Carl Schurz and Grovcr Cleveland wero McAneny's Ideals, In his newspaper days, and ono f f thp was his Intimate persorrl fr end. Al though a Democrat ho hns never been In party pclltlcs. Ho refuses to rec-ognlzo rec-ognlzo the rights of pntronngo and gets tho support of hl3 employees by promotion through efficiency and ro-sults. ro-sults. If Georgo McAneny may bo classified as anything at all ho is properly a constructive leader In tho now school of municipal government." |
