The Commissioners’ Plan of 1811

The Coming of the Commissioners’ Plan

The proposal of the Commissioners’ Plan came about as a means to organize and control the sale and distribution of land in Manhattan. The city council wished to align the structure of the streets to create a form of uniformity and order within its people. As well, in order to promote the health of the city, they wished to create a circulation throughout the grid that rid the streets of foul air. Although the Plan as we know of today was adopted in 1811, the city had previously rejected a very similar and basic web of streets and land surveyed by Joseph Mangin and Casimir Goerck in 1797. The city however, changed its stance in 1807, and appointed the commissioners, Governeur Morris, John Rutherfurd, and Simeon De Witt.

By the state legislature, the commissioner’s were given executive power and the ultimate ability to lay out the streets, roads and the public squares that would eventually give birth to the Manhattan we know of today. This meant that they had the right to access and survey private property, resulting in a wave of hostile response from land-owners. The complete survey of the land mass was completed in 1810, and the preparation of publication followed soon after.

In March of 1811, the commissioners published an eight foot map as well as a 54 page pamphlet as part of their Plan.

Case Study: Commissioner’s Plan

Current Location:
Manhattan New York, New York, United States of America

Site:
The Island of Manhattan

Original Purpose:
The order and distribution of land plots throughout Manhattan

Predecessor:
The Colony of New York

Date of Project:
(From Planning to Completion)
1807-1811

Client:
City Council of New York

Chief Surveyor/ Engineer:
John Randel, Jr.

Commissioners:
Gouverneur Morris, John Rutherfurd, Simeon De Witt

Massing:
155 Orthogonal Streets
Location of cross streets fixed at boundaries of pre-divided 5-acre (20,000m2) parcels
Avenues to be 100 feet (30m) wide, separated by approximately 922 feet (281m)
Streets running East-West are approximately 60 feet (18m) wide, around 200 feet (61m) of separation
(14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, 72nd, 79th, 86th, 96th, 106th, 116th, 125th, 135th, 145th and 155th Streets were designated to be 100 feet (30m) wide)

Style:
The Grid Plan

Physical Context:
The Commissioner’s Plan was one of the first proposals to pioneer the grid like fashioning of a city’s urban skeleton in the United States.  Although Philadelphia was the first to implement a grid design within its streets, the Commissioner’s Plan is no doubt the most famous and historical. Considered the single most important document in New York’s development, the plan introduces a visionary and controversial approach to urban planning. The plan was complimented for its ability in bringing down on a huge scale, controlled and ventilated streets, perpendicular and intersecting.  However, it has received criticism as well for ignoring the natural topographic character of the area.

Economic Context:
Bringing in both praise and disapproval, the Commissioner’s Plan was a successful tool by the City Council in bringing in huge amounts of revenue from the sale and distribution of land. Men like Clement Clarke Moore, who owned a large portion of land, earned copious amounts of income from sub-dividing their real-estates and developing them section-by-section along the gridded streets. Jumping ahead into present day time, many urban critics have praised the plan’s foresights and that the installation of wide avenues allowed for retail and commercial traffic to be attracted and conformed to the circulation of the city.

National Context:
The Commissioner’s Plan has been called in the past, “the republican predilection for control and balance.” The method of how the commissioners were given power to pursue the goals of the City Council and the varying motives that drove the whole project are only a couple examples that reflect the political and governing mental state of America during this evolutionary period.

Simeon De Witt and John Randel Jr.

Source of Image :http://www.codex99.com/cartography/109.html

Simeon De Witt was born in the Ulster County and descended from the early Dutch settlers of the mid-Hudson region. Trained by James Clinton as a surveyor, he was appointed as Robert Erskine’s assistant, the Geographer and Surveyor of the Army Colonel . After Erskine’s death, De Witt took over his position and was later appointed New York State Surveyor General in 1784. He was appointed to establish a street plan for Manhattan with Gouverneur Morris and John Rutherfurd in 1807.

To assist in the completion of the Commissioner’s Plan, he hired the civil engineer John Randel, Jr.  Starting in 1807, he surveyed the site in over ten years to help produce the Commissioners’ plan accounting for 155 streets and 12 avenues. The development potential of the land had room for more than 150, 000 building lots on the circumstances of having the terrain flattened.

John Randel’s original drawings of The Greatest Grid displays past existing features on the site such as farm lanes, fences, walls, ponds, streams, wetlands, hills and buildings. The plan was completed by early spring 1811, prepared as a large 100 x 30 “ map.

However, the final plan was notably unaccommodating at that time to the existing elements on the site. Areas were divided with farms and estates, houses, and suburban villas to accommodate instead the new streets that were simply overlaid. This map of a later version of Randel’s original farm map demonstrates how the existing farm plots were ignored and overlaid.

Simeon De Witt was the New York State Surveyor General in 1784. He was appointed to establish a street plan for Manhattan with Gouverneur Morris and John Rutherfurd in 1807. To assist in the completion of the Commissioner’s Plan, he hired the civil engineer John Randel, Jr.  Starting in 1807, he surveyed the site in over ten years to help produce the Commissioners’ plan accounting for 155 streets and 12 avenues.

Commissioner’s Plan and the Development of Land

As the United States composed itself after the American Revolution, opportunities arose for vast industrial and economic growth. New York was no exception. The official statement put forth by the City Council in 1807 stated that the purpose of the proposed plan was to, “[lay] out Streets… in such a manner as to unite regularity and order with the public convenience and benefit and in particular to promote the health of the City… [by allowing] a free and abundant circulation of air.” The core driving force behind the implementation of the Commissioner’s plan, however, was for the orderly development and sale of land throughout Manhattan. Compensation was not awarded to those who had pre-erected buildings located in open spaces or roads. However, if the building existed on a lot, it was allowed to remain there until the Council deemed otherwise, in which case the owners would be paid for their inconveniences. This allowed the City Council to intervene in the retail and control of private plots. They were able to redistribute, sell, and allocate them as deemed fit to flow smoothly with the grander scheme of the city’s economical and industrial development.

Wards and the Commissioners’ Plan

The process of dividing Manhattan into different areas known as wards was first introduced by Governor Thomas Dongan in 1686. As time progressed, sizes and locations of wards shifted and morphed to better suit the skin of the city’s political and economical growth. New ones were added as the city grew, and as populations in certain wards increased, it was then consequently subdivided into smaller wards. This system served the then New York as well as its surrounding cities as a proficient tool in organizing its population until this political designation was abolished in 1933.

Planned and Modern Key Parks and Public Squares

Diagram showing the planned and the modern key parks and public squares on the Commissioners’ Plan.

 

As the New York’s core structure was modified with the Commissioner’s Plan, the form of its content was also tailored to better fit the grid and its economic growth. However, as beneficial as the grid was initially to accommodate the energy of an evolving city, its officials soon realized that the plan contained too little squares, parks, and public areas. The commissioners had come to the conclusion that due to the high land values of the city was not worth compromising distributable land for recreational purposes. They stated that the city’s surrounding rivers were enough in providing fresh air and open space to its citizens. The commissioners retained small spaces that were implemented prior to the plan, such as Bowling Green, the Battery, and City Hall Park, but the only large public spaces that were added were in the northern peak of the island where land was cheaper. Where the city was planned to be more sophisticatedly developed, they included only necessary and essential spaces, such as a military parade ground, a public market, and a location for a future reservoir. As well, to accommodate for the irregular shapes of the junction on Broadway, Bowery Road, and Fourth Avenue, Union Place was created.

The current map however, has a vastly different layout of public spaces compared to that of during the commissioning. Between the 1820’s and the 1840’s, many changes were implemented. It was during this time that the modern, monumental parks – such as Madison Squares and Central park were put into place.