ntral Park, Fifty-ninth
street, and irregularly to Manhattanville, One hundred and twenty-fifth
street, from which point to Spuyten Duyvel Creek it is covered with
country seats, gardens, etc. Three wagon, and two railroad bridges over
the Harlem River connect the island with the mainland, and numerous lines
of ferries afford communication with Long and Staten Islands, and New
Jersey. The island attains its greatest width at Fourteenth and
Eighty-seventh streets.

The city is finely built, and presents an aspect of industry and
liveliness unsurpassed by any place in the world. Lying in full sight of
the ocean, with its magnificent bay to the southward, and the East and
Hudson Rivers washing its shores, the city of New York possesses a
climate which renders it the most delightful residence in America. In
the winter the proximity of the sea moderates the severity of the cold,
and in the summer the heat is tempered by the delightful sea breezes
which sweep over the island. Snow seldom lies in the streets for more
than a few hours, and the intense "heated terms" of the summer are of
very brief duration. As a natural consequence, the city is healthy, and
the death rate, considering the population, is small.

The southern portion is densely built up. Between the City Hall and
Twenty-third street New York is more thickly populated than any city in
America. It is in this section that the "tenement houses," or buildings
containing from five to twenty families, are to be found. The greatest
mortality is in these over-crowded districts, which the severest police
measures cannot keep clean and free from filth. The southern portion of
the city is devoted almost exclusively to trade, comparatively few
persons residing below the City Hall. Below Canal street the streets are
narrow, crooked, and irregular. Above Houston street they are broad and
straight, and are laid out at regular intervals. Above Houston street,
the streets extending across the island are numbered. The avenues begin
in the vicinity of Third street, and extend, or will extend to the
northern limit of the island, running parallel with the Hudson River.
There are twelve fine avenues at parallel distances apart of about 800
feet. Second and Eighth are the longest, and Fifth, Madison and
Lexington the most fashionable. They commence with Avenue D, a short
street, near the East River. West of this, and parallel with it, are
three avenues somewhat longer,