Damming and draining the East River to install vehicular tunnels topped by boulevards? That was one vision of New York that never came to pass.
David W. Dunlap of The New York Times has assembled illustrations of a half-dozen unrealized proposals for the city.
One of the most audacious ideas was set forth in 1924 by Dr. John A. Harriss, who was considered an expert on traffic control. He recommended damming and draining a five-mile length of the East River and then constructing vehicular and train tunnels topped by boulevards and promenades.
Dunlap reminds readers that in 1946, New York public works master Robert Moses tried to persuade the United Nations to build a Brasilia-like center in the Borough of Queens. Moses argued that Midtown Manhattan would "not be a proper, dignified and practical location" for the world body.