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Ladies and gentlemen. It is my particular pleasure tonight to have the honor of presenting for a special distinction the name of Jacob mankind Kaplan. Who has been so designated by our president Mr Shapiro many of you have known Mr Kaplan in the past as an executive of great ability and a man who having achieved it Monday and success comparatively early in life was able to retire from business practices to devote himself to what he has considered to be a higher duty I've asked him what it is about an American citizen which he deems to be most important and he thought about it in Attard being a good citizen there are many aspects to being a good citizen and I think in this last decade when Mr Kaplan has devoted himself to our community he has played many of the roles that each of us should aspire to play as a good citizen he has been responsible for the development of mobilization for youth with his friend Isaac Stern he initiated the effort to save Carnegie Hall he has been a prime mover in the successful civic uprising which has rescued thirteen hundred acres of beach for public use at Breezy Point he has been the founder through his family foundation of the Center for New York City affairs he has a stylish to the first vest pocket park in Harlem and not least of costs. He has been through his fund the co-sponsor of the BART Awards with all of that it is of costs even more pleasurable for me to say that Mr Kaplan is a long time and devoted member of the City Club for all these reasons in fact for the culmination of all these reasons the board of trustees of the city club has seen fit to award Mr Kaplan its a certificate of merit which is most sparingly given to any citizen of our community this is significant reads as follows the City Club of New York. Urban perfection certificate of merit Be it known here by whereby it is the objective of the City Club of New York to advance the science of government and to promote the better administration of civic affairs and to encourage devotion to these ideals among civil servants civic workers students of government and the citizenry of the city at large and to recognize distinction and merit among them and whereas in the judgment of this organization Jacob M. Kaplan has attained outstanding distinction and merit in the science of government within the cognizance of the club and has contributed to the successful advancement of these ideals and has accordingly met the requirements for this distinction. Now there are four and recognition and an honor there of the City Club of New York does award this doesn't need this certificate of merit dated at New Yawk this twenty fifth day of April nineteenth sixty six Mr Kaplan carrier of. This imposes upon me the responsibility. Of finding a distinguished group of people here especially the professional architects for permitting me to be one of you on this afternoon's occasion I think that it is my duty to speak on behalf of all of us here for the privilege of rendering whatever services we are able to contribute for a better city I want to thank the city club for giving me this honor and to all of you who have come here to witness this occasion actually it's an honor for all of you because if you weren't all in the realm of good citizenship you wouldn't be here today thank you Ira. We're delighted to have a fellow club member for many years the mayor of the city of New York. Talk to us greet us on this happy occasion. Mr Shapiro members of the City Club yours distinguished award winners and guests it's it's good to know that the City Club persists in its efforts to insist upon good design and it's good to know that there are men like Jack Kaplan around who are willing to lend the efforts. Of a group of citizens an organized but nevertheless who care and insisting upon good design. I don't suppose there's any more delicate subject than the question of. How I want to achieve good and quite recently I asked a small group of distinguished people composed of professionals and laypeople which Mr Philip Johnson is a member of this group. To assist the mayor in discovering what the mayor can do and what his powers are or should be in insisting upon good design in that area of city life that is not necessarily. Concerned or directly involved with the government. We have an arts commission as you know that concerns itself in considerable detail I might add with the looks of school houses. And other institutions that are built and owned and operated by the government what one does about the private sector is a delicate point. And. That is a question which I trust that the mayor's group that is working on this subject will have very specific and solid answers on. Not long ago and Logan both raise the question with the Planning Commission as to its obligation to the public and to the mayor to take into consideration design among other things when deciding the proper use of land in a crowded urban center land use by of course the private sector as well as the public sector. I expect that. I expect that that committee. Careful and distinguished as it is. And which. HAS ON IT professionals from various areas and laypeople. Will struggle quite mightily with that question as to what is the power and obligation of the city government. In vetoing what mayors committee. Consisting of outside non-government people but an informal status what is its power in vetoing what the committee and therefore the mayor should decide is bad design not easy it's an easier way to start a war and almost any other way that I can think of anyway it's good to know that this club continues its pressure in this regard as it does in many areas to protect preserve and to advance urban amenities. Paradoxically perhaps I think they. Can gesture and lack of light and airless spaces which characterizes so many parts of New York City most especially Manhattan. Encourages architects to seek out sometimes the opposite of those qualities in their works. To those architects and planners who have pursued those aims. That is say were resisted temptation to often and resisted the pressures from commercial people to these the city owes its Thanks and its congratulations I fear that they're all too few It's particularly noteworthy that two of the three winners in this year's Bart awards. Avid Cheve awards. For their intelligence magination in the use of open space more than in the filling of open space north Plaza at Lincoln Center sculpture garden the museum which you seen on the screen just now have really brought a broad enjoyment just thousands of people from all over the city and outside the city and the third one of the Moses Institute research building at Montefiore. Will be really a very exciting and continuing pleasure for everyone who works there. And there are enough difficulties people who work in the hospital so that they're entitled to this kind of relief let's take a look at the city's role in preserving good architecture and design. Stated more positive fashion one of my goals as mayor would be to prevent a repetition of one thousand nine hundred sixty three which was the year in which the BART award judges were unable to find a single public building of sufficient distinction to qualify for a citation and I believe that the city can do better and that is our effort at this moment. The buildings particularly those over which the city has some jurisdiction and control which it doesn't every building up to some point should not fail in this effort. The federal government has in modern times in recent years tried to do something. To set a standard it is not done so to the extent to which it ought to but there's been some efforts made particularly in the embassy field the construction of the embassy in New Delhi which I'm sure many of you have seen which is a stunning building the national the national cultural center on the Potomac and which says really every great effort to see to it it's done right other cities London Berlin Tokyo Tel Aviv have gone through distinguished efforts in many of their parts to do the kind of thing that New York City is beginning to try to do also that we're not alone in these efforts were behind some were better than others. The Department of Parks and I'm glad that Commissioner Hoving is here has announced its first architectural competition something that has not been done in the parks area since OEM stood one of the award for the one nine hundred fifty the eight hundred fifty nine greensward plan which led to the creation alternately of Central Park competition for the best design for a refreshment kiosk to be placed in the park. Is something that we all look forward to it is perhaps a relatively small undertaking when one considers the needs in the mass of New York and the prizes will not prove enriching I would suppose to the award winners however the scope of the competition does not diminish in any sense the generosity of the donors who have underwritten the prizes nor does it circumscribed subsequent efforts. In these areas by the city and for the city. We would like to hold more competitions to stimulate interest in modern pleasing design for public construction. The Department of Public Works plans right now. To engage in this. In a careful way as well as to reach out. For the very best architectural competitions for public buildings as you well know may not be always the answer to any problem a competition can result in an inordinate delay. And it can result also in tending towards. The non experimental or the safe or the least common denominator although they probably will result in something better than we have had from the standardization of the past. There's much to be said for having competitions in selected areas. Sometimes even more to be said for just reaching out and giving. A person of achievement and excellence and promise his head and let him go. Second Mate We are reassessing at this moment the fees that are scheduled for me in a civil architecture we think that this is a must if we are to attract the best it would be nice to say that everyone is so generously motivated that you never have to discuss the question of fees or talk and that their size makes no difference at all however in the world of the real this is not the case and the fee schedules have got to be reassessed meetings have been held quite constantly between city governments agencies and gauge and construction. On this subject. More importantly or just as importantly. Is to expedite payment of fees towards architects. And this. Is absolutely essential not only in the area of architectural fees but in all aspects of construction third aspect of the city's effort to provide its buildings with a reasonable graciousness and style is the allocation of upwards of one percent of every capital project for fine arts this we should do but we also aware that this may not necessarily be the answer to great design it may help and anything that helps is a step forward however it would be a mistake to think that the one percent rule in and of itself is going to result in better design for the city of New York I think that latitude will be required more than we've had in the past and in combination with the reform of the fee schedules our program should assist the city always by special efforts in attracting top ranking architects to civic design and they say in that score also that. I was pleased to have a meeting just the other day. With representatives of architects representatives of Engineers and of construction people and commissioners from all those engaged in construction and building around the city in which to lay down. The rule to lay down the law. That the delays and the red tape and the bureaucracy. Are to be ended and that the decision making process in the middle echelons of the government in order to facilitate the work that goes into building will be done. If necessary I have announced there will be somebody assigned especially in the mayor's office itself for big projects in order to see to it that sufficient heads are knocked together on a regular basis to put an end to the delays of the past in the business of architectural work and construction of for. I wound up by that particular meeting by inviting all present as I do here all over the city who are engaged in important construction for the city of New York to send letters to the mayor pointing out the delays when they occur. And to speak the truth without fear of reprisal or any other problem. Within the departments of government then the problem of zoning codes building regulations property tax assessments on architecture is something to that the city must venture into some changes municipal rules to the extent possible. Should encourage not hinder good design and especially the use of open space and on that point once again I hope that the Mayor's Task Force on this subject will be sufficiently funded know that it will be. In order to do the job that has to be done to shake up the code to bring about the result that we want. I want to ensure that future office towers as admirable as the Seagram Building can be constructed without being penalised even inadvertently by inflexible municipal practices. Finally there is needed to grieve cooperation between levels of government federal and state that we have not had in the practice and in the past and this can be done to make our places our our cities more handsome. They must be guarding against the needless destruction of landmarks. Even by expressways. With the high priority that they take these days. Private individuals and groups. Can be enlisted although that's not always easy because. The size of our governmental structure and the size of our city is such sometimes that the power that can be generated outside the government itself in this area in proper partnership and cooperation with the government is not easy always to achieve but it has to be done also. It goes without saying and hardly needs mentioning I should think. That the potential for good architecture inherent in federal housing. Is such. That the city can if it only will begin to do what has failed to do over the past in public housing which is to make them imaginative goodlooking spacious and flexible that is to say flexible for human uses flexibles or so economic. Flexibility and integration can take place easily as well as racial integration. I may say in this connection that it would be a tragedy of major proportions if the United States Congress fails to pass in its full scope the demonstration cities act that has been proposed by the president that act at this moment trembles a bit. The congress. Is going through its annual shakes. On this and other questions and if Vietnam should take priority over this new act as well as others. This cities will suffer substantially. We have New York City I think that the demonstration cities act and what it its potential can be even in the relatively modest beginning that it has as offered by the president is still a great potential and. I hope and trust that the pressure of the country will be there to insist upon this Congress before its adjournment that the demonstration cities act is passed. Now these technical matters that I've discussed and not technical some are technical and legal procedures. Are Important terribly important. There are even broader implications and broader applications of the Hope for cities that was summed up in David Burnham celebrated injunction make no small plans from that statement to the Chicago lakefront was created New York City. Has not had a master plan as you well know to guide its varied works no plan that looks forward in time far beyond the city limits and every community within the three state urban complex that has grown up around New York City can contribute to the plan for the future every area can set its own standard of excellence for itself and for its neighbors and of all of the fourteen million residents of this metropolitan region should I think could take part in and enjoy the city's achievements and aspirations. We have set out to draw up an implementor regional plan which will Bling Ring reason efficiency and cooperation to the solution of common problems of transportation water supply air pollution to name just a few and our hope is that good planning will enable greater New York to design a livable urban society in this test area so my message tonight. To the Bard team. Goes far beyond an ordinary invitation to assist the city to invest in its architecture with grace and style a city is remembered. I would suppose through history in part through its buildings. But our larger effort of course is always to be concerned about the kind of man that is produced and architecture. Has got to be devoted to the larger framework of our society and designed to the formation of an environment which allows the young to grow this city club. So long been in the forefront and so long. Championed causes of of merit such as this phrased it. And its bylaws or one of its bulletins I forget which just how are we to pay for new and needed subways yet New York must imperatively have new parks new schools new other things the lease debt that New York owes to her children who in their innocence are not responsible for the conditions of New York's life in which they have been born is to provide parks playgrounds schools clean water in the rivers and at the beaches and other factors of life that lead directly to the health welfare and proper bringing up of the main and a half a little children who very shortly will become the citizens and voters of this community we cannot say no to those assorted necessities that city club bulletin I should add in closing was written forty years ago. My thanks goes to the City Club for its support and many causes most recently to the mayor's tax reorganization program I hope none of you suffer because of that support from it and I as mayor wish to express my gratitude to you as well as my congratulations and compliments to those who have been the recipients of these distinguished Awards tonight thank you if. You've.