He appointed the commission responsible for the selection and location of public lands for parks in the Bronx, which came to includ Van Cortlandt, Bronx, Pelham Bay, Crotoan, Claremont and St. Mary's Parks, and the Mosholu, Bronx and Pelham, and Crotona Parkways.
As a congressman (1891) he served as secretary to the committee on the Erie Canal.