June i8, 1910
KJfilJUKU AJSU UVlUti
1295
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TOftM P RP^'â– EsTAjt-SinLoiffe AR):j(iTECTJii,E',KousnfoU)DEoanjUMt
Bifsnfess Alb Themes of GEjiER^lIrfrERfsi.^
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS
Commuulcatloas should be addresfleA to
C. W. SWEET
Tublisffed Etierg Saturdag
By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO.
President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F, W. DODGE
Vice-Prea. & GenL Mgr., H. W. DESMOND Secretary. F. T. MILLER
Nos. 11 to IS East 24tlt Street, New Vark CUt
(Telephone, Madison Square, 4130 to 4433.)
"Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. v., ns second-class matter."
Copyriglited. 1010, by The Record Se Guide Co,
Vol. LXXXV.
JUNE 18, 1910.
No. 2205
THE summary of ten ement-bouse construction under tlie
new law, recently prepared liy the Tenement House De¬
partment, contains some interesting facts. Since the new law
went into operation some eight years ago, there have been
1G,133 houses out of a total of about 103,000 houses built in con¬
formity with its provisions. Tbat is, about one-sixth of tlie
tenement houses now occupied iu the city are new-law build¬
iugs. The proportion naturally varies very much among diff¬
erent boroughs. In Maniiattan only one-tenth of the total have
been erected uuder the new law; in Broolvlyn one-sixth; in the
Bronx about two-sevenths, and in Queens two-flfths. It must
not be supposed, however, that these proportions accurately
represent the proportion of the tenement-house population liv¬
ing in the new-law buildings, because the average building
erected under the new law bas contained a much larger number
of apartments than tbe average building erected under the old
law. Thus, in the whole city tliere are 215,000 new-law apart¬
ments out of a total of 855,000, so that about one-fourth of the
ten ement-house population lives in tbis class of apartment. But
here again conditions vary in the different boroughs. In Man¬
hattan the proportion of new-law apartments is a little more
than one-flfth; in Brooklyn it is a little more than one-fourth,
and in the Bronx and Queens the proportion is somewhat less
than a half. This is certainly an enormous change to have
taken place in somewhat over eight years. "Within that time
anywhere from twenty to fifty per cent, of the tenemeut-house
population has taiten up its habitation in buildings erected
under the new law, and within another similar period, the
average will be not far from fifty per cent, for the entire city.
Tbis ought to mean a vast improvemeut in healtli and com¬
fort for millions of the inhabitants of the city.
THE flgures mentioned above enable us also to make a good
guess as to the probable increase in population for the
whole city and for the various boroughs. It is fair to assume
a population of five for each apartment in these buiklings. In
many cases this would be excessive, but, in many other cases,
particularly in the congested districts, the actual number would
be larger. So far as it is true, it would mean that the tene¬
ment-house population of the city increased from 3,200,000 at
tbe end of 1002 to 4,275,000 in the Spring of 1910. This would
mean an increase of about 33 per cent, in a little over eight
years, or about four per cent, a year. It would also mean that
the tenement-house population of Manhattan in a little over
eight years had increased from 2,000.000 to 2,550,000; in Brook¬
lyn, from 900,000 to 1,250,000; in the Bronx, from 200,000 to
370,000, and in Queens, from 50.000 to 90,000, These figures
are in all probability approximately correct; and the inferences
to be taken from them will be confirmed by the census. They
mean that the population of Manhattan has risen at tlie rate
of about three per cent, a year, that of Brooklyn at ZV2 per
cent, and that of the Bronx and Queens at eight or nine per
cent, a year. New York's total population should in that
case be somewhere between 4,000,000 and 4,700,000, and its an¬
nual increase would now be over 160,000. Three times in the
coming decade it will add a city as large as Buffalo to its
human area. As a matter of fact, the rates of increase men¬
tioned herewith will probably be diminished during the com¬
ing decade, which is likely to be a period of smaller immigra¬
tion and slower growth. None the less is the time within sight
when about 6,500,000 will constitute the population of the
city; and when an additional population of some 1,500.000
more in New Jersey wil! contribute to its business.
JUST what, will become of the most recent proposal of the
Interborough Company does not yet appear, though it is
darkly hinted that both the Public Service Commission and
the Mayor are inclined to view it with favor. The proposal
includes the complete third-tracking of the Ninth, Third and
Second avenue lines, the construction of certain additional
lines in the Bronx, the connection of the Queensboro Bridge
with the Second Avenue Elevated tracks and the connection
of the 42d street tunnel with the existing Subway, the con¬
nection to be made on the basis of a five-cent fare. The argu¬
ments in favor of the granting of these proposals are un¬
doubtedly very strong. By these means, and within a couple of
years, the city will obtain a very considerable increasf) in
its means of communication. The congestion of the elevated
roads and particularly on the overcrowded Third avenue line
will be mitigated. The Bronx will be benefited both by an im¬
proved .seivice, and by the construction of a much, needed i'd-
ditional line. Queens will be so connected with Manhattan that
its residents will be able to reach the lower business district
of the central borough about as conveniently as can the resi¬
dents of the settled part of the Bronx. AU the improve¬
ments can be completed probably some three years before Jt will
be possible to force another Subway into operation; and the
cost, amounting to some $30,000,000, will, of courso, be paid
entirely by the company. The latter is willing to pay some¬
thing for these additional privileges, but not much, becaus? it
will have additional easements to pay to property owner^i a'ong
its lines. The object of the plan is, of course, to ivise the
existing Interborough system to its highest point of operating
efficiency, and the company unquestionably expects to profit
considerably from the proposed improvements. The extent of
its prospective profits can be very well measured by the persist¬
ence with whicii the management of the company returns to
proposals of this kind. For years it has sought to obtain these
privileges and it has not been discouraged by constant denials;
and it is easy to understand the advantages it expects to gain.
The improvements all affect those parts of its system for
which it owns long franchises, and they will enable tbe com¬
pany to compete more effectually than it can ou the basis of
its present equipment with any future Subways. It will be
able to hold, that is, a much larger proportion of its traffic
in case The Third and Ninth avenue lines are practically paral¬
leled by four-tracked underground roads.
THE Record and Guide believes that the local authorities,
in deciding upon the acceptance or the rejection of these
proposals, should be governed chiefly by the prob^le extent to
which the granting of the privileges will diminish the value
of competing Subway concessions. The carrying out of the
company's plans would undoubtedly be a great boon to cer¬
tain parts of New York City, but the resulting improvement
in the transit service would not constitute any substitute for
Subway construction. The proposed improvements, in so far
as they turn upon third tracks â– on the elevated roads, are
makeshifts which merely perpetuate an inferior class of tran¬
sit service. They are worth having, but only in case they
will not embarrass the city in building and leasing Subways
on the most favorable terms. The Record and Guide is not in
any position to judge whether or not as a matter of fact the
complete third-tracking of ,the elevated roads would diminish
the value of competing â– Subway routes. But, if the com¬
mission is in any doubt about the matter, it will soon have
an opportunity of instituting a test. In a few weeks it will
advertise for bids on the Broadway-Lexington avenue route,
which would compete to some extent with the Third avenue
"L" road. If bidders for the Lexington avenue Subway should
seriously object to the possible competition, and modify their
bids in consequence, the Third avenue improvement would un¬
doubtedly be costing more than it would be worth. On the
whole, the Record and Guide does not believe that the pro¬
posed third-tracking of Third avenue line would seriously
hurt the trafflc on a Lexington avenue Subway, but as loug
as such may be the case, the proposals of the Interborough
Company should not be seriously considered until after the
contract for the new Subway has been let. The fact is, of
course, that everything depends upon the reception which is
accorded to the route and the plan of the Public Service
Commission. If a satisfactory contractor is obtained on the
commission's own terms, and without auy considerable ex-