646





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





May 27, 1922





mation unavailable to private citizens are open to President
Harding and he is known to have been giving considerable
of his time to the study of some of the problems confronting
business at this very critical period. For this reason his con¬
clusions, reflecting as they did the opinions of the majority
of those at the convention, solidified the cheerful feeling
that had prevailed and sent the three thousand members of
the Chamber to their homes in all parts of the country,
prepared for the vigorous prosecution of their various lines
of business.

That commercial affairs are at last decisively if some¬
what slowly on the upturn is evidenced in a number of ways
by which the business world measures progress or retro¬
gression. Steel manufacturing has reached seventy-five
per cent of capacity, with prices rising. This output equals
pre-war production taking into account the increased capac¬
ity of the mills. Copper mines are again being worked as
the enormous stocks acctimulated near the close of the war
diminish rapidly because of the increased fabrication of
articles of peace time use. The Nevv York City Employ¬
ment Bureau, the Y. M. C. A., the Salvation Army, the
Knights of Columbus and the American Legion, as well
as the United States Department of Labor and the State
Labor Bureau, all of which organizations have been in
close touch with the employment situation during the period
of readjustment, agree that there has been a revival of in¬
dustry which has cut unemployment  in  New  York  City





from 500,000 in October last year to 200,000 at the pres¬
ent time. Construction work still reaches record figures
although wages and material prices refuse to come down.
There is great activity in New York City real estate, which
indicates a return of money to the field which has long
held first place with conservative investors.

The strike of coal miners, although menacing, has so far
failed to disorganize industry. On the contrary the statis¬
tics of car loadings proves that general business is im¬
proving in spite of the strike. Loadings of freight of
all descriptions for the week ending May 13 were heavier
than for the previous week, and for the corresponding
week last year, although coal loadings were less than one-
half those of a year ago. General merchandising is there¬
fore improving rapidly and this movement is likely to be
accelerated by the order of the Interstate Commerce Com¬
mission for a ten per cent horizontal cut in freight rates.

These signs bear out the President's assertion that the
country is on the threshold of a new era. "Undoubtedly,"
he adds, "There is more than a mere business revival in
sight.    Our country is finding itself again."

Again American pluck and energy, persistence and busi¬
ness aptitude, are overcoming what seemed to be insur¬
mountable difficulties. It is inevitable that the enthusiasm
evoked by President Harding's cheering pronouncement to
the Chamber of Commerce will further stimulate business
throughout the whole country.





Tenement House Commissioner Mann Sees End of Housing Shortage





TN a statciiieiit made last Wednesday before the New York
Society of Architects, Frank Mann, Tenement House Com¬
missioner, said the records of his department showed that at
least 50,000 apartments in multi-family buildings are now under
construction in Greater New York and that plans for an equal
number in addition, already have been filed with his department,
the majority of which are likely to be started within the next
month or so. This will provide in the neighborhood of 100,000
new living units in this city in apartment houses, and does not
take into consideration the large number of accommodations
provided in the one and two-family dwellings already erected
or  under  construction.

Figures tabulated by the Tenement House Department show
that the work actually under way on April 10 will cost approxi¬
mately $129,000,000, and will provide a total of nearly 115,000
rooms in multi-family dwellings of various types.    The follow¬





ing table shows how the current apartment house construction,
under way on April 10, is distributed by boroughs:





n





•d
a
o

a











s                    Eh                       B                       a                     K                       2;

108          3-10          545          346          1          1,350

4.976      14,066       7.895       2,960        55        29,952

20,195      49,955      28,688      15,391       225       114,454





Tenements
Apartments

Rooms     .....

Estimated
cost     $.33,318,000 $52,363,500 $31,307,000 $11,874,000 $450,000 $129,312,500

Commissioner Mann stated in connection with the apartment
house construction movement that in his opinion there is little
need for further worry about a housing shortage. The con¬
struction now under way, plus that already completed under
the Ta.x Exemption Ordinance, is sufficient, he declared, to
provide for the population of this city and leave a surplus.





Board of Estimate Considers Cost of Northern Boulevard





THE Borough Planning Committee of the Queensboro Cham¬
ber of Commerce, of which Alrick H. Man is Chairman,
recommended at a public hearing before the Board of Esti¬
mate last Friday that 50 per cent, of the cost of widening Northern
Boulevard (Broadway) from Cemetery Lane, Flushing, to the Nas¬
sau County line, be made a city-wide charge, while 20 per cent,
should be assessed upon the Borough of Queens and 30 per cent,
upon the local area benefitted, instead of 30 per cent, upon the city
as a whole, 30 per cent, upon the Borough of Queens and 40 per
cent, upon the local area, as has been recommended by the Chief
Engineer.

The report of the Borough Planning Comraittee to the Board of
Directors of the Queensboro Chamber of Commerce states:

"Your committee has had under consideration the proposed wid¬
ening of Broadway, Flushing, otherwise called Northern Bouleard,
from Cemetery Lane to the Nassau County line. This street con¬
stitutes the main east and west thoroughfare of northern Long
Island, and is extensively used by residents of the Borough of Man-
hatt.-ni and outlying points to reach the north shore of Long Island





beyond the city limits.

"Only a trifling portion of the present traffic through the street
originates in the Borough of Queens, and a very much less per¬
centage is tributary to the abutting property. The abutting Property
owners do not favor the widening of the street, claiming that the
traffic is detrimental to their comfort and enjoyment and to the value
of their property, and that the widening of the street will increase
the hardships which result from dust and noise which extends far
into the night.

"In the case of the widening of Merrick Road, it was agreed
by the city that 30 per cent, was a fair proportion to be borne by
the local  area  of  assessment.    Your  committee  is of the opinion

"As to the balance of the cost, it does not seem logical that any
large fraction of it should be placed upon the Borough of Queens,
inasmuch as no property in the Borough of Queens, except the
portion which is directly tributary to the avenue, is benefitted any
more than other property throughout the city. Our recommenda¬
tion is that 20 per cent, of the total be borne by the Borough of
Queens, and the balance, 50 per cent., by the city at large."