June 3, 1911.





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





1043





THE CRUSADE AGAINST  ENCROACHMENTS

Public to Have  More Room   on   the  Sidewalks  in Business Streets—Extent  to
Which Roadway and Sidewalk Widths Are to Be Changed Under Present Orders





ALL the privileges and permits that
have been granted in times past un¬
der any authority, for steps, areas, fences
or any other projection or encroachment
over the building line, are being revoked
hy the Board of Estimate in the case of
a number of business streets in the Bor¬
ough of Manhattan. At the same tiine,
Borough President McAneney is being di¬
rected to have all encroachments re¬
moved, and in several instances to also
change the width of roadways and side¬
walks. Certain ornamental projections,
which were specifled in an order of the
Superintendent of Buildings under date
of January 3, of this year, are not to be
disturbed.

T'his action is in accordance with the
policy adopted by Borough President Mc¬
Aneney to give back to the public the full
width of the sidewalks in business street.s,
as the need therefor becomes appareni
The policy has the support of the city's
Law Department, as promulgated in ;i
recent opinion by the Corporation Counsel

It is not proposed to widen the road¬
way in every instance. The portions oC
streets where encroachments are to be re¬
moved, with no change in existing road¬
way widths, are: Fulton, between Broad¬
way and William; Ann, between Park
Row and William; Park Row, between
Ann and Spruce streets; West 32d street,
between Sixth and Seventh avenues;
Broadway, east side, and Seventh avenue,
w-est side, between 42d and 45th streets;
Broadway, west side, and Seventh avenue,
east side, between 45th and 47th streets.

Lafayette street, between Great Jones
street and Astor place (which is the block
where the Astor Library stands); 14th
street, between Third and Sixth avenues,
and Broadway, between 24th and 33d
streets, are to have wider roadways and
be   relieved   of  encroachments  as  well.

All these blocks are now devoted to
business. Most of them last their stand¬
ing as residential streets many years ago,
but in numerous cases stoops, areas and
cellar steps of former dweUings survive
to make the "encroachments" which are
now deemed a hindrance to traflic, and
which it is the policy of the Borough
President to recover for public use.

So well justifled in the puhlic mind is
this policy that no objections have been
made to the proceedings in the Board of





Estimate on the part of property owners,
except in two or three instances. In the
case of East 14th street, the Gerraan
Savings Bank and the Steinways opposed
the improvement without avail, and pro¬
tests have also been made in the case of
Ann  street.

In the past the city, from time to time,
allowed much latitude for encroachments.
For  example,   the  Astor Library building





During ail the years that llth street
has been a retail trade center, with thou¬
sands of people thronging it daily, some
flagrant instances of architectural irregu¬
larities have been tolerated. In one case
an amusement hall occupies just one-half
of the sidewalk space, or fifteen feet.
There are other encroachments of flve to
ten feet on the north side, while on the
south side, between Fifth and Sixth ave-







BROADWAY,   NORTH   PROM   24TH   STREET,





has a double flight of steps which takes
up more than one-half of the sidewalk in
Lafayette street. On the same block the
DeVinne Building has a platform which
takes 13.5 feet of the sidewalk space for
a distance of about 90 feet. A chiropo¬
dist's building considerately shares half
the sidewalk with the public, and in front
of old No. 28 steps encroach 12 feet over
the line.

Lafayette street is legally 100 feet wide.
The roadway is now 40 feet In width, and
the sidewalks 30 feet where they are clear
of encroachments. The roadway is to
be made 55 feet wide and the sidewalks
are to be reduced to 22 feet and 6 inches
each. But as this sidewalk space is to
be entirely clear under the new dispensa¬
tion, there will actually be more room
than before for public use.







FULTON  STREET,   PROM  WILLIAM  TO  BROADWAY.





nues, there is a continuous show window
extending more than 300 feet and pro¬
jecting over four feet into the street.

THE SUBWAY KIOSKS.
There are six subway entrances occupy¬
ing the sidewalks of this street. At the
southeast corner of Fourth avenue only
eleven feet of available sidewalk is left
between the subway entrance and the
steps of the Germania Savings Bank. On
the opposite side of Mth street 12.5 feet
is left between the subway structure and
the basement steps of the corner build¬
ing. The buildings encroach 10 to 11 feet
in each case. Fourteenth street being 100
feet wide, the intention is to widen the
roadway from 40 to 53 feet, and give each
sidewalk a clear space of 23.5 feet. .

CENTRAL BROADWAY.
Broadway, between Madison and Gree¬
ley squares, is 75 feet in width, with a
roadway of about 39 feet and sidewalks
of IS feet. It is proposed to widen the
roadway to 43 feet and leave sidewalks of
16 feet. The encroachments on this street
are not so conspicuous as on the streets
covered by the other resolutions. The
.abutting owners have for the most part
realized that all the sidewalk space was
required for traflic, TTie worst encroach¬
ment is that of the entrance to Wailach's
Theatre, which extends nearly eight feet
beyond the building line, leaving only
about ten feet available for public use.
At the northeast corner of 2oth street an
entrance to a building takes 7 feet from
the sidewalk and leaves but 11 feet free.
Between 25th t» 29th streets there are
scarcely any encroachments, except show
windows. On every other block, except
the one along Greeley square, there are
projections of from 3 to nearly 7 feet of
various  kinds.

AT   TIMES   SQUARE.
Broadway   and   Seventh   avenue,   from
42d  to 47th streets, are each 100 feet in
width,   with   roadways   of   60   feet   each.