November ii, 1911.





RECORD  AND   GUIDE





K





709





THE SOUTHERN END OF THE BRONX.

Three Old Villages Have Become Industrial Centers and the Railroad
Terminals Offer Good Shipping Facilities^Other Transportation Lines.





THE lower section of the Bronx, com¬
prising practically all the territory
south of 149th street and formerly known
by the local names of Morrisania, Mott
Haven and Port Morris, has always been
the most thickly populated section of the
horough. In older days, when the terri¬
tory was first laid out, it was thought
that it would be exclusively a dwelling-
house center, "^''ith this end in view, the
old deeds to lots on East 132fl street con¬
tained a clause requiring all buildings to
be set .back ten feet in order to make
room for grass plots and trees in front
of each residence, as is now the case on
some of the avenues in New York. No
conception of the future development of
this section could have heen more erro¬
neous, for in the entire Port Jlorris sec¬
tion not a single building for residential
purposes has been erected in the past ten
years.

It is true that this section contains
many dwellings anfl tenements which were
huilt years ago. but in place of any new
buildings of this nature one now flnds fac¬
tories and large manufacturing plants.
The natural topography of the section, as
well as the improvements which have
taken place in the past and those planned





mines at a very low cost and stored until
wanted by the consumers.

Probably no larger stone-cutting and
building material establishments can toe
found in any other place as near Man¬
hattan as are to be found in the Port
Morris section. Along with these we have
.the J. L. Mott iron works, which manu¬
factures a large part of all the bath¬
room and household iron ware used in
this cily. All of these industries are lo¬
cated in a more or less sharply defined
district, but outside of these we find
many other factories producing all sorts
of   commodities.

Among the distinctive features of this
lower area are the various large freight
terminals of several of the largest rail¬
roads. The Central Railroad of New Jer¬
sey has its Bronx freightyard at 133d
street, Lincoln avenue anfl the Harlem
River. While New York, New Haven &
Hartford Raiiroad will have a tremendous
yard and terminal at lo2d street and the
Harlem River, extending north to South¬
ern Boulevard. This company has re¬
cently constructed a number of new store¬
houses, where freight can be unloaded
and held until time for removal to its ul¬
timate   destination.    This   company   runs







population of prohably two hundred thou¬
sand or more people. This large popula¬
tion creates a demand for supplies of
every description, thereby increasing the
importance of such business thorough¬
fares as ISSth street. Third, Willis and
St. Ann's avenues. These streets are al¬
ready well-established shopping centers,
and are daily growing in importance.

The lower section of the Bronx has long
been handicapped by inadequate trans¬
portation, hut the completion of the Lex¬
ington avenue subway will remedy this
defect to a large extent. The present sub¬
way worked a transformation at 149th
street anfl Third avenue, and when the
new line, w-ith Its three stations along
138lh street, is completed, it cannot help
but make this area a very important cen¬
ter of activity. Another improvement
which will probably help the lower dis¬
trict is that of the Union Railroad Com¬
pany, which has begun negotiations for
obtaining a franchise to run over the
Willis avenue bridge to 125th street. If
this franchise is granted, cars will be op-
eratefl from the Fort Lee Ferry, at 129th
street and the Hudson River, east on
125th street to First avenue and over the
Willis avenue bridge to connect with the
present line on Willis avenue at 134th
street. This will he a great benefit not
only to the lower section, but to the en¬
tire Bronx, as it will ena:hle passengers to
transfer to any part of the Bronx for a
single fare, -u'here two are now required.

The lower Bronx combines a large pop¬
ulation and manufacturing centers, aJid
real estate investors have plenty of op¬
portunities in this territory. In the past,
values have heen known to double and
even triple, and there is no reason to .be¬
lieve that a healthy condition of growth
will not continue to exist.





Third Avenue at 137th Street.                                                                Albert E. Davis, Architect.

B'UILDING TO BB ERECTED POR THE  NORTH SIDE BOARD OF TRADE.





for the near future, will make this ten-i-
tory one of the largest manufacturing and
industrial centers outside of Manhattan
Island. This whole lower tenatory has
one of the best water fronts that could
be desirefl, and the docking facilities are
excellent. On the west is the Harlem
Rivei-, and on the east Long Island Sound
and the East River, on whose waters com¬
modities can be quickly and cheaply
transported to New York Oity and to all
other seaboard cities-

Besides the exceptional water-shipping
facilities, this district contains the freight
terminals of several of the most important
railroads. With these conditions existing
an industrial center at the very door of
Manhattan Island seems practically cer¬
tain. The section contains many small
centers of influstrial and manufacturing
activities where one flnds the output an
exclusive  article.

The district lying between 132d and
149th streets, west of Lincoln avenue and
east of Willis avenue, is occupied solely
by piano factories, and the piano industry
alone is represented here by more fac¬
tories than can be found in an equal area
anywhere else an the United States.

The lumber district lies along Gerard
avenue, from 132d to 140th streets, and
when the contemplatefl improvenients are
flnished throughout this lower section to
the southeast and west, the docking, and
shipping facilities will be almost unsur¬
passed.

Another great advantage which this sec¬
tion enjoys is the Mott Haven Canal, an
artiflcial inlet of the Harlem River, run¬
ning hack from the foot of 132d street to
13Sth street, Along this canal many of
the largest coal companies have their
pockets.     Coal  can  be  shipped  from the





a through train from Boston to Wash¬
ington by means of the freightyard
track of this section, and the train is
transported down the river by barges to
Jersey City and thence on the Pennsyl¬
vania  tracks  to  Washington.

The North Side Boarfl of Trade, a com¬
mercial organization, which has accom¬
plished much good work in developing the
industrial activities of the Bronx, on Oc-
toher 2S, laid the cornerstone of its new
building at the junction of 137th street.
Third and Lincoln avenues. It will con¬
tain offices, stores and a meeting-room
for the use of the organization in dis¬
cussing matters of Importance concern¬
ing the Bronx. The closeness of the sur¬
face lines and the elevated road make
this building site a most advantageous
one.

Other new buildings are being erected
at various places. The Ward Bread Com¬
pany has constructed a six-story factory
at Southern Boulevard, St. Mar>-'s and
Wales avenue, and a two-story factory
at Concord and St. Mary's avenues, where
the Ward motor cars are made. The
New York Edison Company is building
an addition to its present plant, which
will occupy the hlock front of ISOth street,
from Canal place to Rider avenue. An¬
other Ibuilding not long completed is the
Central Union Gas Company, on the
nnrthwest corner of 14Sth street and
Courtlandt avenue, which will be usefl ex¬
clusively as the general offices of the
corporation.

The central portion of the Port Morris
district, along Alexander avenue and the
near vicinity, is the most flensely popu¬
lated part of the Borough of the Bronx,
and contains many solid hlocks of flats
and   residences,   housing   a   cosmopolitan





Prosecuting Negligent Tenement Owner*.

Since the new system of fliing viola¬
tions in the Tenement House Department
went into effect in the Borough of Man¬
hattan, early this year, there has been
sent to the Corporation Counsel (up to
November 1, 1911) 332 cases for prose¬
cution and collection of the penalties in¬
curred by the owners for failure to obey
the law.

Under the old method, this number
would be represented by 1,220 old build¬
ing violations, and the comparison of fig¬
ures gives some idea of the amount of
trouble and annoyance which the tene¬
ment owners of this borough have es¬
caped by the inauguration of the new
system.

The following will show the date hy
years when the original violations cov¬
ered hy these 332 new forms were flled:
Year 1904, 15; 1905, 49; 1006, 73; 1907,
101; 1908, 225; 1909, 229; 1910, 428; 1911,
100;  total, 1,220.

The premises covered by these viola¬
tions are scattered over all the tenement
districts of the borough, anfl the owners
prosecuted are from all classes in the
community. The total num.ber of sepa-
ra_te items inclufled in these violations is
4,aSS, anfl the nature of the violations
and the proportion to the whole is as
follows:

Cleaning and repairing, 44 per cent;
fire-escapes, 27 per cent.; sanitary, 10 per
cent.; light anfl ventilation. 9 per cent.;
fire egress, 6 pei- cent.; alteration and
illegal conversion, 2 per cent.; drainage,
1 per cent,; "water supply, 1 per cent,;
totail, 100 per cent.





Next Year's Tax Dates.

The Tax Department enclose with all
1911   tax bills  mailed,   the following:

Beginning with the year 1912 taxes on
real estate will be  payable  as follows;

One-half on the first day of May.

One-half on the first day of November.

The second one-half may be paid on the
first day of May or at any time there¬
after prior to November 1st, and upon
such payment a discount will be allowed
from flate of payment to November 1st,
at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum.

Interest at the rate of 7 per cent, will
be chargefl on taxes remaining unpaifl on
June 1st and on December 1st.

All taxes upon personal property will
be payable on the first flay of May. If
not paid before June 1st interest at the
rate of 7 per cent, per annum will he
chargefl from May 1st.