AND   BUILDERS'   GUIDE.





Vol. L]





NEW YOKK, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 18G8.





[No. 15.





u





Published .Weekly by
0.  W.'   SWEET. &-C0.,

Room B, AVoeld ButLnutG, No.v3T Pabk Row.
'               TERMS.
Six months, payable in advance.................. $3 00

PRICE 6F ADVERTISING.

1 square, ten lines, three months..................$10 00

1 square, single insertion.....................'.....   1 00

Special Notices, per line..........................       20





TO OTJR PATRONS.

We have refrained, so far, from saying any¬
thing about the Record as an advertising
medium; but as the trade has begun to find
out the benefit of using our columns, we may
be pardoned for adverting to that topic " just
once,"

Our circulation is principally among the f ol-
loAATaig classes.

1st. Real estate agents and dealers.

2d, Large property holders, land and build¬
ing associations, banks, and capitalists who
have heavy sums invested in real estate or
buildings,
3d. Architects, builders, contractors, plumbers
and gas-fitters, lumber and timber dealers,
moulding and planing mills, manufacturers and
dealers in brick, lime, stone, plaster, drain and
sewer pipes, windowglass, and all other kinds of
materials used in the construction of a building,
from the f oundationto the roof,

Noav, while the Record would be a poor pa¬
per, in which to advertise for a partner, a trot¬
ting horse, a Avife, a cook, or a lost dog, it is the
very best possible medium by which to reach
certain lucrative and important branches of
business. The value of this paper is not to be
measured merely by its circulation, for, more
than any other paper published, it is kept in
files for reference. Hence, it is looked over by
fifty persons while other weekly papers are
read only once.

There are a multitude of trades which
must (yet use the Record, and to whom other
papers are of no sort of value. Property to be
bought and sold, finds its proper place in our
columns; while all the materials which enter
into the construction of- houses have no other
means of getting their merits before the pub¬
lic. We cannot spare space to tell all the
trades which wiU yet find it indispensable to
use the columns of the Record.

We have not said much on this subject while
making up our subscription lists, but now
that we can boast of haAring on our books all
the reputable real estate dealers, builders,
architects, and property holders in New Tork
and Kings counties, we cannot be accused of
egotism in claiming very great value for the
Record in certain lines of business. Send in
your advertisements and try us.





THE THIED AVENUE ASSESSMENT.

The introduction of a resolution in the
Common Council, for paving Third avenue,
from Eighty-sixth to One Hundred and
Tenth street, Tvith Belgian pavement, Ave moke
the occasion for a fcAv comments, which we
trust AviU have the effect of preventing the an¬
noyance, the injustice, and the expense caused
by non-compliance Avith contracts, and the ir¬
regularities which have to a large extent pre¬
vailed in some of the departments.

We last week caUed attention to the fact that
the Croton Aqueduct Board had caused the
work of paving 2d avenue, from 61st to 86th
street, to be stopped, because it was sought, in
•violation of the contract, to furnish imperfect
stone for that work. This was just, and showed
a degree of watchfulness on the part of the
Croton Board, that properiy OAvners, as well as
the general public, have cause to be thankful
for.

We regret that when the contract for paAring
3d avenue, from 110th street to Harlem River
was made, the same interest had not been
manifested, and a like care had not been exeir-
cised, as in the case of the 2d avenue pav¬
ing.

But "an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure," and much good may be done
by the Croton Board, in the interest of the city
and the OAvners of property, if, in the work of
paving 8d avenue from 86th to 110th street,
the contractor is held to a strict accountabili¬
ty, and not allowed to impose upon the city
a bad job for which some property owners have
to pay, and others avoid, as in the case of the
the 3d avenue above 110th st.

As pertinent to this, and as a matter of
great interest to property OAvners, we give
beloAv an opinion of Judge Ingraham, con¬
curred in by Judges Sutherland and Barnard,
of the General Term, Supreme Court:

M t7ic mattei' of t7ie petition of Wm. O. Wood
and ot7iers, to vacate assessment for paving
T7iird Anenue.

We have heretofore held that it was irregu¬
lar, Avithin the meaning of the act of 1858, to
do several things which are complained of in
this petition, among which are the f olloAving:

1st. The contract and .specifications did not
proAdde for takiog up the gutter stones and
paving in their place Avith Belgian pavement,
but on the contrary required the contractor, to
readjust the gutter stones Avherever necessary,
Avithout charge. In violation of this he removed
the gutter stones, and substituted the pave¬
ment under the assent of the Water Purveyor,
at the request of some of the owners. There
Avas no authority for this, and it Avas outside of
the contract.

2d. The assessors Avere wrong in including
in their assessment a charge for making the
assessment. This we held some time since to
be erroneous.

3d. It was irregular and erroneous for the
Commissioners of the Croton Board to certify





the work to have been completed and accepted
when they had rejected the whole street for
one block. The taking a- bond to do the work,
and Avithholding part of the money, did not
obviate the difficulty. That work hjoia not been
done to the time of the trial, and yet the own¬
ers have been assessed for it.

We do not, under this proceeding, inqnire
whether the work is weU done or done accord¬
ing to the contract, so far as relates to the ma¬
terial or workmanship; and if thia were all,
there Avould be no groimd for our interference
on that account, but when it appears that the
certificate was given, with a full knowledge
that the work was not finished, it Avaa a Ariola-
tion of the contract, Avhich prohibited the
contractor from receiving payment until the
whole work was completed, and was unjust to
the owners who were assessed for its payment.

The application should be granted and the
assessment vacated.





The " Fernando Wood Lease" is about to
come to a conclusion. A few days Avfll deter¬
mine whether, as some people say, the whole
thing was'' a put up job." We hope, for the sake
of the honor of our city, it may not turn out to
be so, and if the contract was made in good
faith, that further expense to the city wUl be
avoided and the lease executed. It does no
credit to the intelligence or integrity of our
legislators, lawyers, and judges to exhibit such
a spirit as this case has evoked. It is demoral¬
izing and destructive in its influence upon the
public, and introduces into our system of gov¬
ernment a principle that, in time, will sap its
very foundations, unless checked.

The Evening Post and several other papers
ask why, if New York wants the East River
navigation improved, do not its merchants put
their hands in their pockets and pay for it ?

The answer is plain.

1.    The East River improvement is a na¬
tional, and not a local matter, and the nation,
not the locality, should pay for it.

2.    It would not be fair for a few doAvn
toAvn merchants to pay for an improvement
which would directly benefit other people's
property at the expense of their oavu.

3.    Nor woiild it be just to expect a few
property owners on the north-east side to pay
for the improvement when it would equally
benefit land oAvners in Westchester county, and
on Long Island, who would not pay a cent.

There is only one fair thing to do. Congress
should appropriate at least one milKon dollars
for this great national work, and part of the
expense might be assessed upon the adjoining
property.





By reference to advertisement in another
column, parties interested in assessments for
regulating, grading, flagging, &c,, wiU observe
Avhat have been referred to the Board of As¬
sessors. They wiU also ascertain the limits in
Avhich fche assessments are imposed.