AND   BUILDERS*   GUIDE.





Vol. XI.





NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1873.





ho. 260.





Publis/ied Weeklu by -

TUE  REAL ESTATE  RECORD ASSOCIATION

TERMS.

One year, In advance......................$6 00

AU communications should be .addressed to

O.   AV.   SWEET.

■7 AN'O 9  W.MIUEN' STRKKT.





No receipt for money due the RK.4.Ï, EsT.vrE RlîCOHI)
will be acknovvledijed unlcK .signed bi' one of onr regular
collectors. Kkniiy D. S.MiTii or Tiio.M.\s F. Cu.m.mings.
AU bills for collection will be sent from the olïioe on a regu-
larly printed form.





I chine Co. a year ago transported their worl%s
\ and their 7,000 employées to Elizabeth. As it
j is no merchant can be sure when he promises
to delivei' goods at a certain time and place
that he can fulfil his contract. The universal
cry down town is for "more elbow room."
Moreover, the furious driving of the carmen,
when they do get a chance to move, is so en-
dangering life that merchants begin to iDrefer
the lesser profits of other cities,. where the
chances of a long lease of life are better.





Spécial ISTotice.

Me. Chas. P. Williams, who, in connection with the
Clough Stone, estalOisherl in 18(16, the agency for Ohio
•building stop e, has found tlie business so important as to
require his nndivided jier.sonal atti ntion. He will here¬
after condiict the linsiness, which has been carried on since
its commencement by W. 15. Wood & Co., in his individual
name. Those wanting this beautiful and popular stone,
may call at iitKi Front street.





A CONFIDENTIAL weekly circular will be issu¬
ed from this office every Saturday, containing a
complète list pf ail mortgages recorded on real
estate in the City of New York. The price of
this circular will be 25 cents each number, or
$10 per year to subscribers. Orders for the
above should be sent immediately to this office,
as no extra copies will be printed.





Let îfew York take waming from the his¬
tory of the vénérable city of Antwerp, in Bei¬
gium. Formerly it had two hundred thousand
inhabitants ; now it has one hundred thousand.
The burgomasters of this ancient mart of com¬
merce hâve finally awakened to the fact that
their wharvea are in.sufiicient, and hâve voted
an immense sum—sixteen millions of dollars—
for their improvement. This is one of the
most important facts ever brought to the cog-
nizance of the business men and property own¬
ers of New York. It is becoming more and
more apparent that this city is suffering from
a severe attack of ' ' congestion of the blood. "
If the lower part of the town is not soon re-
lieved there is danger of an attack of apoplexy.
If the channelsof commercial life are not soon
enlarged, mortification even may set in.

New York not only needs an entirely new

System of wharves and rapid transit from the

business centres to the suburb.s, but is equally

,    in need of a complète reconstruction of the

' narrow streets down town.

•In addition to the extortions of Custom House
^ quarantine, harbor master, and municipal offi¬
ciais, the merchant now finds himself unable
to get his goods through the streets. Manu¬
facturers .are pushing oiit into.;the adjacent
«ouaitry: for instanee the Singer Çewing Ma-





REPORÏ OF THE STJPERINTENDENT OF
BUILDINGS.

We are in receipt of the report of the trans-
sactions of the Superintendent of Buildings
from April 3d, 1872, to December Slst, 1872, a
period of nine months. The-report, ia com¬
parison with ihat for the year 1871, shows a
diminution in the relative number of transac¬
tions, which in the opinion of the Superinten¬
dent was due partly to the embarrassment of
holders, caused by the trade strikes of last
summer, and partly to the parsimonious policy
of the ComptroUer which compelled a large por¬
tion of the labors oi the Superintendent to be
suspended, by curtailing his working force. A
large portion of the report is taken up with the
remarks of the Superintendent on the necessity
of erecting fire-proof buildings and so amend-
ing the buildicg laws that in future such d s-
asters as hâve overtaken Chicago and Boston
will be rendered impossible with us. The tiu-
pei'intendent decidedly objects to the forced
réduction by the ComptroUer of his estimâtes fer
expenses of the department from $125,000 to
$50,000, aud justly claiins that this sum is
much too small for the working of the depart¬
ment.

Six hundred and ninety-one sets of plans and
spécifications for new buildi gs were submitted
and passed upon from AprU 5th, 1872, to De¬
cember Slst, 1872. The number of buildings
embraced in said ]lans and spécifications was
1,281, classified as ioUowo :

First-class dwellings..................................377

Second-class    "       ................................. (10

Third-class     "       (tenements).......................582

Eirst-class   stores..................................... 47

Second-class    ".................................... 21

Third-class     "   .........'............................ 14

Factories and workshops.............................. S4

SchO' )1 house-!........................................' 5

Stables............................................... 67

Churches........................................... 10

Piiblic buildings.......-..............................    8

. 1,281
The estimated cost of thèse buifdings amount¬
ed to Ihe sum of $21,944,330. The sum pro¬
posed to be expended in the altération of buUd¬
ings fo'" the same pe iod amounts to $2,788,S7P,
showing a total of $24,732,709 proposed tobe
expended in new buildings and altérations.

There were. oompl ted from April Sth, 1872,
to December Slst, 1873, one^hougand sixhnçf





dred and sixty-twonew buUdings. The follow¬
ing is a summary of the transactions of the
department, from the date of its reorganization,
AprU Sth, 1870, to December 31st, 1872, a
period oi" two years and nine nlonths :

NEW Btjn,DINGS.

Commenced from April 5th, 1870, to April Sth, 1871. .2,161

1871           "       "   1872..2,y33

"             "           "       1872, to Dec. Sls!, 1872.. 1,360

Total...................................5,854

Completed from AprU 5th, 1870, to AprU 5th, 1871..1,899

1871           "       "   1872..2,036

"             "           "        1872, to Dec.   31at, 1872.. 1,602

Total..................................5,597

ALTERATIONS OF BUILDINGS.

Commenced frora AprU Sth, 1870, to April Sth, 1871. .1,188

1871           "       "   1872.. 1,209

"             "           "        1872, to Dec.   Slst, 1872..   894

Totnl...................................3,205

Completed from April ôth, 1870, to April Sth, 1871.. 1,188

1871           '■       "   1872.. 1,209

"             "           "        1872. to   Dec. 31st, 1872.. 1,U15

Total......................... .......3.412





A WOED TO INVESTORS.

Persons wishing to invest their money wisely,
would do weU to carefully consider the proba-
bilities of the rise of real estate in the city of
New York during the coming 10 years. It is
now clearly appa^ ent that no combination of
capitalists can longer prevent the introduction
of a rapid ?ystem of transit from one end of
the island to the other. If the great railroad
corporations wUl not build them, it is very évi¬
dent the municipality wUl take up the matter.
"With the Morningside and the Riverside Parks
determined npon, with the new Boulevards
opened, and with the assessments paid or biing
paid, it is évident that a real estate spéculation
will set in, if the financial horizon remains
cLar. And it is évident Irom récent sales that
caiùtalists are beginning to take an interest in
up town property. Taken altogether there has
been very little advance in unimproved property
for fuur ^ ears past—and ti.is, too, at a time
when there hâve been heavy assessment taxes
paid—so that land is really lo\rer than it was
before those jmprovements commenced. There
can be no question that in future the mcst
valuaVe ground on this earth wUl be found on
Manhattan Island. The neighborhood. cf the
City HaU wUl be one such centre of extraor-'
dinary high values ; the surroundings of Madi¬
son ave. wiU be another ; the land on Broad¬
way Connecting with the west side Boulevards-
will be a third. But the whole of the west
side property fronting upon the parks aiid
upon the river, will be, for residential property,
as we hâve said. the m st valuable up n earth,
In this railroad âge i!; will not lake long to
br ng thèse high values about. Once given a
west side railway and the thing is au fait ac-
eojripli. Every circums'tance goe? to i-how that
this little. island wiU cqncentçate more weal^U'