Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





YoL. XXIV.





NEW YOEK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBEll 1:3, 1879.





No. 000.





Pit6b'.s/i«t2 Weekly by

Cbcjical (Instate llecorbl^ssotmimn.

TERMS.
0!VK YKAK, in advance.. ..SIO.OO.
Cohiiimnications should be addressed to

C.   -W.   SWEET,

Nos. 345 A.s-D 347 Bboauwav





HOAA'- ABOUT BROADAA^AY.





THR IMPR(JA'ED PRO.SPECTS.
There can be no mistaking the signs of the
times. The United States is entering upon an era
of verj' great prosperity; our abundant crops,
the deficient harvest in Europe, onr increased
production of all tbo necessaries of life, the im¬
provement in our manufacturing industries, the
movements of nionej' in every direction to de¬
velop our mineral and agricullural resources;, the
strikes of laborers, showing the increased demand
for workmen in all departments of tntde, all
prove that we have entered upon a busj- and
jirosperous era, with tho chances in favor of
higher and still higher prices for several j'cars to
come.

As land and labor are the last to be ail'ected by
bard times, so thoy are the la-st to be benefited
bj- better times, yet alreadj' there is a marked
improvement in the value of real estate;   tbo
melancholj' list of foreclosure is decreasing week¬
lj-, and while there maj' not bo a booming mark¬
et at advanced prices, there is certainlj- more
imiuiry for well-located propertj'.     Of  course
monej' must first be made in stocks and merchan¬
dise before any great investments are put into
real estate.    But it is safe to assume that well-
located property in anj' part of the countrj' is
selling at better prices than it was at the  bc-
beginning  of this j'ear, while  in this citj' un¬
improved lois in (juarters where there is a pros¬
pect   of   improveinent,   have    advanced  from
lifteen to twentj- per cent.   Of course it is West¬
ern lands which have made tbe gre-atest advance
in values.   The great raihvaj' mania of '0."> to '7;;,
which   constructed   roads  through   regions  of
country without population, has finally had the
elTect of bringing quantities of land into market,
bj'  making  it valuable   for   agricultural   pur¬
poses.   The result has been tho building up of
vast regions west of the Missouri, and northwest
of the Mississippi.   The increase in tho value of
railroads, such as the Missouri, Kansas & Texas,
tho Kansas Pacific, the Northwestern, and tbe
St. Paul,  each tells its own  storj' of  the   en¬
hanced value of lands in the far AVest.   The great
crops of the last two yeai-s have realized more in
the market than tbe price of cheap lands, and
hence the great prosperitj' of the new settlers in
these distant wilds.   This has reacted upon East¬
ern industries, and has made a demand for man¬
ufactured goods, which has set the mills going,^
and started anew foundries and workshops all
over the   country.     "VVe may now confidentlj'
expect to see a brisk market for landed propertj-
all over the country.   Emigration is steadily in¬
creasing, aud before two years are over, hundreds
of thousands of English, Irish and Germans will
land upon our shores.   It would bo hard to make
a mistake in the purchase of well-located, real
estate.   Now is clearly the time to invest.





Of course, wo allude to that part of Broadwaj' j
which begins at the Batterj' and ends at Four- '
tc-'enth street.    Has this section any future.'   At |
ono time it was the pride of the citj-.     Old New j
Yorkers supposed that it would always retain tho j
more lucrative retail business of this island. AA'ith
AA''all street, the great warehousing and shipping
interest, and tho Post Oflice at ils lower end to
help, it really seemed as if Broiulwaj- would .al¬
ways have the monopolj- of the most profitablo
bii-siuess in the metropolis.   Y'et j-ear after j-ear
makes it apparent that tbe retail trade has left
our great thoroughfare below Fourteenth street,
and that no business of a verj- profitable character
can meet the rents which would net a fair inter¬
est upon the   inve-tment in Broadwaj-   stores.
For this condition of afVairs the owners of Broad,
waj- propertj' have themselves to thank.   Under
the leador.sbip of tho late A. T. Stewart, lliey
combined to drive rapid transit from  Broadwaj-;
they would not allow surface' cars nor niukr-
ground railwaj's, and when an elevated road was
pr. jected some rwenty years since to run over the
side walks of   Broadway   it was   unaniiiiouslj-
scouted bj' tho property holders.   Thej-succeeded
at length in driving business over to Sixth av¬
enue, and the retail trade has left Broadwaj- be¬
low Fourteenth street, as some think forever.

AA'"c hear, however, that one more eflort will be
made to reh.abilitate this fine avenue. Our read¬
ers will doubtless remember the famous arcade
scheme which proposed to take out all the earth
below the pavement to a sufiicient depth to admit
of steam cars running on lerni ftmm with an
abundance of space for light and ventilation. This
bold plan involved the support of the present path-
waj'and pavement bj' .arches covered with patent
lights; the entire width between the bouses on
each side, underneath, to lie devoted to steam cars,
not for passengers onlj- but for freight as well.
If this scheme were adopted it would give Broad¬
waj-a monopolj' of the freight traflic of the island
and a share with the elevated roads of tho passen¬
ger trallic. The scheme was so tempting when first
proposed that it had the approval of both Houses
of.Legislature, but John T. HofTmau, then gov¬
ernor, at tho instance of Peter B. Sweenej', vetoed
the bill. .Sweenej' wa.s at that time bewitched
with the viaduct schomo, which linallj- proved
abortive.

Cominodoro Vanderbilt was one of those who
favored 1:110 arcade plan and would have invested
$•2,000,000 in it had it been authorized by the State.
It is understood that his son, William H. Vander"
bilt, thinks well of tho scheme now. There is a
charter for an underground road ou Broadway
which has not j'ct expired, that known as tho
pneumatic tube enterprise; and it is snid that
this charter has been secured and will bo so
amended that tho arcade road can be built.
Should this be done and Fourteenth street con¬
nected with the Forty-second street depot. New
York would have the finest system of rapid tran-
"-it in the world, not only for passengers but for
freight. If the wholesale merchants of New York
will uot forward some such scheme as this they
must expect to see tho warehouses of the future
located on that part of Westchester County which
borders on Hell Gate and Long Island Sound.





Freight cannot now get down the island, and it will
be landed at depots on the other side of the Har¬
lem River, probably to be trans-shipped to Europe
by way of the Sound. Tbe continuation of the
converging roads at Fortj'-second street depot to
tbe lower end of tbis island by some such scheme
as the arcade plan would not onlj- make the
stores ou Broadwaj- again be sought for bj' retail
dealers, but the wholesale business of New York
would, for a century at least, continue tc be trans¬
acted on the lo\yer end of tbe island.





The condition of city aflairs is deplorable. Tbo
quarrels between tbe Park aud Police Commis¬
sioners; the impotemjy of the Executive of tbe
city in dealing with disorganized departments;
the irresponsibility of the various ollicers of the
city government, all tbis presents a very humilia¬
ting spectacle to New Yorkers. We want a
thorough reorganization of our municiiial govern¬
ment. Our Mayor should have real authority;
boards .should be dispensed with and a single ex¬
ecutive ofiicer take their place. Salaries should
be cut down and sinecures cut oft'. This is a mat¬
ter vitally effecting tbe real estate interests of the
city, and this is our apology for referring to what
seems to be something out of our line. But un¬
doubtedly property in tbe city of New York to¬
day sells for less than it would do were we to have
a wise executive, clothed with proper responsi¬
bility, and Park and Police Departments that
would be a credit instead of a disgrace to the me-
, tropolis.

It is a pity that some effort could not be made
bj- the people %vho own propertj- in Now York to
clo-jt a legislature that would give us a wise
charter—the present conditions of affairs is intol¬
erable.





H0U:4ES OF NOVEL CONSTRUCTION.
On the south side of Eost Seventj'-nret street
between Fourth and LexinRton avenues, Mr. Chas.
JlacDonald has just completed tliree bouses, which
are well worth tb>> attention of those who admire
progress in architecture aud approve a change in the
monotonous style of buildinsrs that line our uptown
streets. The Rfcokd has, ever since the revival of
business, advocated progress in the construction of
residences, and since Jlr. McCafferty and Mr.
Buckley began a commendable innovation by erecting
on tbo same block in Madison avenue several houses
of different patterns, the example has been followed
here and there by the younger class of builders who
are now so busily engaged in improving Manhattan
Island above Fiftj'-ninth street

Mr. MacDonald we are glad to see has still
further carried out our id':a by not only beautifying
tbe front of bis houses bnt by making valuable
changes in the construction of the main floor. Eacb
house stands only upon a lot of 16.8x56, and yet there
appears to be more room in tbe hallway than is
generally found in a twenty foot bouse. True, it is
done at the sacrifice of space in the front parlor, but
tbe centre and rear parlor make up for it in width,
thus leaving the front parlor virtually to be used as a
large reception room. The dining room is on the
first Iloor in rear of the parior and extends across the
full width of the house, while the middle room or
parlor, proper, is lighted by a transom light, the
dining room being lighted by a dome, giving the
entire floor a most cheerful aspect This rear room
is connected with the kitchen by a stairway and
dumbwaiter.   In the wide hall created by the culling