Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





YoL. XXV.





NEW yore:, SATUEDAY, JANUARY 24, 1880,





No. 619





Published Weekly by





£ht %td Estate %uaxti %%^Qtmixan >





TERMS.





OJVE YEAR, in advance....$10.00.





Communications should be addressed to





C.   W.   SAVEET,





Nos. 135 AND 137 Broadway





OUR BACK IS^XJMBERS.

Since the beginning of the year there has been
an extraordinary demand on the part of corpora¬
tions, property owners and brokers, for back
numbers of The P^eal Estate Record, consider¬
ably reducing the sujjply on hand in this office.
We do not announce this fact in a bo'astful spirit,
as our friends have known for years that The
Record, like good wine, becomes more valuable
with age, but simply to advise those who want
their volumes filled up, and their sets completed
to make early application for these back numbers.
If the present demand continues much longer, we
may after a while be compelled to increase the
price of the first twelve volumes, aud those who
neglect the present opportunity of purchasing
them at the regular price can then not find fault
with us for not having given them fair and timely
notice.

No man at all interested iu real estate can
afford to ignore Its history during the past twelve
years, and the bound volumes of The Record
alone furnish that history in the most acceptable
shape.

To all those, therefore, who do not possess Thh;
Record from the first day of its publication, in
18(18, we say, send in your orders before it is too
late.





THE OTHEK SIDE OF THE HARLEM.

The reappointment by Mayor Cooper of the
second Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners
nettles the question that the rapid transit routes,
as laid out by the first Board of Commissioners,
the maps of which-we have already published in
this paper, will be carried into efl'ecfc.

Private ndividaals, as well as corporations intent
upon making an investment for many years ahead,
will naturally diacuss the pros and cons of the
various localities beyond the Harlem River
situated between Long Island Sound and the
North River. In a general way we may make up
our minds that the West Side, that is the regiou
fronting the Hudson River and extending back on
the high ground, will contain the greatest num¬
ber of the choicest building localities. It is
true the actual bank of the river will not
be BO desirable for fine residences, tor the
reason that in the hot summer months the setting
sun makes the espots'ed places very wo.rm.   Tho





rays ot the sun slanting into the eyes of ihe people
on the east bank of the Hudson have always been a
source of discomfort. -Of course, it is scarcely au
objection where the groitnds are well wooded and
the houHea and piazzas protected by trees and
foliage, bnt too much of these obstruct the view of
the river, and a water front is undesirable if you
cannot see the play of the lights and shadows upo i
the surface of the stream.

■\7o may take it lor granted then that the cast
bankof the Hudson up as far as Yonkera and be¬
yond and extending back, say a mile, will contain
some of the choicest locations on the other side of
the Harlem, but  it   will not embrace them all.
There are .several points along the front of Long
Island Sound which will also be desirable, the more
so as in the long summer days the sun will not give
added heat to those who have houses on the Sound,
There is nothing more delightful in  the way of
pictm-esque locationa on thi,^ Continent than in
several stretchea of country between New Rochelle
and thia city.   The trees are well grown, the foli¬
age abundant, the lanes   green   and   English-like
and some of the water views are charming.   There
is, it is true, a suspicion of fever   and   ague in
many j)laces, bnt with improved drainage this ob¬
jection will be done away with.    Still  the bulk of
the Etxst Side, aa well as the central zone above the
Harlem River, will be devoted mainly to the homes
of the poor of New York, of the mechanics,  and
laboring   classes who will prefer  the   semi-rural
surroundings of  a little cottage along the lines of
the railways or on the banks of the Bronx River to
dwelling in squalid misery in a  New  York tene¬
ment house.   Such of our readers as have travelled
on   the,   so-called,  Portohester  Road from  New
Rochelle to the Harlem River, connecting with the
boat, will   have   noticed   that   they have   passed
through a very dismal country, full of swamp and
low grounds which will have to be re-created to be
habitable.   It is evident   that the upper shores of
the Harlem, as well as that portion of Westchester
county which lies   below New Rochelle on the east
side, is destined to be the scene of a  great deal of
business activity.   The time   cannot be far distant
when   great   ships will   come" iu by Long Island
Sound   and   cast anchor ofl' Port Morris.   Some¬
where at the southeast of  that Peninsula, which
abuts on Hell Gate, there will be numerous ware¬
houses, elevators and as a necessary consequence,
lumber yards, machine  shops, locomotive   works,
in fact, the   Mott  Haven region will be extended
over to the east and great factories will be erected
covering  extensive   grounds.   This .will  create a
demand for land suitable for the homes of working
people.   Then New York   is destined to become a
great manufacturing centre and the thousands who
now find their way to the villages along the line ot
the Harlem Railroad will   increase a hundred fold.
The new road running from High Bridge to Brew¬
ster's Station, as well   as   the uew elevated roads
and surface roads will   bring within  reach thou¬
sands of acres of land available for residence pur¬
poses.   New York will  hereafter have what Phila¬
delphia has always- had, great   space of  ground
upon which to   erect   tenements for the working
classes.   Without low rents and available  houses
New York cannot expect to become a great  manu¬
facturing   centre, but with  these, with it? great
railway system and large  amount of water fronts,
it can mauufacture more cheaply   and  ship  more
easily than can any other city in the United States.





Of course on the east side, where high ground is
reached, we expect to see a superior claas of houses
erected. Huguenot Park and some portions of Pel-
hamville are suitable for lovely residencaa, such as
those which abound in aud near New Rochelle.
The trees are well grown, the ground is high and
rolling, the distant views of Long Lsland Sound
are delightful, and tliere is everything to make
beautiful homes.

While many of our great pleasure resorts will be
somewhere ttpon the] upper  end of  our ialand,
above the Central Park, it la not improbable that
there will be some choice localitiea like Richmond
Hill in London or lielmonta in Philadelphia, upon
the noith side of the Harlem.    Central avenue and
the approaches to Jerome Park auggest just such
placea.   At present there are many large restaur¬
ants and bar-rooms for driving parties in summer
and sleighing parties in winter, but on thia same
avenue there some day will be a magnificent, out-
of-doors hotel and headquarters for parties who
desire costly and rare entertainments.    It is not
likely that the race course will ever be removed,
but around that race-course, or in the approaches
to it, v>iU naturally grow up places of entertain¬
ment, aud the New Yorkers ot twenty-five years
from now will see a wonderful change in this resr-
pect on this central zone of the district north of
the   Harlem   River.    Already   maiiy speculative
enterprisea are on foot to utilize this new region.
It is not possible for Brooklyn, Jersey City, or,
indeed, any locality east of the East River or west
of   the   North River to compete with this now
favored locality.   Heretofore the increasing popu¬
lation of this city has been driven over tbe ferries._
It was impossible to reach, except in a ditticult
way, the regiou north of the Harlem.    It soou will
be possible to take cars that will land one any¬
where this side of New Rochelle or Yonkers within
an hour.    Our present rapid tranait roads  are
being voted alow on ;»cconnt of their many stop¬
pages.   It ia evident that the present system must
be  supplemented before   long  either   by   trains
involving perhaps an additional story, or, what is
still more probable, setting aside, say, the Second
avenue  and   the  Ninth  avenue roads for traina
which will stop at a distance, say, of one or two
miles apart.    Some way will be provided by which
people living seven or eight miles from the City
Hall Park will be able to reach their destination
without the present frequent stoppages.

We are not now advising anybody to buy in the
Twenty-third aud Twenty-fourth wards. For
speculative purpeses the old rule is good of pur¬
chasing immediately in advance of the improve¬
ments. There is more money to be made in buying
high priced lots over which buildings are sure to
be erected within a short time than in buying
cheap ground far away from improvements. Still
those who have small means and who wish to make
provision for tbe future, cannot do better than
possess themselves of an acre or half an acre in the
region to the north of us. True there will be as¬
sessments and taxes, but theu land does not break
like banks, nor take to itself wings and fly away
like shares in railway stocks. The ownership of
the soil is enduring. It will last forever, and they
who can buy land and hold it anywhere within
the Umits of the City of New York, whether north
or south of the Harlem River, cannot fail but have
a sure and, in all likelihood, a very profitable in-
vestmenti