Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
May 7, 1904.
RECORD AND GUIDE
1041
â– oy •" ESTABUSHED-^ March ziy
DEVbltD P f^L ESTATt. BulLtJlffc ft;RafITECTURE .KoUSnlOlD DEOI^fTlDlJ,
BUSIlfesSAJiDTHEMESOFCEtiER^l IfiTER^SI.
PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS
Published eVery Satardap
Communications should be addrossod to
C. W. SWEET, 14.16 Vesey Street, New YorK
3. T. LINDSEY, Busineaa Manager Telephone. Cortlandt 3157
"Enterfd al the Past Off-ce at New York. N. Y.. as second-class mailer."
"voiT LXXIII.""
MAY 7, 1904.
No. 188b
attention to this prospect last week; and the news of the cur¬
rent week more than confirms our anticipations. The total num¬
ber of transactions reijorted in our "Gossip" columns amounts
to less than 150, which is the smallest of auy week this Spring-
even though it does show a 50 per cent, increase over the cor-
resi>ouding week of 1903. The increase is still confined chiefly to
tenements north of 59th street, but il is ioteresting to uote that
the number of vacant lots sold is also largely in excess of those
sold in 1903. No one need regret the waning of the abnormal
speculation in tenement-houses, which will, we hope, be suc-^
ceeded by an increased interest in dweUings and in vacant prop¬
erty. It has been a curious incident in the history o? the Newi
York real estate market, pointing to permanent changes in the
chg,racter and ownership of tenement-house property, and fore¬
shadowing the increasing specialization in the management of
this and other kinds of real property in Manhattan.
â– T jr tALL street sometimes finds it difficult to explain the
it it persistent weakness of the securities of the New York
City Railway Co. considering that it is a seven per cent, guar¬
anteed stock selling on a 6'^ per cent, basis; but a sufficient ex¬
planation is afforded by the traffic returns of the company.
During the year ending February 29th the business of the com¬
pany was practically at a standstill, while the elevated cars
carried almost 40.000.000 more passengers than they did during
the preceaing year. It is obvious, consequently, that the
failure of the surface cars to carry more passengers was not
due to the lack of opportunity, but to the fact that the transit
system of the Metropolitan Company has just about reached its
limit. It is in very much the same condition as the Manhattan
Comi)any was in 1894 and after. It can do little or nothing to
improve its service, while its partial competitors will be doing
a great deal to improve their services. It is, of course, a reali¬
zation of this fact, which has induced the Metropolitan inter¬
est to enter a vigorous bid for the privilege of operating an
underground system; but we doubt very much whether this ex¬
pedient will enable the traffic of the company to expand as fast
as it should. It is true tbat the i)roposGd system has been
cleverly contrived to accommodate the maximum of travelers
in Manhattan: but it is also true ihat it will be largely new
trafflc which will be developed by the proposed underground
system. The longitudinal surface cars will be relieved to only a
small extent; and the cross-town lines will become fearfully
congested because of the privilege afforded their passengers of
transferring to the tunnel. In sh'jrt. the Metropolitan system
will be unable to obtain the normal increase of short-trip pas¬
sengers to which it is entitled by ihe growth of the city, and
the loss to the company wdll imply large and constant incon¬
venience to the traveling public. The only way in which the
situation can be remedied is as the Record and Guide has fre¬
quently pointed out, by the opening up of new streets; and the
City Improvement Commission will do well 10 consider this as¬
pect of the business very carefully, when it comes to make
its report.
DURING the past week very many more deeds and mort¬
gages affecting the title to iiroperty in New York and
Brooklyn have been recorded than during any previous
year in the history of the city. The increase amounts to fully
one-third, which is extraordinary considering that the corre¬
sponding week df 1903 also showed an increase over all previous
weeks. On the flrst day of May over 450 papers affecting New
York property were recorded, and 600 papers affecting Brooklyn
property. Or. to put the matter in another way. the increase
in the size of the Record and Guide affords a vivid and accurate
indication of the activity of the veal estate market in its sev-
.eral branches. Until 1903 and 1901, the issues of the Record
and Guide during the active Spring months contained any¬
where from 52 to 64 pages. Last year the largest numbers con¬
tained seventy-two pages besides the cover, while during the
Spring of the present year there Iiave been several numbers
in which it took eighty-four pages of type to supply our sub¬
scribers with the matter to which ihey are entitled. The pres¬
ent number of the Record and Guide contains eighty-four
pages. We may also remark parenthetically that our sub¬
scribers are buying this increased matter, which occupies so
much more space than the corresponding matter did only a few
years ago, at precisely the same price. This enormous amount
of legally recorded matter has been caused partly by the tene¬
ment-house speculation in Manhattan and partly by the great
activity jn small residential parcels in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
This activity in the outlying boroughs is surely destined to in¬
crease rather than to decrease, but the tenement-house specu¬
lation gives manifest signs of being on the wane. We called
The Prospect of Peace.
THE first of May has eome and gone without the appearance
of any trouble between the labor unions in ihe New York
building trades and their employers. The causes of disagree¬
ment which were active during March and April have been re¬
moved; and there are no signs at present that any demands
will be made on either side this Spring which will disturb the
present concord. It looks, consequently, as if New York would
enjoy a building season during which the construction of new
buildings can proceed without any of those embarrassments
and delays, which have done so much during the past few years
to discourage building and to increase its cost. Contractors can
go ahead and estimate on jobs without making as much allow¬
ance as formerly for expenses incidental to strikes; and specu¬
lative builders can undertake new operations with some assur¬
ance that their buildings will be completed on time. This is au
enormous gain, and the demand for residential accommodation
being as good as it is. will assuredly bave the result of bringing
out mtii-h more than the usual amount of tenement and aiiart-
ment house building. It is not to be expected under the circum¬
stances that the year 1904 will be in any w-;ay remarkable for
the large amount of money invested in new construction, but it
is probable that as much money will be called for by the plans
flled at the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Bronx offices as were
called for by the plans filed in 1908. Consequently, what with
the fair amount of new work started and with the considerable
number of large buildings, which Irom one cause or another
have been delayed in completion, and which are still to be fin¬
ished, there should be enough work under way to give the
mechanics sufficient employment and their employers sufficient
profit.
Furthermore, if the present concord can be maintained
throughout the year, and if confidence in the stability of build¬
ing operations is thereby restored, ihere is every prospect that
the year 1905 will more than repair any deficiency of the pres¬
ent year. The house famine, which now exists, will not be re¬
moved by any amount of building which is likely to take place
during the coming Summer, Builders and building material
dealers can count with certainty upou the necessity of large
constructional operations in the .Bronx and Brooklyn and on
Washington Heights, Moreover, it may be confidently expected
that there will be a large revival in the erection of large busi¬
ness buildings of one kind or another in Manhattan. These
large business buildings are necessitated, not only by the normal
growth of business, but also by the readjustments of business
locations which are continually taking place. In spite of the
vast changes of tbe iiast few years the necessity for such re¬
adjustment is as active as ever. Tbe process of improving the
central area of Manhattan, and of making its architectural equip¬
ment thoroughly modern and efficient is only partly completed
and will be resumed at the first favorable opportunity. The
Record and Guide has frequently mentioned of late the large
number of projects for new buildings, which are at present in
the earlier stages of preparation. It has been an open question
during the past few months whether many or few of these pro¬
jects would mature during 1904, The probability seems to be
that not as many of them will mature as was expected; but
in that case it will mean that they are merely postponed until
1905. By the Spriug of that year the people interested in these
projects will be more likely to go ahead, because, in case the
cost of construction has not been reduced by that time these
people will understand that in waiting for such a reduction they
are waiting in vain.
This encouraging prospect depends, as we have said, upon
the continuation of the existing peace in the building trades;
and it would be absurd to claim that there is any guarantee of
such a peace for the whole of the coming year. There is no