March 25, 1905





RECORD AND   GUIDE





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_                                    ESTABUSHED ^ 6\fcRpH ZVr* 186S.

DntTtO TO f^L Estate . BuiLoif/o i^Rc^rTEcruRE .KousnloLii DEGOifHoK,
BtlsiiiEss ajJd Themes OF GeKer^ 1Kter?3T.

PRICE  PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS

Published etlers Jaturdag

Communlcatlous ahouid be addressed to

C.   W.   8WEET.   14-16   Vesey  Street, New YorK

Telepbonn. Cortlandt 3167





"Entered at the Fosl Office at Neio York, JV. T.. as senond-class matter."
Copyright by   the Real  Estate Record and  Builders'  Guide Company.





Vol. LXXV.





MARCH 25, 1905.





THE bull campaign on the Stock Market has received a
severe set-back, ■which it uncloubteclly needed. The only
reason which can be assigned for it is the fact that se¬
curities had heen over-bought, and that profits could not be
taken without brealiing prices. It is probable that the decline
was welcome to the banks, and perhaps assisted by the bankers,
because it is evident that money is likely to be scarce during the
active months of 1905. There is only a small margin, on which
to rear a fabric of high speculative values. Nevertheless, there
is no reason for anything but a temporary halt in the march of
advancing prices. Genera! business conditions, when tested on
every side, are more encouraging than ever, and the prices of
some railroad and Industrial securities can be further advanced
without danger—provided the advances are slowly and con¬
servatively made.





IT is difficult to keep pace with the gait of the New York
real estate market of to-day. Interesting developments suc¬
ceed each other with startling rapidity, and the volume of
business continues to be unprecedented. The only additional
comment which can be made is that it is more unprecedented
than ever. The employees of the title companies are working
night and day, and the Register's ofiice is kept open until 11
o'clock without effectually relieving the congestion. During the
past week the buying of vacant land has shown no abatement,
but there are signs that it is under the influence of more con¬
servative influeuces than it was formerly. It is certainly well
distributed over the available territory and is receiving better
support from builders. This, however, is an old story. What
is more interesting at present are the many new indications of
an approaching revival in the construction of buildings of a
higher class. The extra dividend declared by the Century
Realty Co, during the past week and the success which that
corporation has had in disposing of its accumulated holdings of
gilt-edged real estate, shows the demand there has been for
that class of property; and the effect of this demand will be the
erection of a number of buildings, the details of which have not
yet been announced. Many architects whose oflces have until
recently been comparatively dull, are showing signs of con¬
siderable activity. Of this, there will be more to say next
week, but one very interesting transaction which has been al¬
ready published, is the removal of the National Arts Club
to Gramercy Park. This is the peculiar case of a club,
which moves down instead of uptown; and the location which
has been selected was undoubtedly made possible by the Sub¬
way. The plan of the Arts Club includes not only a club house,
but a flfteen-story building on 19th st, which will contain studios
and house-keeping apartments. These apartments will be plan¬
ned in the same manner as those on 67th st. which have been
such a success. That is, the apartments will be duplex, and the
house-keeping part will contain twice as many stories as the
part which contains the studios. It is a good idea; but it may be
overdone.





'T^HE collapse during the past week of the walls of many
•*■ tenement houses, the construction of which has been
started during the cold weather of the past winter, is the
old story of a good law badly enforced. The Building Code
prohibits absolutely the practices which have endangered the
structures of these houses; and if the walls have been built in
freezing weather, it is simply a matter of punishing the of¬
ficials who permitted the practice and the contractors, who
ficmmitted it. We cannot conceive any sufficient excuse for
the inspectors, who are implicated.    It is true that they could





not stand perpetually over the buildings, with thermometer In
hand, and prevent the contractors from violating the law at any
particular time; but any inspector, who kept his eye on the
weather and knew how long it takes to lay a certain amount of
wall, coujd infallibly tell whether the contractor was in the habit
of evading this provision of the statute. Moreover, when he is
in possession of this knowledge, it is absolutely within his
power, or that of the department he represents, to prevent the
violations, and if necessary to arrest the violators. This is dis¬
tinctly a case for close investigation as well as unsparing
punishment; and the commission which the Borough President
has appointed for that purpose wil! command general confidence.
Mr. Ahearn should also take steps to see that the Building De¬
partment is sulRciently prepared for the work which it will
have to do during the next two years. All records for tenement
house construction will be broken in the near future; and the
builders of the new tenements will have the same interest in
doing the work iu the quickest possible way—an interest which
has wrecked so many of the structures started during the past
winter. It is always hard to understand why even the cheap¬
est of builders wil! imperil their own money, not to speak of
other peoples' lives, by erecting their buildings in a positively
dangerous way. That they should build as cheaply as possible,
consistent with that part of the law which is enforced, is to be
expected, but it is suicidal to build under conditions or in a
manner which make the structure radically unsafe. The ex¬
planation in the present instance doubtless is (1) that immunity
from similar catastrophies in the past had made them callous
to this particular danger and (2) that they had unusually strong
inducements to complete their buildings at the earliest possible
dates. Never in the history of New York City were tenements
rented or sold quicker than they are at present, and one can
never tell how long such a condition will last. Moreover in
many cases the buildings had already been sold from the plans,
and the builder merely desired to dispose of the work without
delay, so that he could begin all over again. Now they will
have to begin all over again with a vengeance.





TT is becoming clear that the Subway plans of the Interbor-
■1- ough Company and the Metropolitan Street Railway Com¬
pany-are irreconcilably opposed. The latter interest is pre¬
pared to bid upon a four track Subway, which takes the Lex-
iugton av, 34th st, Sth av, Broadwa,y route, and returns on the
West Side by way of Greenwich st. West Broadway, 7th av.
Central Park West and Jerome av. It will be seen that this
route absolutely excludes the upper East Side and the lower
West Side extensions, which the Interborough company de¬
sires to build, and that the Rapid Transit Commission is
placed in the position of choosing between the plans of the two
companies. Of course, it could flnd room for both of them by
handing over the 3d av-Bowery Subway to the surface railroad
company, and by allowing the Interborough Company to build
its proposed extension. Such a plan would have the advantage
of obtaining good facilities for comparatively little money.
There would be much less duplication of existing routes than
there would be in case the plans of the New York City Railway
Company were accepted. Nevertheless public opinion would not
acquiesce In such a plan. The people of New York have much
more to gain from the Subway proposed by the Metropolitan
Company and operated in connection with the street cars. The
central location of these proposed tunnels would be an enormous
convenience to the traveling public, and it would be possible by
means of transfers from the surface roads to organize a service
of unprecedented efficiency. Such a service could, moreover, he
made very profitable to the operating company by the extent
to which it would cut into the existing traffic of the Interborough
lines, as well as by the new travel it would develop. It is no
wonder, consequently, that the Rapid Transit Commission feel
disposed to favor the Metropolitan interest, and it is evident that
the Interborough company will be beaten in the competition,
unless it can do something to increase the attractiveness of its
proposals. Doubtless the officials of that company realize this
fact, and will do their best to improve their offers. One result
is certain; and it is not a result which is a particularly de¬
sirable Eor the public interest. These Subways will have
to be built by private capital, because the debt limit of the
city is not sufficient for the purpose. The companies will make
a great point of this in their bids; but the city really gains noth¬
ing substantial by being relieved of the necessity of loaning its
credit. If it were not for the arbitrary debt-limit, it would be
better for the city to stipulate that the cost of construction be
paid for by municipal bonds and to compel the competing com¬
panies to make their offers attractive by agreeing to pay a rental