October 30, 1909





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C. W. SWEET

Published Every Saturday

By THE RECORD AND GUIDE  CO.

President,   CLINTON  W.   SWEET                            Treasurer,  F.  W.  DODGE

Vlce-Pres. & Genl. Mgr., H. W. DESMOND           Secretary, F. T. MILLER

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"Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.  Y.. as second-class matter."
Copyrighted.   1009,   by   The   Record  &   Guide   Co.





Vol.  LXXXIV.





OCTOBER 30,   1909.





No. 2172





THE recent sale of some residences of West Seventy-ninth
Street for the purpose of constructing an apartment
Iiouse on tlieir site is an interesting indication of the dom¬
inant tendency in New York real estate. The only reason
why people continue to live in private dwellings on the West
Side is that such a type of building prevails In large num¬
bers throughout that neighborhood. In case a fire I'.estroyed
the existing houses on tbe West Side, the whole district would
be re-improved with apartment houses, and the reason why
the re-improvement does not take place more rapidly at tne
present time is that the tenement house law interferes. On
a good street like Seventy-ninth Street it is possible to erect
the twelve-story fireproof apartment houses which have be¬
come the only profitable type of construction on the West
Side; but on narrow streets it does uot pay to tear down
existing residences in order to replace* them merely with six-
story buildings. The consequence is that on the corners and
on wide streets a considerable amount of reconstruction wiil
take place. Whereas on the ordinary side street the existing
dwellings will linger lonp after they have auy real reason
for existence. In every part of Manhattan the apartment
bouse is gaining considerably on the private dwelling. Even
ou the East Side tbe co-operative apartment house is finding
accommodations for many families who formerly occupied
private residences, and the demand for individual bouses is
■palpably less than it was a few years ago. It is surely worth
considering whether this fact should uot be recognized in the
tenement-house law. There is no reason why fireproof apart¬
ment houses should not be erected on the side streets, pro¬
vided sufficient court areas are provided; and in view of tbe
burden which the provision places ou Manbattan property-
owners, the law should be amended to that respect.





THE purchase of the northwest corner of Thirty-eighth
.Street and Madison Avenue by a neighboring property-
owner, so as to prevent the erection thereon of a business
building will probably serve to prevent any business invasion
of that part of Madison Aveuue for another ten years. Of
course it will tempt real estate operators to undertake simi¬
lar operations whenever an opportunity occurs, but presuma¬
bly the neighboring property-owners would not have gone to
the heavy expense of preventing the erection of the proposed
building, unless they saw their way to controlling otber
property which might be used for similar purposes. There is
no reason why Madison and Park Avenues, between Thirty-
fifth and Forty-first Streets cannot be kept almost entirely
free from business for an indefinite period. Inasmuch as
there are plenty of rich people, who like the convenience oi'
living in a central location south of Forty-second Street, and
who are willing to pay very high prices for the privilege,
these few blocks on Murray Hill are really more valuable for
residence than for business purposes; and the business in¬
terests of the city will not be injured by their retention in
the hands of the owners of private dwellings. Eventually
business is bound to take possession of this entire neighbor¬
hood, but it may be hoped tbat the local property-owners will
be able to fight off the invasion for as long as they wish to
d'o so.' The Murray Hill district is oue of the pleasantest in
Manhattan, and its conversion into au ordinary business sec¬
tion would be a loss rather than a gain. On the other hand
the rest of Madison Avenue wilt.within tbe next few years
be rapidly developed for business purposes. Between Tweuty-





sisth and Thirty-fourth Streets about ten business buildings
have recently been constructed, and during the next few
years the majority of the old brown stone residences of this
quarter will assuredly disappear. Nortb of Forty-second
Street, the process will be slower, but no less inevitable. The
blocks immediately north of Forty-second Street have already
become very valuable for retail purposes. Further north the
existence of certain large apartment houses will deprive the
retail trade of many of the best cornere, but it will creep
into the old brown-stone houses in the middle of the blocks.
Particularly north of Fifty-ninth Street Madison Avenue has
ceased to be very desirable as a private residential thorough¬
fare. Property on the avenue has not shared in the increase
in values which has so generally taken place throughout the
East Side residential district, and the present dwellings wili
gradually give way to apartment houses with stores on the
ground floor. In case a Madison Avenue subway is built
this process will be very much accelerated. The mere con¬
structiou of the subway will make the avenue for several
years a comparatively unpleasant place in which to live, and
after it is completed the building of apartment houses with
stores on the street will proceed rapidly.





CONSIDEPaNG the benefits which were supposed to accrue
to the property-owner from a better method of budget
making, the preliminary estimates for the coming year are
not so very encouraging. There will be an increase of over
$6,000,000 in the total appropriations, and the best that can
be said about this increase is that it will not mean any sub¬
stantial change in the tax rate. Considering the large amount
of new building which has recently taken place, and certain
increases in real estate values, the assessed valuation oC reai
property may possibly expand as much as $300,000,000, aud
the existing tax rate levied on this increase will produce about
$5,000,000. There can be no doubt that the Board of Esti¬
mate has really tried to keep appropriations down aud that
it would have succeeded in doing so effectually, had it not
been necessary to make appropriations for certain expenses
which bave hitherto been escaped by vicious methods of book¬
keeping. But the Record and Guide has never believed that
it lay within the ability of the administrative officials of the
city with the legal authority now at their command to effect
any substantial decrease in the city's expenses, and if any
of the candidates for the ofiice of Mayor are elected wbo
have promised such economies, they will probably disappoint
their supporters. That New York wholly fails to get full
value for its enormous expenditures we fully believe, but
there is also every reason to believe that the process of
economizing demands a drastic administrative reorganization.
The first step towards such a reorganization is the adoption
of the Ivins charter, and until it is adopted, any promises
about economical and efficient administration will be prac¬
tically impossible to keep.





NOW that New York is on the brink of the election there
is every reason to believe that the constitutional amend¬
ment of tbe debt-limit will be accepted by voters. The ques¬
tion has not bulked large in the public speaking, but no oue
of the candidates for Mayor has opposed it, and at least two
have warmly approved it. The average voter will believe that
a vote on behalf of the constitutional amendment will be a
vote in favor of more subways, and he will be right. The final
decision of the Court of Appeals in relation to the debt-limit,
although it was assuredly a wise decision, does uot afford
New York the credit it needs to continue subway construc¬
tion. It leaves the debt margin at something less than $100,-
000,000, and considering the responsibilities of the city in
other respects, that margi^n is not large enough for the pur¬
pose of continuing the construction of a municipal subway
system. The Broadway-Lexington Avenue subway alone is
estimated to cost as much as that. In case any necessity
arises for the further use of the city's credit for purposes of
subway construction, a larger margin will be necessary) and
if this margin is obtained by means of the constitutional
amendment, it will be obtained under conditions which will
prevent its usa upon unremunerative enterprises. Taxpayers
should consequently voie for the amendment. A vote in op¬
position to it is a vote to tie the hands of the municipal au¬
thorities in their negotiations with corporations for the con¬
struction and operation of future subways. The Record and
Guide believes that, considering the standing of the city's
credit at the present time. New York stock should not be
issued for subway construction, provided such an issue can
be avoided.    If subways can be built by private companiea