January 7, 1911.





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Vol. LXXXVIL





JANUARY 7. 1911.





NO. 2234.





A CONFLICT OF LAWS.

BUILDERS in the speculative lield, contemplating the
probable consequences of the order forbidding en¬
croachments over the line of the street, issued by the Bor¬
ough President of Manhattan, cannot discern how the con¬
struction of small live or six-slory apartment houses can be
profitably continued under the disadvantages which the
order imposes. They do not consider that economic condi¬
tions had already put an end to the erection of five-story
tenements. As a commercial or investment proposition
tract waiting for houses of this class, and there are sections
of Yorkville and Harlem east of Third avenue occupied by
small dwellings which were viewed as prospective fields for
improvement with five-story and even six-story non-elevator
tenements as a commercial or investment proposition
these houses cannot, in the opinion of the builders, be set
back from the street line, so as to get the headroom for the
c-ntrauce from the street into the cellar which is reciuired
by the Tenement House Law. For this would mean the loss
of two rooms on each floor at the rear, as well as obstruct¬
ing the view from the front of the house; and builders are
not prepared to accept as a good solution of the difficulty
the proposed plan of gaining an entrance into the cellar by
sacrifi(;;ng, in the case of a small tenement house, a por¬
tion of one front I'oom on the first floor of each house; or,
in the case of a store, by eliminating a show window. In
the opinion of many builders there is a plain conflict be¬
tween the purpose of the Tenement House Law to main¬
tain a fire-passage through the house from the backyard to
the street, and the purpose of the Borougli Superintendent
to have no more stoops and areas built extending over the lot
line. Consequently, the suggestion is made that, as the Tene¬
ment House Law did not anticipate an order from the Build¬
ing Department which would practically shut off the front en¬
trance to the cellar, it is in order that the law should be so
amended as to take cognizance of conditions which builders
now have to meet. The new restrictions are not considered
as seriously affecting apartment houses of large size, such as
those having a height of twelve and eight stories and corre¬
spondingly large ground dimensions, because they have or
may have exterior courts through which access is or can be had
to the cellar. Presuming that it is measurably correct to say
that under Manhattan conditions there is no apparent solu¬
tion to the problem for small tenement houses that will not
detract from their rental value, and so limit or prevent their
construction in this borough in the future, it is apparent,
as a prominent builder said during the week, that in the end
the chief sufferers will be those families for whom the ele¬
vator house is an economical impossibility.





DISCRETIONARY POWER.

HERE the (Question is raised as to the real necessity for
making an order of this nature applicable over the
whole Borough of Mauhattan at this time. For evidently in
the opinion of the Borough President of Manhattan, even
though it is not the opinion of the Borough President of the
Bronx, discretionary authority exists to some extent. And if
there is a constitutional power of discretion which permits
the Borough President of Manhattan to make exceptions in
favor of some architectural projections and not others, and
which enables him to make allowances of ten inches in some
cases and eighteen in others, then why not under the same





interpretation of law does he not also possess the discretion
to rule that the necessity of revoking the privilege for stoops
and areas, while it may be present and apparent in one
part of the borough, has oiot arisen in another; as for ex¬
ample, in the lateral streets north of Fifty-ninth street? In
view of the divergent opinions of the various Borough Presi¬
dents, the whole subject becomes debatable, and will con¬
tinue to be so until there is some fundamental legislative or
judicial determination of the rights of property in this re¬
spect. In the case of Manhattan, where land has become
so costly that every square inch is calculated in the plans of
builders and investors, and where all the plans, measure¬
ments and calculations for apartment houses are based on the
unit of one city lot of exactly one hundred feet in depth, it
is a serious matter to change the unit or standard of calcula¬
tion and to lessen the capacity of the regular city lot for
building purposes, especially if done unnecessarily. It is
as patent that Borough President McAueny has tried to
avoid being arbitrary as it is that Borough President Miller
of the Bronx has followed his sincere convictions, but If there
is a possibility of a different determination of the (juestion
of encroachments, or the possibility of such a modification of
the Tenement House Law as will enable builders to keep
behind their lot lines entirely without sacrificing space which
under present economic conditions they cannot seemingly af¬
ford to lose, then it is a duty owing from the State Govern¬
ment to property owners to have that determination made
as c|uickly as possible. If the prophecy of builders is true,
that with present values and rentals the new order means an
end to the erection of the only class of houses which the
larger portion of the population of Manhattan Island have
felt that they could afford to live in, then we are at the
threshold of another great change in the history of Manhat¬
tan Island, and some of us are not sure that it is better to
precipitate that change by executive rulings than to .have it
come more gradually through economic evolution.





CONCENTRATION OF RESTAURANTS.

DURINti the last few months thrae new restaurants of
the highest class have been opened in the vicinity of
Broadway and 4 2d street, and announcements have been
made that plans are being prepared for two more. Prob¬
ably in no other city in the world *is there such a con¬
centration of places of amusement and refection as will
soon exist in and about Long Acre Square. Instead of its
pre-eminence in this respect being in any way diminished,
it is being constantly increased. Whatever tendency there
is towards development is traveling up along Broadway and
Seventh avenue to the north. On the other hand, all this
increase in theatres and restaurants is not being accom¬
panied by any considerable developmeut in other directions.
There are a couple of retail clothing stores on or near the
Square, and several office buildings are under way. But
the retail stores are not of the best class, and the new
office buildings are renting very slowly. The pre-eminence
of Long Acre Square in respect to theatres and restaurants
limits its business development along other lines. The more
substantial business enterprises tend to find locations in
and about Greeley Square. It was expected that the open¬
ing of the McAdoo station at 32d street and of the Penn¬
sylvania Terminal might tend to draw some of the theatre
and restaurant business down towards 34th street, but no
such tendency has developed as yet. It is true that a very
large hotel is about to be built on the corner of 34th street
and Greeley Square, but this hotel is intended chiefiy for
business men. It is to contain an enormous number of
small, moderate-priced rooms, and in all probability it will
obtain the same class of custom that tlie Broadway Ceutral
used to have. It is designed to be the business man's hotel
of the new mercantile district; and if it is a success it
will contribute to the growth of its immediate neighbor¬
hood rather as a cejitre of trade than of amusement. Up
to date Long Acre Square is unquestionably pre-eminent
for the kind of business which is transacted at night,
whereas Greeley Square is pre-eminent for the kind of
business" which is transacted during the day.
-----------—♦-----------------

EXCESS CONDEMNATION.

BOROUGH President Miller of the Bronx has performed
a genuine public service in calling attention to the fact
that the Legislature has already passed an act which per¬
mits the people to vote on an amendment to the Consti¬
tution permitting excess condemnation. The passing of such
an   amendment   is   of   the   utmost  importance.     It  is   safe