MARCH 9, 1912





THE CHANGING CHARACTER OF THE BOWERY.

Its Notorious Reputation is Now a Thing of the Past and a Mercantile
Development is Looked for—Tall Building to Replace Atlantic Garden.





1'N the next few months two famous
landmarks of the old Bowery will have
disappeared and the part which they
played in the life of this well known
thoroughfare avIU have become but a mat¬
ter of local history. The Atlantic Gar¬
den, at 50 Bowery is now being demolished
to make room for a business structure
and the Thalia theatre adjoining, is being
offered by the owners for sale and the
present occupancy will not be continued
after July I of this year. These two
structures have been intimately associa¬
ted with Bowery life for half a century
and the business carried on Avithin their
wails has been typical of the
activities which made the Bow¬
ery known throughout the
country. Their passing is in
keeping with the changes which
this thoroughfare is now un¬
dergoing and furnishes an ex¬
cellent illustration of what may
be looked for on the Bowery of
the future.

For   years   the   Bowery   has
been  knoAvn principally as  the
amusement center for the low¬
er East Side and  a large ma¬
jority of the buildings were de¬
voted to enterprises of this na¬
ture.     A   few   of   the   places,
notably   the   two   above   men¬
tioned, have been harmless and
respectable    in    character _but
unfortunately   for   the   reputa¬
tion  of  the  street,   by  far  the
greSiter number catered  to the
lowest   tastes   of  an   extremely
cosmopolitan     population    and
were low,  vicious  and  degrad-
ing.     To  such  an   extent  was
this   true   that   for   years   the
najne   Bowery   was   associated
in   the   minds   of   most   people
with saloons, dives ani3 gamb¬
ling houses and a quarter of a
century   ago   enjoyed   a   notor¬
iety e(jualed only by that of the
Barbary   Coast   in   San   Fran¬
cisco.     During   the   civil   war
and for some years alter. Park
Row   jtist   south   of   Chathajn
Square,  and  the lower part of
the   Bowery   were   the   favorite
resorts   for   the   crews   of   deep
sea   sailing   vessels   and   botli
sides  of  the  street  were  lined
witli   saloons   and   disreputable
dance    hails.      The    Old    Five
Points  at  Mulberry  Bend  was
then at its worst and the char¬
acter of the entire section was
such  that  few citizens not in¬
habitants  of  the district cared
to    venture    there    except    in
broad daylight.

At tills time the tenement
district of the lower East Side
was mainly populated by Ger¬
mans and Irish. Besides be¬
ing an amusement center the
Bowery also supported a num¬
ber of fairly substantial busi¬
ness houses and the street in
older days was somewhat of a
ehopping center for the East
Side. The flrst tailors to offer
custom-made clothing at popu¬
lar prices were located here but
later when this form of tailor¬
ing was found to be popular
and profltable most of them
migrated to other central thor¬
oughfares of prominence. The
'Clothing business has always
been well represented on the
Bowery buC in recent years
the class of business has stead¬
ily deteriorated until most of
the shops handle only the
cheapest grades of ready-made
new clothing or deal in second¬
hand garments.

The change in pouulation
which- has occurred on the East
Side has made the Bowery
much less of a shopping thor¬
oughfare than it once was
"When the Italians and Rus¬
sian Je-ws began to settle there





in large numbers most of the Irish and
German inhabitants moved either to the
West Side or further uptown along the
East River. The new population brought
with it the idea of push-cart selling and
this trade rapidly developed. The Jewish
element contained a large number of shop¬
keepers and these opened stores in the
tenements on the side streets where none
had been before. Many of these merchants
were content to operate on so small a
basis that their profits brought them in
no greater incomes than they could have
obtained   as   factory   workers.    As   these







Wm.   H.   Gompert,
NEAV   12-STY   LOFT    BUILDING    AND    e-STT TENEMENT
SITE   OF   ATLANTIC   GARDEN.





stores multiplied anfl the push-cart busi¬
ness assume(3 large proportions much of
the miscellaneous trade of the Bowei-j-
was diverted and stores catering purely
lo local trade Avere not well supported; at
present there are a vast number of small
stores m the side street tenements all
the way over to the river and the push¬
cart business is so extensive that both
sides of many streets are entirely filled
with these travelling shops and every con¬
ceivable kind of small merchandise is
harLdled. Ihis new population did not af¬
ford much support to the saloons or
dance halls either, and these were forced
to rely upon custom from out-
'Sid© the terrHoi-y. As time
went on public opinion be¬
came strong enough to cause
the authorities to place restric¬
tions upon the various forms
of illegal or immoral business
and within tlie last decade the
lines have been so tightly
drawn as to practically ex¬
clude these places from the
Bowery. Within the last flve
years the thoroughfare has
been so thoroughly cleaned up
■that at present it Avould be
very difficult to flnd any resort
of this character on the Boav-
ery.

Even Park Row, where the
worst places flourished, is now
entirely free from vicious re¬
sorts and the Old Five Points
is no longer even tough,
Chinatown still exists but in a
very much subdued fashion and
there is some attempt being
made to do away with it en¬
tirely. Several plots have re¬
cently been bought there fcr
future improvement and a
plan is on foot to haA-e the City
run a diagonal street from the
Majihattan Bridge terminal
down to Worth street, which
would take away a portion of
Chinatown. Since the police
have held the reins so tightly
over this spot, Chinatown has
lost much of its popularity as
a sight-seeing resort and has
become less profitable than for¬
merly. iVIany of the inhabi¬
tants have moved to New Jer¬
sey or are scattered in other
parts of the City and it may
well be possible that Chinatown
will practically cease to exist
after a few years more.

In spite of the fact that the
Bowery and adjacent tei-ritory
has almost entirely lost its old
character and become a very
respectable thoroughfare from
a moral standpoint, it has pro¬
gressed but very little in a
mercantile way and does not
yet have the position which its
natural advantages entitle it
to hold and niodei-n structures
suitable for manufacturing
purposes are conspicuous hy
their absence. The present
o\\'Tners for various reasons
have steadfastly refused to im¬
prove their holdings and until
recently there has not been a
sufficient demand from tenants
seeking quarters here to induce
operators or investors to buy
plots for improvement.

When resorts of an illegal
character were common on the
avenue, rents were much higher
than they are now, and in many
instances, property sold for a
higher price than it will today.
The buildings are antiquated
structures from three to flve
stories high and incapable of
producing any considerable
revenue. Stores will rent fairly
well and there are not many
i,..y.:,n f ■^^^ncies but the upper porllnn
Architect, ^f the buildings can Only be
tUR rented at nominal figures. Un¬
der   the   old   order,   the   upper