AND







NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 22, 1913





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THE  RIGHTS  OF  PROPERTY  OWNERS





By   LAWSON   PURDY





Consequences of Erecting
Extravagently High Loft
Buildings, Many of Which
Are  Not Fully  Tenanted.

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E\"ERY property owner has a right to
do anything he pleases on his land
so long as he does not impair the equal
liberty of all others to do the same. Un¬
fortunately, our law does not adequately
protect the owners of real estate from
having their rights infringed by the ac¬
tion of their neighbors.

It is quite obvious that there are thou¬
sands of lots on Manhattan Island the
value of which is substantially impaired
by the erection of adjacent buildings of
such character as to shut off the light
and in other ways reduce the utility of
neighboring lots. The law should not
permit the erection of any building of
such character as to be inappropriate, if
every lot within the zone generally suit¬
able for the erection of such buildings
were  similarly  improved.

Anyone draughting building regula¬
tions should always keep the idea be¬
fore him that the regulations should
be such that the entire territory
could be covered with buildings of
the kind provided for. Our unfortunate
city has had its appearance ruined and
its utility immensely decreased by the
lack of protection accorded to property
owners. These matters are better gov¬
erned in all cities of Europe. German
cities have grown as fast as our cities,
but they always give the impression of
orderliness and harmony.

Frightful Waste.

To a greater degree every year, any
observer of real estate conditions in this
city must be impressed by the frightful
waste involved by buildings being ren¬
dered useless on account of changes and
conditions of neighborhoods. In part,
this is doubtless inevitable, but to a large
degree it is unnecessary, and is due to
the license allowed of encroachments on
the rights of others.

South of Chambers street the value of
land is concentrated on Broadway, Wall
street and a few of the neighboring
streets. Within two hundred yards of
Broadway and Wall street there are a
few corner lots 25x100 worth $1,000,000
or more, while a few hundred feet far¬
ther lots are scarcely worth two per
cent, as much. This condition has arisen
from the UNREGULATED USE OF
LAND.

Within a few years office buildings
with ample light and air have been
erected and full rented, which to-day
cannot be filled at much lower rents, be¬
cause their light and air have been im¬
paired by the erection of similar build¬
ings, the erection of which one may say
was   forced  by  the   very  permission   to







Mr. Purdy is President of the Board of
Tax Commissioners.

erect  them,  which  produced  an   enorm¬
ously high land value.

If, thirty years ago, suitable restric¬
tions had been placed upon the height
of buildings, there would not today be
one dollar less of land value south of
Chambers street; but the Tiigh points
would not be so high and the low points
would not be so low. The value WOULD
BE MORE EVENLY DISTRIBUTED
throughout the territory. The streets
would not be so congested; so many
men and women would not be working
by artificial light; there would be more
health and comfort for every one in the
downtown district, to say nothing of
more beauty, and less waste of capital
invested in business.

Half-Rented  Loft   Buildings.

No one can walk today through lower
Fifth avenue and the streets east and
west of Fifth avenue without being sad¬
dened by the dark, gloomy, congested
condition produced by the erection of
extravagantly high loft buildings, many
of which are but half tenanted and pay¬
ing but little return on the invested cap¬
ital.

Within thirty years millions of dollars
have been invested in fine private dwell¬
ing houses between Central Park and
the North River. What is the value of
those houses today? In many cases the
value has gone entirely, and good
houses fit for a hundred years are torn
down to make way for a nine- or ten-
story apartment house with an extrava¬
gantly ornate front and a hideously un¬
clothed and unashamed rear; and on
some fine streets these lofty buildings
line the street. Light and air are lack¬
ing, and so are rents.

Violating an Old Principle.

From the most material point of view
hundreds of millions of dollars have
been lost because  we have  disregarded





Evils Due to the Absence of
Proper Building Regula¬
tions—Disappearance of
Dwellings—Waste of Space.





the old principle that a man may not use
his land so as to invade the rights of
others. It is doubtless too late to save
most of Manhattan, but it is not too
late to save the other boroughs from a
similar fate.

The evils already described have
sprung mainly from the lack of proper
building regulations, models for which
can be found in every European city.
Berlin properly goes so far as not to
permit the builder to affront the eyes of
the citizen. Some of the troubles of
real estate investors are due, however,
to individual greed.

Individual Responsibility.

.\ practice not unknown is to erect an
apartment house, fill it with tenants at
half the rents shown by the rent re¬
ceipts, and sell it to an innocent in¬
vestor at a sum representing the ficti¬
tious rent capitalized. Soon after the
investor takes possession, the tenants
move on to the ne.xt building completed
by the speculative builder and the inves¬
tor finds an empty house, which he can
fill only at rents much less than those
on the faith of which he bought the
property.

These fictitious rents again induce the
erection of more buildings of the par¬
ticular type than the market demands,
resulting in a waste of capital, which
must be paid for by the community in
some way. Probably no law can remedy
this evil, or should attempt it, but the
lenders of money on building loans can
do much to prevent reckless and dishon¬
est building operations.





Straighten the  Harlem  Ship  Canal.

The Harlem Ship Canal is of little use
to commerce compared to what it
might be. The piers of High Bridge ob¬
struct navigation for large boats, and
the sharp turn at the Johnson foundry
is another difficulty to contend with. The
U. S. Government ought to provide
against the time when the Hudson River
steamboat lines, especially those carry¬
ing freight as well as passengers, will
be forced away from their historic dock¬
ing places on the lower West Side and
will have to find berths in the Harlem.
.A couple of the High Bridge piers
should be removed, the double curve op¬
posite the foundry cut out, and the
Bronx Kills opened to navigation. Make
these chan,ges, establish markets on the
river front on both sides of the river,
and the river and sound boats will enter
and make the shores of the Harlem
one of the most desirable parts of the
city to live and do business in.