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REAL. ESTATE
BUILDERS
AND
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 20, 191.3
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RESTRICTIONS CONSIDERED MODERATE
What Is Thought of the Report of the Heights of Buildings Com¬
mission—Very General Commendation—Public Hearings Awaited.
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NOBODY has said that the restrictions
on building construction that have
been recommended by the Heights of
Building Commission are too radical. On
the contrary, the only criticism heard so
far is that the regulations for the finan¬
cial district are too moderate. The New
York public has rarely received an offi¬
cial report with more approval, or with
more signs of appreciation of intelligent
investigation and decision on the part of
the authors, than has been accorded to
the report made by the Bassett commis¬
sion. .\dmittedly interesting, the docu¬
ment is also described as having the
merit of brevity, as well as clearness and
precision.
Interviews with men representative of
the interests which would be most af¬
fected financially by a limitation of this
nature, as well as with authorities who
have helped to form public opinion on
the subject in the past, disclosed on the
whole marked unanimity of opinion that
the commission had made, first, a very
thorough and independent investigation;
second, that it had established the need
and legality of limitations, and third,
that it had formulated a precise and rea¬
sonable policy for the city to follow. It
was said that the necessary laws and or¬
dinances should be framed and put into
eflfect as soon as possible, after public
hearings have been held, in which much
interest is likely to be taken.
Somewhat Disappointed.
William O. Ludlow, of Ludlow & Pea¬
body, architects, who was one of the first
advocates of restriction, while funda¬
mentally in accord with the principles
upon which the members of the Heights
of Buildings Commission have based
their findings, confessed that he was dis¬
appointed with that part of the report
which proposes definite regulations
drawn to apply to the conditions in
lower Manhattan. The demand for the
limitation of building heights followed
largely, Mr. Ludlow said, from the con¬
ditions in this section of the city; but,
applying the scheme to lower Broad¬
way, for instance, where the skyscrapers
are the tallest, he found that thc recom¬
mendations permit buildings at least six¬
teen stories high and towers in addition.
At the present time, however, the aver¬
age heights of the buildings on Broadway
from Battery Place to Park Place, includ¬
ing the Singer Tower and the Wool-
worth Tower, is twelve and one-half
stories. If, therefore, the present con¬
ditions are considered bad—as to the lack
of sunlight, the overcrowding of the
streets, the congestion of traffic, the dis¬
tribution of realty values and the danger
from fire panic—why provide by law a
limit which would seem to permit of
conditions much worse?
The Fire Hazard.
Commissioner Johnson of the Fire De¬
partment said his approval of the regu¬
lation of the heights of buildings would
be largely upon aesthetic grounds. As
far as life-saving work was concerned,
even a building restricted in height to,
say, twelve stories would be too high
for fire ladders to reach from the outside.
The department's e.xtension ladders did
not go beyond the seventh floor, and
jumping into nets from above the sixth
floor was generally fatal.
However, the modern, fireproof, un¬
limited skyscraper, with its own water-
pumps and standpipes, ofifered no greater
problem than any other building, after
you leave the seventh and eighth floors,
so far as fire-figliting was concerned.
Doubtful About the Zone System.
President E. B. Boynton, of the Ameri¬
can Real Estate Company, a large in¬
vestor, was found to be of the opinion
that the plan for districting the city and
specifying the height limit for each dis¬
trict is feasible.
"This is the so-called zone system," he
explained. "New centers are growing
up in our city and sometimes these new
centers are in the older parts of the city
and sometimes they develop in the newer
sections.
"It seems to me the height of buildings
should be governed by the width of the
street. On streets sixty feet in width it
would be much better if there were no
buildings higher than eight stories. Tall
buildings fronting on squares and open
plazas might be permitted under certain
restrictions without doing injury to real
estate values or abutting property own¬
ers. Taller buildings might wisely be
permitted in various sections of the city
according to the business carried on in
those sections. I think a reasonable
height limit should be placed upon build¬
ings on Fifth avenue, and certainly no
more tall loft buildings should be built
on si.xty-foot streets."
Something Radical Necessary.
Robert E. .Simon, president of the
Henry Morgenthau Company, large oper¬
ators in real estate, said that something
radical was necessary in the way of
building restrictions. No doubt the argu¬
ment would be raised, he said, that the
rights of the individual in ownership of
his property would be infringed upon "by
such restriction, and it might also be
urged that any such restrictions would
be unconstitutional.
"Theoretically this may be so; but,
I think, it is absolutely necessary to pro¬
tect the rights of the individual against
the actions of his neighbor," said Mr.
Simon. "There is no doubt that these
tall buildings on narrow streets are at
present very bad for the interests of
the adjoining owner and will eventually
prove extremely bad for the city at large.
The concentration of traffic in limited
areas due to these high buildings is one
of the main causes of our traffic and
transportation problems and also is a
great source of expense to the city in its
policing, health, fire, school and all other
departments of municipal government.
Whether it will be feasible to restrict in
a practical and constructive manner is
another question.
"The problem in this city is very dif¬
ferent from most others. Manhattan
Island has been the main centre, and,
owing to its shape, the movement has
been steadily northward. The bridges
and new tunnels to the east and west
may have a tendency to change this, nut
up to the present time it seems that the
boroughs other than Manhattan will de¬
velop centers of their own whicli will be
independent of the heretofore accepted
main centers of Manhattan. The latter
will in the course of time develop more
and more with the transient business,
which will constantly increase. I am
fully in accord with the investigation
made by the commission, and believe
that the facts which have been gathered
together will be valuable for a sane solu¬
tion of the problem. The matter is of
such importance, however, that we must
necessarily make haste slowly."
The Constitutional Question,
Lawrence'B. Elliman, of Pease & Elli¬
man, large estates agents, said he con¬
sidered that the Heights of Buildings
Commission's report is a very fair one
and should be gone into most carefully
liefore any conclusion is reached. Had
this action been taken fifteen or twenty
years ago, before the present high level
of Ijuildings had been reached, especially
in the Fifth avenue section, there was no
question but that a restriction would
have been of benefit to all parties con¬
cerned; but from a purely business stand¬
point it was now a serious question
whether even through the police power
the government had authority to deprive
the owners of such investment properties
of the right of doing with their prop¬
erties as they saw fit.
"From a sanitary and equitable stand¬
point," continued Mr. Elliman, "and also
from the standpoint of the city as a
whole, so far as the Fire Department and
street and special equipments of the city
are concerned, there is no question but
that a reasonable restriction is most
essential, and in fairness to adjoining
owners no person should be permitted to
deprive an adjoining owner of light and
air, which an abnormally tall building
must do. But I am glad to see that the
committee recommends a number of fur¬
ther public hearings; and I hope that
everyone interested in the welfare of the
city will make it a point to attend them
and help the commission reach some fair
conclusion."
A Difficult Task Well Done,
The Superintendent of Buildings for
the Borough of Manhattan, Rudolph P.
Miller, Esq., remarked that the commit¬
tee certainly had a difficult task on its