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October 22, 1904
RECORD AND GUIDB
833
Biis[i(ess «(dThemes Of GalEBfl IHtehest.
PRICE PER. YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS
Published every Saturday
GommuDlcations sHould be addressed to
C. W. SWEET, 14.16 Vesey Street, New YorK
J. T. LIUDSEY, Bu.l»».. M.n.ger_____________Teleplone. Cortlandt 3157
'â– â– EMerede-lihe Pel 03c, M Nem Tork. N. F.. « iem.ni-d.«s matter."
Vol. LXXIV.
October 22, 1904.
No. 1910.
taxuayer's money in advertismg lis necessity in that puMica-
tion. You advertise for bids on a honse for policemen in a
policeman's paper on the same principle that he who drives
tat oxen should himself be fat. But the farce-comedy becomes
almost too eitravagant for lauBhter when such very important
matters as the sale of ferry franchises for ferries between East
134th and 136th Sts. are announce'! to the puhlic in the Harlem
Local Reporter, while bids for constructing five steel ferry¬
boats are demanded from the readers of the same excellent
but extremely local journal. No, this sort ot thing will not do.
Of course, we all know that all the advertising went hy favor
and without a thought of obtaining any results. But if that
is the case why advertise at all? The Board of Estimate made
a great parade of economy in refusing money to celebrate an
important public event such as the opening of the Subway; but
the Board of City Record throws away'many times that sum
in useless advertising without the eraallest apparent scruple.
-I-HE encouraging aspect of tbe stock market during the
i past week from the hull point ol view is the fact that,
considering the heavy liquidation, prices did not suffer more
than they did. Ine buying aided by some manipulation at
critical moments was sufficient to keep prices fairly steady and
that under the circumstances was a very considerable achieve¬
ment. It remains to be seen whether the buying will continue
lo he as good as the selling, or whether a period of less activity
and slightly sagging prices will supervene before any further
advance takes place. There can oe no doubt it will in the long
run be better for the cause of higher prices, in case quotations
are not pushed much higher at the present time. Mr. Vanderslip
was assuredly right ta stating that the hullisll speculative
manipulation had gone as far as is wholesome, and that the con¬
tinuation of the movement unchecked for the next few months
would constitute a serious menace to the continued prosperity
nt the country. The menace is a serious one, because under
existing conditions it seems entirely possible for the bnllish
manipulators to send prices higher; and if they are to be
checked the check must come frcm the concerted action of
powerful and conservative banks. It is the banl.s, which have
permitted the speculation of the last few months; and it is
they and the few men who control them, who can prevent it
from going farther than it should.
THE re-organization and the improvement of the Building
Department planned by Superintendent Hopper has heen
accepted both by the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Esti¬
mate and it remains only to appropriate the necessary money.
This reorganization is approved by everyone who is acquainted
with the necessities of the Department, and with the enormous
responsibility which is placed upon its shoulders. In the past
it could not be held strictly accountable, because its force was
not adequate to the work, which fell upon it; but whenever the
organization is completed, there v/ill be no excuse possible in
case the building law is violated and a building collapses. As
to the increase in the salaries of tbe inspectors that was justi¬
fied both by the salaries paid by other cities for a similar class
of work and by the character of the work which the inspectors
are required to perform. Hereafter their work is to be care¬
fully supervised; and the responsibility for any negligence wil;
be shared with the inspector by the supervising official and by
the whole departmental organization.
LAST week in commenting on the abuses which characterize
the distribution of city advertising, we compared the
method whereby many "official notices" were assigned for pub¬
lication to that of a dressmaker who advertised in the "Iron
Age." Lest our readers should consider this an exaggeration, we
wiil quote from the ofhcial reporc of one meeting of the Board
of City Record (June 28, 1904), a few of these cases, which
make the city advertising business a wildly extravagant farce-
comedy, and one whose cost is commensurate with its extrava¬
gance. The city, for instance, wishes to advertise a bond sale.
It pays 40 cents a line to the Police Chronicle, the Broadway
Weekly, and the Volks-Advocat, for publishing the fact to the
numerous readers they possess among the investing class. Then
the city proposes to have a public auction of canvass hose and
of seven horses; and the Board of City Record announces the
fact in that popular sporting paper, the New York Realty Jour¬
nal. This looks queer; but the Board knows very well that
the Realty Journal is just as good a medium for the sale of
horses as it is for any other city purpose. Again the Board
wishes to secure many competitive bids for the erection ot a
station-house in Brooklyn; and krowing the wide circulation
of the Police Chronicle in the building trades, it spends good
The Boom in Vacant Lots.
THE way in which the i\lanhattan real estate riarlcet swings
from one extreme to anotlier is extraordinary. During
1901 and 1902 the centres of speculative and building activity
were the financial qistrict, that between 14th an , 59th st, along
the lines of Broadway and 5th ave, and in the residence section
on the East Side. But coincident with the liveliest activity and
rapidly advancing prices in these sections, those neighborhoods
of Manhattan devoted to a cheaps- class of residence and tene¬
ment remained comparatively lifeless. When this speculativa
movement subsided during the spr' g of 1903, it was succeeded
by a speculation in Harlem and upper East Side tenements,
which lasted through the fall of 1903, and culminated durmg
the winter and spring of 1904. This movement did not, however,
produce much buildmg, because conditions were at that time
unfavorable for buildins operations; but the shifting and in¬
crease of population which justiSed the speculation brought
about a scarcity of house room, which was hound eventually to
produce a great increase of residential accommodation. During
the past summer tenements and Bats have been built in larger
numbers than before, both in Manhattan and the Bronx, and
it became evident that as soon as svfflcient money supplies were
readily forthcoming there would be a tremendous demand for
vacant property available tor Improvement, which means
vacant property along the line of the Subway. That demand
has now begun. It covers an enormous stretch ot territory,
including the whole of Washin.iton Heights, of the Dyckman
tract and of large areas in the Bronx, beyond the existing line
of habitation. In much of this territory the trading is assum¬
ing the proportion of a boom. The operators are rushing in
and buying right and left; and they are using tho newspapers
to create an impression of more activity than really exists. It
is of course, wholly a professiona! movement; but so are all
movements in Manhattan real estate. In this as in other in¬
stances, the professionals know what they are about. They are
preparing for the prospect tbat the year 1905 will be one of the
most active years m the building of tenemenls and fiats, which
New York has ever seen.
The trading in vacant lots has been phenomenal. Sev¬
eral thousand lots have changed hands this week. For the most
part the purchasers have been buiiding loan operators. The
Central Realty Bond and Trust Co. has been acquiring large
holdings both in the Dyckman tract, in the Bronx and on the
Heights, and its example has been followed by many private
firms In the Dyckman tract none but building loan operators
have as yet done any buying; but on Washington Heights an
larger number of builders are figuring in the transactions.
There the huilding movement has actually commenced; and
there the larger proportion of the activity will talce place dur¬
ing the ciiming year. The precise extent of the activity may
be judged from the following figures: In the Bronx some
2040 lots have been sold, and this figure omits several resales.
On the Heights and on the Dyckman tract 461 lots have been
purchased, while the figures for tha upper end of Harlem are 206,
Opinions differ as to the availability ot the Dyckman tract for
early improvement. It is certainly in a very backward stage of
development at the present time. Comparatively few streets have
been opened up. Schoolhouses have not been built. It is lack¬
ing just at present in the opportunity tor most of the con¬
veniences of city life. But the operators who have done the
buying are not discouraged oy these facts. They know that
the streets can be quickly opened up. and the tract made availa¬
ble for improvement in a comparatively short time; and they
see large profits in operating in the district because ot the