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Vol. LXXXVIII
AUGUST 26, 1911
No. 2267
THE CITY'S FAMOUS WATER FRONT BOULEVARD.
Originally Planned as a Seat for Fashionable Dwellings, Riverside Drive Has
Become of Late Years One of the Foremost Among Apartment House Avenues.
RIVERSIDE DRIVE is New York's
most beautiful avenue and few. if
any, thoroughfares in America surpass it
in natural attractiveness. The charms of
its scenery have been enhanced by the
landscape gardener, and the roadway, aa
it now exists, is a triumph of engineering
skill. Vast sums have been expended in
its construction and maintenance and its
parks provide a playground and recre¬
ation space for thousands of the city's
cliff-dwellers. Long before the Revolution,
this portion of Manhattan was occupied
by the suburban residences of wealthy
New Yorkers, and the banks of the Hud¬
son were dotted with country villas and
estates. In most cases, these residences
were so situated that when the Drive was
opened, they either had to be removed to
make way for the roadbed, or were set so
far back as to be entirely off tlie line.
The plan of a magnificent waterfront
roadway was conceived by Wiiiiam M.
Tweed, at the height of his political power,
but the first section of tlie Drive, from
72d to 122d streets, was not officially
opened until ISSO. Riverside Drive first
gained a national reputation in 1SS.5, when
General Grant was buried there. At that
in price about $75,000 apiece, when built
on a full lot. The high-stoop, brownstone
house so common in other sections of the
city, and so totally lacJting in architect¬
ural beauty, was not used on the Drive to
any extent. For a time the natural at¬
tractiveness of the Drive was sufficient
lo induce many well-to-do people to set¬
tle there, and the early builders found a
ready market for their wares. A few
years sufficed to demonstrate that River¬
side Drive, as a private dwelling section,
had several drawbacks. - Chief among
these was tlie lack of adeciuate transpor¬
tation. The elevated was far removed
and the surface lines were too slow for
downtown travel. Another drawback to
the erection of high-priced dwellings was
the lack of restrictions. Then, too. the
river winds were so strong that it was
found dilTicult to heat tlie houses in win¬
ter with ordinary furnaces. These un¬
pleasant features were sufficient to check
the sale of houses, and as a result "to let"
and 'for sale" signs became conspicuous,
and several builders were forced into
bankruptcy.
After this first boom subsided, very lit¬
tle activity w^as apparent until the open-
resembling a land boom has ensued. It is
true that some individual lots have
brought rather fancy prices, but this was
due lo the fact that the property was al¬
ready occupied liy substantial dwellings
and could not be sold on the basis of
vacant lots. In the case of the south
corner of 8Sth street, two five-story
American basement dwellings, in excellent
condition, were acquired as part of the
site for a tall apartment house. The ab¬
sence of any sharp increase in values is
accounted for in several ways. When the
building movement began on Riverside
Drive, property values were already high¬
er than in the surrounding territory and
builders, therefore, very naturally pre¬
ferred adjacent property, which offered
more speculative profit, locating on the
Drive, only when they could buy at rea¬
sonable prices. The Drive, having lost its
private residence character, was no longer
of value from that standpoint and the
owners had either to sell at market figures
or .hold their property idle and for this
reason the builders were able to make
their own terms. In addition to tl-iis, no
iron-clad restrictions existed to prevent
competitive selling, and as the Drive had
THE HIGHEST POINT ON THE UniVE
LOOKlNt; NOHTH FROM MOUNT TOM
time the thoroughfare was in rather a
crude state, but improvements were made
shortly afterwards and magnificent parks
were laid oul between the Drive and the
river.
In spite of its natural beauty and pure
air, Riverside Drive has never approached
Fifth avenue as a fashionable residence
street. "Wihen improvements began, it was
freely predicted that the Drive would
rival, if not surpass, the East Side thor-
ouglifare, but this prophecy failed of ful¬
filment. While many wealthy people set¬
tled there, none of the ultra-fashionable
set did. Had an Astor or a Vanderbilt
migrated to the Drive it is very likely
that this famous western street would
have become a center for society.
Shortly after its opening, the firsl dwell¬
ing was erected, but it was nearly ten
years later before very many houses ap¬
peared. From then on the development
.was rapid, especially in that part south
of 100th street. Rows of dwellings were
erected by speculative builders and marlc-
eted to individuals. It is estimated that
50 per cent, of the dwellings were built
in this fashion. The houses were nearly
all brick or limestone front dwellings of
the American basement type and similar
in design. Here and there some indiyidual
owner improved some corner wilh a de¬
sign of his own fancy but for the most
part, Ihe houses were of a conventional
type, even when erected by private parties.
These buildings, with the land, averaged
ing of the subway. This means of rapid
transit made tlie Drive as accessible as
other parts of the West Side and opened
the possibility of apartment house con¬
struction. In 1S95 .the flrst of these
structures appeared, and from that lime
on the building of apartment houses has
steadily continued, and to-day the Drive
has entirely lost its original private house
character. Except in a few cases, no
handsome residences have been con¬
structed in recent years, and it is ex¬
tremely unlikely that any more will be
undertaken in the future. The most
notable exceptions are the Schwab
house, between 73d and 74th streets,
which was understood to have cost
about .f 3,000,000, and the picturesque
Rice dwelling at the SOth street corner.
In spite of the fact that both these dwell¬
ings cost their owners enormous sums,
neither of them proved particularly at¬
tractive to the builders. The Schwab
house has been but little occupied since
its completion, and the other was sold
some lime ago to a foreign tobacco mer¬
chant.
In spile of the fact that the last six
years has witnessed a remarkable activity
in apartment house construction on River¬
side Drive, there has been no decided en¬
hancement of values, at least in the sec¬
tion below Grant's Tomb. Nearly all of
the vacant land has been absorbed and
the structures erected have been of a
very substantial character, but nothing
no possible business future, land was
worlli only what il would produce for liv¬
ing purposes, and therefore had no great
speculative value.
The apartments thus far constructed on
Riverside Dri\'e have been of an excellent
grade. The houses are all of the elevator
type and range in height from seven to
twelve stories. A wide variety of archi-
tectur.e is to be noted, but for the most
part it is in good taste, the freak facades,
so common in many parts of the city, be¬
ing notably absent. Suites in the various
houses range from nine to eighteen rooms
in size and rents run from $1,200 to .$G,-
000 an apartment. The average price of
a nine or ten-room apartment would prob¬
ably be about |2,500, Land values rise
and lower with the altitude of the avenue,
which varies considerably. The street is
03 feet above high water at its beginning,
at 72d street, and rises to 75 feet at 76th
street. At 7!)th stret it drops to 40 feet,
rising gradually beyond to SO feet at 92d
street. From there it slopes to its low¬
est point at ilOth street, which is only 21
feet above the water. Above -this point
there is a gradual rise to 122d street,
which has an altitude of 12S feet and is
the highest point on the Drive.
The choicest section is considered to be
between 72d and 76th streets. Land here
is worth a little less than .^3,000 a front
foot and private houses are the only build¬
ings to be found. Near 79th street land
is worth only about $2,000 a foot, and at