Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
AND
NEW YORK, APRIL 11, 1914
:i;;s« ;!:SiiiS!ii:!i!iBiii!iiii !S'i i:!ii:iiiii!ii!«»sf i:;:a^
HsMHslliiiSii^^
">â– â– â–
GREENWICH VILLAGE INVESTORS' MECCA
A Thousand Flats Wanted, to Rent from $20 to $50 a Month—Land Cheap and
Investment Possibilities Large—Record and Guide Thanked in Resolutions
BY DR. EDWIN ZIMMERMAN
â– â– lillllllllllliliililllilllW^
iiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiitiiiMiiiiiaiiiMiiii
WHEN the announcement was made
that the new subway system was
to be built through the Greenwich Vil¬
lage section, a new field for the specula¬
tive builder was immediately created,
and the process of discounting the new
transit improvement commenced. On
some of the main thoroughfares new loft
structures were erected and tenants were
readily found, but this condition did not
apply only to mercantile buildings. "The
influx of new concerns into the section
brought a large number of residents, and
the apartment houses became well filled.
There is hardly a house which has a va¬
cancy, and in fact in several of the real
estate ofiices there is a waiting list !.f
people who desire flats averaging about
$50 a month.
Probably the most important sign of
the times, as applied to this section of
old Manhattan, is the fact that the pro¬
fessional operator invaded the section to
be traversed by the new subway line
and bought many of the available cor¬
ners, at increasing prices. The parcels
will be resold, in all probability to build¬
ers for improvement, as this class of
speculator rarely improves for his own
account, unless he has a prospective ten¬
ant in sight who is willing to lease the
entire structure for a long term of years.
Some investors have realized the resi¬
dential possibilities of the section as
shown by the recent apartment house
construction movement in the vicinity of
Washington Square. Others are build¬
ing flats in the village itself, but the vol¬
ume of this type of construction is still
so limited that it is apparent building
investors are not yet fully aware of the
changes that are taking place.
Look back for thirty or forty years
at this section of New York and then
compare it with the Greenwich Village
of to-day. In the former days the street
layout was most inconsistent and caused
much traffic confusion.. In the last few
years marked progress has been made in
straightening out this condition. True,
many of the thoroughfares to-dav follow
the cowpaths and trails laid out by the
early settlers in the section, but counter¬
acting that is the one-hundred-foot wide
swath the city is slashing through the
very heart of its most populous district
to create an arterial street providing di¬
rect and easy communication to every
other part of the community.
"Wanted, 1,000 Flats.
Three hundred pieces of property were
condemned by the city for the extension
of Seventh avenue, a project which the
committee has fought for consistently
rnore than six years. During all that
time the splendid support of the Record
and Guide has been given, and its influ¬
ence lias done much in bringing about the
present happy conclusion. Therefore, it
was only fitting that at a meeting held
on March 11 at the home of Harman
Reher, at 276 West Eleventh street, at
which I had the honor of presiding, a
resolution of thanks should have been
unanimously adopted and ordered sent
to the Record and Guide for its valuable
services. These three hundred buildings,
which housed at least a thousand fam¬
ilies, are now being torn down. Where
\
DR. EDWIN ZIMMERMAN.
have these residents gone? They have
been compelled to seek quarters in other
sections of the city. They are trying to
come back, and tlie appeal we make to
building investors is not the appeal of
mere speculative possibility, but of posi¬
tive knowledge that we need a thousand
flats renting from $20 to $50.
Not a Loft Building Centre.
Our fight, now that' we have won the
Seventh avenue extension and the four-
track subway, was not with the purpose
A RESOLUTION.
By the Greenwich Village Public
Service Committee.
Whereas, The Greenwich Vil- â–
lage Public Service Committee
has, with the aid of the people of
Greenwich Village, been success¬
ful in obtaining from the City of
New York the much needed exten¬
sion of Seventh avenue and a
four-track subway, and
Whereas, For eight years prior
to this meeting (held on the elev¬
enth day of March, 1914, at the
home of Herman Reher, 276 West
llth street, in the City of New
York, with Dr. Edwin Zimmer¬
man presiding), the Real Estate
Record and Builders' Guide con¬
sistently aided us in the accom¬
plishment of our purpose; be it
therefore
Resolved, That we, the members
of this Greenwich Villaee Public
Service Committee, give public ex¬
pression of our thanks to the Rec¬
ord and Guide for its generous
services; and that it be further
Resolved, That our President be
directed to have a copy of this
resolution forwarded to the editor
of the Record and Guide as an evi¬
dence of our gratitude.
of making Greenwich Village a great loft
building section, but rather a great resi¬
dential district. I appeal to those men
with money to invest in flat and apart¬
ment houses to come to our rescue and
build for us at least a thousand flats and
apartments similar to those that are be¬
ing erected in Harlem and the Bronx.
.\ll we ask is that you give us the same
rent. Tell me what man, woman or
child will hang on a subway car strap
for an hour after a tiresome day in the
store, shop or office when homes can be
had within walking distance of their
downtown places of business, or the
wives can walk to good shopping dis¬
tricts?
We shall maintain this district as a
residential section for fifty years or
more. West of Hudson street we have a
natural loft building territory by reason
of its proximity to the river front.
There may be found abundant space for
business buildings, but in Greenwich
Village, east of Hudson, in the territory
lying between 14th street, Houston, Sixth
avenue and Hudson, we must preserve
the true residential character.
I say to those who will build these
flats and apartments that we can fill
them with a most desirable class of per¬
manent tenants. But we are not going to
be a village of Micawbers, waiting for
something to turn up. We are alive to
the possibilities of this territory because
we have lived here so long.
For years the residents in the Green¬
wich Village section have been under a
severe handicap in the matter of rapid
transit. This is specially true during
the morning rush hours, for by the time
the trains on the elevated system reach
the locality, all the seats are occupied
and passengers are forced to stand. Of
course, it must be considered that the
time consumed in travel is only a few
minutes, but still, when taken in the ag¬
gregate, this time amounts to considera-
jjle at the end of a month. In the even¬
ing, however, the condition is somewhat
reversed, and those boarding trains
downtown stand an even chance with
those residing in other sections of Man¬
hattan.
When the new system is opened we
look for a decided betterment in condi¬
tions and hope that the present conges¬
tion will be greatly relieved. The
Greenwich Village section has been
neglected so long, as far as improve¬
ments are concerned, that only those
with unbounded faith were able to main¬
tain hope. When the Board of Esti-
rnate and the Public Service Commis¬
sion finally came to a decision as to the
Seventh Avenue route and work started,
hope was renewed, and today we
actually see the physical work in pro¬
gress. Houses are being demolished in
several sections along the line and it
should be onlv a comparatively short '
time before the remaining building ob¬
structions are removed and the actual
digging commenced.
The_ extension of Seventh aveni e in
itself is a great boon. At the present
time we are hemmed in, but soon we will
have a main north and south artery,
which should have the affect of increas¬
ing the population in the section.