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REAL. ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, AUGUST 1, 1914
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I CONSOLIDATION OF CITY DEPARTMENTS I
It Is Believed To Be Impending—Intimated by Counselor Elkus of the State Factory
Investigating Commission—The Revision of the Labor Law Not To Be Extensive.
DISAPPOINTMENT is being ex¬
pressed in business circles where
reports have been heard that the revi¬
sion of the Labor Law, and especially
the factory regulations contained there¬
in, may not be as radical as the public
has hoped for and expected.
During the week intimations have
come from semi-official sources that as
a result of hearings held here and else¬
where the committee is of the opin¬
ion that only a few changes of impor¬
tance are needed in the law. It is un¬
derstood that Counselor Elkus contends
that the only principal chans'es should
be. first, an enlargement of the powers
of the Industrial Board, and second, a
better definition for the term "factory"
as used in the law.
It is presumed that a statement as to
the nature of the amendments to be in¬
troduced at the next session of the Leg¬
islature will be made in time for am¬
ple consideration by the interests af¬
fected. Regarding a related subject, the
over-inspection of buildings, Mr. Elkus
made the following statement to a rep¬
resentative of the Merchants' Associa¬
tion:
"We have found that one of the chief
causes of complaint is the multiplicity
of inspections. There are now five
separate building departments in New
York City, one for each Borough. Each
has a dififerent Superintendent at the
head and a dififerent set of employes,
making possible five dififerent ways of
interpreting the law. The Bureau of
Fire Prevention has to do with matters
relating to the fire hazard in both old
and new buildings. The Health De¬
partment has jurisdiction over build¬
ings for the most part in so far as they
are used as bakeries or food product
manufactories. The Tenement House
Department has jurisdiction over tene¬
ments. The Department of Electricity.
Gas and Water Supply has jurisdiction
over the installation of electrical ap¬
paratus and equipment, and the Police
Department issues licenses after boiler
inspection. Finally, the License Bureau
must insoect and license theatres,
moving picture establishments and so
forth.'
A New Building Department Proposed.
"The Police Department, the Fire
Department, the Law Department, and
the Tenement House Department have
jurisdiction over the entire city. The
Commission is considering whether it
would not be advisable to consolidate
practically all the various jurisdictions
over buildings, so far as they relate to
construction and alterations, in a Build¬
ing Department for the entire city.
The powers of the State Labor Depart¬
ment with relation to buildings would
be' transferred to the new department,
together with those of the Fire Preven¬
tion Bureau. It is a question how far
the jurisdiction of the Health. Depart¬
ment and the Tenement Department
should be merged in the new depart¬
ment.
"The advantage of this plan is that
it would bring about liniform interpre¬
tation and enforcement of the law,
COMMISSIONER ADAMSON.
reduce the number of inspections, and
undoubtedly save a large sum or money
for the cit}^
Advantages of Consolidation.
"The commission is now working on
several alternative plans along tne same
lines. These will be submitted for
criticism and suggestion to all persons
interested at an early date.
"The commission failed to find sub¬
stantiation of the complaint that the
various departments are issuing con¬
flicting orders, and it also failed "to dis¬
cover any case in which a manufacturer
intends to leave the State because of the
enforcement of the factory laws.*"
From the foregoing it is inferred that
the committee still holds to the opinion
that public dissatisfaction is not so
much directed against the Labor Law
Itself as against the methods pursued
in administering it, and that irrespective
of what the city authorities are doing to
co-ordinate inspection work, the State
Factory Investigating Commission is
planning radical changes in local organ¬
izations in expectation, doubtless, of as¬
sent and cooperation from the city au¬
thorities.
Statement From the Fire Commissioner.
Commissioner Adamson of the Fire
Department when asked as to the prog¬
ress being made by the Mavor's com¬
mittee in reducing the multiplicity of in¬
spections, said to a representative of the
Record and Guide:
"I am sure that a way will be found to
prevent the constant annoyance of prop¬
erty owners by repetition of inspections
and possibly by the conflict of orders or
the issuance of new orders due to a
change of mind on the part of officials.
Many conferences have been held in the
last few months to consider this subject,
and T consider that great progress has
been made. I think the Fire" Depart¬
ment was the first department to take up
this matter, though not the first to say
.anything about it publicly. We happen
to be in a position where the complaints
of property owners first make themselves
heard, and I think the Fire Department
was the first to make a practical move to
reduce the cause for complaint.
"The first step that was taken was the
formation of a committee of technical
experts, due to the efiforts of Mr. F. J.
T. Stewart, of the Board of Fire Under¬
writers, and President Robert D. Kohn
of the New York Chapter of Architects.
This committee was made up of repre¬
sentatives of a number of outside organ¬
izations and representatives of the City
Departments, and its object was to for¬
mulate and adopt standards which might
be used by all of the city departments.
The Mayor's Committee.
"The next step, I believe, was the
appointment by the Mayor of a commit¬
tee of city department heads, of which I
was chairman, to consider the general
subject of co-operation between depart¬
ments with a view to reducing duplication
of inspections and any conflict of orders,
if such existed. This committee found
that the first logical step was to adopt
harmonious standards which would be
used by every department, and thus avoid
the possibility of a department changing
its mind and ordering one thing today
and another thing tomorrow, and also
avoid the possibility of one department
ordering something in conflict with the
requirements of another department. It
was therefore decided that we should
first proceed to formulate a set of stan¬
dards which would cover every condi¬
tion in the building.
"As the work of the outside com¬
mittee, to which I have referred, was
already well advanced in doing this
work, it was decided that the Mayor's
committee co-operate with it, as this de¬
partment and several others had been do¬
ing since last January, and endeavor to
push its work to a conclusion as rapidly
as possible. This is now being done, and
I feel sure that the work of this com¬
mittee, after it has been considered and
adopted by the various departments, will
go a long ways in reducing cause for
complaint. Every department afifected is
represented on this committee—in most
cases by technical men.
"There have also been a number of
conferences called by Mr. Abram I. El¬
kus, of the State Factory Commission,
and these have been extremely helpful.
All of the departments interested were
represented at Mr. Elkus' conferences,
there was a full discussion of every
phase of the matter, and an efifort was
made to arrive at a plan of co-opera¬
tion whereby any duplication or conflict
of departments would be prevented.
"I think that these discussions and in¬
terchanges of views did a great deal to
clear the air and to impress upon all of
the department heads the importance of
exercising care not to harrass property
owners.
Practical Progress.
"I think the Fire Department has
made practical progress in this matter.
For example, we have arranged with the
Labor Department^ that when it sends
us complaints of violations which come
under the jurisdiction of this depart-