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REAL ESTATE
AND
i^ BUILDERS
NEW YORK, AUGUST 29, 1914
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PORT ORGANIZATION A PRESSING NEED
I
Its Importance Far in A(dvance of Anything We Have to Do For the Future
of New York— Would Help Business More Than New Subways Will.
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THK outbreak of war on three conti¬
nents, involving the principal ex¬
porting nations, is regarded in real
estate councils as another notice to the
City of New Vork to .get ready for a
larger oversea trade. The port should
be reorganized in order that the railroad
and steamship terminals may be proper¬
ly connected together and administereil
under uniform public control.
Writing to the Record and Guide, a
prominent member of the Real Estate
Board says the importance of this sub¬
ject is far in advance of anything that
we have to do for the future of Xew
Vork. He says further:
"As a broad proposition, the three
hundred million dollars spent on sub¬
ways would be giving a far better re¬
turn to the city if the money had l>een
appropriated for dock improvements.
"Thc history of the city indicates
through its statistics for fifty y^ars that
New York grows exactly in the same
proportion as her commerce grows.
"Every deepening of her waterways
is a direct addition to her commercial
power and activity. And every absorp¬
tion of her waterfront by private parties,
every fiUing-in of w-ater area (like the
new Shore Road at Bay ^ Ridge)
is a blow to her supremacy. Private in¬
terests would long ago have destroyed
much of the value of the port of New
York had it not l>een for the I-'ederal
Government."
What Needs to Be Done.
The foregoing indicates the feeling
with which port improvements, planned
or contemplated, are now regarded by
the substantial interests of Manhattan
Borough. The subways were a neces¬
sary social reform. They will greatly
benefit the outer zones of the city. Hut
it is beginning to be realized that the
city has become so very large that the
suburbs may be very busy with building
operations without the older sections of
the city getting much benefit from it.
An enlarged commerce induced by ade¬
quate facilities would, on the other hand.
give new strength to the heart action
of the whole city.
An eminent authority on port organ¬
ization who has favored the Record and
Guide with his counsel but wishes to
remain in the background, says the city
should promptly adopt a comprehensive
plan for the organization of the port as
other cities and ports have done. At
present. New Vork is drifting without
any public policy, which is most detri¬
mental to its interests. Piecemeal con¬
sideration of parts of plans will result
in complicated and expensive reorgan¬
ization problems later on. Both at
South Brooklyn and on the west side of
Manhattan, the unfortunate delay in
adopting a policy, which has continued
for so many years, should be terminat¬
ed. Going into particulars, the author¬
ity referred to advises;
Marginal Railroads.
"1. Marginal railroads behind the dock
fronts should be public roads always
under full municipal control, even if
private railroad operation shall be per-
HOX. R. A. C. SMITH.
Commissioner Docks and Ferries.
mitted. The city cannot maintain con¬
trol over these lines if it permits the
railroads to build them, or if it permits
long leases to the roads.
"2. Railroad transportation over these
marginal roads back of the dock should
lie as public and unobstructed as water
transportation in front of the docks.
Treat All Railroads Alike.
"3. The public marginal road on the
west side of Manhattan should be con¬
structed with the intention of serving
the needs of all the railroads, including
those now' terminating in New Jersey
as well as the Ncw York Central. Some
people think this road should be a sub¬
way; others, that it should be an elevat¬
ed road. Commercial opinion of the city
and of the Dock Department favors an
elevated structure. If, however, a sub¬
way is convenient and practicable, then
a subway freight line should be con¬
structed.
"It is purely a question of railroad
engineering and one which cannot be
decided in an offhand, cocksure way
during a political campaign. The main
point is that such a marginal road
should be promptly planned and built.
In no other way can the disgraceful
and expensive congestion along the
Hudson River docks be terminated, or
the surface truck nuisance of the New
York Central abated, or room provided
for ships instead of railroad car floats
at the waterfront.
"4. Since the great public terminals
at South Brooklyn and West Manhat¬
tan will be profitable enterprises, there
is no excuse for permitting them to
be privately exploited. Sufficient profit
can be extracted from their operation
to pay interest and amortization
charges; and New York, like all other
seaports, should at the outset plan for
public terminals such as already exist
at San Erancisco, New Orleans and
Montreal.
Adds to Food Costs.
"5. The inefficiency of present termin¬
als at New York adds enormously to
the cost of food, and one of the im¬
perative city needs is wholesale rail¬
road terminal markets with public cold
storage attachments where the food sup¬
plies of the city will be received and
distributed to the retailers. The present
terminal system is wasteful and facili¬
tates conspiracies in restraint of trade
among the jobbers and retailers to the
disadvantage of the farmers on the one
hand and city consumers on the other."
The New Long Piers.
In carrying out the task set before
the City of New York to supplv facil¬
ities for the maritime commerce of the
world requiring facilities at Manhattan
Island, the Department of Docks and
Ferries is building two remarkable piers
between 44th and 48th streets. North
River.
The plan in course of execution will
provide one entire pier in the line of
W^est 46th street and a half pier in
the line of 44th street, which can read¬
ily be converted into one entire pier
by going back into the land south of
44th street. These structures will I>c
1,050 feet in length and 150 feet in
width, with slips between them of 3oO
feet in width. The slips will be dredg¬
ed and excavated to a depth of 44 feet
below mean low water, allowing ample
accommodation for the longest and
deepest steamshios now entering the
port or likely to arrive here for a nuiti-
ber of years to come. The pier and a
half will furnish three berths which will
be sufficient for some time to take care
of all the largest passenger steamships.
Commissioner R. A. C. Smith has said
that the terminal when completed will
provide the finest and most accessible
wharfage accommodations to be found
in any harbor in the world. It will
mean that passengers will be landed
from the largest liners at a point of
unrivaled accessibility to the center of
the city with its largest hotels and rail¬
road depots only a few minutes from
the terminal.
Unusual Engineering.
The construction of these piers has
involved unique engineering problems.
The site selected is located over a slielv-
ing rock ledge 20 feet below mean low
water at the inshore end and from 44
to 50 feet below mean low water at a
point approximately 220 feet from the
present shore line. In order to remove
this sub-aqueous rock it is necessary to
uncover it by holding back the waters
of the Hudson River by means of a
temporary dam and by blastine it out
in the dry. This method is not only
considerably cheaper than its removal
by blasting under water, but makes it
possible to complete the work in a much
more satisfactory manner.
^ As a preliminary to the construc¬
tion of the temporary dam a contract
was let for the dredging away of all
soft material covering the rock. The