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REAL ESTATE
AND
(Copyright, Ifll", by The Record and Guide Co.)
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 3, 1917
CONDITIONS LEADING UP TO THE TENEMENT LAW
Suggestions Made to Permanently Cure
Certain Defects in System As It Exists Today
By WILLIAM H. ABBOTT
First Deputy Commissioner, Tenement House Dept.
ARTICLE SIX.
I T may not be amiss to voice a few
' sentiments respecting the Tenement
House Law, some of which are my own,
while others have been gathered from
those architects, builders, owners and
tenants with whom I come in daily con¬
tact, but all of which I trust may open
up new lines of thought and action, and
help solve some of the perplexing ques¬
tions that are continually being aired
in our daily papers, usually by some
prejudiced person, with a mind not broad
enough to see the situation except from
a biased angle.
The Tenement House Law is freely
admitted to be one of the greatest
boons to the vast multitude of tenement
dwellers in the City of New York that
has ever been inaugurated and with
the honest and strict enforcement of its
requirements, the tenants are at least
getting what they are entitled to, the
landlords are keeping their houses in
better condition, and the builder and
speculator has to operate under the
strict supervision of one of the most
careful departments of the City Gov¬
ernment.
Those who remember the conditions
portrayed in the foregoing articles do
not require any further proof of the
need of proper housing and sanitary
maintenance of the homes of the tene¬
ment dwellers. Many of these facts are
also true of the other classes of build¬
ings in which persons live, but over
which the Tenement House Department
has no jurisdiction, and it is not too
much to say that the sooner all houses
in which the occupants reside are sub¬
jected to the same regulations that gov¬
ern the tenement, the better it will be
for the community as a whole; healthier
citizens will be the result and fewer
lives lost by inadequate fire egress.
In the urban districts throughout ev¬
ery borough there are rows and rows
of dwelling houses in which bedrooms
are located so that their only means of
light and ventilation is through a small
covered vent shaft. These same houses
contain an interior room in the base¬
ment in which the servant is required
to sleep, that has neither light nor ven¬
tilation except by artificial means and
by the air that passes in at the open
door after having used up all its life
giving agencies in the outer room.
Possibly you think this statement re¬
quires some proof. Let me tell you, as
an architect (prior to my connection
with the City Government) I have been
called in by many owners to make al¬
terations to their buildings, and have
seen from personal observation the con¬
ditions above mentioned.
Since our subwaj^s are assured, good
roads, bridges and ferries leading out
into the suburbs and bringing us to
acres and acres of undeveloped country,
I consider a more auspicious time for
the starting of a housing development
could not be found than now and I would
advocate not only one zone but a dozen;
competition will keep prices down, first
in the cost of the land, then in the con¬
struction of the building, and lastly the
most important, in rent.
RKCORD AND GUIDG
WILLIAM H. ABBOTT.
You ask how are we going to induce
the working man to go to these develop¬
ments? Let us teil the railroad and
other transportation companies that 500
homes will be built in certain localities
if they will sell a ticket to be used be¬
fore 8 o'clock a. m. and between 5 and
7 p. m. for half the price it would cost
during the balance of the day. Would
they do it? I believe they would be
only too glad to. If they hesitate, let
our own municipal ferries lead the way
by carrying the people, if not free, at
least at a reduced rate, so that a large
percentage of our population could be
landed in the outlying boroughs within
walking distance of their homes for a
nominal car fare, and then see how
quickly the railroads will cooperate.
Overcrowding Wiped Out.
This will soon wipe out the over¬
crowding in the cities, reduce the high
building to one of reasonable propor¬
tions, and will develop a youth who will
in after years be strong enough to ably
carry on the duties which every citizen
should consider his birthright, so that
the hospital, charity institution and the
asylum would go begging for patients.
Is it consistent for the city to spend
so much money in trying to perfect
the homes of the tenement dwellers
when those very occupants go out into
the urban sections and find conditions
considerably worse than they left in
their city homes?
The toilet accommodations in these
dwellings dbove referred to consist of
a badly ventilated and probably unlight-
ed compartment in a cellar, the enclos¬
ing walls of which are never freshened
with whitwash nor paint and the fixtures
allowed to exist in any condition that
may result from the careless use by the
person (hired help) using them. The
fact that the mistress never goes to this
lower story is the excuse for the toilet
accommodations existing in many cases,
in an unspeakable condition.
Regarding the need of restricting the
type of buildings erected in the outly¬
ing sections of the boroughs, would it
be too drastic to insist on every new
building used for dwelling purposes, or
every old building converted to that use,
being required to be separated from
each other, say, by about 30 inches; or
if not a detached house, then allow one
of a semi-detached design with five or
six feet between it and its adjoining
neighbor ?
Would it then be too severe a step to
say that sewage pipes should be a cer¬
tain size for residential sections, and
then limit the number and size of water-
closet and waste lines entering the pub¬
lic sewer in a given distance. The final
step of requiring at least one toilet for
every family would clinch the situation,
and with these regulations our dwelling
houses could not be increased beyond a
given height.
There is another serious point that
should be considered. Why do we con¬
struct frame tenements? Because they
are cheaper ? Yes, by a few hundred
dollars in their first cost. Take the cost
and maintenance of a brick building for
ten years as against a frame one for
the same period. By the time the frame
building has been painted three times,
the extra fire insurance, the extra coal
bills each winter, possibly a new roof at
the expiration of this period, you will
find the expenditure almost equal. This
being the case, why not eliminate frame
buildings and prohibit their use for
dwelling purposes. This would tend to
reduce the fire risk and I am sure would
lessen greatly the loss of life by fire.
I therefore think it most wise that all
societies and other bodies of civic and
social ambition who have any prospect
of influencing their political representa¬
tives, draw up resolutions suggesting
that a General Housing Law for all
dwelling houses be presented to proper
authorities, so that no person may live
in dark interior rooms, and all buildings
be equipped with proper fire escapes
and egress from yards to street, that
the ratio of water closets be increased
so that the boarding or lodging house
shall have at least one toilet for every
six or eight persons; that private schools
and employment agencies shall be so
regulated that more conveniences and
better fire protection be given them;
and that the so-called studio buildings
and bachelor apartments, as well as the
hotels, be brought within the scope of
such regulation.
Another matter that should be consid¬
ered carefully with a view to having
some proposed law cover the situation
is the registering of all buildings, no
matter for what purpose the building is
being or is intended to be used, a strict
account of its history should be properly
recorded, and if thought desirable a
certificate might be issued every year
stating that the particular structure was
maintained in accordance with Chapter
— of the Laws of -----, which entitled
the occupants to run a factory, a lodg¬
ing house, a bachelor's apartment house,
a studio building, a stable, a storage
warehouse, etc. By this method a closer
supervision of the many occupations,
IS IN ITS FIFTIETH YEAR OF CONTINUOUS PUBLICATION.