Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 1, no. 15: June 27, 1868

Text version:

AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. L] NEW YOKK, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 18G8. [No. 15. u Published .Weekly by 0. W.' SWEET. &-C0., Room B, AVoeld ButLnutG, No.v3T Pabk Row. ' TERMS. Six months, payable in advance.................. $3 00 PRICE 6F ADVERTISING. 1 square, ten lines, three months..................$10 00 1 square, single insertion.....................'..... 1 00 Special Notices, per line.......................... 20 TO OTJR PATRONS. We have refrained, so far, from saying any¬ thing about the Record as an advertising medium; but as the trade has begun to find out the benefit of using our columns, we may be pardoned for adverting to that topic " just once," Our circulation is principally among the f ol- loAATaig classes. 1st. Real estate agents and dealers. 2d, Large property holders, land and build¬ ing associations, banks, and capitalists who have heavy sums invested in real estate or buildings, 3d. Architects, builders, contractors, plumbers and gas-fitters, lumber and timber dealers, moulding and planing mills, manufacturers and dealers in brick, lime, stone, plaster, drain and sewer pipes, windowglass, and all other kinds of materials used in the construction of a building, from the f oundationto the roof, Noav, while the Record would be a poor pa¬ per, in which to advertise for a partner, a trot¬ ting horse, a Avife, a cook, or a lost dog, it is the very best possible medium by which to reach certain lucrative and important branches of business. The value of this paper is not to be measured merely by its circulation, for, more than any other paper published, it is kept in files for reference. Hence, it is looked over by fifty persons while other weekly papers are read only once. There are a multitude of trades which must (yet use the Record, and to whom other papers are of no sort of value. Property to be bought and sold, finds its proper place in our columns; while all the materials which enter into the construction of- houses have no other means of getting their merits before the pub¬ lic. We cannot spare space to tell all the trades which wiU yet find it indispensable to use the columns of the Record. We have not said much on this subject while making up our subscription lists, but now that we can boast of haAring on our books all the reputable real estate dealers, builders, architects, and property holders in New Tork and Kings counties, we cannot be accused of egotism in claiming very great value for the Record in certain lines of business. Send in your advertisements and try us. THE THIED AVENUE ASSESSMENT. The introduction of a resolution in the Common Council, for paving Third avenue, from Eighty-sixth to One Hundred and Tenth street, Tvith Belgian pavement, Ave moke the occasion for a fcAv comments, which we trust AviU have the effect of preventing the an¬ noyance, the injustice, and the expense caused by non-compliance Avith contracts, and the ir¬ regularities which have to a large extent pre¬ vailed in some of the departments. We last week caUed attention to the fact that the Croton Aqueduct Board had caused the work of paving 2d avenue, from 61st to 86th street, to be stopped, because it was sought, in •violation of the contract, to furnish imperfect stone for that work. This was just, and showed a degree of watchfulness on the part of the Croton Board, that properiy OAvners, as well as the general public, have cause to be thankful for. We regret that when the contract for paAring 3d avenue, from 110th street to Harlem River was made, the same interest had not been manifested, and a like care had not been exeir- cised, as in the case of the 2d avenue pav¬ ing. But "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and much good may be done by the Croton Board, in the interest of the city and the OAvners of property, if, in the work of paving 8d avenue from 86th to 110th street, the contractor is held to a strict accountabili¬ ty, and not allowed to impose upon the city a bad job for which some property owners have to pay, and others avoid, as in the case of the the 3d avenue above 110th st. As pertinent to this, and as a matter of great interest to property OAvners, we give beloAv an opinion of Judge Ingraham, con¬ curred in by Judges Sutherland and Barnard, of the General Term, Supreme Court: M t7ic mattei' of t7ie petition of Wm. O. Wood and ot7iers, to vacate assessment for paving T7iird Anenue. We have heretofore held that it was irregu¬ lar, Avithin the meaning of the act of 1858, to do several things which are complained of in this petition, among which are the f olloAving: 1st. The contract and .specifications did not proAdde for takiog up the gutter stones and paving in their place Avith Belgian pavement, but on the contrary required the contractor, to readjust the gutter stones Avherever necessary, Avithout charge. In violation of this he removed the gutter stones, and substituted the pave¬ ment under the assent of the Water Purveyor, at the request of some of the owners. There Avas no authority for this, and it Avas outside of the contract. 2d. The assessors Avere wrong in including in their assessment a charge for making the assessment. This we held some time since to be erroneous. 3d. It was irregular and erroneous for the Commissioners of the Croton Board to certify the work to have been completed and accepted when they had rejected the whole street for one block. The taking a- bond to do the work, and Avithholding part of the money, did not obviate the difficulty. That work hjoia not been done to the time of the trial, and yet the own¬ ers have been assessed for it. We do not, under this proceeding, inqnire whether the work is weU done or done accord¬ ing to the contract, so far as relates to the ma¬ terial or workmanship; and if thia were all, there Avould be no groimd for our interference on that account, but when it appears that the certificate was given, with a full knowledge that the work was not finished, it Avaa a Ariola- tion of the contract, Avhich prohibited the contractor from receiving payment until the whole work was completed, and was unjust to the owners who were assessed for its payment. The application should be granted and the assessment vacated. The " Fernando Wood Lease" is about to come to a conclusion. A few days Avfll deter¬ mine whether, as some people say, the whole thing was'' a put up job." We hope, for the sake of the honor of our city, it may not turn out to be so, and if the contract was made in good faith, that further expense to the city wUl be avoided and the lease executed. It does no credit to the intelligence or integrity of our legislators, lawyers, and judges to exhibit such a spirit as this case has evoked. It is demoral¬ izing and destructive in its influence upon the public, and introduces into our system of gov¬ ernment a principle that, in time, will sap its very foundations, unless checked. The Evening Post and several other papers ask why, if New York wants the East River navigation improved, do not its merchants put their hands in their pockets and pay for it ? The answer is plain. 1. The East River improvement is a na¬ tional, and not a local matter, and the nation, not the locality, should pay for it. 2. It would not be fair for a few doAvn toAvn merchants to pay for an improvement which would directly benefit other people's property at the expense of their oavu. 3. Nor woiild it be just to expect a few property owners on the north-east side to pay for the improvement when it would equally benefit land oAvners in Westchester county, and on Long Island, who would not pay a cent. There is only one fair thing to do. Congress should appropriate at least one milKon dollars for this great national work, and part of the expense might be assessed upon the adjoining property. By reference to advertisement in another column, parties interested in assessments for regulating, grading, flagging, &c,, wiU observe Avhat have been referred to the Board of As¬ sessors. They wiU also ascertain the limits in Avhich fche assessments are imposed.