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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 25, no. 619: January 24, 1880

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. YoL. XXV. NEW yore:, SATUEDAY, JANUARY 24, 1880, No. 619 Published Weekly by £ht %td Estate %uaxti %%^Qtmixan > TERMS. OJVE YEAR, in advance....$10.00. Communications should be addressed to C. W. SAVEET, Nos. 135 AND 137 Broadway OUR BACK IS^XJMBERS. Since the beginning of the year there has been an extraordinary demand on the part of corpora¬ tions, property owners and brokers, for back numbers of The P^eal Estate Record, consider¬ ably reducing the sujjply on hand in this office. We do not announce this fact in a bo'astful spirit, as our friends have known for years that The Record, like good wine, becomes more valuable with age, but simply to advise those who want their volumes filled up, and their sets completed to make early application for these back numbers. If the present demand continues much longer, we may after a while be compelled to increase the price of the first twelve volumes, aud those who neglect the present opportunity of purchasing them at the regular price can then not find fault with us for not having given them fair and timely notice. No man at all interested iu real estate can afford to ignore Its history during the past twelve years, and the bound volumes of The Record alone furnish that history in the most acceptable shape. To all those, therefore, who do not possess Thh; Record from the first day of its publication, in 18(18, we say, send in your orders before it is too late. THE OTHEK SIDE OF THE HARLEM. The reappointment by Mayor Cooper of the second Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners nettles the question that the rapid transit routes, as laid out by the first Board of Commissioners, the maps of which-we have already published in this paper, will be carried into efl'ecfc. Private ndividaals, as well as corporations intent upon making an investment for many years ahead, will naturally diacuss the pros and cons of the various localities beyond the Harlem River situated between Long Island Sound and the North River. In a general way we may make up our minds that the West Side, that is the regiou fronting the Hudson River and extending back on the high ground, will contain the greatest num¬ ber of the choicest building localities. It is true the actual bank of the river will not be BO desirable for fine residences, tor the reason that in the hot summer months the setting sun makes the espots'ed places very wo.rm. Tho rays ot the sun slanting into the eyes of ihe people on the east bank of the Hudson have always been a source of discomfort. -Of course, it is scarcely au objection where the groitnds are well wooded and the houHea and piazzas protected by trees and foliage, bnt too much of these obstruct the view of the river, and a water front is undesirable if you cannot see the play of the lights and shadows upo i the surface of the stream. ■\7o may take it lor granted then that the cast bankof the Hudson up as far as Yonkera and be¬ yond and extending back, say a mile, will contain some of the choicest locations on the other side of the Harlem, but it will not embrace them all. There are .several points along the front of Long Island Sound which will also be desirable, the more so as in the long summer days the sun will not give added heat to those who have houses on the Sound, There is nothing more delightful in the way of pictm-esque locationa on thi,^ Continent than in several stretchea of country between New Rochelle and thia city. The trees are well grown, the foli¬ age abundant, the lanes green and English-like and some of the water views are charming. There is, it is true, a suspicion of fever and ague in many j)laces, bnt with improved drainage this ob¬ jection will be done away with. Still the bulk of the Etxst Side, aa well as the central zone above the Harlem River, will be devoted mainly to the homes of the poor of New York, of the mechanics, and laboring classes who will prefer the semi-rural surroundings of a little cottage along the lines of the railways or on the banks of the Bronx River to dwelling in squalid misery in a New York tene¬ ment house. Such of our readers as have travelled on the, so-called, Portohester Road from New Rochelle to the Harlem River, connecting with the boat, will have noticed that they have passed through a very dismal country, full of swamp and low grounds which will have to be re-created to be habitable. It is evident that the upper shores of the Harlem, as well as that portion of Westchester county which lies below New Rochelle on the east side, is destined to be the scene of a great deal of business activity. The time cannot be far distant when great ships will come" iu by Long Island Sound and cast anchor ofl' Port Morris. Some¬ where at the southeast of that Peninsula, which abuts on Hell Gate, there will be numerous ware¬ houses, elevators and as a necessary consequence, lumber yards, machine shops, locomotive works, in fact, the Mott Haven region will be extended over to the east and great factories will be erected covering extensive grounds. This .will create a demand for land suitable for the homes of working people. Then New York is destined to become a great manufacturing centre and the thousands who now find their way to the villages along the line ot the Harlem Railroad will increase a hundred fold. The new road running from High Bridge to Brew¬ ster's Station, as well as the uew elevated roads and surface roads will bring within reach thou¬ sands of acres of land available for residence pur¬ poses. New York will hereafter have what Phila¬ delphia has always- had, great space of ground upon which to erect tenements for the working classes. Without low rents and available houses New York cannot expect to become a great manu¬ facturing centre, but with these, with it? great railway system and large amount of water fronts, it can mauufacture more cheaply and ship more easily than can any other city in the United States. Of course on the east side, where high ground is reached, we expect to see a superior claas of houses erected. Huguenot Park and some portions of Pel- hamville are suitable for lovely residencaa, such as those which abound in aud near New Rochelle. The trees are well grown, the ground is high and rolling, the distant views of Long Lsland Sound are delightful, and tliere is everything to make beautiful homes. While many of our great pleasure resorts will be somewhere ttpon the] upper end of our ialand, above the Central Park, it la not improbable that there will be some choice localitiea like Richmond Hill in London or lielmonta in Philadelphia, upon the noith side of the Harlem. Central avenue and the approaches to Jerome Park auggest just such placea. At present there are many large restaur¬ ants and bar-rooms for driving parties in summer and sleighing parties in winter, but on thia same avenue there some day will be a magnificent, out- of-doors hotel and headquarters for parties who desire costly and rare entertainments. It is not likely that the race course will ever be removed, but around that race-course, or in the approaches to it, v>iU naturally grow up places of entertain¬ ment, aud the New Yorkers ot twenty-five years from now will see a wonderful change in this resr- pect on this central zone of the district north of the Harlem River. Already maiiy speculative enterprisea are on foot to utilize this new region. It is not possible for Brooklyn, Jersey City, or, indeed, any locality east of the East River or west of the North River to compete with this now favored locality. Heretofore the increasing popu¬ lation of this city has been driven over tbe ferries._ It was impossible to reach, except in a ditticult way, the regiou north of the Harlem. It soou will be possible to take cars that will land one any¬ where this side of New Rochelle or Yonkers within an hour. Our present rapid tranait roads are being voted alow on ;»cconnt of their many stop¬ pages. It ia evident that the present system must be supplemented before long either by trains involving perhaps an additional story, or, what is still more probable, setting aside, say, the Second avenue and the Ninth avenue roads for traina which will stop at a distance, say, of one or two miles apart. Some way will be provided by which people living seven or eight miles from the City Hall Park will be able to reach their destination without the present frequent stoppages. We are not now advising anybody to buy in the Twenty-third aud Twenty-fourth wards. For speculative purpeses the old rule is good of pur¬ chasing immediately in advance of the improve¬ ments. There is more money to be made in buying high priced lots over which buildings are sure to be erected within a short time than in buying cheap ground far away from improvements. Still those who have small means and who wish to make provision for tbe future, cannot do better than possess themselves of an acre or half an acre in the region to the north of us. True there will be as¬ sessments and taxes, but theu land does not break like banks, nor take to itself wings and fly away like shares in railway stocks. The ownership of the soil is enduring. It will last forever, and they who can buy land and hold it anywhere within the Umits of the City of New York, whether north or south of the Harlem River, cannot fail but have a sure and, in all likelihood, a very profitable in- vestmenti