Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 51, no. 1305: March 18, 1893

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^2H«tob 18.1898 Record and Guide. 397 BewjeD p I^i EsTAjE. BuiLDif/c Aji,ti('TECTji^ XcujsRftJW Desor^ib: Biiyitess nio Themes Of Ge^JeraI ^tc^sj PRICE, PER FEAR IIV ADTAIVGE, SIX DOLLARS. PablisTud every Saturday. THLBPHONB .... COBTLAHDT 1370. CommnnlcatlonB shonld be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14 & i6 Vesey St. J. J. LINDSEY, Business Manager. "Entered at the Post-office at Neto York. N. T., ow second-class matter." Vol. li. MARCH 18, 189S, No. 1,805 rpHE declines seen in ao many issues on the stock market have -^ been so great that the little rally in prices of yesterday waa not surprising, nor would it be unnatural (notwithatanding that outside conditions have not improved much), if it were maintained 40 a moderate extent. Such recuperative power as has been shown, however, lately, does not promise much; a really wholesome rally cannot be predicted with any certainty, and a return to a bull market is not to be expected so long as the conditions tbat have caused the recent troubles still endure without prospect of remedy. Accompanying the advance in Northern Pacilic preferred waa a story that the floating debt was to be funded somewhat in the way the Union Pacific floating debt was treated, and the collateral notes offered to the stockholders. The advance already seeu ought to discount all the benefit the stock can obtain from such an arrangement. Erie's affaira aeem to be nearing the acute stage, as can be seen not so much by fche decline in the stock as by the sales of the Consol 6s. The privilege the Company has of suspending interest payments on these bonds at its convenience makes them the fiist to suffer after tbe atock when it is known that theCompany is needy, theae advance sales being in tbe nature of aborts m the expectation that the Company will not be able to meet the June coupon. The movement, or rather want of movement in Readmg mdicates that the receiver's report is not favorably received. It shows so clearly the company's need of money and that ita funds have been dissipated in stock opera¬ tions that very little confidence wil] now be placed in the property so long as the preseut management keeps control All the Coalers are affected by the reduction in tlie coal rates so that a logical conclusion from the breaking up of the com- bmation and the reduction in coal prices is that these stocks will return to the prices they were accustomed to before Mr McLeod unfortunately for so many, became a star of such magnitude' New YorK Central haa also shown a need of uew capital, which it 18 proposed to raise by an increase in the capital stock, presumably because the market is not a good one for bonds just now. Generosity to the stockholders in the matter of raising new capital in that quarter is suspicious. With the developments of ao many great properties so discouraging it is not reasonable to look for higher pricea except as they come as a reaction from overselling, ----------■---------- CONTROLLER MYERS' letter to the Eapid Transit Commia- ■^ tiioners 18 the first wholesome utterance that has yet come from any public official concerning rapid transit. The spirit of the recommendations that he makes should have been incorporated long ago into the general policy of the municipaUty iu disposing ot public franchises. Indeed, considering the enormous money-mak- ing facilities which the Manhattan Company has already obtained from the city Controller Meyers' requirementa are much below what they might justly be. The Manhattan Company ahould be made to pay the full value of any additional concessions made to it The plea tbat the construction of the additions to the present struc¬ ture will cost the company several millions without any adequate retm:n and that conaequently the improvements are for the benefit of the public and should not be taxed is ridiculous in face of the effort which the Manhattan Company has been making for years to obtam permission for several of the very additions which the Rapid iransit Commissionera now propose to grant. T f ^^\T °^ ^^^ ^^^' ^'^^^^ Exchange in sending a deputation K ^^^'^'^y t° support the Ellison bill was a logical though probaby an ineffective action. Legislation at Albany is not mov- ng just at preaent in sympathy with public opinion, and the recep- m of delegations was little more than a necesaary make-believe in the farce of law-making. The committee, however, did well, and deapite of much controversy their arguments are unanswered to this hour. The fact of most importance disclosed this week in con¬ nection with rapid transit is that the Mayor has requested a hear¬ ing on fche Farquhar bill before the cities' committee. The public may yet be able to learn what is the attitude of the oity ofBcials towards the underground scheme, th© estension of the elevated roads and city ownership. Under our, present system of free government whatever they determine upon is likely to be carried through. "pRESENTiindications offer very little hope for the underground -»• scheme. The selfish iuteresta at work in favor of the elevated roads are numerous and powerful. The presence of the Manhattan Company is everywhere, and its alliances^are numerous. A factor greatly in their favor ia fche indifference of the multitude as to what system of transportation New York gets so longas ifc gets somethhig quickly that does not inflict any direct injui'y upon them. A great many property-holders too, who have been suffering for years because of inadequate transit facilities, are willing to turn the city over to anybody who will do anything to increase the value of their lots or houaea, and thereby enable them to dispose of them. Their motto is " After us the .Deluge." Then, too, the elevated roads undoubtedly possess many superiorities compared with; any;ofcher means of transportation possible in New York, and these appeal very powerfully tojpeople. Indeed, there are not a few who would heartily^favor the construction of an improved sort of elevated road from one end of Broadway to and along the Boulevard. They believe this to be the best solution of the Rapid Transit problem. Cerlainly it seems more likely that.we shall come to this than that the under¬ ground road will be built. /t S to the extensions of the elevated road, sanctioned by the -*^ Rapid^Transit Commissioners this week, there is this to be said: Would it not be wise to determine whether New York City is to be dependent wholly upon the Manhattan Company for its Rapid Transit facilities or upon some other system, in addition to it, before going ahead ? The third track and some other similar improvements might be permitted at once, but patch-work extensions should be avoided. If the elevated roada are to be supreme, let the Manhattau Company lay out a system tbat will be as complete and as adequate as possible. If we are not going to have an underground road, afc least nothing less than some such scheme as that of Mr. Spencer's should be adopted. It is folly to go ahead in a tentative, halting way. There are certain obvious steps that ought to be taken at once. Beyond these, nothing should be done until we have iletermined upon the permanent course we are going to pursue. It ia foolish to ask the Manhattan Company to patch up their present system if, after all, theirs is to be the sys¬ tem of tbe metropolis. -----------a----------- THE residence section ot the city lying east of Central Park is just DOW experiencing the same trouble with stable builders that the West Side passed through only two years ago. So far, there is this essential difference in the experiences of the two sections: on tbe Weat Side, stable builders threatened their nuisances for purposes of blackmail, and it was possible for tbe injured property- owners to buy them off ; on the East Side, the offenders are very rich men, who build their stablea in first-class private house neigh¬ borhoods, notwithstanding the I pecuniary offers made, to induce them to desist. Argument, too, has been of no avail. Having pur¬ chased unrestricted lots and determined on building stables, these wealthy vandals have carried out their intentions with the per¬ tinacity peculiar to rich men, who think they can afford to defy public opinion. Under tbe law, as it is, adjoining property-owners have no redress, and scarcely auy means of prevention. It has happened, we believe, in desperate cases, that property-owners have resorted to the subterfuge of instituting condemnation proceedings to have tbe unrestricted lot taken for police, fire or school purposes, purchasing the*property from the city subsf quently at a price only slightly in excess of the coat to the municipality. In restriction of solid blocks to private houses, there is, of course, a sure guarantee of safety from nuisances, but holders of vacant property only too frequently refuse to combine in such a movement, fearing that at some future time the restriction may prove disadvantageous. The last case of the despoiling of a neighborhood, the story of which is told in another column, shows, however, tbat outside of restriction property-owners have anotlier safeguard. The Phillip's Presbyterian Cburch congregation, who ai-e among the most injured by the erection of the stable on Madison avenue, north of 73d atreet, had a promise from the owner^that if the ^lot now used as the stable site was ever offered for sale they should have a first opportunity as purchasers. Thie tacit understanding was known to neighbor¬ ing property-owners, and they rested content in the belief that the church would never permit the erection of any sort of nuisance adjoining its own edifice. James Lenox, however, who made the promise died, atid the property passed into the handa of people who were probably not aware that any such agreement had ever been made and who were not interested either in fche church or in adjoining property. After thedeath of Mr, Lenox the adjoining