Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 67, no. 1737: June 29, 1901

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Jnne 29, igoi. iJECOKD ANT> GUIDE. 1133 _ ESTffiIJSHH)-^i!WPH2LUAia68. . lk(ft|eBlQr^EsWE.,SinLD9& i^;|pAT£CTUF^,K0USE2lOlDl)E1Kl^n(l| PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS. PitJilished every Saturday. TELEPHONE, ■ CORTLANDT I37O. Communications should he addressed to C. W. SWffiJBT, 14-16 "Vesey Street. /. T. LINDSEY, Business Manager. '■Kntircd at the Pcst-Office at Ntm York, \. Y., as acuond-class iiiuUer." Vol. LXVII. JUNE 29,1901. No. 1737. THE bank and -otiier failures of this week had only moderate effect on the StO'ck Market, for 'the reason that specula¬ tion had previously been reduced to comparatively small propor¬ tions, and the panic of Miay 9 had taught brokers caution. How¬ ever, there is no cause for exultation ithat so little was seen, be¬ cause these events canno't but keep the average buyer farther away than ever from 'securities that are still high, in spite of .reicent liquidation, and further encourage those who favor the short side. The great sustaining features cf the situation are the m'ain- 'tainance of the high record cf railroad earnings and the flatter¬ ing reports that ccme frDm the agricultural sections. With these and the fall in prices that the past two months have effected, 'there are those who argue that there should be a return of the bull movement. This argument overlooks 'the great rauge of rise compared with which-the fall in priees is quite small, and that the extraneous causes that contributed to quotations, such as deals and combinations, no longer have speculative influence. Added to this there is the distrust that must arise in the minds of 'the buying public as a result cf the events of this week. The failure of the Philadelphia 3% loan is a hint of what we may ex¬ pect in the local money market. Our market for securities is also affected by the unfavorable foreign financial situation, where the results of over-cO'nfldence and foolish sins begotten' o-f 'a desire to retrieve business errors, are 'Coming .to- 'the 'top in a series of fail¬ ures. Europe always seems to have a reserve of securities to- un¬ load here in times of her distress, notwithstanding that it has been said over and over again, that she sold out everything to us in the late advance. Affairs abroad have not yet reached the poin't of improvement, nor that point that encourages speculation even. Money promises to become a drug, more owing to want cf confidence than excess. Indeed, reaction from the boom of the las't decade of the old century has not yet run its course and the state of the Chinese and South African questions con¬ tinues to be unsatisfactory and to becloud everything. ON Monday next the new war tax schedule goes into effect. We gave in detail tne prospective changes in O'Ur issue of May 25' last. It is only necessary nO'W to mention, by way of reminder, that checks, leases and mortgages need no longer be stamped, and that conveyances, instead of being taxed 50 cents for each $500, will be exempt when the consideration is not above $2,500, and taxed 25 cents per $500 only above that amount. THE 'precise location of the terminus of the tunnel which the Long Island Railroad proposes to build is still involved in obscurity. The Record and Guide presents the facts of the mat¬ ter in 'ano'ther column, and 'must leave its readers to judge for themselves. Assuming, however, 'the more probable plan of a sta¬ tion in or near Longacre square, one cannot help being struck by the tremendous conicentra/tion of transit routes, which that dis¬ trict is likely to enjoy. Every part of the 'City will be directly connected with the neighborhood of 42d street and Broadway. Bassengers will be poured in there from the 'Bronx, from Queens, from the West 'Side and Washington Heights, and 'by means of tunnel connections with the underground ro'ad from Brooklyn proper. Moreo-ver, 'the 42d street ferry from across the Hudson will in time contribute ano'ther stream' of passengers. Porty- second street itself seems desitined to become much the most im¬ portant cross-town street in Manhattan, while the intersection of that street and Broadway will be alm'ost as much the center of New York ais Piccadilly Circus is 'the 'center of London. It should be noticed, also, thait this 'centralization is finding its proper ex¬ pression, in the sort of buildings erected in the vicinity. The the¬ atres, the clubs, and apartment hotels have all been concentrating within a half a mile of Longacre square, and it is probable that ■t'he expensive shops will follow the same example. Within a few years, what, with the new Public Library building, and the many private improvements which have been planned, the appearance cf the section will be almost entirely metamorphozed, for most of the old ■buildings will be replaced by modern structures. It cannot be said that this appearance promises to be very 'beau¬ tiful, for the streets thereabouts are all narrO'W and the build¬ ings will, for the most part, he .tall; but it will be handsome and striking, add will give an adequate idea of the energy and wealth of New York, the concentration of its life, and the eiHcieney of its machinery. Evils Requiring Prompt Attention. IN a letter tO' Mayor Van 'Wyck, Comptroller Coler exposes some serious abuses connected with the carrying out of those public improvements which, although in- the first instance paid f-or by the city, are ultim'ately paid for by assessmens cn contig¬ uous and vicinal property. The Comptroller obtained his infor¬ mation while acting as chairman of the Bo-ard of Revision and Assessments, so that it is absolutely reliable. He charges that surveyors and inspectors in the employ of the city procure the adoptio-n of resolutions for improvements that are premature and are parties to delays in the execution of the physical work, for the sake of fees and per diem charges, so that the prcperty owner has often not only to pay for an improvement he does not want, or cannot o'btain any benefit from until some years af¬ ter its completion, but be has also to pay for surveyors aud in¬ spectors whose term of service is measured by the duration of the job. This is what 'Mr. Coler says on 'this 'head: "The amount of 'Inspector's fees' in any particular assessment will also depend upon the length of time between the beginning of work un¬ der the 'Contract and its final ccmpletion, one man being em¬ ployed during the whole period, at $3.50 per day. whether work is in progress or suspended. The amount added to an assessment list for 'surveyor's fees' represents the value o'f the time 'spent by engineers, draughtsmen, etc., upon that particular improve¬ ment, in making preliminary surveys and in preparing maps, plans, speciflcations, assessment lists, etc. In other words, the city advances m-ouey with which to pay the salaries of these men, and then collects, through assessments upo'U property (in addi¬ tion to the cost of the improvement) suificient to reimburse it- Self." A more serious matter is the making of jobs which the Comp¬ troller charges is a common practice. He says: "To have work in progress is a condition precedent to the ofiicial existence of these men, and judging from results as developed before the Board of Revision, in their anxiety to flnd something to do, and to create an acco'unt against which salary charges may be set off, they recommend, and their departments authorize, improve¬ ments for which no immediate necessity exists, and which in many instances are palpably premature. The result is that prop¬ erty owners are forced to pay for improvements which they do not desire, and of which they can make no immediate use. For example, many local sewers are constructed before an outlet sewer has been built, and owners within the district must pay for something which the Sewer 'Department will not, and cannot, permit them to use, and in many cases they must wait two or three years fo-r the construction of an outl&t sewer before the sewer for which they pay is of any value to them whatever. At the last meeting of the Board of Revision, on the 13th inst., sev¬ eral assessments of this kind were before us, and we felt obliged, as a m'atter of justice, to' send them hack to the Board of Asser- sors, to be 'held until outlet sewers are built." These and other abuses increase the cost of improvements from twenty to thirty per cent, and, as Mr. Coler correctly points out, act as a deterrent to real estate investments, particularly in the way of small ventures. So far. Mayor Van Wyck has given no intimation of the action he proposes to take on the 'Co'mptroller's charges; but, 'coming as they do, in oflicial form, from a member of 'his own party and administration, he cannot disregard them altogether, nor, it should be stated, is Mayor Van Wyck 'the kind of man who would do so. The time that has elapsed since the charges were presented has, doubtless, been taken up by a con¬ sideration 'of the best means to investigate them aud to remove the evils they disclose. At the same time this is a matter o-f which the property-owners'" association should take cognizance in order 'to see that it has proper discussion and remedial atten¬ tion. IN an address to the National Sculpture So'Ciety, Karl Bitter, the well-known sculptor, has made a sugges'tion, which is well worth the serious thought of the local improvement board of the district. He suggests that Fifth avenue, east of the Park, should be widened to twice its present width, 'by adding to it a strip of Central Park, and that the 'additional space should be used partly