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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 74, no. 1918: December 17, 1904

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December 17, 1904 RECORD AND GUIDE 1345 ^ " ESTABDSHED^yjlRPHSm^lSSa. I^oteO id f^L e:^w^ ■ BinLDi>'c Afw^rrEcruRE .tjousnloii) DECcaipDil. BilsBfess Alb Themes OF GEtti^l IHtt^st. PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE SIX DOLLARS Pablisfied every Saturdas Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET, 14.16 Vesey Street, New YorK J, T. LINDSET, Euslness Mana-or Telephono, Cortlandt 3157 "Entered al tlie Posl Offii-e al New York, N. r..as seco7id-class matter." Vol. LXXIV. DECEMBER 17, 1904. No. 1918. THE stock market is justifying the apprehensions of those who have regarded the speculative situation with dis¬ trust. It behaves as if the end of one period of speculation had arrived, and that a beginning had been made to another period. The bull movement eulmiuated a couple of weeks ago; and since that time it has been twice proved that the attempt to force prices up any higher cau only result in disaster. The market did not completely crumble away, because there were strong interests behind it, and because general conditions were good. But it became uncertain and fretful and finally dull. It is just the sort of market, of which the public is afraid. Pro¬ fessionals can swim in such treacherous waters, but the out¬ sider does not like these violent fluctuations. If the bull market came to an end because the public refused to buy stoclcs at the prices they had reached, it is manifest that the iniblic are still less likely to come to the assistance of the speculators, now that a season of uncertainty has begun. It looks consequently as if "Wall street was in for an intermediate period, during which prices are likely to sag, and which will prepare the way for a further advance or a further decline—according to the business outlook some months frora now. corded, against 1344 for the corresponding period in 1903, and 1221 for the corresponding period in 1902. Thus in the course o£ two years the conveyances have increased by 80 per cent, and the moVtgages have increased in a still larger proportion. Again the figures for the two weeks covering tiie last of Novem¬ ber and the first of December show still larger increases. In this period in 1904 there have been 809 transfers of Manhattan property recorded, 517 of Bronx property and 1126 of Brooklyn property. The total for New York county was 1326. In 1903 during the same period there were^recorded 583 Manhattan, 207 Bronx and 950 Brooklyn transfers, the total for New York connty being 790. In 1902 for the same period the Manhattan total was 500, the Bronx total 18S and the Brooklyn total 805. In 1901 the Manhattan total was 432, the Bronx total 170, and the Brooklyn total 655. Thus in four years the total for the three boroughs has increased from 1087 to 2452 papers, an enlarge¬ ment of about 140 per cent., while in two years the increase was from 1493 to 2452. It is obvious that such increases as these puts an entirely different complexion upon the problem of deal¬ ing with such legal records. Methods and appropriations which sufficed in 1902 can no longer be used to-day; and it behooves the county officials to take care that they are not caught out during the coming spring. The movement looking towards the development oE the Outlying districts has only just begun; and it will carry with it an amount of legal records during the busy season of the real estate year which will make even the foregoing figures look small. THE comparative moderation in the speculative buying of vacant lots, which began to show itself a week ago, has been continued during the week just closed. The total number ol transactions is ahout the same as the week before, and shows a diminution of a third from the high-water mark. This de¬ crease is a matter of congratulation rather than regret, par¬ ticularly in view of the fact that it is accompanied by a livelier interest than ever in improved real estate in Man¬ hattan. During the past week three important pm-chases have been made of old buildings, in locations on the margin of the skyscraper district; and every one of these will mean improvements in the coming spring. In¬ deed, indications are multiplying that unless the labor situation interferes, the year 1905 will witness a large amount of the best kind of building-construction, that is, which is undertaken by business men for the purpose of accommodating an in¬ creased or an altered business. The Altman store is the most prominent illustration of these, and will necessitate the erec¬ tion of several new buildings besides that of Mr. Altman himself. Indeed property in and near 5th ave. has suddenly become more active than it has been throughout tbe entire fall, and the de¬ mand is so much larger than the supply that prices are again increasing. A novelty of the week is the filing of plans for a new apartment hotel in the Long Acre Square district. For eighteen months the buildiug of apartment hotels in that part of the city has been dead and the projection of a new and large one suggests lhat perhaps 1905 will also witness a revival of the apartment hotel business. THE Record and Guide wishes to call particular attention to the enormous increase in the volume of the real estate papers which are being recorded in the county registry offices of New York and Queens. The number of these papers has strained the machinery of every company or individual who is obliged to take account of them in the ordinary course of business. The Register's offlce itself is able to record them only owing to a special transfer of funds. The title companies have the utmost difficulty in properly handling the uumber of papers offered and the Record and Guide finds itself under the neces¬ sity of doubliug the sines of the issues which it ordinarily pub¬ lishes at this season of the year. A few figures derived from our weekly tables will indicate the volume of the legal matter now being recorded. In the November of 1904, for instance, some 2261 conveyances of Manhattan aud Bronx property were re- THE contract, which the Board of Rapid Transit Commis¬ sioners proposes to make with the New York & New Jersey Tunnel Company, offers an excellent solution of a com¬ plicated and difficult problem. The perpetual gi-ant of the cross- town line gives the trolley company a permanent foothold in New York, whereby it can exchange traffic with all the longi¬ tudinal tunnels which may hereafter be constructed. On the other hand its temporary occupation of Sixth ave., from 9th to 33d sts., will also enable it to collect aud distribute the many thousand passengers who wish to shop in New York or go to the theatres. It will be a great advantage to these passen¬ gers not to be obliged to transfer, because the necessity of trans¬ ferring costs on the average several minutes of time and some little inconvenience. Moreover, instead of building the tunnel forty feet below the surface, it will be situated as near the sur¬ face as is consistent with the construction of necessary cross- town lines at 23d St., but the city retains the right to purchase the Subway whenever such purchase becomes desirable in the interest of the municipal transit system. This arrangement takes account of every future contingency, while also giving an excellent immediate connection with the trolley tunnel; and it wii! mean that the many thousand thrifty residents of New Jersey will be able to use the New York shops and places of amusement much more than they do at present. The proposed connection will not be as convenient as it might be for the people who wish to go to and from their places of business, but the trolley tunnel terminating at Church and Cortlandt sts. will supply this demand. In view of these plans of the trolley company it seems absolutely necessary for the Lackawanna and the Erie Companies to build into Manhattan. Without an elec¬ tric service terminating at some central point on this side of the river, they will in the long run lose a considerable portion of their suburban traffic. THE efforts which the police are making, under the super- intendance of Commissioner McAdoo to regulate the vehicular traffic at important points of avenue intersection- such as Madison and Greeley Squares^are being attended with a considerable degree of success; hut so far as 5th ave. is con¬ cerned the Commissioner is right in asserting that the only way to relieve the congestion oC carriage traffic is to take some of the superfluous space from the sidewalks and throw it inti the carriage way. It is extraordinary that the storekeepers o 23d st. aud on Sth ave. do not insist that the stoop- permits " these thoroughfares should be revoked. The congestion of riage traffic on the avenue in winter is not only dangeroi' inconvenient, but it is a very bad thing for local Ij-^^gg That business depends largely upon the ability o£.j to be people to reach the 5th ave. shops convenientl'gu'arantees carriages, and just in so far as the avenue is tors the residue, tain the traffic of this kind which natural!- far are its business opportunities dim'-^^^- of the stoops would occasion some ex'''' ^"'^ "^^^ ^"^" ^^^ owners below 46th st., who still but the proportion of these per year, and it is to the interest_ avenue that the existing co ~ ; high wages. _,mechanics of New York, do