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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 81, no. 2085: February 29, 1908

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February 29, 1908 RECORD AND GUIDE 359 'Wil. ^t :H 21^^1868. Bifsn/EBij'ju/dThemeS VGE)fcR^l iKreHpsi^- PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should he addressed to C. W. SWEET Published Every Satardas/ By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO. President. CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGE Vice-Pres. & Genh Mgr., H. W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLER Nos. 11 to 15 East 24tli Street, New York City (Telephone, Madison Square, 4430 to 4433,) "Entered at tlic Post Office at Nev> York, N. Y., us srcond-closs miillri-." Copyrigbled, 1907, by The Record & Guide Co, Vol, LXXXl. FEBRUARY 20. 1908. No, 2085. INDEX TO DEPARTMENTS. Advertising Section. Page. Page, Cement ......................xiv Lumber ......................xv Clay Products ...............xvi Metal Work .................xi Consulting E'ogineers .......xii Quick Job Directory..........vii Contractors and Builders......ii Real EsLale ...................v Electrical Interests ..........vii Roofers & Roofing Materials, .xiv Fireproofing ..................x Stone .......................xvii Granite .....................xvii Wood Products ..............xv Iron and Steel...............xiii A REAL SERVICE to the eommunity could be rendered by the commissioners now engaged in revising the Building Code through formulating vegu'lations to insure for the tenants of houses averred to be steam-heated the warmth which is paid for and which the landlords impliedly agree to furnish during cold weather. Though no book of registry is anywhere provided in which complaints can be entered, general report is to the effect* that this winter there has been a greater saving of coal than even a com¬ paratively mild season has Justified. Each passing year the evil becomes more prevalent, the owner's conscience more dulled, until it cannot be said any longer to consist merely of isolated cases, and something in the nature of official legislation is necessary. In an action decided this week the court held substantially that the failure of a land¬ lord to supply adequate heat constitutes a constructive evic¬ tion if the tenant leaves: "the tenant need not have paid rent and could have removed from the premises," and "a specific agreement in the lease on tbe part of the landlord to supply adequate heat would have enabled the plaintiff to recover any damages which resulted to him by reason of the breach of this duty." But it is poor satisfaction for a tenant either to move in miiS-winter or to prosecute a suit successfully; his rights should be safe-guarded without his having to go to extremities. Some houses are cold be¬ cause the furnaces or boilers with which they have been equipped are not capable of raising the temperature to a comfortable degree. In other cases it is because sufiicient coal is not supplied. Both deficiencies couM be remedied by law and departmental inspection, and according to public opinion the time seems to have arrived when move effective rules should be promulgated. If there should be a migra¬ tion from Manhattan of serious magnitude this year land¬ lords may with reason attribute a part of it to the feeling of resentment which has been generated among tenants by their having to pay for what is not provided. Real estate agents in some very good sections have long reporte(i[ a de¬ cided preference for' non-heated apartments not to be ac¬ counted for by the difference in rent; for of the two classes of houses the latter is oftentimes the more expensive for tenants. But here they get all that rightfully belongs to them. MEASURES more definitely and certainly protective of the boating interests of the vicinity will ultimately have to be taken in order to preserve their landing places from the encroachments of more powerful forces. Last year it reauired the Governor's veto to keep the Hudson River towing lines from being excluded from piers where they have always been accustomed'to land. The protests of the build¬ ing material trades and even tbe veto of the Mayor were unavailing with the Legislature. A few years previously the-Board .of Estimate-had to interfere to protect a number of Hudson River steamboat lines against being turded away from wharves which they have occupied since early times. Ocean lines coveted their piers and were willing to pay a higher rent than the river lines cou'ld afford. At the present time there is a bill in the Assembly to amend the charter of tbe city in relation to the territory for the accommoda¬ tion and use of canal boats and barges.which would close" the water front from Clinton Street to the Battery on the East River and from the Battery to Ninth Street on the Hud¬ son River. Not a ton of coal could come into the financial district of the city without being trucked for miles, nor a load of building material, such as brick, cement, lime, stone, or any of tbe domestic supplies which are brought to the city by canal boats and barges, provided tbe point of departure for these freight carriers is south of a village named Castleton on the Hudson River. In practice this would" give the Northern and Erie canal boats exclusive rights to three piers and bulkheads in the East River which they now share in common with the Hudson River towing lines. No other wharves in the quarter being available, the firms dealing in building materials and other supplies coming to New York on barges from the river towns would be leftj without landing places in the lower part of the city. Hence, the dealers in masons' materials and other building interests have a sound reason for the protests they are making, but un¬ less the moral conscience of the Legislature is awakened to the injustice that is being done, the city will have to rely lipon the Governor again for protection. The struggle for supremacy on the New York water front has only begun, and it promises to be waged without any consideration of equity or regard for the interests of the city until a better plan for the collection and distribution of freight can be provided. NOTHING in the law prevents the City from contracting for a subway with flve builders instead of one. or with as many as it chooses. It may give the whole work ta one, or divide it among several. We understand that the existing subway system has had five builders thus far. Also there is nothing in the law prohibiting the building of a rapid- transit system in sections, one section at a time, or several concurrently, when the whole cannot be put under construc¬ tion at once. Hence, providing that the means are available —and the Manhattan-Bronx real estate interests have not been convinced that they are not—there is nothing to hinder the Board of Estimate exhibiting a disposition to be impar¬ tial by making a beginning on the Lexington-Broadway route concurrently with work on Fourth avenue in Brooklyn. These were the fundamental remarks at the several meetings of civic bodies in the Bronx this week, and further stated at the hearing before the Board of Estimate, Added to these opinions is a very general feeling that unless definite action is taken at this crisis to give the two boroughs relief, none will be forthcoming for another decade. One of the orators of the week counted eighty-four million dollars that is being spent for Brooklyn-Queens—and not a nickel for additional facilities in Manhattan-Bronx, except for a change in the subway trackage at Ninety-sixth street. With the Bisberg law, un(3er the terms of which new subway, construction In the Bronx Is absolutely prohibited, still on the statute books, and the McAdoo and Battery tunnels already beginning to draw population in other directions, they have reason for apprehension and for pleading with the Board of Estimate, for consideration. Comptroller Metz reiterates tha.t there is no money, and that relief can only follow the amending of the Elsberg law; but even President Coler of Brooklyn says there are or will be soon more means than the Comptroller has taken account of, and so supports tlie contention of the Municipal Art CiDmiuission aud other civic bodies that have spoken to this question. Under the trying circumstances in which all concerned are placed, wis¬ dom and fairness seem now to counsel suspension of further action for the Fourth avenue, Brooklyn, subway until the Elsberg amendments are enacted, if no way can be found before then of tintting the proposed Manhattan-Bronx; lines on the same footing; for the fact remains that the Fourth ■ avenue Brooklyn tunnel can be put under contract In'part, . if the Board.of Estimate is so disposed; -and the Manhattan line In part, and the Bronx branches in part, with the moneys., that are now available for Brooklyn and other rapid transit . work divided equally. No requirement exists that" cannot- be reconsidered for setting aside at one time all 'the money, needed to build arid complete the whole length of the Brook¬ lyn extension, or to ^ive out the- whole .wprk at one ti^'e,.'