Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 81, no. 2101: June 20, 1908

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June 20, 190S RECORD AND GUIDE 1167 ESTABUSHED-^ MAI^H2L*i^ 1863. DeV&TEB pi Rf^L ESTAJT.BmLDqfc ^afHECTURE .KoUSEKOUJ DEGQRATlOtf. Bi/snftasAiJbTHEiaEs'oF'GEitoi^l IKter.es7.,, miCS PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed to C, W, SWEET fvhtished EVers Satnrdas By THE RECORD AND GtTIDB CO. president, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer. F. W. DODGE Tlce-Pres. Se Genl. Mgr-, H. W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T- MILLER Nos= 11 to 13 East 24tli Street, New York Cilj- {Telepbone, Madison' Square, 4430 to 4433.) r* ■ — — ■ ■ ——- —......'- - - -■ -----------— ^'Entered at thu Po.it Offici fit A'cio York, N. Y., as secoiid-i-lass mailer." Copyrighted, 1008, hy The Record & Guide Co. su'pport it would Iiave a fair chance of passage, whereas in case the new Governor was a man of less influence and standing it will prohahly be broken against the prejudices of rural Republican legislators. We hope, consequently, that Mr. Hughes will neither bury himself iu the Vice-Presidential' chair nor return to pi'Jvate practice. He is still needed at Albany, Vol,- LXXXl, JUNE 20, IOOS, No, 2101 LAST WEEK the Record and Guide called attention to the fact that when the new Blackwells Island Bridge is complete uo arrangements will have been made to make it a really useful part of the transit system of New York- It should be added that any arrangements to make it a useful part of the street system of Manhattan are equally lackiug- On the Mauhattan side the hridge terminates iu an extremely unfortunate manner. The street into which it wiil pour its trafhc^—Fifty-ninth Street^is too narrow for the trafRc, which even at the preseut time demands its use; aud after the new bridge is opened it will become still more over¬ crowded. Just how jnuch surface traffic the opeuing of this bridge, wiil create is doubtful, but from the beginniug there will be a good many trucks aud automobiles that will seek Loug Island by this route, and the uuuiher will, of course, steadily increase. There is every reasou, consequently, for the constru-ction of a spacious and convenient approach to the new bridge. As long ago as the administration of ex- Mayor Low, various projects for the wideuing of Pifty-uinth Street were considered by the local improvement hoard, but nothing was ever done, partly because of the opposition of property owners on Fifty-ninth Street, aud partly because of tbe expense. Eventually, however, something must be done, and the longer the improvement is delayed the raore it wiil cost- It is very much to he hoped that in the new charter this whole business of street improvements will he better organized. At the present time such improvements are almost impossible, and yet the time is rapidly ap¬ proaching when the lack of them will result iu au intoler¬ able amount of traffic.congestion, THB worst result of the passage of the auti-gambling bills may be tliat Governor Hughes will probably refuse a Republican nomiuation for another term. He has announced at different times that he did not desire to serve again, but that he would do so in case be was beateu on the race-track bills. Yet his continued presence at Albany is so necessary in the interest both of the city and the State that the utmost pressure should be brought to bear ufjon him to make him revise his decision- Mr- Hughes is not only the best Governor with "one exception which New York State has enjoyed during the life of the present generation," but he has altogether peculiar abilities as a coastructive legislator- The legislation which has been passed at bis instigation has been most wisely and cautiously drawn, and it would he a genuine misfortune for the State to lose so soon the services of a man who is probably the most able reform legislator now living id the United States, Moreover, the legislation with which he is particirlarly identifled still remains, so far as its operation is concerned, in an experi¬ mental condition. The election next fall of au inferior Governor who did uot sympathize with Mr. Hughes' work or understand its spirit, might undo all he has done. The Governor is in this respect in precisely the same situation as President Roosevelt, aud he should be succeeded, if not by himself, at least by some one who understands and sup¬ ports his program of reform. It should be added that New York City has a peculiar iuterest in this matter- At the initiative of Mr, Hughes a commission has been appointed that has outlined a new charter for this city, -which prom¬ ises to be one of the most liberal measures of home rule ever granted to an American city. This uew charter will be submitted -to the next Legislature. With Mr. Hughes' THE Record and Guide trusts that the Public Service Commission will soon give some indication of an understanding of its immediate duty in respect to transit improvements. It is perfectly obvious that the duty of the commission at the present time does uot consist iu insisting ou the coustruction of any particular improvement, su'ch as the Fourth Avenue or the Broadway-Lexington Aveuue sub¬ ways. The veto by Governor Hughes of the Robinson bill has made any really important stibway construetion impos¬ sible, at least for the next two years. That veto was hurt¬ ful to the city's interests jn most respects; but it may have one beneflciM result- Provided the proposed amendment to the constitution in respect to expenditures ou rapid transit is passed, the city of New York will for the flrst time be in a position to plan a comprehensive system of rapid transit; and such a plan can be-adopted with every assurance that the meaus will uot be lacking to carry it out. Obviously, then, the next eighteen months should be passed in the slow and careful preparation of such a plan. The engineer of the board should be commissioned to draw up a scheme, including subways, elevated roads and trolleys, which, wheu completed, would give the City of New York really adequate means of transit, aud the different parts of this scheme should be marked with numerals, indicating the proper order of constructiou. The board should tbeu consider the pro¬ posed plan iu private session, and have it criticized by various transit experts. After such criticisms have been thoroughly considered, the proposed plan in all its details should be su'bmitted to the public for further criticism- Hearings should be given in respect to the plan as a whole, its de¬ tails and tbe proposed order of constructing its several parts. After everybody has been heard who has the right to be heard, the board should make its flnal decision, and declare what portions of the whole system is to be immediately con¬ structed. Then, after the constitutional amendment has been passed, the preliminary work will be finished. The board will be free to go ahead and secure the consents of property-owners, the courts and the Board of Estimate. No time should be lost In beginning this task, for it cannot be perfectly completed in much less time than the interval actually available. It need scarcely be added that tbe serious preparation of a comprehensive plan of transit improvements would involve the abandonment of the proposed Broadway- Lexington Avenue route. There might have been some ex¬ cuse for the construction of this subway, in case it were the only su'bway which could be built for a good many years; but under existing conditions there is uo excuse. It could not iu any case be commenced until after the passage of the constitutional amendment, and when that reform makes the laying out of a comprehensive system of rapid transit pos¬ sible, the Broadway-Lexington Avenue route would merely be in the way. Its construction would prejudice the deci¬ sion of the commission on many important points, and pre¬ vent its freedom of actiou. Its only reason for existence would be that as an independent liue it would develop prob¬ ably a heavier trafflc than would any other single route; bu-t it would develop such a trafflc at the expense of other equally important lines. It should, consequently, be aban- doued, aud the eugiueering force of the commission should be put to work upon the much more important task of pre¬ paring a comprehensive plan. , ' IF COMPTROLLER METZ succeeds in preventing .the immediate coustructiou of the Fourth Avenue subway, he will deserve the hearty thanks of all but about one-twenty- fifth of the inhabitants of New York City, But whether he succeeds or fails, he will have made a plucky fight against heavy odds and at the risk of his popu'larity in his owu Borough. It is extraordinary that he and the Mayor have not received more active and hearty support iu their oppo¬ sition to the proposed misappropriation of the city's funds. The interests of all the inhabitants of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens will be injured by the immediate construction of the proposed subway, and to these should be added also the interests of a large majority of the inhabitants of Brooklyn, The already difflcult problem of financing the necessary municipal improvements during the next two years