Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 85, no. 2198: April 30, 1910

Text version:

"-r-," j"i jLi'.m.iJv^ v.'j Mifffii p Rem EsTAJt.SmLDir/o ^RpifiTEcrruR.E .KousEtioiD DEeanpal,> ~^ "^ BKsufess jufo Themes of GEifeRil iKTtfify .j PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE BIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET Vablished Etierg Saturdap By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO. Fresldeat, CLINTON W, SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGE! Vice-Pres. & Genl. Mgr.. H. W. DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLER Nos. 11 to 15 East 34th Street, New York City (Telephone. Madison Square, 4430 to 4433.) "Entered at ihe Post Off ce at We to York, N. Y.. (IS srcoiii. -class m after," Copyrighted. 1910. by The Record fi Guide Co. Vol. LXXXV, APRIL 30. 1910. No. 2198. ACCORDING to newspaper reports, there is a large de¬ mand for the forms published by the Public Service Commission defining the terms to which bids for the Lej- ingtou avenue-Broadway contract must conform, hut it is absurd to suppose that this demand indicates that there will be any large number of qualified and bona fide bidders. In fact, there will in all probability be only one bidder able and willing to construct and operate the road on acceptable conditions; and unless the Record and Guide is very much mistaken that bidder no matter how disguised in its ap¬ pearance, will be the New Haven Railroad Company. There is DO other possible bidder in sight which could pretend with any plausibility to raise the money necessary for the construction of the subway; and there is no sufficient ex¬ planation for the stubborn insistence of the Public Service Commission upon this particular tri-borough route, except the knowledge that the New Haven Road wants and is ready to pay for this particular route. That corporation has been constructing a system of suburban roads, in Westchester County and the Bronx which will necessarily be unprofitable for many years, unless they are supplemented by continuous service to lower Mauhattan, and for this reason alone it has an obvious need of a subway I'aid out independently of the present subway. But the plan probably is still more com¬ prehensive and far-reaching. It is intended, also, to assist the New Haven and the Pennsylvania companies in their efforts to build up a great manufacturing and commercial centre in Brooklyn, This is where the Fourth avenue sub¬ way in Brooklyn conies in. By means of the connecting subway, and by means of the further development of the South Brooklyn docking and warehousing facilities, they ex¬ pect to provide manufacturing plants with opportunities for making, storing and shipping goods much more economical than those which can now be obtained in Manhattan; and the Fourth avenue subway is an essential part of the scheme, because they can induce a sufficient number of people to live iu South Brooklyn without giving them an express service to Manhattan. If all this is true, it is a iarge and worthy scheme, which, when fully completed, will contribute enor¬ mously to the prosperity of New Yorlt City. It is undoubt¬ edly essential that drastic measures should be taken to in¬ crease the economy both of manufacturing amd commercial operations in New York, so that this port may hold its own in competition with other seaboard cities, and the most ef¬ fective means of doing this consists undoubtedly in the de¬ velopment of Brooklyn, and its independent railroad con¬ nection with the mainland. Eventually there may be a freight and passenger tunnel, which will run directly from South Brooklyn to New Jersey, Manhattan will in the long run gain far more than it loses, because of the carrying out of thes© plans. We sincerely hope, however, that if the New Haven Road is looking for the special opportunities necessary to the development of such a scheme, It will soon come out in the open, and say plainly what it wants and what it proposes to do. THERE is very much to be said in favor of the position assumed by the local chapter of the Institute of Archi¬ tects in reference to the appointment of a committee to study the matter of the congestion of population, and the formula¬ tion of a new city plan. While fully approving of the pur¬ pose which the proposed committee is intended to further, tbe Chapter is skeptical whether any results will ever be accomplished by such means. It points to the fact that the Commissions which have been appointed in the past for the beneflt of the same or similar purposes absolutely failed to accomplish anything, because their function was merely ad¬ visory, and no responsible official would take their advice. It believes, consequently, that nothing will be accomplished in this respect until some special organ is constituted in the city government, which will be responsible for deflnite and energetic measures looking in the direction of an im¬ proved city plan. The Ivins charter contained such an organ in the proposed Board of Public Improvements, and the Chapter believes consequently, that the first duty of those citizens who aie interested in improving the circulation of New York City is to work for an official organization specifi¬ cally constituted for the purpose of taking action in refer¬ ence to this all-important problem. Sensible as this advice is, however, the Record and Guide is afraid that it will not be adopted at present. The line of the least resistance for everybody is the appointment of an advisory commission, whose report can, if inconvenient, be wholly ignored. Never yet have the officials responsible for the government of the city understood the overwhelming necessity of adopting ade- tiuate and far-sighted measures looking towards an economi¬ cal distribution of business aud population; and they can hardly be blamed, because they are confronted by other problems of the most critical character, and they are fatally handicapped by lack of means. The plain truth is that the local government does not have the control over the eco¬ nomic resources of the city which it needs in order to plan and carry out a far-sighted and constructive policy. Condi¬ tions, however, are rapidly reaching a point when the prob¬ lems created by the increased congestion of population and traffic can no longer be postponed. They will soon become the most critical of all the ciuestions confronting our local officials; and, perhaps, when delay and evasion are uo longer possible, the Board of Estimate will itself demand the cre¬ ation of a special organization, which will have the ability and the duty to help it to handle the problem of congestion in all its phases. The increasing immigration, for instance, coupled with the cessation of the construction of cheap ten¬ ements, will probably make the congestion of population in Manhattan more acute aud more dangerous during the com¬ ing summer than ever before in the history of the city. THERE is every indication that the enumeration of the population of New York now being made, will he car¬ ried out more intelligently and more carefully than any previous enumeration. The local Superintendent is certainly doing his best to count every head in the city, and while he will not succeed, he is adopting measures which should give him a total much nearer this result than was reached by his predecessors. The difflculties of an enumeration of pop¬ ulation has increased in New York precisely in proportion to the increase in foreign population aud the iucrease iu do¬ mestic congestion, and the Record and Guide has always believed that because of these difficulties a larger proportion of the population than usual escaped enumeration, both iu 1900 aud in 190-5. If this supposition is correct, aud if the existing enumeration is being taken with more intelligence and care, the population of the city should exceed the esti¬ mates made hitherto. We should not be surprised to flnd the total nearer 4,700,000 than 4,600,000, There are many signs which point to such a result, the chief of which is that new housing has-been built for a larger increase iu popula¬ tion than the 125,000, which is the usual estimate of the annual increase. Of course, allowance must also be made for the large amount of destruction of existing buildings, which has been taking place, but the demand for new ac¬ commodations traceable to this source should be partly re¬ duced by the heavier emigration to New Jersey character¬ istic of the past few years. In any event the annual increase iu population at the present time should be nearer 150,000 than 125,000; and the Record and Guide is willing to rislt a prediction to that effect. THE decisiotn of the Board of Estimate in reference to the site of the new Court House has practically been post¬ poned until next winter. The Board does not believe that the city could afford to build on any but the existing site unless there is a decided increase In assessed valuations, but Mayor Gaynor evidently hopes and expects that the valua¬ tion of real estate for taxable purposes will be subjected to a considerable increase and he anticipates that the borrow¬ ing capacity of the city may in that event be sufficient to provide for the increased cost which would result from the purchase of the property between the Hall of Records and