Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 90, no. 2326]: October 12, 1912

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678 RECORD AND GUIDE October 12. 1912. BOARD OF EXAMINERS. Its Jurisdiction Settled in Important Cases—Fireproofing Questions. Provisions relating to fireproofing form the bpsis of the greatest number of appeals to the Board of Examiners from the decisions of the Superintend¬ ent of Buildings in Manhattan. Of these appeals a large number are on the question whether the interior trim of buildings over twelve stories in height should be made of incombustible ma¬ terials or of wood treated to render it fireproof as required by Sec. 105 of the Building Code. The Manhattan bureau has consist¬ ently held that a so-called pent house on the roof of a twelve-story building, whether it covers an area equal to the story below or not, if used for other purposes than the bulkhead of stairs or the enclosure of tanks, elevator machin¬ ery or ventilating apparatus, must be considered as a thirteenth story, and places the building within the require¬ ments of section 105 above noted. It is the exemption from these requirements that has constituted the basis of the large proportion of the appeals above referred to. Supt. Miller says the number of _ap- peals with reference to exit facilities also seem large. A good many of them are in connection with requirements for emergency courts for theatres. A ques¬ tion raised by the Manhattan bureau as to the authority of the Board of Exam¬ iners to grant appeals in such cases was decided by an opinion of the Corpora¬ tion Counsel to the effect that the mat¬ ter was quite within the jurisdiction of the board. A notable case that was appealed dur¬ ing 1911 and which became the basis of litigation to determine the jurisdiction of the Board of Examiners, was the ap¬ peal taken by the Greeley Square Hotel Company, owners of the Hotel McAlpin, from the action of the Manhattan bu¬ reau with respect to the required un¬ covered area in the proposed new hotel at Broadway and 34th street. The ap¬ plication was disapproved by the bureau for the reason, among others, that a greater lot area was to be covered than is permitted by Section 10 of the Build¬ ing Code. The area of the lot iii ques¬ tion is about 31,(X)0 square feet, of which all was to be covered in the lower stories and about 83 per cent, in the up¬ per part where the sleeping rooms are. Supt. Miller maintained in this case that under Sec. 10 of the Building Code only about 51 per cent, of the lot area may be covered above the first story. The appeal was granted by the Board of Examiners, but conditioned on cer¬ tain changes in the lower stories. Because of the opinion of the Corpor¬ ation Counsel in the case of the St. Regis Hotel in 1904, an approval of the plans for the Hotel McAlpin was still withheld by the Manhattan bureau, in spite of the granting of the appeal. The applicants took the matter to the Su¬ preme Court and secured a writ of man¬ damus directing the approval of the plans (all other objections having been satisfactorily met) and establishing the jurisdiction of the Board of Examiners in this matter. Although questions such as the above have arisen from time to time, the rela¬ tions of the Board of Examiners and the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings have been most amicable as Supt. Miller tes¬ tifies in his latest annual report. In forwarding papers in any appeal it is the practice of the bureau to state its reasons for disapproval and to quote the provisions of law on which such disap¬ proval is based. Only in rare cases does a representr.tive of the bureau appear before the board to urge the disap¬ proval of an appeal. On the other hand, it happens occasionally that the board requests the appearance of the Superin¬ tendent either to further state or ex¬ plain his grounds of disapproval or to furnish additional information. White Granite for Western Union Building. George H. Bickford, general manager of the Woodbury Granite Co., has closed a contract for the stonework of the new Western Union building to be erected at the corner of Broadway and Dey street, with a rear wing extending to Fulton street. The facades will be com¬ posed of Bethel white granite, twenty- nine stories high. Carved Doric col¬ umns will adorn the lower three stories WASHINGTON IRVING SCHOOL. Will Cost Less to Build Than Other Public Edifices, and Will Be Safe. The cost per cubic foot for construct¬ ing the Washington Irving High School for Girls will be very low compared with the cost of other fireproof public buildings. The Bronx Court House will cost 70 cents per cubic foot, and the Municipal Building, 65 cents per foot, according to statements in. the Board of Estimate. At the office of the super¬ intendent of buildings of the Board of Education it was stated this week that the Washington Irving High School will cost but 19 cents per cubic foot. The total cost of the building, exclu¬ sive of the land, and not including the heating, ventilating and electrical work. rj-'-. Irvmg Place. C. B. J. Snyder, Architect. FIRST PICTURE OF THB WASHINGTON IRVING HIQH SCHOOL. and above this level eight sets of Ionic columns, each rising three stories, will further enrich the structure. Theodore N. Vail, the president of the company, was born among the granite hills of Verrhont where the Bethel white gran¬ ite will be quarried. He knows the ad¬ vertising value of a beautiful building. The Woodbury Granite Company's con¬ tract calls for the entire granite exterior of the building delivered and set in place. Marc Eidlitz & Son, 489 Fifth avenue, are the general contractors and William Welles Bosworth, of 527 Fifth avenue, is the architect. The building will be erected in sections and the exist¬ ing Broadway building will not be torn down until the rear section in Dey street is completed. —Track-laying for the new trolley line that is to be built on Queens Boule¬ vard from the Queensboro Bridge to Jamaica will probably be started within a week or ten days. will be $1,068,386. The furniture bill will total $70,000. Eight floors, with an average surface of 21,500 square feet, will provide ninety-six class rooms, or a total of one hundred and thirty-five working units. Ten segregated fireproof stairways will be available in an emergency, be¬ sides the elevators. While the building will not be entirely fireproof, according to the latest definitions of the term, it will be classed as such under the law. The floors will be surfaced with wood, but the trim will be kalameined, or metal covered. The desks will have wood tops. "But in case of fire in any room, you could shut the door and let the flames burn themselves out without any other damage being done to the building," it was said. —Flushing's new railroad station will have two stories of brick and granite, 92x39 feet. It will be situated on Grove street, 110 feet from Main.