Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 73, no. 1868: January 2, 1904

Text version:

RECORD AND GUIDE January 2, 1904. precautions, negligent. So far as the veneering of the theatres is concerned, we all know that the architects, with the support bf the owners of the theatres can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on sham decorations, but cannot afford to spend the smaller sum required to make the veneer less com¬ bustible. It is these facts that theatre-goers should keep m mind. What is needed above all is stipulations in the building law which will reduce to the lowest possible point the danger of such accidents, and the rigorous enforcement of these stipula¬ tions As little responsibility as possible should be left to the management of the theatre, because habitual immunity will al¬ ways make the various officials careless. The sections bearing on theatres in tbe New York law are more stringent now than ever before; they are more stringent than the corresponding provisions of the code in Chicago, but they are still not strin¬ gent enough. THE admission of the Fuller Company into the Employers' Association completes for practical purposes the organ- fzation of the building trades of New York City. The weakness of the association from the start consisted in the fact that it did not include the largest single employer of labor in the city, and had the Fuller Company cooperated throughout with the other employers, the recalcitrant unions would have been brought to terms much sooner than in the point of fact they were. But if the Employers' Association could win their fight without the assistance of the Fuller Company, how much strong¬ er will it be when it can dictate also the labor policy of that big organization! It has the power, in case of any infringe¬ ment of the arbitration agreement, of locking out probably ninety per cent, of the mechanics employed in the building trades; and the separate members of the associa¬ tion are under bonds to abide by any decision taken by the association for the general good of the trade. It is safe to say .that this association is the most powerful engine that has yet been forged by employers for the purpose of establishing satisfactory relations with their employees. The very complete¬ ness of the organization is sufficient evidence of the intolerable character of the evils which brought it about, for only under the pressure of extreme necessity would employers sacrifice so com¬ pletely their right of dealing individually with the mechanics in their employ. As it is, the labor unions are confronted by an organization even more powerful than their own, but one which has shown a disposition to deal fairly with them. It has made no unreasonable demands. It has attacked none of the princi¬ ples essential to unionism. On the contrary, it has solidified such unionism by recognizing it in the most complete and un¬ equivocal way. All that it has tried to do is to prevent arbitrary strikes, and in so doing, to lay the foundation of a sort of ■building trades council which will adjust on some equitable basis the relations between the employers and their employees. How this agreement will work in times of building activity is, of course, a doubtful matter. The mechanics will hardly stand by it if they find that it bars the way towards any increase in wages, while the employers undoubtedly believe that wages are even now higher than is good for building activity. The vital question of wages is not, however, likely to come up in the immediate future; and, perhaps, by the time it does come up the arbitration agreement will be so firmly established that it cau ■ stand even the strain of an acrid controversy about wages. In any case, however, a long step has been taken toward the ef¬ ficient organization of the building trades, and one which reflects the utmost credit upon the employers who have thought out the scheme and have carried it through. It places New York in the front rank of those American cities that are tiTing to solve the labor problem in the building trades on a just and permanent THE appointment of Thomas J. Brady by Borough President Ahearn as the Superintendent of the Building Department is one which will be welcome to the building trades of the city. Mr. Brady, besides his experience as a builder, has been so long identified with the Department itself under previous adminis¬ trations that he is peculiarly well qualifled for the position; and the general satisfaction which he has given to architects and builders in the past will no doubt be continued during his new term of office. Attention, Real Estate Corporations. The annual number of the Record & Guide Quarterly will go to press early in January. All real estate corporations desiring to have their name in the directory of corporations, must send us the names of their ofRcerB and addresses at once. The Northward Residential riovement, INTERESTING PHASES DESCRIBED—FUTURE OF SEC¬ TION NORTH OF lOOTH STREET, BETWEEN FIFTH AND MADISON AVENUES. New York, December 18th, 1903. 7V Ihe. Editor of The Record and Guide: The movement which was recently startrd and is still in prog¬ ress of purchases in the section between Fifth and Madison ave- : nues, lOOth to 110th street, has created comments in the real estate columns of various newspapers which are interesting, par¬ ticularly in the light of what the same papers have stated in the past regarding the neighborhood iii question. We now hear that the Carnegie Heights boom bubble has burst and that the specu¬ lators who have purchased land with the idea of selling it to builders for the erection of high class dwellings have tired of their bargains and are glad to dispose of their holdings at a sacrifice; that the land north of 96th street is at a low -^.Isva- tion and would require special precautions when building is at¬ tempted; that it is only suitable for tensments; that Mt. Sinai Hospital will naturally impede any progress north of 100th street; that it is still an open question as to the Fifth avenue frontages and many other similar statements. There are natur¬ ally differences of opinion on every subject, but it strikes me forcibly that the views which I have cited are far from correct and that it-is simply a case of drifting with the tide, rather than taking a far-sighted view of 'the situation. As a matter of fact, regarding which there can be no argument, the residential centre is continually working its way northward. The southerly pa^t of Manhattan Island is developing as a business district. The section between Fourth and Sixth avenues, 1.4th and 23d streets, which was formerly residential only, has undergone a complete; transformation. Fifth avenue from 23d to 4Sth street is rapidly developing in a business way. An immense tract is being cleared for the New York Central Railroad yards. What will become of the foi-mer residents of these and many other sections where trade Is making inroads? The march of progress cannot be stopped, and residences further north must be selected. Who would have dreamed ten years ago that Fifth avenue and adja¬ cent streets between 79th and 9(>th streets would be improved as they have been? Take for example the mansions of Mr. Phipps at Fifth avenue and STth street; Mr. Carnegie's, at 91st street and Fifth avenue; Mr. Burden, Jr.'s, and Mr. Hammonds, on 91st street, between Fifth and Madison avenues, and Mr. Burden Sr.'s, at 92d street and Fifth avenue. What do these unusually high class improvements signify? Their influence on the value of surrounding land is such that it is impossible ta erect any but superior buildings in the neighborhood on account of the high price of land. It is the consensus of opinion among leaders m the world or finance that we are now entering upon a period of temporary depression, which is caused by over-production of securities (?) and by labor differences which result in lack of confidence on tht part of capitalists. During such periods, conservative men hus- bc'.nd their resources and do not enter into new ventures. In order to carry the burden of unimproved property for a term of years great financial strength is required. The result is that land which at the present tim-e is in the hands of speculators will be disposed of to the highest bidder, and it is quite possible that lots north of 100th street will be temporarily improved 'by th- building of fiats. I say temporarily, because there is no' doubt in my mind that during the next period of upbuilding, when the furoaces all over the country are again fired, these flats will be razed to the ground to make room for costly resi¬ dences as the trend continues northward. The Fifth avenue frontages as far as 110th street are in strong hands and will be carried by them. ,,.,.. -inn*>. Surveyors will tell you that the elevation of land at 100th street is just as great as it was two years ago, when large pur¬ chases were made. They will also tell you that the elevation at 100th street and Fifth avenue is as great as at 64th street and Fifth avenue, which is to-day looked upon as the choicest sec¬ tion between 59th and 110th streets. The Mt. Sinai Hospital at 100th street will not interfere with the ultimate development of the section any more than the Pres¬ byterian Hospital interfered with the development of the section north of 71st street between Park and Madison avenues, or St. Luke's Hospital at Fifth avenue and 54th street interfered^ with improvements in the neighborhood. I firmly believe that within ten, or at the most fifteen, years not a flat will be standing on land south of 110th street, between Madison and Fifth avenues. This statement may strike those -who are not students of the subject as being a dream, or perhaps the idea of an interested party, but as I am not the fortunate possessor of any land in the section under discussion, I am not prejudiced, but have leased my conclusions on natural conditions and past experience. The waves of progress continue to roll on —they occasionally recede, but only temporarily. CAREFUL OBSERVER. Board of Brokers' Diary. The diary and manual of the Real Estate Board of Brokers for 1904 was issued this week. It contains a large amount of In¬ formation useful to all persons interested in real estate, and Is even more complete than in former years.