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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 85, no. 2205: June 18, 1910

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June i8, 1910 KJfilJUKU AJSU UVlUti 1295 mm. TOftM P RP^'■ EsTAjt-SinLoiffe AR):j(iTECTJii,E',KousnfoU)DEoanjUMt Bifsnfess Alb Themes of GEjiER^lIrfrERfsi.^ PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Commuulcatloas should be addresfleA to C. W. SWEET Tublisffed Etierg Saturdag By THE RECORD AND GUIDE CO. President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F, W. DODGE Vice-Prea. & GenL Mgr., H. W. DESMOND Secretary. F. T. MILLER Nos. 11 to IS East 24tlt Street, New Vark CUt (Telephone, Madison Square, 4130 to 4433.) "Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. v., ns second-class matter." Copyriglited. 1010, by The Record Se Guide Co, Vol. LXXXV. JUNE 18, 1910. No. 2205 THE summary of ten ement-bouse construction under tlie new law, recently prepared liy the Tenement House De¬ partment, contains some interesting facts. Since the new law went into operation some eight years ago, there have been 1G,133 houses out of a total of about 103,000 houses built in con¬ formity with its provisions. Tbat is, about one-sixth of tlie tenement houses now occupied iu the city are new-law build¬ iugs. The proportion naturally varies very much among diff¬ erent boroughs. In Maniiattan only one-tenth of the total have been erected uuder the new law; in Broolvlyn one-sixth; in the Bronx about two-sevenths, and in Queens two-flfths. It must not be supposed, however, that these proportions accurately represent the proportion of the tenement-house population liv¬ ing in the new-law buildings, because the average building erected under the new law bas contained a much larger number of apartments than tbe average building erected under the old law. Thus, in the whole city tliere are 215,000 new-law apart¬ ments out of a total of 855,000, so that about one-fourth of the ten ement-house population lives in tbis class of apartment. But here again conditions vary in the different boroughs. In Man¬ hattan the proportion of new-law apartments is a little more than one-flfth; in Brooklyn it is a little more than one-fourth, and in the Bronx and Queens the proportion is somewhat less than a half. This is certainly an enormous change to have taken place in somewhat over eight years. "Within that time anywhere from twenty to fifty per cent, of the tenemeut-house population has taiten up its habitation in buildings erected under the new law, and within another similar period, the average will be not far from fifty per cent, for the entire city. Tbis ought to mean a vast improvemeut in healtli and com¬ fort for millions of the inhabitants of the city. THE flgures mentioned above enable us also to make a good guess as to the probable increase in population for the whole city and for the various boroughs. It is fair to assume a population of five for each apartment in these buiklings. In many cases this would be excessive, but, in many other cases, particularly in the congested districts, the actual number would be larger. So far as it is true, it would mean that the tene¬ ment-house population of the city increased from 3,200,000 at tbe end of 1002 to 4,275,000 in the Spring of 1910. This would mean an increase of about 33 per cent, in a little over eight years, or about four per cent, a year. It would also mean that the tenement-house population of Manhattan in a little over eight years had increased from 2,000.000 to 2,550,000; in Brook¬ lyn, from 900,000 to 1,250,000; in the Bronx, from 200,000 to 370,000, and in Queens, from 50.000 to 90,000, These figures are in all probability approximately correct; and the inferences to be taken from them will be confirmed by the census. They mean that the population of Manhattan has risen at tlie rate of about three per cent, a year, that of Brooklyn at ZV2 per cent, and that of the Bronx and Queens at eight or nine per cent, a year. New York's total population should in that case be somewhere between 4,000,000 and 4,700,000, and its an¬ nual increase would now be over 160,000. Three times in the coming decade it will add a city as large as Buffalo to its human area. As a matter of fact, the rates of increase men¬ tioned herewith will probably be diminished during the com¬ ing decade, which is likely to be a period of smaller immigra¬ tion and slower growth. None the less is the time within sight when about 6,500,000 will constitute the population of the city; and when an additional population of some 1,500.000 more in New Jersey wil! contribute to its business. JUST what, will become of the most recent proposal of the Interborough Company does not yet appear, though it is darkly hinted that both the Public Service Commission and the Mayor are inclined to view it with favor. The proposal includes the complete third-tracking of the Ninth, Third and Second avenue lines, the construction of certain additional lines in the Bronx, the connection of the Queensboro Bridge with the Second Avenue Elevated tracks and the connection of the 42d street tunnel with the existing Subway, the con¬ nection to be made on the basis of a five-cent fare. The argu¬ ments in favor of the granting of these proposals are un¬ doubtedly very strong. By these means, and within a couple of years, the city will obtain a very considerable increasf) in its means of communication. The congestion of the elevated roads and particularly on the overcrowded Third avenue line will be mitigated. The Bronx will be benefited both by an im¬ proved .seivice, and by the construction of a much, needed i'd- ditional line. Queens will be so connected with Manhattan that its residents will be able to reach the lower business district of the central borough about as conveniently as can the resi¬ dents of the settled part of the Bronx. AU the improve¬ ments can be completed probably some three years before Jt will be possible to force another Subway into operation; and the cost, amounting to some $30,000,000, will, of courso, be paid entirely by the company. The latter is willing to pay some¬ thing for these additional privileges, but not much, becaus? it will have additional easements to pay to property owner^i a'ong its lines. The object of the plan is, of course, to ivise the existing Interborough system to its highest point of operating efficiency, and the company unquestionably expects to profit considerably from the proposed improvements. The extent of its prospective profits can be very well measured by the persist¬ ence with whicii the management of the company returns to proposals of this kind. For years it has sought to obtain these privileges and it has not been discouraged by constant denials; and it is easy to understand the advantages it expects to gain. The improvements all affect those parts of its system for which it owns long franchises, and they will enable tbe com¬ pany to compete more effectually than it can ou the basis of its present equipment with any future Subways. It will be able to hold, that is, a much larger proportion of its traffic in case The Third and Ninth avenue lines are practically paral¬ leled by four-tracked underground roads. THE Record and Guide believes that the local authorities, in deciding upon the acceptance or the rejection of these proposals, should be governed chiefly by the prob^le extent to which the granting of the privileges will diminish the value of competing Subway concessions. The carrying out of the company's plans would undoubtedly be a great boon to cer¬ tain parts of New York City, but the resulting improvement in the transit service would not constitute any substitute for Subway construction. The proposed improvements, in so far as they turn upon third tracks ■ on the elevated roads, are makeshifts which merely perpetuate an inferior class of tran¬ sit service. They are worth having, but only in case they will not embarrass the city in building and leasing Subways on the most favorable terms. The Record and Guide is not in any position to judge whether or not as a matter of fact the complete third-tracking of ,the elevated roads would diminish the value of competing ■ Subway routes. But, if the com¬ mission is in any doubt about the matter, it will soon have an opportunity of instituting a test. In a few weeks it will advertise for bids on the Broadway-Lexington avenue route, which would compete to some extent with the Third avenue "L" road. If bidders for the Lexington avenue Subway should seriously object to the possible competition, and modify their bids in consequence, the Third avenue improvement would un¬ doubtedly be costing more than it would be worth. On the whole, the Record and Guide does not believe that the pro¬ posed third-tracking of Third avenue line would seriously hurt the trafflc on a Lexington avenue Subway, but as loug as such may be the case, the proposals of the Interborough Company should not be seriously considered until after the contract for the new Subway has been let. The fact is, of course, that everything depends upon the reception which is accorded to the route and the plan of the Public Service Commission. If a satisfactory contractor is obtained on the commission's own terms, and without auy considerable ex-