Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 88, no. 2267: August 26, 1911

Text version:

August 26, 1911. RECORD AND GVIUE 281 fares—was 187,587,341; during the same period in 1910 the number was 194,503,303, an increase of 3.72 per cent. These flgures covered all the surface systems in Manhattan. The average cash fare per passenger was 3.203 cents in 1001 and 3.401 in 1010. The average daily in¬ crease in revenue passengers in 1010, com¬ pared with 1007, was 37,012, or 0.38 per cent.; and the average daily decrease in transfer passengers, 187,584, or 15,(7 per cent. Mr. Wood's figures, while hearing more particularly upon the relationship Ibe¬ tween transfers and cash fares in Man¬ hattan, disclose incidentally a considerable increase in the total volume of travel. For the purpose of throwing some furlher light on the subject of traffic increases, the flgures contained in the recently pub¬ lished annual report of the Public Service Commission for 1010 may be cited here. They refer to the city as a whole. The rides per capita were 303.0 in 1000 and 320.0 in 1010. If children under flve years of age, for whom no fares are charged, are excluded from the population flgures, the number of rides per capita last vear was a'bout equal to one ride ea;Ch day "in the year for every person in the city. , By comparing last year's figures with those for preceding years, it is seen that street railway travel is increasing much more rapidly than is population. This phenomenon has been observed ever since the introduction of street railway trans¬ portation, but it is evident that some spe¬ cial meaning must be attached to any notable increase in a year when the track mileage remained unchanged, as was tbe case last year. The Public Service Com¬ mission makes no attempt to explain its figures. However, there can ibe no doubt that the remarkable growth of travel last year and, indeed, in recent years, must be attributable largely to the concentration of retail stores, hotels, clubs and theatres in mid-town Manhattan. The McAdoo tunnel, for example, has made it easier for New Jersey shoppers to make their purchases in the "city," rather than in Newark or in some other suburban center. When in Manhattan su¬ burban shoppers freciuenlly buy several fares in going the round of the princip:il stores. This applies, of course, also to shoppers from the outlying boroughs, who oomnionly ride on several lines merely to reach their flrst destination in Manhat¬ tan. Fares, then, are growing relatively more numerous because an increasing pro¬ portion of the population in the metro¬ politan area is induced by motives of business or recreation to visit the central district, and ibecause *e disconnected transportation systems are not planned with reference to cheapness or conven¬ ience of travel. These facts should be taken inlo consideration in planning the new rapid transit system, A high num¬ ber of fares indicates an undue expendi¬ ture on the part of the average wage earner. ^_____ The Week In Real Estate. T'he volume of business transacted this week iuManhattan real estate was slight¬ ly in excess of that of last week, hut there was no particular iniprovement in the character of the trading. The sales were fairly well distributed in the various sections, but selling was largely confined to small parcels, and there w^as a very noticeahle lack of activity on the promi¬ nent thoroughfares. In spite of the fact that real estate is quite inactive, and that business condi¬ tions at large are not of the best, there seems to be no lack of activity on the part of those who furnish amusements to the public. An unusual number of theatres and mo¬ tion picture houses have been planned of late, not oniy in the more remote sec¬ tions of the city, but in the heart of the theatrical district. Last week a plot on 42d street was leased for use as a house of melodrama, and this week another par¬ cel was leased for a small theaire. This will make eight theatres on the block be¬ tween Broadw-ay and Sth avenue. The largest transaction on the West Side was the sale of Regent Had, at the corner of Broadway and 123d street. The onlv other interesting sale in that section of "the city was the purchase of the va¬ cant lot at 3 Riverside Drive for im¬ provement with a dwelling. This disposes of one of the two remaining vacant plots on the Drive south of SSth sireet. The other is a large plot at the south corner of 7Sth street, which has never actually been in the market for sale. The section bet-(\'een 72d and 76th streets is the only part of Riverside Drive exclusively given over to private houses, and in view of the changed conditions on this thorough¬ fare, it is unlikely that many more resi¬ dences will ever be built there. It is reported that contracts were signed this week for the sale of the plot at 35 to 39 West 45th street, to Judson S, Todd for improvement with a loft huilding. Tnis property has been in the market for some time, but there are eertfiin rcstrictiGns against it which have heretofore prevent¬ ed a sale. One of these restrictimis, that against use for business purposes, could no doubt be removed by application to the court, but the other is a more serious obstacle. In an old deed there was a fifteen-foot setback which was made in favor of the owner of the adjoining property on the east. This latter plot is now owned hy builders who contemplate the erection of a loft building on the site, and as a set¬ back would furnish the new building with an excellent light shaft, il is probable that the restriction can only be removed bv the payment of a substantial consider¬ ation. This condition, which was not known by the builders when they ibought the parcel, serves to illustrate how New York owners are often able to proflt by entirely unforeseen circumstances. The only other sale of any importance involved the plot at 154 and 156 West 27lh .street. This property was acciuired by the seller last year, and it is understood that the present buyer will improve the site. It has been expected for some time that the recent improvement in the neigh¬ borhood of the Grand Central Station and the efforts which have been made to have the railroad improve Park avenue, would result in the rebuilding of that thorough¬ fare with substantial structures. The flrst indication of such a rebuilding was fur¬ nished this week, by the filing ol" plans for a twelve-storv apartment house on the avenue, near 53d street. If the ave¬ nue is covered over in this section in the same way that it is above seth street, there is no reason why a number of simi¬ lar structures should not be erected there. Plans have also been approved for a new mercantile huilding on the plot recently acquired by Henry Corn, at the south¬ west corner of Broadway and 21st street. A loan of $850,000 has been obtained for the project from the Metropolitan Life In¬ surance Co. This section of Broadway has been comparatively inactive of late and a new structure there is rather a rarity. Plans were drawn some weeks ago for a twenty-four-story building on the 22d street corner, which also runs through lo Sth avenue, but as yet nothing has been definitely settled in regard to this plot. The Rhinelander Waldo house, at 2S East 72d street, which, together wilh its long vacant neighbor on the Madison ave¬ nue corner, has been a subject of much litigation, was again put up at auction this w^eek, in foreclosure proceedings. Mrs. Waldo offered no bid and the property went lo the plaintiff for i|;60,000. which was somewhat less than the total encum¬ brances. The Madison avenue house was sold at foreclosure over a. year ago and was also bid in by the parties at interest. According to partition proceedings which were instituted this week another valua¬ ble 5th avenue corner will shortly be of¬ fered at auction, T'he property in cpies- lion is the southwest corner of Slst street, which is owned by the Gibert family. The plot is covered by an altered building occupied bv the Mauser Manufacturing- Co. silversmiths, under a long-term lease. The lea^e was made about eight years ago, at the time when this section of the avenue was feeling the effect of another boom. A fair amount of business leasing w^as reported, but no very large leases were closed. Apartment leasing continues ac¬ tive, especially on the West Side, btit ibrokers report that there is very little demand for private houses. The ti'onx continues to be extremely inactive, the onlv market being for small building lots which can he picked up below the ordi¬ nary value. -—■----------------—«-----------------------------------------■ Really League Opposes the Charter. Editor of the Recohd axd Guide: Section 110 of the proposed charter makes the Chairman of the Finance Com¬ mittee of the Board of Aldermen a mem¬ ber of the Board of Estimate. This is all wrong. We should decrease rather than increase the Aldermen's powers. The Realty League will ask for the restoration of Section 1554-a. concerning the use 01 patented articles in buildings anci public places. It is Chapter 031. Laws lOOo, In that year an inventor tried to force upon property owners a patentecl ^'■Ji'^'e which we estimated would cost about $0,000,000 if generallv adopted throughout the city. It was verv much like a device already in use which'was satisfactory. This Section 1554-a was probably omitted to please some grafter. . , .„ Please note also that hearings begin about September 15 before the Governor's Safety Commission appointed to consider tile prevention of flres and the safety of factory workers. ALFRED R. CONKLING. New York, Aug. IS. Safeguarding investors. Editor of tin: Record an'd Gu(db: Chapter S61 of the laws of 1911 amends Section 219 of the Banking Law by ad¬ dition of the following: "No mortgage shall be taken upon vacant land whereby the total investment of any association in such unimproved real estate, either as security for loans or by title of owner¬ ship, when taken together, shall exceed fifteen per centum of the accumulated capital of such lassociation. For the pur¬ poses of this article, the term 'vacant' or 'uiDlmproved' land or real estate shall be construed to mean all land the value of which exceeds the appraised value of the income-producing improvements there¬ on. Loans secured by mortgages of va¬ cant land shall not exceed flfty per centum of the actual value thereof," This amendment has been operative siince the 29th day of July, 1911. As you will note, .this new section of the Banking Law is in the nature of a safeguartS. Co-operative savings and loan associations lend their money only on flrst mortgages on improved real estate. This new law is intended for concerns that trade under their name and do a. specu¬ lative real estate business, A. W. McEWAN. New York, August 14. A Setback for Street Adverlisments. It looks as if the slreei-car and other defacing advertisements must all go, in the light of a recent, far-reaching decision of the United States Supreme Court, New York City has an ordinance that no ad¬ vertising trucks, vans or wagons shall be allowed in its streets, under a penalty of ten dollars for each offense. Under this ordinance the authorities sought to re¬ strain the corporation operating stages on Fifth Avenue from displaying advertise¬ ments on the ouside of its 'buses. The Court of Appeals of the State held that the use of stages for advertising purposes was not a necessary or essential incident of the company's franchise giving it the right to carry passengers. Appealed lo the United Stales Supreme Court, the de¬ cision of the lower court was affirmed, Mr. Justice McKenna in his opinion holding that, if the right claimed by the Fifth Avenue Stage Company actually existed, it existed also in the case of all wagon owners, "and there might be such a fan¬ tastic panorama on the streets of New York that objection to it could not be said to have prompting only in an ex¬ aggerated esthetic sense." The ordinance does not interfere with business notices on ordinary business wagons when en¬ gaged in the regular work of the owner and not principally for advertising pur¬ poses,—"Leslie's." The Plain Truth. It is inconceivable that in planning the new .subways for New York City, the au¬ thorities overlooked the need of a sub¬ way on Seventh avenue lo connect with the magniflcent new Pennsylvania Rail¬ road station. The Pennsylvania and Long Island railroads, in addition to be¬ ing the largest taxpayers of the cily, carry thirty million persons in and out of New York yearly, and as President Mc¬ Crea points out, "By their traffic they do as much as any other corporation to main- lain the commercial supremacy of New York City," What are the city authori¬ ties thinking about when they neglect the welfare of the public in this flagrant way? This is a pertinent inquiry and we are glad that it has been raised. It should re¬ ceive prompt consideration.—"Leslie's," Sprinklers far Loft Buildings. Fire Commissioner Johnson is about to order sprinklers installed in more than two hundred loft buildings in lower Man; hattan. The courts have decided that he has power lo do this. At least 00 per cent, of the loft build¬ ings in lower Manhattan are protected in this manner. Of the loft buildings which have been inspected the 40 per cent which are unprotected by automatic sprinkler service are without doubt the greatest menace to human life by fire now existing in New York City, These buildings are more than two hundred in number. Most