crown CU Home > Libraries Home
[x] Close window

Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Use your browser's Print function to print these pages.

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 92, no. 2368]: August 2, 1913

Real Estate Record page image for page ldpd_7031148_052_00000251

Text version:

Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view About OCR text.
REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, AUGUST 2, 1913 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■^^^ .....:a!!!ll|iJ!lllilllilillM^^^^^^^^^^ .....;........'«!:fi155a!IIIIIIIilllliM^^^^ i HOW THE SUBWAYS WILL AID REAL ESTATE Building Operations Will Be Stimulated Anew and Land Values Increased—The City Will Be Amply Repaid For Its Investment.* By FRANK HEDLEY, Vice-President and General Manager of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. 1 ■JI ■BPW )|i4(uuiunininiuiiiitnuiiii!niinH|||i|iiii|U|i|fiii|i3)^ t|ni|||ii|i{iji|iiiiiiiiii]iii.....ifiiiiiiiiiiii[miunniiiiiii.....niiBiHiiiDaiiinniiii IIMffll III TRAN.SPORTATIOX facilities forma topic that has been uppermost in the public mind, particularly in large cities, because of their personal contact with every individual and the large part they take in his having convenient access to his destination and a comfortable mode of traveling thereto. The New York Railway Company's lines carry about 1,200,000 passengers a day, the great majority of whom, par¬ ticularly on week days, move in a southerly direction in the morning and in a northerly direc¬ tion at night, and in each instance in about two hours' time. The simile of the neck of the bot¬ tle has often been used as an illustra¬ tion of this condi¬ tion, while that of the funnel is equally applicable, the trav¬ eling public pouring through the narrow part. In many cities the business or general delivery district, as it is often termed, is, geographically, relatively near the centre, as, for in¬ stance, in Chicago, and to a somewhat less degree in Phila¬ delphia, and also Boston, where the car lines radiate from the centre of the city like spokes from the hub of a wheel. In Manhat¬ tan, however, the sit¬ uation is quite the reverse, while south of Fourteenth street the conditions are still further complicated by the narrow¬ ness of the streets and the increasing amoimt of vehicular traffic due to the marvelous growth of the city during the last decade. Buildings Higher, But Streets No Wider. Buildings of twenty, thirty, forty and in some cases of more than fifty stories are replacing buildings of siXj eight and ten stories, and consequently housing vastly increased numbers of persons, but yet the width of the streets remains as it was one hundred years ago. As a re¬ sult, not only are certain thoroughfares choked with pedestrian traffic practically all day, but the vehicles themselves, while greater in number, are also larger than they were, because the small de¬ livery wagon is now rapidly being re¬ placed by the automobile. A few facts regarding our elevated »From an address delivered by Mr. Hedley before the Electric Club of Chicago. and subway lines I think will be of in¬ terest. On the elevated lines steam operation was in vogue until 1903 when electricity superseded steam. The pres¬ ent minimum interval on the elevated is fifty-two seconds. The subway was opened October 27, 1904. At that time the interval run was lYz minutes with 8-car express trains. Today we are running 10-car express trains on a minimum interval of a min¬ ute and forty-eight seconds, at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour, including is I from Subway Workings. LEXINGTON .WENUE SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION stops, thus increasing the capacity over the initial operation 72 per cent. With our original subway operation on a two and a half minute interval our trains exceeded the schedule running time to a greater extent than is the case at present. Now, even with the heavy con¬ gestion we have, our trains are gener¬ ally on time or but a few minutes late during the heavy rush. The Most Recent Improvements. This we have been enabled to do by reason of the installation of speed con¬ trol, the lengthening of station platforms and by the reduction in the station stops. The speed control signals are placed at the approach of all express stations on both the local and express tracks, and, while one train is unloading and loading in the station, the following train is per¬ mitted by these signals to approach safely under a predetermined rate of speed to within a short distance of the rear of the preceding train. Should the motorman exceed the pre¬ determined speed, the automatic trip being in up position would set the brakes just as would be done by running by any signal at danger. This, you will see, is absolutely safe operation and per¬ mits the second train to make the sta¬ tion stop in the very least possible time after the preceding train has left the sta¬ tion. We have also equipped our motor cars with flash-light signals so that the motorman receives the flash when all doors are closed, thereby saving the time of the hand signal being sent through the train. This is done by means of the use of one of the circuits in the jumper or connecting cable be¬ tween the cars. There are times, of course, when this signal circuit fails (sometimes only for a station or two on the trip) in which event the men resort to the bell signal. The Leap in Prop¬ erty Values. The increase in the assessed valua¬ tion of real estate in the Borough of The Bronx in New York City from 1903 to 1912 illustrates the return to the city of the money advanced by it for increasing the transportation facilities of the peo¬ ple. Until the transit lines were ex¬ tended to the outlying districts with a single five-cent fare, the majority of the population were forced to remain in Man¬ hattan Borough, and only because it was beyond their means to pay more than one fare, which would be necessary if they lived outside Manhattan and had to come there to work. The time con¬ sumed in going to and fro was also a very important element, and in conse¬ quence unsanitary tenements were crowded to a degree affecting not only the health but the morals of the people. It is the duty of the public authori¬ ties to see that the citizens are properly cared for in regard to their transit needs at all times, and the investment of the city funds in improving transportation faculties is just as necessary as the ap¬ propriations for education, public im¬ provements, etc. In the City of New York the report of the engineers employed by the munici¬ pality forced the authorities to the view E.xoavated .Mattriai