Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 93, no. 2410: Articles]: May 23, 1914

Text version:

AND NEW YORK, MAY 23, 1914 ,: j;',.. ;,;V! : ,,, I:, : !\ , ,,,' ., ..:......iliJ-iliiii1li'3!i(fliliJl!i;il!l';;!S,il|lilllll1!Baili;ii;ill3Iiil4!« .'v':-:-^ , , .'■• , . PUBLIC REVOLT AGAINST OVER-REGULATION Borough President Marks' Arraignment of the Lawmakers at Albany For Unreasonable and Needless Building Laws and the Multiplicity of Inspections. .'5'T!Si,lllllll laiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiEi' BIIISIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllBinil! iil!,11i:!IIH;iini|!ii-!ir;i«!llMili«k BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKS and a number of other informed and representative men gave testimony on Monday before the State Factory Investigating Committee concerning the over-regulation of buildings that did not seem to be pleasing to Lieutenant-Gov¬ ernor Wagner and Samuel Gomper.s, members of the commission, or to .A.bram I. Elkus, counsel. Mr. Elkus, especially, seemed reluctant to hear all the facts which the witnesses desired to relate, and endeavored at the outset to confine the testimony to precise in¬ stances of duplication of factory orders with names, places and dates. The members of the committee were not, to say the least, sympathetic hearers. But after the Borough President, City Chamberlain Bruere, Fire Commissioner Adamson and other heads of depart¬ ments had spoken, there was a better appreciation on the part of the commit¬ tee of what property owners in this city have had to contend with for sev¬ eral years from regiments of inspectors, and there was a willingness to concede that there has been an unwarranted number of official visitations and a mul¬ tiplicity of violation orders, if not an actual conflict of authority. It seemed to be the opinion of the committeemen that through some sys¬ tem of conferences between heads of departments, with an interchange and co-ordination of violation orders, much of the annoyance from which owners suffer would be prevented. The oft-re¬ peated sugerestion that New York City be permitted to supervise the erection and maintenance of the buildings with¬ in her own boundaries was not well rc- reived; and Borough President Marks's pertinent ejaculation at one stage of the proceedings that there are "too many laws," evoked no reply. The statement from an early witness that there are no less than thirteen public departments and bureaus sending inspectors to visit buildings, obviously convicted the au¬ thorities of over-regulation, and also created a verv strong implication of a duplication of work, althoufrh Counselor Elkus fought strenuously to defend the State Factory Bureau against the lat¬ ter charge. The Facts Concisely Stated. So clearly and concisely stated are the real facts of the question as they appeared to the real estate owners that no better picture of the situation could be presented than the remarks of the Borough President, which are given here in full, as they have not so ap¬ peared elsewhere: "The duplication of inspections and the conflict of orders issued bv the State, city and borouerh authorities, in connection with the buildings of New York, have reached such a state that both owners and tenants are in despair. "The most important consideration in government is to foster respect for the law. . . . "Recent developments in the activities of conflicting powers have tended to weaken this respect for the law. When the law demands that you swing your BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKS. doors outward, and another law de¬ mands that you change this arrange¬ ment on account of intereference with passers-by on the sidewalk, it is pretty hard to be patient with the law. When a city departraent orders the owner to erect a fire-escape from the .roof to the sidewalk, and he complies with the law, and a borough department issues an or¬ der for the removal of the fire-escape from the sidewalk, on the ground that it is an encumbrance, the citizen be¬ comes demoralized and loses some of his respect for the law. When one de¬ partment eives permission to connect two buildings, so that one fire-escape may answer for both, and another de¬ partment orders fireproof doors to be erected in the openings which have been permitted, there is a wail of despair. "I find that in New York City at least seven departments can send in¬ spectors to a citizen's house or build¬ ing. These are: (1) the Bureau of Buildings, (2) the Fire Prevention Bureau, (3) the Fire Department, (4) the Health Department, (5) the Tene¬ ment House Department, (6) the De¬ partment of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and (7) the License Bureau. Add to this the State Labor inspec¬ tion and we have a total of eight legal inspections which can be made. In ad¬ dition to this, each one of these in¬ spectors has the right to lay down rules and instructions as to what shall or must be done to comply with the law, as his department sees it. Must Call a Halt. "No one can deny that these duplica¬ tions and conflicts come to such a point that we are bound to call a halt. "There are some who feel that New York is not a manufacturing city. They are not posted as to the facts. New Vork is one of the greatest manufactur¬ ing centers in the world, and to drive factories out of New York drives out homes also, because, unless there is an opportunity to earn wages, or to make profits in a factory, there is an equal lack of opportunity to be able to afford a home in the city. Drive out the fac¬ tories and you drive out the homes and make it impossible for working people to live decentlv in our city. "The ill effects will be felt by all classes of the community. Worst of all, this conflict of orders from various departments brings about a lack of re¬ spect for the law. "I have been advised that it is quite likely that the situation will be further complicated by the addition of another authority which is entering the field. The conflict between borough, city and State authority will be increased if the In¬ dustrial Relations Committee, which is now' dealing with manufacturing prob- lerns, should decide upon measures which will again conflict. I hope that this will not happen. A Board of Inspections Suggested. "There are two things to do in hand¬ ling the present situation: The first is to bring about the greatest possible co¬ operation between the Ijeads of the vari¬ ous bureaus under the present laws. "The plan which I have suggested is the establishment of a Board of Inspec¬ tions, and this I have recommended strongly in a letter to the Mayor. This board should be empowered to carry out the orders of all State and city de¬ partments, co-ordinating these orders, and calling attention to conflicts that may arise among them. Thus we would have a clearing house for inspections and orders,_ and instead of eight in¬ spectors visiting the same building, two at. the most would answer all purposes provided they were clothed with the proper authority and supplied with the necessary information. "This would have a beneficial effect in two directions: By means of it the conflict will be reduced almost autc- matically to a minimum. Also, there ■would follow a betterment in the effi¬ ciency of the inspection itself. The men representing several departments would develop greater ability and become en¬ titled to larger salaries in proportion to the grade of work they did. Legislative Relief Needed. "We cannot, however, eliminate the duplication, because the laws must be carried out. Therefore, comes the sec¬ ond method for relief, namely, legisla¬ tion. There must be either a combina¬ tion between more departments under one head, or the establishment of a Joint Board of Inspection. If all de¬ partments sliould place their orders into the hands of such a Joint Board, the officialsof which vyill be authorized to harmonize differences, it would be a great saving to the State and city, as well as the elimination of conflict, which would be greatly appreciated by the citizens. Instead of ei.ylit inspectors Koing into a building and covering a large territory, two inspections would serve the purpose of all the depart¬ ments, and each inspector would have a small territory to cover. The same