Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 94, no. 2424: Articles]: August 29, 1914

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REAL ESTATE AND i^ BUILDERS NEW YORK, AUGUST 29, 1914 liiiiiiiiiiiii^^ jMiiffliiaMMmiiiiiiiiMUiiM^^^^^^^^^ PORT ORGANIZATION A PRESSING NEED I Its Importance Far in A(dvance of Anything We Have to Do For the Future of New York— Would Help Business More Than New Subways Will. laiiiiiiiiiiiwiw^^^^^^^^^^ THK outbreak of war on three conti¬ nents, involving the principal ex¬ porting nations, is regarded in real estate councils as another notice to the City of New Vork to .get ready for a larger oversea trade. The port should be reorganized in order that the railroad and steamship terminals may be proper¬ ly connected together and administereil under uniform public control. Writing to the Record and Guide, a prominent member of the Real Estate Board says the importance of this sub¬ ject is far in advance of anything that we have to do for the future of Xew Vork. He says further: "As a broad proposition, the three hundred million dollars spent on sub¬ ways would be giving a far better re¬ turn to the city if the money had l>een appropriated for dock improvements. "Thc history of the city indicates through its statistics for fifty y^ars that New York grows exactly in the same proportion as her commerce grows. "Every deepening of her waterways is a direct addition to her commercial power and activity. And every absorp¬ tion of her waterfront by private parties, every fiUing-in of w-ater area (like the new Shore Road at Bay ^ Ridge) is a blow to her supremacy. Private in¬ terests would long ago have destroyed much of the value of the port of New York had it not l>een for the I-'ederal Government." What Needs to Be Done. The foregoing indicates the feeling with which port improvements, planned or contemplated, are now regarded by the substantial interests of Manhattan Borough. The subways were a neces¬ sary social reform. They will greatly benefit the outer zones of the city. Hut it is beginning to be realized that the city has become so very large that the suburbs may be very busy with building operations without the older sections of the city getting much benefit from it. An enlarged commerce induced by ade¬ quate facilities would, on the other hand. give new strength to the heart action of the whole city. An eminent authority on port organ¬ ization who has favored the Record and Guide with his counsel but wishes to remain in the background, says the city should promptly adopt a comprehensive plan for the organization of the port as other cities and ports have done. At present. New Vork is drifting without any public policy, which is most detri¬ mental to its interests. Piecemeal con¬ sideration of parts of plans will result in complicated and expensive reorgan¬ ization problems later on. Both at South Brooklyn and on the west side of Manhattan, the unfortunate delay in adopting a policy, which has continued for so many years, should be terminat¬ ed. Going into particulars, the author¬ ity referred to advises; Marginal Railroads. "1. Marginal railroads behind the dock fronts should be public roads always under full municipal control, even if private railroad operation shall be per- HOX. R. A. C. SMITH. Commissioner Docks and Ferries. mitted. The city cannot maintain con¬ trol over these lines if it permits the railroads to build them, or if it permits long leases to the roads. "2. Railroad transportation over these marginal roads back of the dock should lie as public and unobstructed as water transportation in front of the docks. Treat All Railroads Alike. "3. The public marginal road on the west side of Manhattan should be con¬ structed with the intention of serving the needs of all the railroads, including those now' terminating in New Jersey as well as the Ncw York Central. Some people think this road should be a sub¬ way; others, that it should be an elevat¬ ed road. Commercial opinion of the city and of the Dock Department favors an elevated structure. If, however, a sub¬ way is convenient and practicable, then a subway freight line should be con¬ structed. "It is purely a question of railroad engineering and one which cannot be decided in an offhand, cocksure way during a political campaign. The main point is that such a marginal road should be promptly planned and built. In no other way can the disgraceful and expensive congestion along the Hudson River docks be terminated, or the surface truck nuisance of the New York Central abated, or room provided for ships instead of railroad car floats at the waterfront. "4. Since the great public terminals at South Brooklyn and West Manhat¬ tan will be profitable enterprises, there is no excuse for permitting them to be privately exploited. Sufficient profit can be extracted from their operation to pay interest and amortization charges; and New York, like all other seaports, should at the outset plan for public terminals such as already exist at San Erancisco, New Orleans and Montreal. Adds to Food Costs. "5. The inefficiency of present termin¬ als at New York adds enormously to the cost of food, and one of the im¬ perative city needs is wholesale rail¬ road terminal markets with public cold storage attachments where the food sup¬ plies of the city will be received and distributed to the retailers. The present terminal system is wasteful and facili¬ tates conspiracies in restraint of trade among the jobbers and retailers to the disadvantage of the farmers on the one hand and city consumers on the other." The New Long Piers. In carrying out the task set before the City of New York to supplv facil¬ ities for the maritime commerce of the world requiring facilities at Manhattan Island, the Department of Docks and Ferries is building two remarkable piers between 44th and 48th streets. North River. The plan in course of execution will provide one entire pier in the line of W^est 46th street and a half pier in the line of 44th street, which can read¬ ily be converted into one entire pier by going back into the land south of 44th street. These structures will I>c 1,050 feet in length and 150 feet in width, with slips between them of 3oO feet in width. The slips will be dredg¬ ed and excavated to a depth of 44 feet below mean low water, allowing ample accommodation for the longest and deepest steamshios now entering the port or likely to arrive here for a nuiti- ber of years to come. The pier and a half will furnish three berths which will be sufficient for some time to take care of all the largest passenger steamships. Commissioner R. A. C. Smith has said that the terminal when completed will provide the finest and most accessible wharfage accommodations to be found in any harbor in the world. It will mean that passengers will be landed from the largest liners at a point of unrivaled accessibility to the center of the city with its largest hotels and rail¬ road depots only a few minutes from the terminal. Unusual Engineering. The construction of these piers has involved unique engineering problems. The site selected is located over a slielv- ing rock ledge 20 feet below mean low water at the inshore end and from 44 to 50 feet below mean low water at a point approximately 220 feet from the present shore line. In order to remove this sub-aqueous rock it is necessary to uncover it by holding back the waters of the Hudson River by means of a temporary dam and by blastine it out in the dry. This method is not only considerably cheaper than its removal by blasting under water, but makes it possible to complete the work in a much more satisfactory manner. ^ As a preliminary to the construc¬ tion of the temporary dam a contract was let for the dredging away of all soft material covering the rock. The