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REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 27, 1915
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I HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS TO HELP REALTY
The Pending River and Harbor Bill Carries Provisions that, by
Widening the Channel, Will Enhance East Side Property Values
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NOTHING has been more intimately
associated with the healthy devel¬
opment of real estate in the city than
the improvements of New York harbor.
The industrial and commercial suprem¬
acy of the city has been founded upon
the peculiar and advantageous location
of New York as a trade medium be¬
tween foreign ports and the entire coun¬
try. The early development of the city
was due primarily to shipping, but of
recent years, through a lack of knowl¬
edge rather than other reasons, real
estate interests have overlooked the im¬
portance of proper harbor development.
At the present time the Rivers and
Harbors Bill is before Congress for con¬
sideration, and the Advisory Council of
Real Estate Interests feels that the vari¬
ous associations throughout the city
the East and North rivers. Much can
be accomplished if the various real
estate associations would only display
more energy to get things for their com¬
munity as has been done by many of the
small cities and coast towns throughout
the country.
Why East Side Real Estate Falters.
A careful examination of the maps of
the War Department would show that
real estate has depreciated in value
along those sections of the river front
where the bed has not been deepened
for a number of years. In fact, extend¬
ing along the greater part of the Man¬
hattan side of the East River there are
no facilities for accommodating large-
draft vessels, simply because the water
is less than thirty feet in depth. Ex¬
tending from Grand street to 33rd street
The shifting of commercial houses
from the East to the North River and
over to New Jersey is due entirely to
the insufiicient appropriation by Con¬
gress to our harbor development. In
fact, unless the channels already existing
are deepened, further commercial prog¬
ress will be seriously handicapped.
There would be no additional expense
to the city or the taxpayers, because
this appropriation is rightfully due to
the city by Congress, in return for the
taxes that go from the city into the na¬
tional treasury. The Harbor Commit¬
tee of the Advisory Council, consisting
of Messrs. Thomas M. Mulry, Cyrus C.
Miller, Alfred E. Marling, Willard V.
King and Frederick B. Pratt, would be
glad to arrange for a conference with
any association particularly interested in
this subject.
WEST SIDE WATERFRONT IMPROVEMENTS IN PROGRESS.
should impress on their Congressmen
the importance of having the appropri¬
ation for New York harbor increased,
and simultaneously requesting that an
amendment to the bill to be made so as
to secure an increase in the width of
the forty-foot channel within the boun¬
daries of the port of New York, with a
view also to securing a depth of thirty
feet above the boundaries of the port.
Justice Requires It
Today, through the Customs House
and the various federal taxes levied upon
its citizens, the city of New York con¬
tributes a large annual sum to the na¬
tional government. In return for the
financial benefit accruing to the govern¬
ment, it is but reasonable to expect that
instead of developing practically un¬
known ports throughout the country and
rivers scarcely navieable. Congress
should contribute to a deepening of both
there is a long reef where the rocks are
no lower from the water level than
sixteen feet.
Along the shore of this extensive reef
there is an area of land with many
houses that still bear visible evidences of
a once prosperous and busy business lo¬
cality, whose usefulness, however, passed
along with the decadence of the sailing
craft, and now the houses are chiefly de¬
crepit tenements and junk storages, the
business formerly there having gone to
congest already crowded areas. With an
appropriation of a few million dollars
it would be possible for many of the
large trans-Atlantic steamers to have
their wharves here. Today a vessel
drawing more than twenty-five feet can¬
not navigate successfully in these waters,
while it is necessary for many of the
vessels to utilize the narrow channel in
the center of the river, in order to reach
their terminals in lower Queens.
Another matter which the Advisory
Council considers of vital importance at
this time, which all associations should
carefully watch, is the question of the
abandoned canal lands up-State. When
the new barge canals are placed in oper¬
ation a large part of the land now used
by the Erie Canal will be abandoned.
This canal passes through very valuable
sites in Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester,
and many of the small up-State cities.
These canal lands are of considerable
value, and the Council feels there should
either be a constitutional amendment or
adequate legislation providing that, as
they are abandoned, they should be com¬
pletely appraised and a law enacted pro¬
hibiting their sale at less than such ap¬
praised values.
It has been estimated that these lands
are worth anywhere from between ten
to two hundred million dollars, and New
York City's share would be large.