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REAL ESTATE
AND
^^ BUILDERS
NEW YORK, APRIL 10, 1915
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HOW PORT DEVELOPMENT IS HINDERED
Shoals Block the Way to Piers for Deep Draught Vessels
So Factories and Warehouses Cannot be Built There
By CYRUS C, MILLER
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IF the charge were made against the
city that it did not pursue business
methods in the development of its own
resources, probably a prompt contra¬
diction would come from the average
citizen, who would say that the city is
spending too much money on the de¬
velopment of its resources".
It is a fact that the city has neglected
for many years the perfectly obvious
development which could be made at a
comparatively small cost, and which
would result in enormous increases in
taxable values.
This is the development of certain of
its waterways, which will be followed by
renewed life and activity in those sec¬
tions of the city which are losing their
value because the water ways adjacent
to them are not suitable for modern
traffic needs. The city has not brought
to bear on Congress the force that it
could, nor has it spent its own money
to effect this increasingly necessary
work. To meet commercial needs the
depth of the channel in the East River
must be made at least 35 feet.
The trafiic of the East River is enor¬
mous. Every obstruction in the channel
or to access to the piers makes the
handling of the freight on the river more
hazardous and more expensive, thus
affecting the interests of the whole city,
and indeed, of the whole country. In the
decade from 1871 to 1880 the value of the
imports and exports of the port of New
York as compared to those of the United
States was 55.7 per cent; from 1881 to
1890, 55.1 per cent.; from 1891 to 1900,
49.6 per cent.; from 1901 to 1910, 45.9
per cent., and from 1911 to 1913, 46.2
per cent., showing a gradual decrease.
This article, however, is designed more
particularly to direct attention to the evil
effect which these obstructions have on
the development of the water front,
especially on the East River, and the
decrease in assessable values of neigh¬
boring property.
A glance at the map of the city will
show that off the Battery are two
shoals which interfere with ingress and
egress of deep vessels to and from the
shore. The larger and more important
of these shoals will cost approximately
$777,223, to remove, and the other
$149,490.
Obstructions in the Hudson.
On the West Side from the neighbor¬
hood of Pier 48 at Perry Street to Pier
62 at 22nd street, is a bar which should
be dredged so as to give access to the
piers in that vicinity. This will cost
$502,800. This is about the only work
of the kind necessary to do on the West
Side, but following the course of the
East River from the Battery we find
that on the Brooklyn side from Washing¬
ton street to Hudson avenue, is a shoal
along the shore v/hich should be re¬
moved to give access to that locality.
This will cost approximately $31,066.
East River Shoals.
On the Manhattan side between
Gouverneur Slip and Corlears Hook is
a shoal which interferes with traffic in
the main channel. This would cost ap¬
proximately $451,058 to remove. Further
north in the middle of the East River
HON. CYRUS C. MILLER.
1 unning from a point about opposite
Rivington street to a point opposite
East llth street is a bar which is very
troublesome to river traffic for large
boats. This would cost approximately
$163,396 to remove.
Along the shore front from Grand
street north to East 32d street is a
shoal which prevents access for larger
vessels to all the piers within that dis¬
trict, a distance of approximately a mile.
This will cost $1,332,000 to remove. In
the middle of the river likewise, between
East 34th street and East 43d street, is
a shoal which interferes greatly with
the channel traffic. It will cost approxi¬
mately $1,030,622 to remove. On the
opposite side cf the river from Newtown
Creek to Mallet's Cove, along the Long
Island City waterfront is a shoal which
must be removed before the waterfront
values can be increased. This would
cost $1,966,928.
On the Manhattan side again, from
East 63d street to East SSth street, along
the shore front is a shoal which will
cost $450,000 to remove.
Outside the pier-head line between
East 91st street and East 93d street is a
shoal which will cost $141,579 to re¬
move. In the Hell Gate Channel be¬
tween Astoria and Ward's Island are the
rocks which the Government has been
removing Ior years. The remaining ob¬
structions are a great menace to the
through trafiic. They will cost $2,936,231
to remove. Further north between the
Sunken Meadow and the Long Island
shore in mid-channel is a shoal which
will cost $2,768,311 to remove. East
of Port Morris thc dredging will cost
ai.proximately $1,124,719.
These items and some others might be
classified as follows:
1. To provide a channel 35 feet
deep at mean low water... $8,616,780
2. To give access to wharves. 2,129,458
3. East Channel Blackwell's
Island .................... 2,652,281
Total......................$13,398,519
They are for the work which the Fed¬
eral Government undertakes in its de¬
velopment of the navigable waterways
about the city. P. might be conteided
that the city is not responsibie for such
work and siiould nc( troubie itselr about
it, but for every day that parses with
such obstructions iu the rivers about the
city, a loss to the trafiic of the Port of
New York occurs which is too great
when we consider the relatively small
amount of the money required for the
work. The State of New York con¬
tributes much to the national treasury
and the city should be unflagging in its
attempts to have Congress make the
necessary appropriations. Colonel Will¬
iam M. Black, U. S. A. Engineer Corps
and Engineer in charge of the First New
York District has been insistent in urg¬
ing the development of the port.
On the Harlem.
On the Harlem River it will be neces¬
sary to continue the Harlem Ship Canal
from its present teriiiinus ease of the
Johnson Foundry in a straight line west
to the Hudson River. Arrangements are
being made by the United States Gov¬
ernment, the Stat'.; of New York, and
the City of New York for this work.
The pier of Highbridge is a great
menace to trafiic and must be removed,
and the channel of the Bronx Kills
which lies between Randall's Island and
the Bronx shore, must be deepened.
An examination of the parts of the
city on the East River where shoals
prevent access to the piers will show that
as modern deep draught vessels are
unable to use the piers, the steamship
lines have been moving to the North
River. Factories and warehouses which
naturally would accompany the steam¬
ships on the East River, are being
abandoned and there is a very marked
decrease in the valu'^s of property all
along the river front on the East River
from the Battery to 34th street.
Financial Considerations.
.rhe amount of money necessary for
the Federal Government to deepen the
channels and for the city to secure ac¬
cess to the piers is insignificant com¬
pared to the tremendous increase in
values which would follow immedi¬
ately upon the development of the East
River water front. This increase in tax
revenue would relieve property in other
parts of the city.
For the past twenty-five years the at¬
tention of the financeers of the county
has been concentrated on the develop¬
ment of railroads. The opening of the
Panama Canal and the opportunity for
participation by the United States in the
trade of the world will force upon the
public mind the necessity of developing
our shipping. The Port of New York
must be made ready to accommodate the
increased trade which will come through
it as the gateway of the continent.
It is fair to the city to say that prob¬
ably it would do its part of the work
if the Federal Government would carry
on the work herein shown to be so
necessary, but it could do no more valu¬
able work than to urge upon the Federal
Government the immediate necessity of
developing the port facilities of the city
by the improvements herein enumerated.