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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 84, no. 2159: July 31, 1909

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JuJy 31, 1909 RECORD AND GUIDE 207 Ite6TEDpRfAj.E:sTArt.BoiLDi;/o AflcKiTEeTUHE.Housnlou)DEGOHAnorf, BlTsil/ESSAl^THELlESOFGHI^Rtl If/TERESl., PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET Published EVery Saturday ■ By THE RECORD AJVD GUIDE CO. President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F- W- DODGE Vice-Pres. fi; Genl- Mgr., H. W. DESMOND Secretary, P. T. MILLER Noa. 11 to 15 Eaat 24fli Street, Ne-tv York City (Telephone, Madison Square, 4430 to 4433.) "Entered at tiie Post Office at J/cip York, N. Y., as secomJ-cJass matter." Copyrighted, lilO'J, by The Record & Guide Co. Vol. LXXXIV- JULY 31, 1909- No. 2159. THE TAX RATE in Manhattaii for the coming year will he 1-67, an increase of six points over the preceding year, and the hest that can be said about the figure is that it might have been worse. At one time it looked as if the increase would amount to more than ten points. Heroic endeavors have been made to keep it down, because of the possible effect of a larger increase on the municipal election next Fall, but the success may be more illusory than real. The result may be only a postponement of the higher rate. It has been confidently anticipated that the tax rate for the coming year would at least remain' stationary, but there is no assurance that such will actually be the case- The in¬ crease in the assessed valuation of real estate will be lar¬ ger than it was for the current year, but it will not be so large as it was in immediately preceding years. "While an enormous amouut of new construction is now under way, it consists largely of fireproof buildings that will uot ap¬ pear in the valuation for the coming year. Neither will there be any very considerable opportunity for r'lising the valua¬ tions of unimproved property. There have not been any marked or extensive increases in ground value during the past twelve months. A fair guess as to the probable in¬ crease in assessed valuation would place it somewhere be¬ tween $200,000,000 and $250,000,000, which would yield on the basis of a tax rate of $1.07, about $4,000,000 of additional income, and it remains to be seen whether the increase of the Budget can be kept down to that figure, and iu respect to this essential element in the calculation one man's guess is as good as another's. Of course the most assiduous and determined effort will be made by the prop¬ erty-owners' association to prevent the increase of appro¬ priations, but the mandatory increase will not be far from the figure named- They may succeed in keeping the in¬ crease in the Budget down to the estimated increase in in¬ come, but it is doubtful. No provision has as yet been made for really substantial economies, and the Record and Guide doubts whether such economies will ever be effected until some such reorganisation as that embodied in the new charter has been successfully consummated. TN VETOING the proposed new Building Code, Mayor -■■ McClellan did only what his character and record would lead his constituents to expect, and the reasons he gave for his action were unimpeachable. Rather no revision at all than such an entirely unsatisfactory revision as that which the Board of Aldermen adopted, "What the ultimate effect of the mayor's action will be remaius to be seen, but it is wholly improbable that a substantially better code will ever he passed by such a body as the Board of Aldermen. The only point of view from which the average alderman ever thinks of consideriu-g an alteration in the building regula¬ tion is the effect of such an alteration on the interest of his acquaintances or friends. In certain general respects he simply accepts the advice of experts, but whenever experts disagree and whenever a propose:! regulation either threat¬ ens or benefits important building interests, his vote one way or another is merely a matter of political or persona! influence. The majority of the hoard will not consequently pay the least attention to the Mayor's veto message. Their attention will be directed to the all-important task of trying to overcome its consequences. If the matter comes up again in the Fall it is wholly improbable that the board will pass any code that will meet the Mayor's ohjections to the one he has just vetoed. The whole business will in ail probability be postponed until after the election, and the kind of code which the city will ultimately get will de¬ pend upon the results of the Fall campaign. If a Mayor is elected who is willing to obey the orders of the machine, an attempt will be made to enact the code approved by the majority of the Board- On the other hand, in case some independent candidate is elected, or in case the vic¬ torious candidate proves to be, like Mayor McClellan, a man of independent disposition, some compromise will have to be arranged. The strength of the political and business in¬ terests that are contending over this matter are so con¬ siderable and' are so nearly equal that in any event the ulti¬ mate result wili probably be in the nature of a compromise. THE very general opposition of the real estate and build¬ ing interests to the code approved by the majority of the Board of Aldermen had much to do with its temporary or final rejection, and the organizations which participated in this successful protest should not let the matter rest as it is. They should not confine their efforts merely to pro¬ testing against a vicious and over-stringent set of building regulations. They should use their influence on behalf of a code designed particularly for the purpose of improving the general standard of building at the smallest practicable cost to the builder and to the comiuunity; and they should have a code prepared that would meet these two essential needs. The general nature of such a code has already been indicated by Mr. Ernest Flagg. who deserves the thanks of the whole real estate and building interests for the energy and ability with whicii he has insisted upon the necessity of keeping down the cost of fireproof structures and of so encouraging their erection. Upon the desirability' of the specific proposals made by Mr. Flagg in his add ress and published in the last issue of the Record and Guide there is no need of commenting. The best method of giving effect in detail to Mr. Flagg's general idea must of course be ex¬ haustively considered by experts; but there is absolutely no doubt as to the validity of the idea itself, and of the interest which real estate men and builders have in supporting it. What New York needs is a code which will encourage the largest possible amount of fireproof building and the highest practicable standard of fireproof construction. The existing code and both of its proposed revisions, establish standards of flreproof construction which unnecessarily increase the cost of sound building methods, the consequence being that necessarily the great majority of the buildings erected are inflammable and the city is constantly threatened by the aw¬ ful loss that would result from a widespread conflagration. Little is being done to lessen this danger. Nothing would he done by the proposed new code. Its consequence would be to increase still further the cost of fireproof construc¬ tion, and to afford builders an additional inducement to avoid it- Ou tlie other hand tlie increasing cost of wood and the diminishing cost of certain fireproof materials have made it possible to increase the general standard of build¬ ing without imposing any additional burdens on the builder. A sensible code should take advantage of this fact, but such a sensible code will never be either framed or adopted unless the real estate and building interests actively and assid¬ uously insist on its adoptipn. -^HE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION has, we believe. ^ made a mistake iu drawing up the list of express stations for the Broadway-Lexington route. It has not provided for any points at which express trains will stop between Canal street and 4 2nd street, and between 42nd street and SGth street. Such a distribution of express sta¬ tions would result in a great deal of inconvenience to the traveling public. The aim of the commission should be to provide every important crosstown street with at least one express station. The existing subway gives one each to 14th and 42nd streets, A Seventh avenue subway, whenever it is built, must have an express station at the Pennsylvania Terminal, thereby satisfying at least in part the claim which 34th street and Greeley Square can make for this essential convenience. There remains 2 3d and 59th streets, and the Record and Guide believes that these streets should be provided witli express stations on the Broadway-Lexington route. Twenty-third street and Madi¬ son Square are becoming a mucli more important business center than 14th street ever was—one of the most i.nportant in the whole of Manhattan; and it is not fair to the huge business population of this neighborhood to deprive it of the advantage of an express service. The enormous future