Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 85, no. 2196: April 16, 1910

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April i6, 1910 KtlKJUttU ASSU UUllJUJ ESTA8USHED -^ MART'S 21"'' '18Q8. ,0P(&PD tp F^L ESTMt,BinLOIfJG AR.OlflTECTUR.E ,h(oUSEH01D DEQOEiJTKrf. Bifsofess Md Themes of GEito^l 1Ktcr.est.^ PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should be addressed to C. W. SWEET Published Every Satardap By THE RECORD AJVD GUIDE CO. President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer, F. W. DODGE Vice-Prea. & Genl. Mgr.. H, W, DESMOND Secretary, F. T. MILLER ISos. 11 to IS East 34th Street, New Yort City {Telephone, Madison Square, 4430 to 4433-1 "Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., as srcoiid-eloss matter." Copyrighted. 1010, by The Record Sc Guide Co. Vol. LXXXV. APRIL 16, 1910. No. 2196. WE spoke last week in regard to Mr. Veiller's book oil the housing problem. Announcement is now made that "A Committee on .Congestion" has approached tbe Board of Aldermen and asked them to appoint a Commis¬ sion to investigate the subject oE congestion in IVIanhattan. As a result, we have now a. proposition before ns that tbis new Aldermanic Coniniission shall consist of 19 members, 10 to be chosen by tbe Aldermen, 9 by tbe Committee. Tbe Commission is to serve without compensation, except in tbe case of some of tbe members whom tbe Aldermen alone bave tbe power of appointing. Tbis proposition bas the true Aldermanic touch about it. If there is any¬ thing to be done for our poor people, it must be politically possible to grind an honest penny out of it. The pres¬ ence of tbe honest broker in tbese transactions seems to be unavoidable. We are glad to bear tbat the Mayor is to be asked to approve of the appointment of sucb a Commis¬ sion. We hope His Honor will not allow the question to remain open as to tbe real identity of tbe Committee tbat demanded tbe appointment of a Commission and the pur¬ poses generallj- tbat lie back of the movement. Lacking this knowledge, the public cannot lake an enlightened or even sympathetic Interest in any action tbat may follow. We believe, too, that tbe Mayor will need information as to bow much the inquiry into congestion is to cost the city. AT the hearing held during the past week upon the pro¬ posed changes in the street system of Greenwich Vil¬ lage no opposition of any importance was exhibited in re¬ spect to the general idea of such improvements. Some dif¬ ference of opinion, however, did develop in relation to the scope of the changes and the method of financing them. As to the scope of the changes there can be no doubt that in the existing condition of the city's finances the improvement should be made as inexpensive as possible. The flrst essen¬ tial step Is tbe cutting through of southern outlets for Sixth and Seventh avenues and the widening of Varick street. These changes in the street plan could be made at an ex¬ pense of only a few million dollars, and they would contrib¬ ute more both to the development of loca,l business and to the relief of general traffic congestions than any alterations which could be made to the city plan at anything like the same expense. The further changes in relation to Christo¬ pher street could be made at a later date, if considered de¬ sirable, but for tlie success of tbe whole scheme it will be far better to make a modest beginning. If local property- owners insist on getting too much, they will end by getting nothing at all. The matter of flnancing the proposed Im¬ provement involves more doubtful considerations. The questions asked hy the committee of the Board of Estimate indicated that they would recommend the assessment of part of the cost upon the benefited property. In the opinion of the Record and Guide such an assessment would not be justified. The city authorities many years ago laid out a street plan for the Greenwich district which has -very much hindered the business growth of that section. The local property-owners, after having failed to obtain any benefit from the growth of the city for several generations petition for relief; hut when it looks as if something might be done, they are told that they will have to pay in large measure for the remedy¬ ing of the mistake. This does not look fair; and its lack of fairness is increased hy the fact that the opening up of Sixth and Seventh avenues would beneflt the borough of Manbat¬ tan generally out of all proportion to its actual cost. It would meet the immediate and crying necessity for another longitudinal thoroughfare iti a comparatively central loca¬ tion—a thoroughfare which would be of as much value for underground as for surface traffic. For these reasons, we do not see why local property-owners should be assessed for the cost of the proposed improvement. On the other hand, if the committee insists on such an assessment, aud if it does not propose to impose too large a proportion of the expense upon the local property-owners we should advise them to consent. There is no future for Greenwich Village without the improvement; and there may be a very considerable future with its assistance. MAYOR GAYNOR offered, during the past week, to the Borough of Queens, a slight hope that before long tbe Belmont tunnel might be extended to Longacre Square and operated in conjunction with the Subway system for a five-cent fare. It Is very much to be hoped that such will hi! tho case, not only in the interest of Queens but In the interest of Manhattan. The operation of the tunnel and its extensiou to Longacre Square would not only help to send thousands of families to Queens for a residence, but it would largely increase the business of the restaurant, theatres and shops along Bro£.dway. We are informed on good authority that even the miserable connection now afforded hy Queens¬ boro Bridge has been very beneficial to the business of shop- l^eep.^rs on 59th street in Manhattau, and this beneflt would be enormously increased. In case the connection made were really adequate. The Belmont tunnel with a Manhat¬ tan terminal near Longacre Square and with transfers to the Subway would provide a most efficient connection and would constitute a great step in the process of tubing the outlying boroughs to Manhattan, wbich should be one of the chief off- Si^ts of the local transit system. In order to complete the process, so far as Queens is concerned, the elevated tracks on Queensboro Bridge should be connected with the Second .T-ventif elevated road; and what is still more important, the McAdoo tunnel system should eventually he extended to 59th street and Second avenue. Such au extension would not only provide for a useful connection between New Jersey and Queens hut it would also open up for the people of Queens the wholesale and shipping district of the middle west side of Manhattan. The Pennsylvania tunnel will measureably serve this purpose; hut the service it will offer will be in¬ complete and will need supplementing in the manner pro¬ posed. THE REMARK OF MAYOR GAYNOR about the Belmont tunnel was, however, even more important, because of its implications than because of what it explicitly promised. The proposed utilization of the Belmont tunnel would he pos¬ sible only on the basis of some general agreement between the Interborough Co. and the city. Such an agreement would have to cover, not merely the operation of the Bel- laont tunnel, but the whole matter of the Madison and Sev¬ enth avenue extensions to the existing Subway. Property- owners in Manhattan will pray that the expectation offered by such an agreement will not prove to be groundless. It is safe to say that the success of the present administration's policy in respect to rapid transit will depend upon the suc¬ cess of the negotiations now under way with the Interborough company. Public opinion wil! not be satisfied merely with the construction of the Broadway-Lexington avenue route. That Sdhway has been laid out for a special purpose, aud with the intention of building up an independent system. It will fill an important need; but it will leave almost as many tran¬ sit problems unsolved as there are now; and these problems can only he properly solved with the co-operation of the InterboTugh Co. Of course in case no agreement can be reached, it would still be possible for the city to lay out and construct an independent belt line running around the bor- oi'gh of Manhattan; but such a line would afford only a mediocre substitute for the proposed Madison and Seventh avenue extensions. The value of these extensions would consist in their central location and in the fact that they would fill a genuine void in the means of communications— a void which cannot he filled half so effectively in any other way. Great issues, consequently, hang upou the present ne¬ gotiations. New York needs a unified underground transit system like that of Paris, not a hodge-podge of independent and disconnected lines like that of Londou. His constitu¬ ents are now asking Mayor Gaynor to arrange it for them, if possible. Until he was elected it seemed impossible, because