Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 86, no. 2218: September 17, 1910

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September 17, 1910 RECORD AND GUIDE 443 MS. ^ ESTABUSHED-^ M.ABf;H ?l«> 1868. iJnfrlBD 10 I^LEsTMt.BmLoiilc A;R.cKrrEeTUR.E,KousEl(oU)D£eaip3rt,. BirsBfeas Aifo Themes of GEjfeR&l iNitf^sT.; PRICE PER YEAR IN ADVANCE EIGHT DOLLARS Communications should ba sddreBsett t^ C» W, SWEET Published Everff Satardag By THE RECOKD AND GTJIDE CO. Prealdentf CLINTON W, SWEET Treasurer. F. W. DODGB Vlce-Prea. £ Genl. Mgr,. H. W. DESMOND Secretary. F. T. MILLHB Nos, 11 to 15 East 24th Street, New York City (Telephone. Madison Square, 4430 to 4433.) '.'Entered at the Post Office at New York, , N. Y., as sccond-elasn matter." Copyrigiited. 19:o, hy Thi! Record & Guide Co, Vol. LXXXVl. SEPTEMBER 17 , 1910 N 0. 221s THE decision of Studebaker Brothers to move from their present location Just north of Long Acre Square is extremely interesting. Only about eight years ago they leased their present site aod huilt a modeni huilding. Since that time conditions have changed so radically that the site is no longer available for their purpose. Pre¬ sumably they will select a new location somewhere along the line of Broadway from ten to twenty bloclis farther north, A certain change in the character of their own business is doubtless partly responsible for their removal. Eight years ago they were engaged almost exclusively in the business of manufacturing carriages and carriage sup¬ plies. In the meantime not only has the carriage business become of relatively smaller importance owing to motor¬ car competition, but the Studebakers themselves have become largely interested in the manufacture and sale of automo¬ biles. Their present building was not planned as a storage house and salesroom for motor cars, and the new form their business has assumed probably demands a new kind of build- i'Ug. The future of the structure which they now occupy also has an interesting aspect. it is to be converted into a restaurant and hotel, and will be occupied by a lirni now situated at Sixth avenue and -10 th street. The tendency for a certain class of restaurant business to concentrate in and about Lo^ng Acre Square seems to be irresistible. Three or four new buildings, to be us,ed as restaurants and hotels are now being built in this vicinity, and a project for con¬ verting the old Brewster factory site into a large hotel is also being seriously considered. It ■would be better for the future of Long Acre Square, in case its business develop¬ ment was uot bei'Ug so highly specialized, but apparently the land is more valuable for theatres, restaurants and hotels than it is for any other purpose. Retail trade has never made any particular headway in the neighborhood, and it remains to be seen whelher tlie office buildings now under construction or soon to be co'nstructed will be rented to a permanent and profitable class of tenants. Many business firms do not like to have their offices in-a location, so largely given over to theatres and restaurants, and there is every reason to believe that the center of business uptown will be Greeley rather than Long Acre Square. THE rapid transit system owned by the. Interborough company is certainly proving to be one of the finest railroad properties in the United States, At a time when almost all transportation companies are finding their in¬ creases in gross earnings raore than swallowed up by in¬ creases in operating expenses, the Interborough Company can convert a gross increase of over nine per cent, into an increase of net operating revenue of over 13 per cent. The larger share of the increase in gross was earned by the Subway, which, carried 30,000,000 more passengers than it did during the previous year; but the old elevated roads made an extraordinarily good showing and succeeded in adding almost a million to the earnings of the company. The ability of this already congested system to become still more congested without breaking down is most remarkable; and whatever faults the public may find with the service its operating department is undoubtedly very efficient. To carry 562,000,000 passengers in one year, and to earn almost $29,000,000, with an accident expeiise of less than $100,000, is certainly an unprecedented aud praiseworthy showing. There can be no doubt that if this company had not made its disastrous merger with the Metropolitan Street Railway Company its stock would now be selling somewhere between 300 and 400. Last year, after paying 9 per cent, dividends on its old stock its surplus amounted to almost $3,000,000, which is equivalent almost to 9 per cent. mpre. Its earnings would enable it to pay almost six per cent, dividends upon the outstanding Interborough-Met- ropolitan preferred stock. Improvements now being made will increase the carrying capacity of the Subway by almost a quarter, and there can be little doubt that within the next few years, it will be earning about twenty-five per cent, on its original stock. In other words, if the city were sharing in the profits of the existing Subway system on the terms which Mr. Shonts proposes for the future, its share would amount within a few years to several million dollars a year. The interest of these figures consists, however, chiefly in the strong position, in whicii the?' place the Interborough Company, in relation to future capital expendi- Uires. A system which shows such a superb present and future earning capacity should be in a position to finance extensions on excellent terms, and it should not be obliged toidepend upon the city for the help of the municipal credit. THB most interesting part of the annual report of the Citizens' Union is its criticism of the attempt of the Legislature at its last session to make a charter for New York City. The Legislature rejected the carefully drawn instrument prepared by the Ivins Commission, and hastily prepared a series of bills which contained the outlines of a new Charter. These bills were introduced about a month before the end of the session, and were full of serious errors. Nevertheless, they would have been passed with¬ out any serious discussion had it not been for the protests of the Citizens' Union and other similar organizations. As it is, the joint commission of the two legislative bodies has been continued in existence; and it looks as if during the coming session these bills would be passed. In many re¬ spects these bills adopt without change certain sections of the Ivins charter, but in their net result the changet proposed would convert that excellent instrument into a meaningless hodge-podge. The Board of Aldermen remains as it is instead of being converted into a small unpaid body. The several Bureaus, which were constituted by the Ivins charter for the purpose of enabling the Board of Estimate to redeem its essential financial responsibility, have been abandoned, and a weak compromise adopted in their place. In short, all the vigor and coherence have been taken out of the document; and it will be better to let the charter remain substantially as it is rather than to accejit the muti¬ lated substitute. In certain respects the substitute pro¬ posed by the legislative committee is undoubtedly better than the existing charter, but it is not enough better to make any essential difference. The next charter framed for New York should be thoroughly good—good enough to put an end to charter tinkering for a generation; and some¬ time within a few years it should be possible to have a really good charter prepared and forced through the Legis¬ lature, All over the country—cities are trying various ex¬ periments in municipal organization, and the results of these experiments should be so illuminating that a really scientific and adequate administrative system can be soon prepared for New York. IN spite of the fact that the reformers in Boston failed to elect their candidate for Mayor last fall, the new B st.on charter seems to be working well—even when administered by a machine politician. One of the results which it was proposed to accomplish by this charter was the appointment of really fit men to office; and the means adopted to this end was the grant of power to the State Civil Service Commission to approve or disapprove of all the mayor's appointments. Since he assumed office Mayor Fitzgerald has sent to the Commission over a score of nominations. Some have been conflrmed and some rejected. The Commission has inter¬ preted the words of the charter (the words that the nominee must "be qualified by training or experience" for his post) in their proper sense and has exacted in each case that actual qualification through prior training and experience be shown as a condition of its approval. In the case of some posts, no extensive qualifications have been insisted upon because the duties of the oflice were of an elementary nature. In other cases it has insisted ou a very high standard of ante¬ cedent fitness. In one instance it refused to confirm for the post of city collector a man who had been confirmed by the United States Senate as Postmaster of Boston, and who