Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 91, no. 2350]: March 29, 1913

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REAL ESTATE BUILDERS AND NEW YORK, MARCH 29, 1913 I SHALL BUILDING HEIGHTS BE RESTRICTED? | -By ROBERT GRIER COOKE- Absolutely Necessary in the Case of Fifth Avenue Where Retail Tracde Is Being Blasted by Factories. ■■iltilllilMllllillM^^^^^^^ AT FIRST sight, the proposal to "regulate the height, size and ar¬ rangement" of buildings to be erected in New York City, which the recent action of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment has placed squarely be¬ fore the public, may seem revolutionary. This is an entirely mistaken view. New York, great as it is, progressive as it is, is simply behind the times in safeguard¬ ing its future in the matter of the size and character of its buildings. Boston, Washington, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleve¬ land, St. Louis, and other cities, both in this country and in Europe, have long since realized the vital necessity of mak¬ ing their buildings and streets conform to the highest standards not only of usefulness and efficiency but of beauty, safety and healthfulness. In many com¬ munities restrictive and regulative build¬ ing laws have been in effect for years, and the courts, so far as I know, have invariably upheld them. The time has now come for New York to fall into line in this movement. The resolution of the Board of Estimate for the appointment of a commission to in¬ vestigate the advisability of restricting the building height throughout the entire city, by a zone system or otherwise, is the first step in the direction of a long- needed reform. The Financial District an Exception, By this I do not mean to say that the building height should everywhere be limited. There are sections, such as the Financial District, where the small avail¬ able amount of space and the tremendous requirements make it inevitable that the skyscraper must not only exist but con¬ tinue to multiply and perhaps even reach an average height greater than that of to-day. There are, however, no such conditions as these in the Fifth avenue section, which is conspicuous as a part of New York where the skyscraper, or even the ultra-high building, is not wanted. In making this statement—and I cannot make it strongly enough—I am stating the views not alone of the Fifth Avenue .\ssociation but also of a large number of property owners, business men and resi¬ dents of the avenue and of the great section of Manhattan of which it is the main artery. There is no question but that the many bitter experiences which the substantial Fifth avenue interests have suffered in the last half dozen years or so, as a result of the invasion of the district by hundreds of loft buildings with their crowds of garment workers and other factory operatives, have mold¬ ed a public sentiment in favor of regu¬ lating the size and character of future MR. COOKE IS PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTH AVE.NUE ASSOCIATION. Fifth avenue structures. This sentiment is too powerful to be withstood. Blasting Retail Business, One has but to visit the avenue below 23d street any business day during the noon hour to see what will be the fate of the thoroughfare north of that street, unless some change is speedily made to prevent the further erection of high loft and factory structures in what is now the finest retail and shopping section in the world. Nothing so blasting to the best class of business and property in¬ terests has ever before been seen or known in any great retail district in any large city as this vast flood of workers which sweeps down the pavements at noontime every day and literally over¬ whelms and engulfs shops, shopkeepers and the shopping public. This appalling condition of affairs, directly due to the presence on or near the avenue of high The Overproduction of Fac¬ tory Buildings is Impairing Values and Draining Old Buildings Near Them. i!r-i'':::;::"!iiiiS!°Ki! Noon-day crowd on lower Fifth avenue, the loft building section. buildings, housing multitudes of toilers, has made it imperative on all who take a real pride in Fifth avenue and want to see it preserved, to demand the restric¬ tion and regulation of future buildings throughout the district in order to put an effectual stop to the evil. But it is asked, "How is the mere cut¬ ting down of the height of buildings to 125 feet to rid the section of the crowds of garment workers and other factory hands?" We answer that we do not expect the limiting of the size of future structures to do all the work of reform. What we do hope and ex¬ pect is that the new regulations pro¬ posed by the State Factory Commission, making it obligatory on builders to pro¬ vide more and wider staircases, to great¬ ly reduce the number of operatives in a room, and to provide more light, bet¬ ter ventilation and improved hygienic conditions, will work, together with the laws compelling a reasonable height of building, so as to make it impossible for factories to exist in the heart of New York's best shopping section. This will lead to their seeking localities more suited to their real needs. Practical Considerations. Although there is no street for which Americans have a higher sentimental re¬ gard than Fifth avenue, the demand for keeping future buildings in the street within reasonable limits as to height and architecture is not actuated by sentiment but by the highest practical considera¬ tions. Those who love and admire Fifth avenue cannot afford to have it become a mere cheerless canyon like so many of the city's streets farther downtown. As the fairest and most charming street of the New World, Fifth avenue is and has been for many years one of New York's most valued assets. Tolerate the skyscrapers and it will lose the charac¬ teristics which have made it second to no street anywhere and which have made its land values among the highest in the world. Misconstruction, It is high time to put a stop to the operations of a certain type of builders, who, growing more and more bold as the years have gone by, have ruthlessly invaded neighborhood after neighbor¬ hood in New York and entered upon a riot of building out of all proportion to the character and needs of the district. Wherever they have operated, they have worked serious harm; rents have fallen, and a cheaper class of tenants has come in. It is this class of conscienceless builders that offers the greatest menace to Fifth avenue to-day. The indignation felt by many owners