New-York tribune., 1883-03-10
APARTMENT HOUSES.
THEIR RAPID INCREASE IN NEw-YoRK

large and to an extent ambitious; consequently
too dear for the purses of the majority of citizens
Unable to meet the rents asked, they were con-
strained to make it up by sublettlng some of their
rooms to dodgers; procarious and unsatisfactory
manner of getting on, which they must adopt or
else take refuge in the country. As dodgers could
not be depended on for permanence or promptness
of pawn ent the essees were often put to desperate
shifts and we're involved not infrequently IN loss
and insolvency The name of hOWe under condl-
tiops of constant anxiety and cOntryance OF getting
credit and deferring obligations became satiIcal.
Yet thousands of New Workers endured this wretched
kind of domesticity year after year. ana gre" ~
wonted TO t that il seemed to be the normal sta'e
of municipal man. To remain III town they had no
choice between such ceaseess struggle ana Veeeta-
tioa i'll boarding houses each of which, on tral ap-
peared wOrse than the other. NO wonder there-
tore that apartments when they came were hailed
AZ a partial relief not what was wanted but WHAT
was clearly an advance They have brought many
families back to town, for they have rendered it
possbe for a man TO secure what is rated here rs II
home for from 5000 to $500 year. They have re-
duced the nervous strain and the amount of friction
in divers ways they have given complete II con-
tracted arrangements for housekeeping In place OF
"A few adjoining without such facilities they
have secured privacy they have made living less Il
desperate game. Unhappiiy there are lar 700 lew
small apartmeDts at reasonable rates. lney nave
greatly increased within four or i've years ana are
still increasing; but tney are yet much ou' Vi pro
portion to the larger and expensive KIM, SO con-
spicuouS in the upper part OF the city ulIs Tue
first apartments IN the main AMBITIOUS ana
costly or at least thought to De so az the tlne tney
are unpretending aud moderate compared WIN
many recently erected. Some oil these are pIoui si
in outlay, and command from SJ,2O TO To,uuo
wear Wny anybody who can afford TO pay such a
rent will content himself with traction OF mouse
mast strike a stranger as singular But IL is pam
enough to New-lOr who are primarily very
fou ofa aUartmentS
sumptuousness. the style, which they could not get
III a regular dwelling for anything approaching he
same amount OF money. lhey appreciate the Iacl
that SO OOO or y = 900 will 60 nearly as far III an
apartment as will twice the sum III an entire mousse
81 is much also to live IN an apartment; Tue
care and responsibility being Tar less, ana such Nv
ing is a sort of compromise with domcsllclty; All
apartment is likewise IN lar Tess danger Iohi o ~
lars, especially when it's tonauts are absent. lhe
lessee may lock his hall door and feel after haudlnB
the key TO the janitor that his home VIII not pe
entered or his property stolen, however long he
may remain away. Still another cause contrl outing
largely to the active demand Tor apartments is hat
they are fashionable ana they seem 10 De growing
One eood result of apartments is that they have
materially diminished boarding-bous whose llo
is as INV holes me as it is wearing ana lnconNeh-
sent Berween the lease of large dwelling with
trust to meet tho rent through odgerS ave Ilo en-
vnOnmenJ Of a bOardlng-hOuSe, IL Is hot StauSo
that the latter should be decided on as Tue IeSs oi
two evils. Bnt an apartment OF the second OF thiu
grade, despite shortcomings, Is pieieraOle 10 tle
hest or least bad of boarling-hvuSes. OF these
there are not il is sad half many a. there were
before the of apartments, which continue 10 act
very detrinentally upon them as wcll as upon the
natrona0s of hotels by families. Apartments may
not be psrticu arly adapted to children; Dut they
are far better for the rising generation than BOARD
Ing Uf any kind.
VARIETY OF LIVING.
The apartmont houses that have been erected III
the last four or hve years have been In general more
costly and pretentious than those of an earlier pc
Rod. While the number of cheaper apartments has
increased they are still inadequate to the demand;
nj least those having accommodations likely to at
tract the better sort of people OF small income
Real estate owners say that they baye no pecuniary
inducement to build cheap houses that these are
4roub,esome in various ways. and yield compare
tiyely small returns Many of the apartments re-
Gently built have undergone m0oIhcailon ana
change. Not few of them resemble lamlly notelS
in that they have q general restaurant, where Ten
ants are expected to take their meals a, loguiaf
RATE ner week kitchens being omitted IN the sets OF
rooms In other houses tenants may prepare tleIT
own meals or get them at the restaurant ~ 'hoS
prefer In others again. breakfast only Is FURNISHED
10 the occupants who dine when and where they
choose In some houses ii is optional ior them 10
ear at home OF elsewhere. Rooms are often et iuf-
aished if desired, and certain amount oil serves Is
included in the germs. Half dozen houses are dc-
sipned for bachelors alone, VINO may nave o'eah-
fast and other meals. II they are so iul1Geu.
Indeed apartments are so varied a. 10 i
that New-YorkeIs can live IN them as tney nhe'
provided they have the requisite amount OF money:
TO live in the best houses one needs an lhcomo oi
from 81 \ 600 to S25 900 a. year, md manF tenants
expenditures are nearer tho latter than the former
figure. -, &C an orerativa
.nartment houses have been Quilt here, iron elHht
70 Iweuty men of family sharing IN each enterprise
ana forming a cou pany for that purpose III eIel{
instance they have spent about twice as nucn
money as had been estimated, ana tnor current eA
penses for the houses have been nearly uoutlc ma'
they had anticipated. But on the whoie Tue eApeiI-
snce of the co-operators has not been materially
diie,eut from the experience OF men ReheisIy
under similar circumstances Mhde 1 tuep thnin
aya1 frOm 81
honse, have il the main beep so AMBITIOUS anu
lavish in outlay that economy which IN the peg.h- M
ming was para1ed an inducemtnt 10 such pio-
iects can hardly be said TO have oeon cOhsnIted
The co. oil eTative apartments haze been mostly uh
dertaken lv citizens in easy circumstances ana not
hy those to whom a few thousand dollars more or
less are OF grave consequence. nuboeI OF persons
who had pai1 the early assessments ON some Oh Ihe
cn-ooeratiye houses fOnnd them So extensive that
fhev deemed il prudeut sell out their interest 10
others who could better afford the steadily lncTeds
Jug cost. Thus far cooperative apar'meh's nav. nave
bren of no avail in helping the average NeW-1 YORKER
IN "A home since lie cannot AFFORD 10 invest IRON
$4,000 to $50, 900 for that purpose. ana then cOD
tribute 81 200 to $4,000 year TOWARD current eA-
penses. ,
ARE THERE TOO MANY APARTMENTS
The apartmeut houses erected annually since
1901 have steadily multiplied particularly
within four OF five years. Many more were ouut
last year. it is said, tnan during any previous year.
They are going up nearly eyerywhere, downtown
as well AS uptown. the West not le7s than Oh tne
East side, both above and below Contral PARK, in
Seysnth aud Eighth'aves. as well as III Fifth ana
Madison-ayes There are blocks of them in every
quarter. many houses having been altered over
into apartments They are over stores In business
thoronebfares. and conspicuous by. grandeur a%d
INSTRUMENTATION IN the most fashionable blocks. In
one apartment house In Eighth-ave, iIontIhg tne
Park in delightful situation, some ol the sets OF
rooms will rent IL is repof'ed, at %|,oo0 a year
end on a number of lots near flItb-aFep Dos"1on S
FIfty-eighth and Fifty .ninth-sts designed Ior
apartments, as high as $oOO.OOO mas lately peen
paid. These figures show how fashlohaDIs anu luz
uIious this manner of living has become, althOugh
il was long talked of as answering the needs o tho
salaried class of small propretors and men geher
Insnts While these unquestiOnably "enefted
L.. u MI M hnI nh