New-York tribune., 1886-05-16
IRISH TO THE WEST SIDE.
ruo,r BLOCKS oFNEw HOUSES GOING UP.

rapl
80 or balf-dozcn houses with fresh brick waiS
VIZ ns,,i,el roodnrs. Every where scaffoidins
h sao, abou, half finished buildings. the outer
III ,;sinr slowly under the hands OF the maso"s'
"a within. the partitions. rafterS, peaiis anu
A. work nr themselves cut into the oe'ai'' Va
= ob,rcb a siop a single dwelling or an apaf 'lnon'
- Foundations are being dug ana huno,ous
,ot Graded 10 the level of the cross strec'S iiu
.,+ sop,e time ago by the city. war HAS o'en
saolored All along the hne on 'he to"''
80 .o,a.ters Of Shantytown. lhe rocky ciass y,
- -. former hrowsed are being oiasteo anu
o,i the rubbish taken to hl up the ipore
tor,,e bolows in which the latter se'''eu anu N'o
- litt,e grass patches aud truck gardehs'
Mar the elevated railroad stations Ing "e 80,
,ros naturally group themselves inosV 0on'r "'..a,
o,slv Thus Fiftv-ninth-st; the masNiNo ..
-. .,,r+r,cnt houses tie great Church oi o.
, t1'~ .T. ,noste now nearly finished and the ne"
.~,,o~o of pnvsicians and surgeons whose co,ne,-
.,s ,aid three weeks ago. ali lie withih nan
,;,,,,.o IF one another. At seventV-seconu-
aa righth-ave the huge Dakota ooiin-
-. line ar two of pretty brick and oro"nstone
houses which have sprung up between IL ""u 'n'
Ninth Avenue Station. Some hfty houses eau oe
,onuted going up on both sides OF the LlghS III
s,o,on and half thatnumber near the Ninety -'hiIu
Then the ground falls away INTO nats uhtn
Harlem is reached and the building movement hass
,arcantiblv. Iu Harlem again, IN ST Nlcnoias-aVe'
St Nicholas place and along the CaOie hodd' he"
houses are IN as great demand as ever only the
rresent labor difficulties in fact, nave Kept down
- o,,o,,nous binding boom" all over the West
s,dc sneculative builders have " drawn III their
borps - on the broaching of the eight hour ques-
,,o,, Contractors have been unable to fulfil their
,,reements on time and have been Obliged to refuse
Int INN, is.
bouse-bniding trades seem to have things in their
o,vo hands and can arrange both wages and hours
for some time to come.
Between Tenth-ave. and the Hudson River there
has been less building, but many lots have been
Graded and improved and the whole tract along
Riverside Park has had a remarkable appreciation
II value Many things combine TO make thlS
d,s,1ct the fnture centre of fashionable New
York Fifth-ave. has apparently had IT'S day'
7. can scarcely maintain Itself for twenty years
louaer against the encroachments OF business ana
IL, faslionably tabooed street railway Ihe River
side Drive or avenue is under the c0ntroI OF the
Park Department and cannot be taken Tor railway
ns.s A. a plaee OF residence it has the charms of
notural scenery, rrees flowers shrubbery and an
urobstructed view of the river. The land Is
,evated the air pure and the drainage almost per-
feet Recent improvements in the Park and Drive,
tho attention drawn to the spot by the location
tlerc Of General Grants tomb, and the growing
.gnviction that wealth and fashion Will be
oraduallv driven northwestward toward the Hud-
sor hive. all together, gwen the Riverside lands a
boom in value which can be paralle4ed III
tbe sneculatIve land bubble of 1870. Ihat was
q craze. an initiation with no reasonable basis lhe
hubh.e burst then with rulu0us elect, L3uu al
80 +b4 West ~llc fell to half Oue-thlTd OF It's
frrner vaiue and for twelve years or more mas
been owly recovering from the shQck OF the pa1Ic
OF e73 and 1874. In 1854 again there was ace a ue-
clfed upward turn, which Is SIN gaming lOrce;
TLls time the rise Is natural, and there are gOOd
reasons why all the West side lands shOuid nsln-
tain their present value. To make the valnatlons
,"tell,g HE however one must 60 back TO the
Original land bubble Of lS1l. From The start Iot
ha ve varied III price as they lay aohg hiNtisIue
Park Morning side Park and Lightb, Ninth, Tenth
70 tbe opening of Riverside Park in 1871 lots
100 feet in al cases-facing It were selling at
from II 800 to $500. The speculative craze De
Gan and prices ran IN ak mouths 10 Slo.OOO ana
10000 "a lot. The Park, drive and houses were
on paper. The panic came ana the Iofs dWlhuleG
t1onecrorter Of their inflated vaue Sales were al
made Oh mortgages and force osures, the proceeds
scarcely plving the taxes and assessments on the
,ronerfv A. are as ISIS lots IN Riversde-ave.
yTere sold for from $1,000 10 $1,000 apiece. From
1875 with the opening OF the Park and other I'M
iots between NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ana
0ue-huudred-an twenty second SITS, on the ave-
pue were sold last December for $4,000; some
Others directly opposite the Grant TOMB, Det tWeeu
0ne-hnndred-and twenty second and Oue-hundred-
Snd-twentv-thiri streets, brought $4,000 in Jan
uary. Further ~, between One-hundIed-a req no.
Astor estate bought block or four.
teen lots tue other day for $4,000, and
single lots anywhere between Seventy-sec0nd anC
ue-hundred-and-twenty fourth sts: have brought
as bigh as $4,000 and $4,000 The prices iron
The sale of the Post estate last tuesday were smaiel
than these. however. Little building has beer
done near the Park, except in Harlem. 10 the wes
OF Riverside Is the Hudson River Railroad ana thel
the river bank. The piers and bulkheads here arr
claimed by the city, and though they may be In
mensely valuable some day there Is no demand 10
Ninth-ave. was long neglected by the speculation
as an uuprOmlslng helCs and Its prosperity date
only from the building of the elevated railroad
Now that Il has become the Ihild-aye. of the Nes
SIDE ots for business purposes command price
tbat never had been dreamed of even IN 1870
Then lots between Flfty-nlnth and Segenty-slXt
SIS sold high at 5000 and $4,000 and thos
s5GCT6eo D S and 1s7s the em former Cou
hiring ONLY $500 and the latter $500. IW
wears ago when The eff ct of RAPID transit on IN
Uptown streets had begun to make itself clearl
elt rices for lots of the first class-between Fifty
ninth and Seventy-sixth sts.-rOSe TO $4,000 an
5000; while lots between seventy-siXth an
Ninety-sixth SITS. advanced to $4,000 ana @0'OO
in value Now. At the lower end the prices ar
Sl2 600 and $4,000; at the upper tl'OoO an
$4,000. The streets from NlnetySiNtn ~ "a I? To- Oht
hundred nC-slxth were not opened at the uue q
the imitation or the panic. Lots now betWec
Nlnetv-sixtk and One-hundred-and- sixth 81
avrrage 3 900 AT One -hundred-and-sixth- tbs
Hernbeimcr a, smiths Lion Brewery covers a bloc
~ two of low ground and beyond that land fa
away IN value until the southern limit of Harle'
Is reached -, -.
West SIDE streets its nearness at once 10 NentT
Park and TO the elevated stations. Land here IA
risen III vJlue wonderfully III the las, lOub Oi IL
vears touching gain the hgures Of the imitation
Is7O Few lots were sold after the panic u
holder being generally wealthy aud able TO wa
for better rInes. Those that had 10 90 brongl
ONLY S6 900 TO 81, 900 apiece. Now between tiitl
ninth and seventy-sixth -ts. they are held
500. 900: between -eventy-sixth and Nlnety-slXl
at from $4,000 to $4,000. In 1872 there we
scarcely twenty houses from the Park entrance
Harlem. aud few were added until lSSO. No
building IL general and the houses of excellei
quality.
peated Oh a smaller scale IN Tenth The street rul
IN as far as the old Fort George Road and has il
proyed greatly since the Ca Die Road was put do "
his in Itself has added at least forty per cent