New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-20
REAL ESTATE LYING IDLE
pIsrsED PARCELS IN VARIOUS PARTS
OF THE CITY.
SOME HELD FOR INVESTMENT PuRPosEs-THE
OLD GOBLET HOMESTEAD IN BROADWAY

AIT, o;,, tho circumstances of whose passive con-
dition are interesting. Some OF them are me oiu
dwellings which have stood for some time unoc-
,,,ed or they are old buildings with past
Others consist of vacant plots in neighborhoods
where enterprise has developed the surrounding
nronerties The causes of this condltion are
various Litigation in various forms mas teu
M" many a good property. Family 1eud OF 'ne
caution of a testator may be at the po'tom vi
other exhibits of the character A family whiin' d
desire TO hold on for better prices the spirit or
pure investment, death and other causes may DC
traced as factors in this condition
In relation to this the brownstone' severely
s,mpIe architecture Of the tree-environed old
mansion at the northwest corner OF Nineteeh'h-
ST and Broadway comes naturally into the mihu'
Nearly every New-Yorker knows that TINS is 'he
old Goelet house in which Peter Goelet lived ana
died Tnon his death his sister, Mrs. Hannah
Garry mother of Elbridge I. Gerry and Mrs.
Frederick Gallatin. occupied the house until she
died. about a year ago. Since then the Ola house
has remained vacant. save for the presence ol d
caretaker 1t is now on the market. It's owner Is
Mrs Gallatn The place will be soid "heh an
investor shall be found who will erect big pullo-
ing the site.
Not far from the old Goeet mansion is the Lor-
i,Iard Spencer house. at the southeast corner Vi
FIfth-ave and Sixteenth-st 1t has STOOD vacant
for three wears. 1t is four-story dweHng' the
first story being of brownstone and the others oi
brick. There is scarcely a private dwelhhs no"
left occupied in the avenue between four'ee"."
o,d Twentv-third SITS This stretch of street IN
which old New-York families once HNeu anu
wade their houses known for old-stye entertain
Ynent of guests is now practically given over "
business. The Lorard Spencer house Is TOT
SupDlanteO Dy
a nlace of business at the first good opportunity
The only dwelling of importance yet remaining
4, This mart of Fitth-ave. is the Marshah "
poberts brownstone double mansion at the
southeast corner of the avenue ana Elghteeh'h-
CT This is occupied in the winter ny MIS-
Vivian who was formerly Mrs. Marshall .. Roo-
erts
MRS STEVENS AND THE BUTCHER.
Nc paran stevens's intense nature re-
oi1ed a great shock when, some fifteen years
ero she walked into Henry II. Tyson meat
market at the southeast corner OF Flth-aNe' anu
Forty fourth-st.. and peremptorily oruereo MI
Tyson TO get out" Inasmuch as ne had an uii-
expired lease of the property, ne respec'iuis Wv
cliued to vacate the premises "instan'er. Inns
sso, of course aroused the wrath of Mrs. STE
vans Rut the butcher hed him 10 one of the eX-
,,ors If the Paran Stevens estate, and learned
frnu Mr. Melcher that Mr.. Stevens, an eNceeu-
tneiy prudent man. had tied up his real estate
possessions in so clever way that his vile coulu
have no word to say about that piece or property
and that he had left her. when she should become
a widow, to find it out
Mrs Stevens had not yet found 1t out. 80 she
as,srted in a rage, and within forty-eight hours
the sign "This Property for Sale appeared
nailed TO the big willow tree which still stands as
s.u,l.o
pl,ce In the frame building adjoining the meat
shon and itself part Of the Paran Stevens prop
ery- 49,
Mrs Stevens. to her great disgust. soon did
find OUT that all this property was in the con-
tro, of two executors. and even her objections
did not move Mr. Tyson. The meat market sui
remains one-story structure Ana so uotS
'"The Old Willow Tree" OF the market MI ~
SON Is still the lessee, while Mrs. stevens ul'u
,nabIe 70 get rid OF that "horrid butcher. The
property is not yet in the market III Is salu
to be tied UP by litigation. The erection OF the
Delmonico building at the northwest corner OF
the avenue and Forty-fourth-st.. and oil Sher-
rvs new place at the southwest corner. with
the coming opening of the big Manhattan Hotel
near by the new and enlarged Hotel Renais-
.anoe at Eifth-ave. and Forty-third-st., the de-
ye,opment of Forty third and Forty-fourth SITS
as the habitation of clubs with fine new homes
near by the old meat market-all make this
Paran Stevens property extremely valuable
The whole block bounded by Madison and
Vanderbilt aves and Forty-third and Forty
fourth SITS. is vacant land. 1t belongs TO the
New-York Central Railroad Company. 1t Will
undoubtedly remain vacant until that corpora
ioe, sees fit TO utilize it for extension or other
purposes.
Although the old two-story structures on the
block in which the Hotel Normandie stands at
Broadway. Thirty-seventh and Thirty eighth
sts may be torn down by the Hobart estate for
the erection of the new hotel projected by youi.g
Walter Scott Hobart, 1t is said 20 be still an open
ouestion whether the big hosiery will be put up
after all. For a quarter of a century the bulk
of this block has stood it is to-day, when 1t
has at least quadrupled in its value over what
IL was in 1870. about which time the elder Wal
ter Scott Hobart. San Francisco god-mine
owner, invested some S3OO,OOO in the property
designated as the site of the talked-of hotel. lie
had intended TO take in the ground now occupied
BIZ the Hotel Normandie, says General Ferdi-
nand p Earle its proprietor, and make the whole
block the site for the finest hotel in the world.
His death some four five years ago left the
project untouched The son may now carry out
the plan of the father.
The old Hotel Royal site at Sxth-ave. and
FWuetn-St., LOOKING out upon bryant ram, 10
one of the valuable idle pieces of property In the
city, and it is the most -favored in present APP
pearance The mass Of debris associated with
death in it's most shocking form still remains
from the day of the fire early in 1892, when
several human beings were burned TO death. The
property purchased recently by John d.
Cole, who. weary Of the round Of transmitting
granite and limestone into wealth, thought he
would try the hotel business not proprietor,
but owner. He bought the site and engaged
an architect TO prepare plans for up-to-date
hotel twelve stories high. Poor health, due to
overwork. has compelled him to abandon