The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21

WIN nlRn-sOundlnR names or roaue WIN
names suggestive Of wealth and prosperity. A
house was built here and there by the ~specula-
tor Just as a sample to show what a nne house
a man OF moderate means could own II he
wanted to. and then the papers teemed with
advertisements The old farms became viii
lagos. Van Pelt Manor. Bensonhurst-b y-the-
Sea, Vanderveer Park. Bergen Beach. Home
Crest, Brooklyn Manor. Brooklyn Hills. Slocum
Park and a hundred others. the names OF
which can be learned II In a ~ive-cent trolley ride.
There 10 a brief history Of the beginning OF the
present growth Brooklynward Of the Greater
New York. 1t Is all within the memory OF the
High School pupils. and most OF 1t within the
memory OF the children in the m
schools. The filling UP OF the great districts
that are still farmlands will be in their time.
and at the present rate It may be in the time OF
the middle aged and the old folks OF to-day.
The boom was on long before the trolley
roads and the elevated roads crossed the
bridge. II was on to an extent that made the
Brooklynitcs open their eyes. When finally
the trolleys crossed the bridge and 1t was pos
sible to go anywhere in Brooklyn from New
York for Ave cents, even SO far away as Coney
Island and Bergen Beach and Carnarsie. then
began the jump in population that has made
and 10 making the other suburbs OF New York
surprised. 1t needed one fare and no change
VI 'otb " " AOhN ~ NseN NS
borough OF Brooklyn was a part Of the oity OF
New York. With the one fare was a transfer
system. 30 that for Ave cents one could
go anywhere. 1t needed one fare and no change
OF cars to convince the average man who has
~ermin since to live in Brooklyn that an
individual house. quiet. q yard and q few SINH
lar accessories were better than a fat In a
crowded street where the wagons ratified and
which the elevated trains filled with smoke and
noise. The great increase that Is coming now
is Of the class OF people who rent fats in New
York at from 5000 to 81, 900 a year.
The SUN reporter spent two or three days
last week on Brooklyn trolley cars. riding to
theaend OF each OF the twenty or thirty lines.
As was stated. Brooklyn. beginning at the
bridge. opens out like q huge fan. These troll
ley lines radiate from the bridge like the ribs
Of the fan or like the spokes Of a half wheel.
the bridge being the hub. The ride on the
trolleys was to the end OF each line. with inter-
mediate stops at the more prosperous-l looking
OF the building districts. The stops cost moth
ing. Al every new" place there was q
huge sign inviting passers to get of
and look around and telling them that
IL they did their fare would be returned to
them. so that they could resume their journey
without cost. That 10 a little way the real
estate agents have OF inducing people to look
at their land. These journeys OF the reporter
brought out one thing with emphasis. That
was that land Is CHEAP provided a man wants
to build a house. 1t is dear II he does not. and
the real estate agents are not anxious to sell
unless the man who wants to buy wants to
build. The reason for that. OF course. is plain.
The moro houses that go up and the more
people who come to live In q district. the moro
valuable is the land that is not quickly sold.
II a man wants to build he can buy land
nhaanar In tba hnrop0h If Rro0k lvp than he
can In any other one OF the suburbs OF New
York. He can buy a lot for 1925. From that
sum to $3.50 he can buy as fine a lot as the
most fastidiousc could ask. and he can pay for
It with SIS cash or $40 cash and the same
amount a month until the total has been paid.
For $500 cash he can buy a $4,000 house and
can pay the balance In the form OF rent. II
he can convince the real estate man
that he is in earnest in wanting to
| buy and will fulfill his promises. he may
be able to get along without the $500 in cash
and get his house with practically no cash pay
ment. How long that sort OF business is going
to last 1t 10 Of course not possible to say. but 1t
Is going on now. and # Ia that. next to the troll
ley railroads. which ia responsible for the great
| building operations now in progress and the
development OF the outlying districts Of the
borough.
Everywhere on these trolley rides were seen
buildings in course OF construction. Towns
seemed to be springing up in a night. as they
say Of the mining-camp towns in the West.
There were pretentious houses and unpreten-
tious houses. the very expensive and the mod
erately cheap. There were no very cheap ones.
for In these districts the real estate men had
seen the advantage OF restricting the purchas-
ers Of the land to houses Of a certain cost. As
several OF them said. "A single cheap house
makes the character OF the neiRhborhood
around it. People will not build a good house
beside a poor one, apd all the surrounding
property is cheapened 80 that we would lose
money even II We were able to dispose of the
adjoining lots at all. which Is doubtful. People
won't build a good house II there Is any danger
Of somebody else building a poor one in the
neighborhood. 80 that In both instances re-
strictions as to cost. and in a measure as to
style. are absolutely necessary" But In spite
OF restrictions. there were localities where the
noise OF the trolley cars was drowned by the
noise Of the hammers. and that fact may give
to the reader an adequate idea Of just how
much building there is going on.
There Is not space in this article to tell Of all
the places that were visited. nor Is 1t necessary
to tell Of all to show the wonderful growth that
is going on. 1t may be said that what Is said Of
those that are mentioned SO far as the building
operations are concerned 10 true OF all. No part
OF the immense suburbs has q monopoly o.
growth. 1t Is general. 1t spreads in all direc'
tons. The big face Of population is growing
bigger. the circle OF its outer edge being re-
tanned. 1t was not 40 very long ago that Flat
bush seemed a long way from New York. The
man who went to FIatbush to live went ou
into the country. To-day Flatbush is in the cen
tire OF the city Of New YORK. 1t takes exactly y
minutes to reach Flatbush from the Manhattan
end Of the bridge. That is about as long as /
takes to go from the City Hall to Fifty-nintl
street on the elevated railroads or from tn
City Hall to the Fifth Avenue Hotel by tn,
Broadway cable. That fact alone explains tn
building operations in Flatbush. Flatbush wa
surrounded by farms only a short time age
These arms have all been bought up and Gu
up into building lots of the size OF a city LOT
The property OF Just one family over there
that OF the John Leferts estate. ha
already been changed from farmland int
a populous city in itself. 1t has beel
built up with fine residences such a
line the Hudson River above New York cit,
apJ RFty mara houaaa ara In nouraA NJ COn