The sun., 1900-07-29
TENEMENTS MOVE NORTH.
GREAT JyCREASE ~ POPULATION
ABOvE PIFTi.NINTH STRnrT.
Wonderful Growth of Tenement House popu.
Iation In Harlem and the West side How
the Different Strata In Lower New York
Have Exp ndci-'n1uence Of the Elevator.

the Different Strata In Lower Ncw York
Have Exp .ndci-'nnuencc Of the Elevator.
The annual midsuinmcr count of the tena-
ment-housc population taken hy the Board of
Health reveals an extraordinary shifting of
population ON Nanhattan isllrd. Some re-
adjustment was To be expected from the radical
improvements in surface transportation which
have been ia progress. 'rom the enormous
production of new buildings during the period
Of low constitutional cost and from the great
volume q, immigration which set In on the
return OF Industrial prosperity.
The census, however. dlscloses n degree OF
change which w,ls hardly anticipated Tie
practical Significance of this disclosure will
be apparent when II is reflected that, as cause
or effect, according 10 circumstance. move
ment ia population inpIie, movement In rents
and the fee value OF real estate. Broadly
s9eakng, the shifting Of population indicated
by the census means general rise in land
values, the mig alton being occasloned for
the most part by transition of property from
residential 10 mercantile Use that il. from less
productive TO more productive EN-. loyment
The tenement-house population constitutes
about ~ Der cent. OF the borough's inhab-
tint-. For tho purpose VI the Health Boards
census. according to statute, tenement house
Is any dwelling occupied by three or more
families living Independently o! each other
and doing their own cooking on the premises.
The loyal tenement. therefore. includes the
three classes OF buildings usually called apart
nients. flats and tenements. Owing to in
sufficient appropriations the Health Boards
census statistics have not been recently pub
lished and the figures that follow have been
obtained through the courtesy Of Dr. Roger 5.
Tracy. registrar OF record, 10 the board A
the census l. made by the sanitary police its
accuracy will be greater or less according to
the PROPORTION oi inexperienced policemen on
the staff. thl, proportion being small except
after change of political power AZ the City
Hall. Bota the censlses OF 1893 and that of
1890 are regarded b. Dr. Tracy a. trustworthy,
having been made by experienced staiis.
comparison discoses 40. .9js legal tonements, with
population OF .4O7,75i. in Manhattan on July
of the former year. ana 4. .t2N loyal tenements
with population of l.j9J. .6l6 on July l Of the
latter, an increase OF 1870 in tenement, and
81, $40 in population
Pursuing the comparsOn into detail by
wards the census shows that the bulk of the
growth in population has been in the three
wards. the Twelfth. Twenty-second and Nne-
teenth, which comprise the island north Of
Fortieth street For reasons which viii be
apparent later on 1t Is doubtful whether the
tcnemsnt-house population has increased
much ii any, in tn section south OF Fifty
ninth street. The bulk Of the Increment has
been in harlem and the West Side, although the
whole Of he region between fiity-nnth s'reet
aiId l55tn street has shared to "A marked extent
in the advance Seventy per cent of the total
gam noted la the CelIsuS has been made north
OF Eighty-SiSth street. and # This gain probably
lV haT nh tFt
Io5th street the terminus of the elevated rail
way. In two years the tenem"nt-h0use popu-
lauon Of Manhitta above Elghty-~Nth street
has been augmented by some Us 800. or more
than the entire number Of Inhabitants pos
sessnd by the city Of $ew York in lsOO. a. the
end of nearly 25o years Of incorporated exist
ence
In 1899 the building statistics for Manhattan
were the heaviest ever recorded in the history
Of tho city They were preceded n 1895 and
The centre Of building activity last year and
this has baan IN iIaylem. whore land was ro.a-
lively cheap compared with Other sections in
re~nect Of TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES, for the
underground trolley and liberal transfers
brought the formerly Inaccessible region Just
north of Central Park into ready communlca-
ton with the rest Of the borough. Cheap con-
structiCnll cost and TRANSFORMATION bettor-
ments account for the multiplication Of Ave
story flats and slX-atory tenements uptown
CONSTITUTIONAL activity received an extra
ordinary im0etus in a new direction from the
appearance Of potert snecinl factor Two
years ago no common electrical power for
elevation was 10 be mad from the street IN the
uptown fathouse districts, and Independent
power plants were too costly Of installation
and operation 10 encourage the building Of
elevator fats, Meantime, electrical COM
psnes have been extending their power ser-
vice as far north as Washington Heights The
first uptown rlarun'nt house to ho supplied
with power from The street WIS a siN-story nat
on the corner OF Riverside drive and Ei.hly-
third srroot. 70 which the current was "clt in"
on Aug. q. 1897,
la're movement in rl'"a'or fats by rermi'iinr
cheap semi -freprcor con truc'on for build
ings In which elevators could be economi,all-
nsd nseg god yT Tt hoge In 9
above fifty-n NTH street In ise, thirty-toar
were projected at an t'mated cost ~ -, tej,-
ooo, and in 1900 The number rose {" 100 and the
average rental In these new apartments was
certainly not under 80 room rer month ,
but rooms can now be had NJ 50. Tho uptown
Is still In progress. explains In large part the
increa In he legal tene t-hou,e uorua-
tlon in the three northery wards. Nearly one
half the frontage on Central Park Weat has
been improved with elevator a. ar tmentl within !
two year. and the ARCH tectural transformation |
Of the Boulevard, including other residential |
avenua in the same class has been hardly |
According 10 the censu' the four wards, tho |
Sixteenth. EiChteerth Twentieth and Twenty |
fr,t oonpri l,g the Island between Toprteeuth !
street and Fortrth street. have eXrerle, ced a !
dorraasn In l,cal tenement-house rnnulation, /
As matter OF fact-thouCh thi, would rot HI,- |
pear from cOdnt By words the ie rrIse prob |
ably extend ~ Ger north as Ffty-nnth street,
TIE actual dividing line b.twoen two .cctlons
OF different economic character. The d. reese
between Fourteenth street and, say, Thirty |
fourth street, but more especially TwCutv- |
third street has been occasio1ed by the ravid |
ey0anSion OF bisi"ess IN the territory bOr-
dcr1d b. Fourth and Sixth avenues. Betwru |
Thirty-fourth street and Fl ~ inth street Tho
los, N tarement-hous" population Ia no doubt
been attended hv very great ga IN gcr erll |
poplation. From Madison avenue to Sixth
avenue thi, l. the rHsiOu Of hotels, apartment
hotel, bachelor Apartments and fashionable
boarding houses, which do not come under the
year. notable additions have b 'cn made 10 these
types Of houses. IN so FAY rs t',ov ara distinct
tvpeS. Indeed the mIitpiratior of apart-
iNsnt hotels f. the district Il conspicuous fcat-
IRE OF cn-rc1t bnilling activity. SO great IA
the pressure upon lie nogl horlood from rco-
readily command .Nu Il room per auntlm
furnished and tncludlig -ervl"r, but not board
Gain Ia population Of [ Is Chara't tsr !. lOglInlly
followed by expansion IL certain lines Of retail
trade.
Tho close rrop,npIity Of Injury ard squalor
fascinating. Fat q SiHtA avCnpo there
sD,ln residences. W. Il of Sixth avenue !
negro 'oncments md The tough cIomnnt'
VT thr, j. economic order undrrvipE
aprnrent lnconcrIity., i"sI than twenty year.
Bru adWav, u low FortocatI street, and the
r ndarlon and thc Thomson street ivgrr"
we've it.t on the show 81 crt. That was when
fashionable socirtr CCrtrrd around Nashif q
ton Sluar' and IN lower Fifth avau,c, Is
soci " moved nor'hwa 4 the rrtau II opI fol- |
= -. 9I.N., mo.