The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-29
ODD OLD STREETS
OF LOWER NEW YORK
In the Down Town Districts They Are
Narrow, Crooked and Crowded.

| Two of the best-used thoroughfares in
New York city and a score of others
| through which there is constant stream
of travel are not to be found on the city
map, are not under the jurisdiction Of
the bureau Of highways, and cost the
municipality nothing either for original
| construction or maintenance.
| And were it not for these thorough
J fares the city would be put to the enor-
| nous expense of condemning some of the
most valuable property in New York in
| down town business district to-. accom-
modate the population of the great Office
in less than five years, keeping up with
| the rapid multiplication of skycrapers.
This and other similar passageways,"
said Borough President Cantor, as he
walked through the tiled corridor of the
Equitable building recently have saved
the city hundreds of thousands of dol
lars. This end of the city was not laid
out for the numbers who do business
here every day, and the narrow streets
running off from Broadway would simply
be blocked with humanity were it not
for the relief afforded by the passage
| ways through the Office buildings.
Careful count kept by the attendants has
shown that from $4,000 to 55, 900 people
pass through the Equitable building each
business day In going from Broadway to
Nassau street, and were these crowds
compelled to use Cedar and Pine streets,
those narrow Sits between the big build
ings would be crowded so as to be almost
| impossible.
Larger still is the travel through the
Empire building, at Rector street and
chief means of approach to the Sixth
avenue elevated station. In the morning
this thoroughfare discharges into Broad
way torrent of humanity and In the
evening 1t swallows up the same hurrying,
Jostling crowds, like big hopper. In
the course of the day, it Is estimated that
more than $4,000 people pass through
the building.
There are the two great thoroughfares
for which the city is indebted to private
enterprise, and yet the owners Of these
through these corridors gives handsome
rental value to the small recesses on Ell
Their side of the passage ways. these booths
bringing in from $500 to $4,000 a year
each.
In fact these corridors are practically
little streets lined with book stalls, news
stands, flower shops. telephone booths,
telegraph offices, mems furnishing stores,
bootblack stands, barber shops and sta
tionery stores, and thriving business is
done with the hurrying crowds.
used and appreciated by thousands. are
the other thoroughfares which facilitate
communication between the business
houses of lower Broadway and the f1nan-
It is long stretch from Wall street to
the produce, exchange, yet the city has
cut this long block. While it digniies
the street by the title Of Exchange place,
it is hardly wide enough for vehicles to
pass and the sidewalks are not more than
four feet wide. Yet their business re-
quires tens Of thousands Of people to pass
to and fro between this part of Broad
way and. New and Broad streets, and
they make their trips back and forth
without going around the ends of the
block, while few of them use Exchange
place, the big office buildings that run
through to New street affording ample
communication between Broadway and
the financial district-New York Times.