The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-19
As TO A HOME IN MANHATTAN
a PROBLEM THAT CONFRONTS
HOUSE HUNTERS NOW.


HOUSE HUNTERS NOW.
Rooms In Flats smaller. They say. and
Repta High and May Re HiGher-Pri'
p vate Houses scarce--sinkle Floors In
Demand--stiii. People VIII Live Here
House-hunting time is around again,
30 n the house hunter. or rather. the fat
hunter; for In these days few OF the mighty
host Of Manhattan jewellers who belong
neither to the rch nor to the very rich even
dream Of having q whole house to them
selves. They cherish no delusions on that
score.
For one reason. the small. private HOUSE
k scarce. In some loca Titles. indeed. II
has BEEN pushed almost out Of existence
by the nathouse and the apartment hotel,
and the houses still to be found In good
localities below Fifty-ninth street bring
big rents and cost four or Ave times as much
TO equip and run a. a fat. In the more
populous districts Of Manhattan during
the last two years or 20, row after row Of
private houses has been pulled down to
make room for sky-scraping fats, and In
lees congested districts further uptown.
where houses OF moderate size are more
finds the rents too high when coupled with
the cost Of maintaining a house. and 80
often passes them by In favor Of settling
down In fat.
Real estate men admit that in the newer
districts where building operations are
most active very few three ard four-story
houses are being erected at prs sent. Land
owners, they say, find 1t much more profit
III Aath and m
hotels. Consequently buildings OF this
sort now tower all over the upper part OF
Manhattan, as well as In the downtown
districts.
Below the Central Park. except In the
streets and avenues where dwellings are
occupied chiefly by their owners. the private
house Is fast being laid low. and some
people prophesy that before many years
there won't be private house to rent In q
good locality from the Battery to Fifty
ninth street.
People Of means recognized this tendency
Of the real estats market long ago, and
those who meant to continue living in
Manhattan refused to run the risk OF hiring
house and went to work to buy or to build.
Thus 1t happens that In certain districts
almost every foot Of land Ia owned by the
I0BlOcutS, WHO ToStTNo tHc DTOPJfty
private use only and not for speculation
In these localities, populated almost en-
tirely by the very rich. the apartment house
seldom darkens the landscape, but every
where else II has the right OF way and Is
fast brushing the private house out Of it's
path. This IL an interesting condition
that concerns Manhattan people more than
10 does any one else.
At any rate, as a result Of It, that part Of
the community courageous enough to
grapple with the problem Of housekeeping
has reluctantly, but none the less surely.
come to the conclusion that people Of mod
crate means. ambitious to live In rooms
bigger than a bandbox, or big enough at
least to swing a cat in-although. come to
think Of II. cats are not tolerated In apart
ment housee-must move out OF Manhattan
to do IL. There is absolutely no other way.
One OF this class admitted the other day,
after climbing innumerahle flights Of stairs
and keeping s,eady company with elevator
bows for nearly . month. that, although
Q family may live as cheaply In New York
= they can In the suburbs. In order to do 1t
they must put up with cramped quarters;
1T seenis TO me- she added despair
ingly, that builders are making fat house
rooms smaller and smaller In most Of
the low-priced apartments. the six rooms
vertisements. would. II the partitions were
Knocked down. make only one good sised
room
Business II booming remarked a real
estate man, who controls the renting Of
about 100 apartment houses on the West
Side between Sixtieth and i25th streets,
containing something like 5000 apartments
ranging In price from S25 TO 500 month.
There Ii not a single one OF the forty-dollar
apartments vacant and we have 200 Of
them In fact the only vacancies are among
The high-priced variety
Rents are no cheaper. either. than they
have been In the last two years. and they
are no dearer When the subway is finished.
though. they may jump up little i,!!
four or five rooms and bath for SIS a month,
but not, OF course. in a frst-class neighbor-
hood. For SIS we can do better and many
Of our $40 fats are in an elevator building.
Tho average rent paid In this part Of the
city for a comfortable apartment, with
elevator and all modern improvements. Is
from $500 to 81 600 a year. Above i25th
street rents are lower.
The newer apartment houses aim to give
more In some respects than those built ak
or seven years ago, more rooms. and in
some cases an elevator; but In other respects
they do not improve on the older buildings
AZ . rule. they are not so solidly constructed,
leas care Is taken to deaden the walls and
the rooms are smaller. For a person Of
quiet tastes TO live in one Of them is almost
This, Of course. can't be helped. What
most people are after In a cheap fiat In guam
uty rather than quality IL Ia 80 much
easier to store away a numerous family in
six small rooms than In three larger rooms
and people with small pocket books and
large families become Injured to noise sooner
than some others"
But, a. most people have discovered.
even the payment of 81 900 or more a year
for an apartment pretty well uptown Is not
bound TO insure either large rooms or light
bedrooms. In the highest priced. as In the
lower. the tendency Is TO small. dimly
lighted bedrooms opening upon an air
shaft. thousand-dollar Tat means more
trimmings and carvings and mirrors, a
telephone and some other up-to-date things
than Its neighbor which rents for $500 does
not have. but not many more cubic feet Of
space.
This fact Is doubtless a consolation to
the jewellers In cheap apartments. but
for those who pay the higher rent and
sometimes, too. strain every resource to
pay II for the cake Of comparative quiet
and living in q good neighborhood 1t only
helps to emphasize the fact that rents have
reached high point and that there y little
likelihood that they will soon drop in
Manhattan.
Prior to the May-day shuttle. women hunt
patiently for weeks for what promises to
be a fairly comfortable fat free from
nuisances and at a reasonable rent, and
- s..l Al .~k - l.