The evening world., 1904-03-08
Several Big Structures Are Now
Being Erected in Violation Of
the Ordinances and Notices
Have Been Served.
BUT THE WORK GOES ON
WITHOUT AMY CHANGE,
High Skeletons of Iron and Steel
Stand Alone Without the Least
Support of Brick or Stone
Masonry.

That the building laws which are sup
posed to regulate the construction OF
buildings In this city Gro being gensr-
ally ignored by contractors and con-
struct.on companies, In spite OF repeated
warnings from the Building Bureau. and
that some OF the most impoSlng OF the
new buildings being erected In this city
are at the present moment marked With
the same violations" which were on
tho Hotel Darlington Just before Its
coiispse. Is shown to-day by an examI-
nation OF the records OF tho Building
Bureau.
In view OF the awful loss OF life at
pndant upon the Hotel Darlington dis
aster, II would naturally be supposed
that some heed would be paid TO the
warnings OF the building inspectors. On
the contrary. little or no attention has
been paid TO the warnings or tho "vio-
lation" notices. and construction work
has been going on on buildings which.
the inspectors say. are in their present
skeleton shape just as dangerous AS
the nlmsy Darlington structure was on
the day OF Its collapse
Principal Offenders.
Complaints OF violations have been
made against these buildings. Among
others:
The Tiffany Building. Thlrty-fifth
street and Fifth avenue,
The Gorham Building. Thirty-sixth
street and Fifth avenue.
Now ONCE building, Duane street and
Broadway.
New apartment hotel, Seventieth street
and Columbus avenue.
New apartment hotel. Elghty-frst
street and Columbus avenue.
x New office building. Twenty-ninth
street and Broadway.
There Is a much longer list than this.
but these are the conspicuous examples
of the evil which Supt. Hopper
says the Building Bureau IL powerless
TO cope with unless 1t can get some
legislation which will provide him with
an effective system OF punishment.
!, On each one of these buildings Is the
siTifffcant violation notice. on some
IL has been decorating the ironwork for
some time. on others 1t Is comparative
iy recent, but on all 1t has not served
to change the method OF construction
The danger pointed out In these notices
has not been attended to. The con-
tractors have gone on with their work
as though the notices were not there
They will not stop work. and they are
satisfied that they know more OF build
Ing than the inspectors do. so they
have gone ahead, and there Is no way
OF getting at them in the present con-
dltion of the laws save by tedious
court proceedings, which 1t is almost
useless to institute.
Wants Law 10 Aid Him.
supt. Hopper says that II he can get
. law passed by tho Legislature i'm
posing fines on builders for every day
that they ignore a violation notice
he thinks he can force them to respect
the orders of the inspectors. He and
his inspectors declare that to erect
seven and eight stories of skeleton iron
work is absolutely unsafe. Such struc-
lures are apt to collapse In heavy
wind or IL subjected to any unusual
strain.
Assistant Corporation Counsel William
J. O'Brleu. who is detailed at the Tene-
ment- House Commission office. appeared
in the Harlem Court to-day as COM
plainant against Jacob ID. Butler. the
agent OF three apartment-housesa at One
Hundred and Fifty-third street and st
Nicholas avenue owned by the Pierre
pont Realty Company. of No. b Nassau
street. Charles \. NoTlnrup' the lTtSl
dent of the company. was also IN court
in answer 10 summons. as were
Charles ID. Cronin and Former Justice
Julius NJ. Mayer, counsel for Butler
Mr.. o'Brien said that Butler had beer
warned that the cable on the passenger
elevators In the apartment -houses wa:
not OF the quality desired by the Tene
nent-H House Commission. but that h,
had disregarded the warnings.
Counsel for the defendant said tina
the cable was being replaced and tn,
the work would be completed in
week, MAGISTRATE Baker therefore ad
1ourned the case until March IA.