The evening world., 1906-04-28
BUSINESS EXPANSION DRIVES NEW THOUSANDS To THE SUBURBS
Fifty-ninth Street VIII Be
the Southern Limit of
Residences.
$4,000 GO THIS YEAR.
s75,ooo,ooo Outlay for 1906 in
Plans Of Mercantile Builders
Within Manhattan.

rxpnnflnE business Is Tightening Us
rrip on Manhattan. II is sweepina
new thousands INTO suburban homes,
II building activity o; the nrst -four
months in the year ia a fair index. 1906
viii break all records IN construction
for commercial uses.
In central districts. old dwellings and
fats are being demolished TO make sites
for business structures. Even In the
northern sessions OF Manhattan, where
the n~elghOorhood character promises n
re-nn.n residential for many decades,
new fat. houses are planned with stores
II is the exception for builders to erect
lighthouses without stores. And whole
blocks OF old lighthouses are being al
tered to provide for stores or tho street
floors.
eth rapid spread o, business all
over Manhattan is amaz!ng-almost
startling. said an old-time real estate
broker yesterday. 1T IS certain that
Manhattan Will be one solid mass Of
busines IN iess than hal: n century
There viii be hotels. a few cheap iene-
mcnts over stores. and better apartment
structures for families who make their
homes here temporarily. But the mill
ions OF New York people Will 1--we from
1--WE TO forty miles outside OF Manhat-
tan. II means the most wonderful su-
burban development in the history OF
the world"
Booms at Subway Centres.
Most real estate operators have
adopted a like view. They say that
every new rapid-transit subway project
has the effect OF massing business more
decidedly at old Manhattan centres. Tho
wider the surrounding area opened TO
h~ome-buiiders. the greater becomes the
rush back for business purposes.
Striking Illustrations OF this movement
are cnder way In Manhattan.
a general recognition that the Nc
Adoo and other rapid-transit subway
projects. which will centre near tho
financial district. are sure to be oper-
ated with success, has led to a notable
buildir< boom along lower Broadway.
New s~kyscrapers ave been planned 10
the number Of twenty. They are to be
built at a cost Of si5.oco.oc1. And in the
other great rapld-transit subway centre,
around Broadway. Sixth avenue and
ThiVty-fourth street. several great
business structures have been COM
pleted. Many more are under construc-
ton. Projects announced or in con-
temptation point TO nothing less than a
complete transformation OF the entire
district as FAR north as Fifty-ninth
street. where Central Park presents a
natural barrier to a further expansion
OF purely business occupation.
unhouse 25.Ooo a Year.
Less than n decade ago the new zone
OF business expansion between Union
Square and Central Park Fourth ave-
nue. and the North River was n dis
tinctly residential district. Business
was active along Broadway. the ave
nues m a few caief oast-and-wcst
thoroughfares but most OF the cross
streets were filled with dwellings,. i,
was the hlgh-class home centre.
The change began to grow rapidly
five years ago. 1t has wiped out more
han half the old houses in that area.
Entire blocks ave been snatched from
residential uses by such great projects
us the Pennsylvania and New York
Central railroad terminal operations
The number OF persons unhouscd has
averaged 2.VP q year. Fu!ly Il,Vpp OF
them have been forced TO move per
manently on; OF the district because
the only remaining homes have become
very expensive. as IS natural when
business tenants dre willing to pay two
or three times more for the land than
the residential rentals which prevailed
a few years ago.
Trade seizes Old Homes.
That builders for business occupation
Will unhousc more than the average
number OF residents mis- year is SHOWN
10y the incgCas2d scope OF their projects.
They are pressing hard on the remain
Ing residential area in the high-class
district along Fifth avenue, north OF
Tnirty-fourtS street
Where old Dwellings. which were eX-
clusiveiy fashionable a few years ago.
are not sold Tor demolition outright oy
builders OF great business structure.
they are sold or leased TO business firms
whrh alter them for thor own uses.
chose OF the unhoused population