New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-02

Eleven Years of Litigation Ends
with Order to StoVeT to
Proceed.
ENCROACHMENTS MUST GO
They Are Not Only Over the
Building Line but Shut Of
Mrs. Alderman View,
She Said.

stores at Christmas time with the entire
front missing the kind you can look
right into from the street without any
irnpediment to the view such as walls
and now if you care to see the same
thing on a life size scale just keep your
eve on the row Of six fine houses on
Riverside Drive. from SD to SD street,
Park Commissioner Charles a. Slower
is going to send crew Of his men over
to that locality this morning to erect
scafoldtng, preliminary to tearing out
the front walls Of that row of ia shionable
dwellings. and the sightseeing rubber
neck" automobiles already are changing
their routes so as to take in this latest
freak in New York dwelling houses.
MIR. Slower modestly lays claim to the
title Of constructive workman, and he
does not ike this destructive assignment
that has come his way. but in the present
instance ne has no choice, because the
order for the destruction came to him
from the Appellate Division OF the Su-
preme Court in the form of a writ Of
mandamus obtained by Mrs, Charlotte
Y Alderman. and it represents the cul-
. 1lllldJ OF eIcNeH ears IlLl-d lit'll-
MIS-. Alderman owns and lives in the
house at No. 331 West SD street which
is a three story dwelling. about thirty
feet from the corner OF Riverside Drive.
Also Mrs. Alderman owns the thirty feet
mentioned above and has kept it vacant
| for the express purpose. she says, Of hav-
ing for herself and her heirs a good clear
view of the majestic beauties of the
Hudson River. not to mention the more
artificial beauties of the Drive.
Cut Off Her View, Too.
The six offending houses. along the
easterIy side of the Drive north Of SD
street, Mrs Alderman declar-s, have
each been built and laid out in such
manner that they encroach to the extent
OF about six feet over the legal building
line. thereby curtailing the beautiful view
which Mrs. Alderman had planned for.
and projecting over park property Of the
city of New York. the Drive being under
the Jurisdiction OF the Park Department.
Ne1shbors of Mrs. Alderman were in
dignant Yesterday over the prospective
tearing UP Of she fine houses along the
Drive. and they didn't speak kindly Of
the woman who after eleven years Of
legal lighting. has at last succeeded IN
attaining her object
She is more than eighty years old, said
these neighbors. widow and extremely
determined.
This view which she talks SO much
Of" said neighbor to the south. who IS
lot directly concerned in the approaching
upheaval. is not lf~f view at all Her
bo1lse faces south. and her only possible
opD0rtunitv Of looking northward at all
is bv standing on that second floor bal
Conv and Craning her neck around the
corner of her own house, And, besides
that YOU'D think shed have enough
view as il is. with the whole expanse Of
the Hudson to gaze upon and Riverside
Park too"
Edwin [. Kalish. of the law firm Of
Lindsay, Kalish & Palmer, who appeared
for Mrs Alderman. said last night that
their clients motives had been misunder-
stood by her neighbors. The houses to
the north of hers, said Mr.. kalish. were
b1riIt over the legal building line, and
the civ was the loser thereby. and her
whole idea was to have the matter
righted.
"She designed her own house salo
Mr. KaIish. and superintended its con
struction personally. and the adjoining
LOT to the west, which she owns she
LIFT vacant purposely to enhance the
view from her windows. She is the
widow of Gilbert Alderman, wealthy
/ -four merchant. and has devoted lot
! Of time and money To this tight
Once Jefferson's Home.
The house at No. 1903 Riverside Drive,
which is on the corner of SD street and
the last OF the offending dwellings
against which Mrs. Ackerman com
mains was occupied for several years
] bv Joseph Jefferson, the actor.
/ Three % the houses in the row were
boarded UP yesterday In the south
house. No. 101 Riverside Drive, EIbridge
( Gerry Snow. IT., lives as a tenant
Mr. SNOW said that he was not inter
ested in the legal tangle which threat
/ ened his home. but he added that he in
/ tended to stand his ground and await
/ developments.
I'm a tenant here said Mr.. Snow,
! and if they tear down the front wall of
nv dwelling 1 suppose I viii be taken
care Of all right. The owner is now in
the Sandwich Islands, and the first
! knew Of the impending disaster was at
/ . o'clock this morning"
Park Commissioner Slower was some
what nonplussed yesterday by the calm
way in which the occupants Of the houses
took his prospective action.
He was served with the writ of man
danus. ordering him to tear down the
/ buildings which encroached, or at least
such part of them as does encroach over
the building line on N H. and the
order further directed him to report
back TO the court on July :. He took
the matter up with the Corpora ton
/ CounseFs office. am was advised that he
had no alternative but to proceed with
the work
You must proceed to execute the
mandate, and you are not required to
give notice to any person" was the last
word of advice Mr. Slower received from
the legal department of the city and the
court order referred to stated in plain
language that the Park Commissioner
should proceed To tear down the build
ings and report TO the court by July >.
Yesterday J. Fl. Beatty. Superin-
EarLxS with a 10 rtV of 9i