New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-09
I0|N IN FIFTH AVENUE
WAR ON SKYSCRAPERS
Architects and Other Experts
Enlist in Crusade to Limit
Height Of Buildings.
vsNENY AGAINST CANYON
,,,rrbv Believes Question of
nonstitutionality Not In
superable-cOngeStion
Even Now.

.,,ent architects and buildings ex-
~ axrressed themselves last night IN
~ the proposition to limit the height
S,.ud,nrs along Fifth avenue. in sup
~ which Borough President Nc
p"' came out yesterday afternoon
se,,aral years of agitation on the
tho Fifth Avenue Association the
r.,,sr has at last been taken up oy
"r,,t,ee Of the Board Of Estimate OF
9v Mr. McAneny is chairman, ana VIII
Al probability soon be introduced INTO
roo-d Of Aldermen in the form OF
resolution. ,., $1,000 ,ssoc;,-
hss been 10 prevent the only bouie-
wv" aovptown in the middle Of the city
va hsc,ning a canyon. and while II
~ not wish TO exclude commercial
s,,es,ngs which would be remunerauEe
:. ,hs,r owners. Il still desires oIshi-
a avenue, with a reasonable amount Oh
80, The strongest arguments ad-
.d Nv the association are that the
, nsnartment would be unable prop
A. zone with a FIRE IL the buildings
.,,,,s N rise IN height, and that the
80 80, v,ould within a short time become
-. no,vested with the occupants OF the
buildings rntob +be
.,non.nts Of the plan lay emphasis IS l's
,s,,,, nonstitutionality. II Is argued
~, ar ordinance TO limit the height OF
s'ua,nss without regard to uses would be
l.sslEed robbery
Exercise Of Police Power.
n, this point Commissioner John D.
Mummy. OF the Tenement House Depart
r.nt. said last night
'rf the ordinance is TO be valid II VIII
,.ys 10 be an exercise OF the ponce
nover Of the city. The height OF all the
tv,,d,nes in which my department Is IN
,.r.s,sd is limited to one and one-half
.,.. the width Of the street on which
,nsv front except where they face pub
n, ns,k whenever this provision OF the
,,nsr,eut house law had been contested u
mad been upheld as a proper exercise OF
this power.
q believe that some sort Of limit ought
10 b. put on the height Of buildings not
ou,y IN Fifth avenue, but In other parts
a, the city. But II ought not to be
,pecifc limitation; there ought 10 De
treat deal OF latitude to It. What we
A.. chiefly concerned with is light and
ventilation. The matter lie complicated IN
Nfth avenue by the character or the oh-
,.rent districts through which the street
masses and by the presence OF Central
Park"
Rudolph Miller. Superintendent OF Build
inEs. said the increasing height OF ouilo-
ines IN the city was making the conges-
ton worse and worse. He was In favor
Of any movement, he declared, Whlch
tended TO limit this congestion. Hstheu-
cally. also. he thought that the plan 10
eliminate exaggerated skyscrapers wouId
BE- good thing, and his opinion was
that $50 feet was high enough for any
building.
Walter Cook. president Of the American
Institute OF Architects, remarked that Tue
height of buildings should have been
limited fifty years ago. When the ar
Eument that the ordinance would depre-
eiste the value of property along the
street was put up to him he said that
would probably do 30 Temporarily Dul
that in the end a higher class OF tenants
would be attracted to the avenue, be-
cause they would be assured OF having
sufficient light and air around 'heir
buildings.
A better plan than the establishment OF
an arbitrary height, Mr.. Cook sald' was
to ADOPT the Partisan idea OF having the
angle between the lines drawn from tle
middle OF the street to the tops OF the
SuildinRs on either side the same al
over the city. Thus. the wider the stree.
the higher the buildings could De- anu
vice versa.
Precedent from Boston.
Another architect in favor Of the propo-
rtion was n. Van Buren, Magonigle, who
EXPLAINED that Boston had succeeoed III
limiting the height of her buildings
The development Of the loft buildings
below go street" continued Mr.. MACON
isls, should never have been allowed
What l fail TO see Is how those manu-
fAeturers can run their clothing factories
proftably on such valuable property
This kind Of building 10 creeping uptown
especially into the Murray Hill section,
and II must be stopped II Fifth avenue lie
10 retain its pre-eminence as popular
thoroughfare.
Ever now the sidewalk above APO
street is filled with miiliners' girls and
sewing machine operators. who walk four
abreast and obstruct the sidewalk en-
ufely during the noon hour.
Bertram Goodhue, OF Cram, Goodhue Il
Ferguson. was of the opinion that the
avenue was doomed already so far as it's
character as a residential street was con-
ned Moreover. he believed that this
all in the natural course OF events
entirely az II should be.
don't oppose limiting the height or
buildings" said MIR. Goodhue, except In
so Ear as II tends toward monotony and
Is unjust TO the property owners. Ihere
are two schools OF architecture to-day
The formulsr and the romantic, and, I'M
fortunately, belong TO the less popular;
I'm a romanticist
believe that you can make any build
ing beautiful, no matter what It's height,
II you know how to go about II. Most Of
the architects IN town will tell you that
they would Ike 10 see a straight cornice
running from Washington Square 10 Cen
ual Park. with a row OF columns under
hea'h. Wei, what would they do with
ue spire Of St Patnck's Cathedral?
flfth avenue is doomed as a street of
MONIES anyway. II ought 10 be. There is
plenty Of country around New York, and