New-York tribune., 1912-02-04
MONEY IN SIDEWALKS
rnormouS Rentals Paid for Use
of City'S Streets.
puT THE PROFIT is PRIVATE
ressees and Landlords Reap
Rich Harvest Through Mu-
nicipal Liberality.

The recent discovery that eighteen hotels
.rd clubs last year made $lll, 400 by rent
ing space N the city streets before their
doors 10 taXicab companies is an eye
onener 10 the possibilities of making money
nv renting street space, as long as the law
remains lenient in this regard. All over
ond under the city there are inches and
bcles spaces and spots wherein all man
nor Of street encroachment goes on to the
,.roft OF those who sell in these places,
and 10 the profit Of those who rent them.
The street peders of different kinds who
largely fill in these openings or sell in the
street re,ard pedestrians, obstruct traffic,
hinder the progress of fire engines. cover
0re hydrants and compete with storekeep-
ers. yet-they supply hordes Of persons
with many a much felt want and the uses
10 which they put the streets are varied
and surprising. Above the pavement the
hot potato man and the steamed corn
vender vie for patronage with the waffle
cart and the hokey-pokey wagon. Cheaper
than anywhere else one may purchase from
street peders any fruit in season: silk
stockings and shoestrngs. pistols and
chest protectors, hardware and underwear
are all on sale at sidewalk stands or in
sidewalk cellars. and of the little that man
wants here below there is, indeed, less that
cannot be bought from street pedlers.
let Of the different uses which the street
serves, none is more interesting than the
places where ii is used as a roof Be
meath the feet of the pedestrian as he hur-
ries over the sidewalk, a world moves and
has its being OF which he seldom thinks
unless a torrid current of air passing up
ward through a street grating reminds him
of the heat below. As Manhattan has be-
come more and more crowded, the work
ings of this underworld have become more
intricate and extended until to-day the
space beneath the sidewalk brings rentals
often as high as does the space above it,
Formerly the sidewalk cellars were used
mainly for storage or coal. During the
loose days of several decades ago many
cf the caverns under the sidewalk Of up
per Park Row were notorious dens Of i'll
fame. There were centred brothels and
gin mills" and gambling dens, which fur
nished much Of the sensational news of
that day. Now these spaces are largely
used for storage; yet further up the street
are shooting galleries and poolrooms ami
barber shops. which are rooted by the
sidewalk In one OF these caves near
Chatham Square are piles of Italian
cheeses, slowly acquiring the marks of
age which make them salable. Here, too,
are wine vaults, which produce a fine crop
Of cobwebs and lend a proper look OF
gray old age 10 the bottles which are kept
there. Mulberry street has hundreds vf
pounds Of tobacco stored beneath the side
walks and many enterprlsing dealers hire
cellars with under-sreet rights wherein
10 rlpen bananas and other fruits, which
later find their way TO sidewalk stands
and pushcarts.
Along the lower East Side. where every
available foot OF space is used, the two
cent coffee room beneath the fiagstones
brings in regular rental to the property
owner. There may be had a square meal
for ten cents. while six cents buys fairly
substantial luncheon. True, the bread is
not Of the freshest and the cakes and pies
are more like granolthic chips than edible
substances. yet the hungry men who sit
around the small tables reading the daily
paper from the fatherland, slipping the
emaciated coffee and dragging at the stub
OF a cigarette, seem thoroughly TO enjoy
the half hour which they are permitted
10 spend there. once in a while a roller
skater, skurrying over the cemented roof,
startles him from his mental connection
with the auld Sod maybe. toe, the heavy
thump Of a garbage can brings forth a
volume Of foreign invective on the head
of Big BIZ Edwards; but, aside from
these petty Interruptions, he enjoys his
meal as much as those who, further UP
town. enjoy theirs in tiled ana frescoed
cellar which is dIgnifed as a rathckeller,
and where one pays a hundred times as
much for what he eats as does the East
Side cave man.