The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-10
Decadence of 34th
St. Recorded in
New Assessments
.--42d street, Now
Leading Retail
Centre - Business
Depression At
fects Financial
District Values


ness t~horoughfarc. the decline OF Fifth
avenue as far north as Fortieth street
from its pinnacle at the top OF all OF
the ctty's retail districts ard the re-
cession of the side streets up to Forticlil
street from first class to secondary busi-
ness streets is the distressing story told
by the new assessment rolls ,pencd for
public inspection OF October /. shift.
ing of trade celtrcs is once more as
signed as tdc reason for falling values
in these districts. just as II was not
more than ten years Z when IN" de-
cline of Twerty-third street began. ami
not moro than twenty years ago when
Fourteenth street began to lose prestige
as the GENRE OF the best retail district
in the city.
Millions of dollars have been cvt out
OF lane valuations in these sections
which up 10 last year through steady
Improvement in values had added huge
sums annually to- the tax rolls % the
Cit Now the same decay has SGT ia
there that has made luw,r SiNth ave-
nue. and Fourteenth a real estate vast"
and has left Twcr;y thru street de-
tudcd Of the wealth and Industry that
once centred there. Tan Department
officials make M predictions as t. the
future of TtLrty-fourth street, Fifth
avenue Up to Fortieth street and the
intcrsecting strcets-tha' Is not their
business. They do, however, point out
q movement similar in every RESPECT to
those which have br ught dhIut present
conditions in s.ctiO' further south.
Though great establishment 81 the
finest character like Mct'reerN's, Mays,
Altman's and many more nav" in com
~parauively recent years expended many
mlllic:ss OF dollars in the vicinity ia
building what they thought would De-
permanent homes and though they con-
centrate untold millions OF buying power
in thar. district. the Tax Department
finds them unable 10 hold up values
against tho steady removal Of other
high grade Curcerns to locations fur
(her uptown.
To-day Forty-secuud street stands out
as the coming leader of retail t'Ldc
streets and Fifth avenue from Furtietl
20 Fifty-Seventh street has taken thu
prestige held only a few years by tA'
blocks just to tn" south What Thir-
ty-four street has lost n value Forty
second street has more than gained
Assessment decreases "u and near iiftl
avenue from Thirtirth street l. FurtIetI
street have been offset 10y gains IRON
Fortieth to Fifty-sev"nth street.
Thes, are probably tn" most inter
esting and important facts brought out
by the new ass ssmeuts, but they d'
not tell the entire story Of change,
going On in New York city real estate
Further declines are recorded in som,
sections that have been going back ioi
several years and some new pa * are
recorded AZ having temporary AT leas'
lost some of their worth. other dis
tricts continue to improve. though tn
notable improvement Is limited 4" sew
eral small areas, one more d,tatl tina
stands out is that ia No whole city q
decrease il recorded because OF recess
sions in land values and OF destruction
OF old buildings. amounting to the stu
pendous total of sl2i, sos 600, of Whicr
amount $l0j, iOl 900 IL recorded against
Manhattan Island. In the whole city
advances in values OF land and the cost
Of new buildings have combined to af,
fectively offset this great loss anu -
leave a comfortable net gain. In ii
b%oroughs this net gain is set down at
sl43,4so.000. OF which s33,5i2,Oo0 IL
furnished by Manhattan Island. These
last figures are of course only trnta-
tive. and are subject 10 material reduc.
ton. while the figures of depreciation
are subject to increase through cuts
which the Tax Commissioners may see
ut to make,
1t is the expressed belief OF the mem
bcrs OF the taA board that this years
assessments are as near TO absolute
value as they can be made and that
the changes to he made this year he
cause of protests viii be materially
less than in previous years. because
OF the unusual conditions that exist IN
the city's financial affairs the deputy
tax assessors have used extreme carr,
In preparing this years books. They
have delVed dePDer into the m3ttnr If