The sun., 1916-12-25
'S25,O00,OOO COURT
HOUSE NEARER NOW
Work May Begin Within a
Year in Effort TO Reduce
Further Outlay.
TO BE BUILT PIECEMEAL
Millions Already Wasted and
Labor and Material Costs
Far Beyond Estimates.

work on the greatest Of all monu.
aents to municipal ineptituds. New York
esunty's S25,o0o.ooo court house. will
esmmencs within . year"
This Information was revealed yestsr.
lsy by Comptroller Prendsrsast IN stat
INC that specifications for contracts for
the building Of the monument to u,uddle
and delay and extravagance are practl.
caily ready for submission to the Board
q Estimate.
Within q few weeks. the Comptroller
understands. the board will be called
upon to approve the contract forms and
Hseably will authorize letting OF the
contracts on total appropriation basis
Of 37.soo.ooo. As matters stand, Mayor
J, Mitchell. Comptroller PrenderEast and
y Kings Borough President Pounds are
ready to vote aye. and II is believed that
Bronx Borough President Mathewvpn
vtil Join these In giving definite Impetus
to the project which has dragged fer
years at vast waste Of money to the
~
VIII vsts UAwillin9ly.
N. Prendereast and one or two other,
4 ths company Of city fathers thai hold
tAs purse strings win give their vote OF
oeprovA In . spirit of resignation tsm-
Osfed with disgust Their point Of visv
- regards the whole amazing court
house project. with its delays and dis
agreements its unnecessary expendi-
turee. Its unscientific and unbusinesslike
pocedure from first to last. In simply
nat the city has been plunged 10 deeply
and inextricably into tho morass of
sssmnsly unending expenditure that
0ey might as well go ahead and make
On end OF the business before moro
millions are piled upon the cost.
AEainst tho drcamllke projects Of
George NcAneny and some otherv who
directed the various steps Of the court
house plan as a part of their vision of a
city beautiful. the Comptroller. n posI-
tive person with definite notions as to
Acw far dollars may be made to 20 nv a
municipality skating on the edge of a
sebt limit. set himself for years. He
f@ up nights trying to devise ways of
er'ail'ng the extravagancies q the plan,
but he was finally overwhelmed
The court house project had become n
lugserhaut which. though driven by
y veioharieS' crushed solid judgments
tslns as driving force the law of 1909
Sh!eh created the Court House Board
ana told II to get busy. various inf.u-
ences' no two OF which ever agreed on
sny detail except that the city would
nnd Inc cash some way, gave the court
ns
puSIhesS'lke objections to fancy esti-
mates and costly delay were swept 70
the ground W
Millions Are wasted,
"a Now. as Mr. Prcndergast And. e..
'ci'y Is up against II and with no other
recourse than to get the thing done ana
crer with. saaing a few dollars here and
.,e az opportunity offers. The Conn.
Uoner himself, with all his Familiarity
s"n large public building undertaking.
IN 'nis country and abroad, can find no
parallel Tor the expensive history of the
rev court house. The stumbling anna
eu'iShness or the plans development
"a rev millions here. few millions
mere were dropped along the road.
.ounts , IN the opinion OF strict business
muddling.' s'1" '''
IN the first place tho court hou.e
vnat with the outlay for real estate. n
5000 part OF which was wholly unpeces.
..!' ior building and decoration, in
inerest charges on bonds and In the loss
%, YAK receipts. will have cost by the
. mue Is finished In the 1920s not less
> man se5,ooo.00o. or q good deal more
.hah twice as much as was originally
vision. '" '"e
The real estate alone. tho two big
pU,s north of the municipal building.
VII nave cost $14.00o.00O or more, and
.ae iea" estimate possible for the con-
suuc'ion. now that the cost Of building
materials and labor have 80 ereatIy
risen. Is 81. 100000 No person familiar
WIN the tendency OF public building
p'oJects 10 eat UP money as the builders
.ofhe 10 carry out the plans Of the arch
..ec.s and TO meet sudden. unex pected
| k"noi'ions' Will bo surprised II New
orH 'i'y eventually 10 required to dig
W good deal more than $25 900, 900.
Must BE Done Peaeem
After swinging in wide arcs OF ex.
pehse estimates, lightly thinking In mill.
phs, INC Court House Board, which
worked In cooperation with the financial
pmhhins OF the Board OF Estimate
MY Plan Committee. of which George
..aeAheny was chairman. is now finding
user up against the hard and fast fact
.nat the city will be able merely to ap-
proprlate little. relatively. at a time
aeep tho construction work going.
ihat ~ to say. the Board of Esti.
mae viii not authorize the expenditure
VI N'doo 600 at one magnificent swoor
smnly because Father Knickerbockel
.oulnht stand such a Jar. 1t Intends "a
sphronrlate from time 70 time only
ss..ough 10 keep the construction going
'opo'o"o or so AZ need requires. The
contract notifications which are now
ms oy"rhauled by Corporation Coun.
se' Iiaidv are devised TO meet this very
uh.l.Ipnary requirement
NHe'h'r the big contractors will wan
20 tackle the job under such piecemea
n HH'l"ns IL something else again
"H'he 'hey will and maybe they won't
'Hp'l'ler Prendergast thinks II likel,
."'' 'A'F viii, since Uncle Sam IL able
W. s"t nr"tiy considers hle building Job.
''"' ny mat pay-as-you-go method.
Not So Rosy as IL Locks.
Tho Count House board at lI5 Broad
way Of ~h.'n l.. Lafin Kellogg Is chair
'lah' assumes that tho future is now al
,,uu'y Tor the magnificent undertaking =
h"' corporation Counsel Hardy will
"'",''v turn In To the Board OF Esti
n'd' lie approved speci incations. tina
we h4arf OF Estimate will approve Will
hr'" cheers or 20. that the contractor
N'1l conc arunninG and that the shovel