New-York tribune., 1919-04-28
Crowded Manhattan

One effect of the present renting
situation has escaped attention. That is,
the emphasis it lays on the recent one
sided development of Manhattan as a
place of residence and a place of bust
ness.
There is not enough housing space
to-day to 60 around. Is that because
the population of Manhattan is growing
abnormally? Apparently not Before
the census Of 1915 was taken the rate
of increase in this borough had begun
to fall. immigration from many parts
Of Europe ceased in 1914, and this i'm
migration had previously been adding to
the population of the city as a whole
at the rate of about 100000 year The
state census Of 1916, in fact, disclosed
an actual decrease in the population of
Manhattan between 1910 and 1916, the
Federal census figure for 1910 being
1881, ,542 and the state census figure
for 1915 being 2,137,747
Nor is it at all likely that the bor-
ough has gained in resident population
since 1915. immigration is still sus-
PSuOcN. uciC ildS D6cIl u COuutST-CuT-
rent of emigration to Europe, and many
thousands of the soldiers and sailors
whom Manhattan furnished are still in
military service. Apartment house
building has been halted since 1917.
Yet the census figures suggest that the
effect of this stoppage has been largely
neutralized by an actual decline in
population since 1914.
What is the reason Of the present
crowding? 1t seems to be due in large
part to the conversion Of residence dis
tricts into business districts The CEN
trail section of Manhattan, from Fifty
ninth Street down to Washington
Square, has been assigned more and
more to business purposes. The manu-
featuring loft building has displaced
the dwelling and taken the space which
would otherwise have been given to the
.partment house. This section of the
city, once its most conspicuous resi-
dence area, now harbors chiefly in its
big hotels the transients who do busi-
ness or seek pleasure here. The housing
room available for permanent residents
has been curtailed, in spite of the bor-
ough's growth northward
For Manhattan this development NAV
be prescribed by economic pressure. But
it works great hardship on those who
feel obliged to live in the borough. And
it has the further effect of creating a
sharp divergence Of interest between
them as voters, and the influences
which are trying to develop this borough
as manufacturing centre and trans
portation terminal. The great West
Side terminal improvement project.
which almost any other city would have
jumped at, was coldly received by Man.
hattans voting population. 1t was not.
perhaps, so much that the upper West
Side wanted to save Riverside Park.
but that all residence sections viewed
with a certain apprehension any further
encroachments on their living space by
industry and business
Manhattan Borough always lacks
solidarity of feeling with regard to port
and other enterprises when territory on
Manhattan Island is affected This is
unfortunate. The development of manu-
factures and terminals means higher
rents for residents, who often fail to
see any benefit to themselves in grand
scale improvements.
The problem has two sides. In any
borough planning from now on the
housing needs of the present population
ought to be taken into full considera-
ton. They rank alongside this commu-
nity's needs as an expanding industrial
centre and port.