The sun., 1919-05-24
CITY JUMPS MARKET
RENTS 80 TO 1OOP.C,
Profiteering, Is Cry of Stand
Holders in Old Washing.
ton Mart.
CUSTOMERS WILL SUFFER
Dealers Association Will Take
Up Matter; May Make
United Protest.

Butchers. poultry dealers, butter an.
egg men and others renting stalls :,
Washington Market from the city w.,.
badly Jared yesterday by the reca,,,
OF formal notices from the Depar,n,,,
Of Public Markets that their rents are n
be Increased July 1. AS soon as ever,
body compared notes and learned ,h.,
the boosts" ran all the way frnr, "a
to 100 per cent, many men made ca,
castle remarks. More than one dc,io,
in foodstuffs went so far as to suspe,, !,
might be n good scheme to ask Mavor
Hylan's Committee on Rent ProntccrIns
To take up In a serious way the ao,loo
Of the Rev. DR.. Jonathan c. DAYS da.
Partment in jumping the tariff which tho
city demands for the privilege Of doing
business in the noted old market place
DR.. Day admitted late last night ths,
the notices had gone out, and said h.
would talk about the reasons for ,bs
rent increases to-day.
THE rents of some of the stand.
holders are not to be disturbed at all"
he said. Yes, some have been increased
so per cent. and others as high as
100 per cent. 1t simply is a cas-, n,
equalizing rents for the stands in Wash.
ington Market The increases are IN
take effect on July l, and all hands will
get hearings
TN wallabout Market the city ha,
increased rentals 33 Ia per cent. These
increases went into effect on MAY
in the case Of all leases expiring then
Other leases, renewable after May |.
will be renewed at the increased rate"
William .Minder, president Of the
Washington Market Merchants Associa.
ton, said last night he was not prepared
to discuss the rent increases. lie added
that the action of the Department o.
Markets undoubtedly will be discussed
at a meeting of the association.
A we'll known Washington Marke,
dealer whose rent was lacked up between
so and 60 pey cent. said to reporter for
THE SUN:
ut seems 10 me that this is about ths
limit Talk about rent prottteering Of
landlords of apartment houses! Nobody
probably would have objected much Y
the city had decided 10 make us pay say
10 per cent. more; but the amount Of
rents demanded seems to be wthou,
reason.
1T must be borne in mind that Wash.
ington Market men pay the city simply
for the space in which they do business
We have to pay ourselves for our cod
air, lights and other things. The De.
partment OF Markets urges US to sell food
cheap. We do so on az close a margin
Of profit as possible and competition is
keen.
Now, the city comes along and soaks
US just as other landlords are doing
What can we do? We were obliged 10
equip our stalls and the fixtures for
stands range in cost anywhere from
$500 to $4,000. This is where the city
has US. Our fixtures are her and. Of
course. the city thinks that here they
will have to stay.
Il suppose they will. and In the end
we will have to hand up. Although
We don't like to do 1t, we will have TO
pass this additional cost along to the
men and women who patronze US Il
is hard on our customers, but there isn't
any other way out of IT.
Washington Market merchants alwayS
have maintained that the rents charged
by the city for space in the market are
much higher than the price a square
foot charged for space in ordinary
stores. Those whose rents are 70 he
raised so per cent. or more say they
consider Or. Days boosting notice the
last straw"