New-York tribune., 1919-05-04
Ex Commissioner Under
Caynor and Mitchell Ad.
vises Mayor and Hirsch-
field Move to Manhattan
Cites Assessment Cuts
Declares Reductions Here
Not Surprising i'll View
of Lack of knowledge

John ]. Halleran, Commissioner Of
Taxes under both Gaynor and Mitchell,
yesterday advised David Hirshfield,
Mayor Hylan's Commissioner of Ac-
counts, to move from Bushwick to
Manhattan and post up on the work
of the city departments.
Judging from the discoveries an
nounced by Commissioner Hirshie)d in
The Tribune to-day with reference to
dark and deep Irregularities by the as
sessng officials in ti.e Department Of
Taxes, it would be we'll for Mr.. IIlrsh-
field, the Mayor and for the city as a
whole if Mr. Hrshfield would move
from Bushwick to Manhattan" said Mr..
Halleran.
"If Mr.. Hirshfeld will study Man
haitian figures he will soon, discover
that reduction of 100000 in realty
assessed valuations is not surpris-
ing matter. 1t may seem large ir
Bushwick.
Big Tax Reduction
"The assessed valuation of the Stew
art Building at Broadway and Cham
bers Street was reduced close to
million dollars in single year
the year following it's bona tide sale
to Mr. Munsey The owner showed
the commissioners what he paid Tor
the property, and in order to save
the city money through costly liti-
CATION the reduction was made. The
assessed valuation of the William A..
Clark property in Fifth Avenue was
quarters Of million in n one year, after
spirited legal battle
"Furthermore. Commissioner Hirsh-
field will encounter some illuminating
figures in the annual reports OF the
Department of Taxes and Assessments.
If he will look at the figures eor ttlhe
second assessment district III the
Borough of Manhattan he will find
that the assessed valuations IN that
district, bounded by Grand Street on
the south and Fourteenth Street on
the north were reduced from S531 ,160,-
$50 in the year 1911, to $439 500 $50 for
the year 1917-a total of nearly $92,-
100000 in a single section. This was
due TO q large extent to the abandon
ment of the Broadway district by mer-
chants who went to Fourth Avenue,
leaving thousands of lofts vacant
Reflection on Deputies
Mr.. Hirschfeld's discoveries are a
reflection on the deputy tax commits
sioners in charge of the various dis
tricts They are very high class and
competent body Of men who have be-
come expert in assessment work, and
they are protected by the civil ser
vice. If Commissioner Hirschfeld
h..~lr l,O :
put through any considerable amount
OF freak assessing he has another
think coming. They won't do it for
him or anybody else. They have to
make oath to the integrity of their
work after they have completed it
from year to year, and they take
their work seriously, as they should
As for the new idea of the Mayor
and the Commissioner of Accounts, te
have the assessors make a weekly re.
port of their tentative field assess
ments, that method has been followed
for the last twenty-five years.
at is not at all difficult for a tax
ing official to raise an assessed valua
tion but it is a difficult matter FOL
the city to collect on an inequitabl'
assessment. If the Department o
Taxes and Assessments, under press
ure, attempts to punish extortionatt
landlords by raising assessed valua
tions. the chances are that the Law
department will be loaded up will
thousands of certiorari actions, an'
that the city in the end will lose ou
and have to pay the costs.
You cannot put many humps il
the assessment rolls and keep then
there. If the work is not done equi
tably and legally the aggrieved own
ers will defeat any attempt to penal
iZe ther1 >,