New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-01-04

mace over ar You are sk1lful
enough, or. otherwise, fashion may
be defied and old clothes worn as Is.
But-you can't live on last years
food or on last years rent. These
are forever new, unacceptable items
Of expense. And in New York City
food has increased Is per cent since
.1915-despite food regulation and
proiteer-baiting. The increase in
rental is difficult to estimate. In
some cases rentals, even In the poor
districts, have Increased from so to
100 per cent. ~
Moreover, there have been SONS
interesting variations In rent Jug
Cling which make it, impossible to
estimate true increases. Take the
case Of the oTd-fashioned housekeep-
Ing apartments of five or six rooms
that are Converted" into two and
three~room housekeeping suites-at
two or three times the old pricel OF
course, Improvements" In the way
Of decorating, lighting and 30 forth,
are added, but since space is. cut in
half you must either be prepared to
pay an additional 100 per cent for
aesthetic advantages or grun1blingly
pay twice the price for half the
space! *
Back in 1917 friend Of mine had
a lovely five-room housekeeping
apartment close to Riverside Drive.
She paid, for beautiful large rooms,
modernly equipped, telephone and
elevator service, 500. Unfortunate-
ly, she had to give up the apartment
early last year, and now it's rental
is way beyond her means. She per-
sists in sticking to her. S95 limit for
rental, and all she could get for this
sum was tiny two-room and bath
suite, with "kitchenette" (inserted
in an ex-clothing closely, in rennod-
eled old house OF, the East Side, in q
far from quiet neighborhood. Be-
fore being remodeled each Of these
rooms brought SIS or $50 a month,
furnished. Whether the remodeling
has put sos month value addi-
tional on the unfinished rooms is
problematical, to say the least.
In simpler cases rental has merely
been raised, without the complicat-
ing justification of Improvements"
Modest landlords have put increases
Of between is and 20 per cent per
annum on rentals, SO that even in the
happiest cases there's probably an
increase. Of from 80 to 90 per cent
in rentals since 1917. More common
is the rental that has been showed up
a 80 to so per cent notch per annum,
even if it has meant an entirely diff
ferent crop Of tenants each season.
No Alternatives
For Rent
There aren't any comforting al
ternatives, either, In the facing Of
the rent problem, such as we have
when we take a peek at the high
cost Of clothes. Choice narrows to
this: Either change completely your
standards Of living in the matter Of
a dwelling place, or otherwise cut
mercilessly on every other item in
order to live in the house or neigh
borhood you've become accustomed
to. If the family places living quar-
tiers as more desirable than any
thing else, then last years clothes,
few or no luxuries and the cheapest
food viii have to do. If the family
must have good food or more clothes,
then it isn't only a matter of living
in a slightly cheaper place. The
chances are that ones entire stand
ards have to be changed.
There are families that have re-
luctantly left the city and commute
from far-oR points because they
simply would not sacrifice everything
else just to meet New York rents.
And in order to make the change
really effect saving, this kind Of
committing Is not easy, because
owners of rentable places within con-
venient distance of town promptly
took advantage Of conditions and
raised prices. Even tho apartments
of three or four rooms in suburban
places cost only enough less than
city fats to pay for Communication.
Years ago who would pay $500 a
! month for small apartment In a
suburb and commute to New York
daily? Yet that is now commonly
done, not because it Is any cheaper
but because It's the only thing avail
L. 4