New-York tribune., 1920-04-04

cial session last summer the stairs
themselves must be fireproof. the floors
OF the stairway halls either fireproof
or equipped with steel beams, and the
walls Of four-inch terra Gotta blocks
Under the amendment desired the use
OF fre-resisting material, such as steel
lath and heavy plaster, on the walls of
the halls would be sufficient Another
point at issue is whether there can be
one dark room to fiat.
Foresees Danger to Life
Mr.. Murphy. who is chairman of the
tenement house committee Of the
Charity Organization Society, believes
that the changes would cause great
danger to life through fire. would ac-
complish nothing toward increasing
housing and would legalize thousands
of illegal and dangerous conversions
which have been made outside the tene-
ment house law.
dwellings as has been said" he de-
cared. "There are in Manhattan only
23,600 buildings that were erected as
dwellings, and in the whole city only
about 100000, including summer cot
tages at Arverne, and all. So, if there
were $4,000 vacant 1t would mean that
one in ten Of the city's houses was un-
occupied, which is preposterous. The
total relief which would be given if all
the vacant structures were changed
would be very small.
But there is another point much
more important. Landlords have found
way Of evading the law and convert
ing the old house in a way that is ex-
ceedingly dangerous. They make them
mon housekeeping" apartments and are
technically outside the tenement house
law. Housekeeping goes on in prac-
tically all Of them, and they are vir-
tually all fire traps. The proposed
changes would make these fire traps
legal;
"They would not result in more fats,
because the present plan is far more
profitable to the landlord. The altera-
tlons can be made at little cost-far
less than would be possible even under
modified tenement house law. And
when they are done he will get exactly
twice as many people into the house as
he would If he had turned it into flats.
SO his income will be almost double
and at less cost. He doesn't intend to
change. but he would like to be inside
the law in his present game.
Would Not Provide Housing
"The people who urge this point of
view are much like the celebrated town
councll which resolved that the town
needed new jail, that it be built out
of the materials Of the old structure
and that the prisoners be kept in the
old prison until the new one was built
They want to make flats out of houses
that are already housing more people
than they would If the fats were an
ished.
"The city has been playing in luck
that there have been disasters from
Hre IN such houses Of late, but by the
law of averages some of them will soon
be due, and then we shall have q de-
mand for the punishment Of the Of
fcials responsible, when the response
bility will really lie at the door Of the
people who have permitted these con-
ditions to be created"
Commissioner Mann is even more
caustlc IN his comments on the land
lords who are using the "non-house-
keeping apartment plan, but he is
mildly in favor OF amending the fire
prooting provisions in regard to con-
vertlng the four-story houses. In a
statement issued yesterday he says:
There is no necessity for any such
legislation as is being proposed, since
the tenement house law can we'll take
care of remodelling those houses under
the present act, which was passed as
an emergency measure at the speciOl
session last year. Or better still, the
Legislature should amend that partic-
Of the drastic provisions thereof.
Favored Changes in Law
"ln this connection l desire to call
attention to the fact that at a confer
ence, to which the real estate inter
%
tives of the tenement house reform
committees were present, I suggested,
and | agreed that / would advocate, the
enactment of a law which would per-
NIT the four-story and basement pri-
vate dwelling to be converted into a
four-family tenement and permit one
interior room on each floor and permit,
Furthermore, the use Of the existing
hall partitions, with provision. how
ever, that they be fireproofed with such
material as would safeguard the oc-
cupants.
"The opposition, however was suffi-
GENTLY strong to prevent its enactment
and instead had the law amended so
that at the present time such houses
may only be converted provided they
are two rooms deep, and provided
Furthermore, that the interior parti-
tion walls separating the rooms from
the stair halls are torn out. and rebuilt
Of brick or four-inch terra Gotta blocks
"The result has been that hardly any
Of the owners have taken advantage Of
the law, or rather I should say have
subjected themselves to the disadvan-
tages Of converting their houses at the
expense it would entail
THE owners have found q new solu-
tion by which they are enabled to con-
vert these houses into so-called bach
elor,' or 'non-housekeeping' apartments
without being obliged to make these
expensive interior alterations of build
Ing fireproof hall, and instead of put
ting in four families, put in as many
as twelve or sixteen by creating one
two and three-room apartments, with
interior rooms on all floors and no
proper partition walls separating the
apartments from the stair hall, and
what Is worse still, and seems to me
almost criminal, without any fire escape
provisions whatsoever, thus giving
them no reasonable chance to escape
and handicappNg the hremen from
coming to the fire from the outside.
"The statistics in this community
show that all the fatalities at fires have
occurred in non-tenements and not in
tenement houses In % per cent OF
these houses they have the necessary
gas pipes running to convenient place