Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-29

ideal place to live in New York is
on a roof, 1t is said. On the roof
of a tall building, particularly, the
air is marvelously fresh and clear.
the view 10 usually charming. and
1t Is possible to achieve q degree of
quiet and privacy unobtninable any
where else in the city. AS the site
for a summer home it exoels the fin
est suburb. for 1t is cool and mos
q%uitoless and can be reacr ed without
the daily tedium of committing.
Yet roof dwelling is sti'l compar-
atively rare there. Except fer a few
prosperous business men who can
afford expensive novelties, and some
lucky janitors who are provided
with living quarters attached TO pent
houses on the top OF apartment
houses and office buildings, New
Workers fo~ the most part cling to
the old-fashioned idea that a roof,
having been designed as a protective
lid. and that only, should not sud-
denly be called upon to fulfill the
duties Of a floor.
This view is held with particular
f1rmness, FOR some myterlous reason,
by the city's real estate owners,
who stubbornly resist the idea. long
since urged upon them, Of building
bungalows on the roofs of apart
ment houses, office buildings and
private houses. Because Of its ex-
treme narrowness. there IS a woeful
lack of residential space in the low
or part of Manhattan although there
Is any amount of 1t going to waste
up on the roofs. With millions of
square feet ready to be developed
in this manner, there are probably
not more than so roof dwellings in
the entire city.
One of the most interesting of
these is the home of Henry l.. Do
herty, well known New York bank
err, on top of the Battery Park
building, where the outlook Is mag
~niicent. On the one hand, lies the
harbor, with its quiet Islands and
strange, busting craft. And on the
other hand, there is the Ne~ York
skyline-that unparalleled stretch of
| giant office buildings which, lighted
UP in the night time, suggest wierd,
jewel-studded cliffs.
A Roof Tennis Court
Mr.. Doherty not only mas a COM
Portable, spacious apartment on this
novel site, but a tennis Jul and a
curious, painted garden n well. He
prefers painted gardens to real ones,
because they do not harbor flies and
mosquitoes. Sitting on his back
porch these summer evenings, he
looks out upon a picturesque rural
landscape with rolling hills and
green fertile valleys, a mountain top
or two in the distance and in the
foreground a lovely garden with
trellises of climbing roses and lily
pools set here and there on C green
lawn or between flower beds. Ev-
erything is painted.
"My idea is to make this place q
real health resort" explains Mr.,
Doherty, zone that I car reach in a
few minutes walk from my office
The principal thing is to get lots OF
rood. sweet air. I never could see
why people want to go to places in
search of fresh air and then screen
themselves way from it. I haven
a screen In my place and I dom
want any. Neither do l want any
mosquitoes or flies. So I have' tht
plants and evergreens which are GU
IN this place in winter taken ava.
in summer, and, as I don't want !
IN look too plain and bare, l nave
had the walls and floor painted Il
give an effect of foliage, pools ant
flowers.
eff New Workers would only real
ixe how fine it is UP on the roof'
more of them certainly would buil6
roof garden and Fairgrounds" n
continued. 1t seems amazing though
that when by simply taking an eie
yator to the roof they could get glo
rious fresh breezes and air aa swee
as in the country they continue t
ignore these possibilities and spent
their time down at the ground level
or travelling to and from summer re
sorts.
"The average New York subur
banite travels a long distance IRON
his office to his country home ant
gets there just about in time to g
Inside to get away from mosquitoes
Or perhaps he has his verand'
screened and sits outside. deludinl
himself that he's getting just a
much benefit as If he were really on
in the open Think of the lime n
passes in the cars and the strus
Cling crowds he encounters ever
day! If he only would realize wha
nne places could be built UP on tn