New-York tribune., 1922-09-10
More Space
For Traffic
On 5,7th St.
&c nee Big Building Projects Now Under Way City and Suburbs
Roadway TO Get Ten Feet
From Each Sidewalk;
Merchants Regard II as
gig Civic Improvement


u.-.hsrts in F;fty-seventh Street
s.ss' ssaT / victory that will heap on
ne.y ls.s .hnronuhfare of exclusive shops
;.ss sasS y,restige and real estate vaiue.
: - ~ = !. o-s than two years they navo
e.. ,,v,.no on the city authorities the
s;ty pssn az widening the yehicuiar
hss. - E;fty-seventh Street by mar
spAs: p':.., .ne sidewalks Some interests
ls,,t,bs the movement because they
s.ssI,, believed that the great width OF
~. % sidewalks in Fifty-seventh Street
~. sn II rs favor. Years ago, before the
s,,toranhile became SO popular, wac
sidewalks were an advantage, because IN
those days congestion was on the S,ae-
s.aiss ya4her than in the roads. but
- aa,alonntent Of the automobile and
sss shs - rstpral growth Of the city have
.saS .as conditions, so that the great
ssebjs,n sssa Il the shopping districts and
H. buSiness localities of the city is
vehicle congestion.
Much Of the opposition shown at fret
"a tbe scheme dwindled as the fight
nyoceeded and the value of the improve
ment was made clear. Toward the end
merchants, property owners and lease
hoiders all the way over to Eighth
Avenue we're arrayed back of the
scheme for the modernization of traf-
Sc conditions on Fifty-seventh Street.
Several days ago Borough President
Miller announced that contracts had
been awarded for widening and repay
iag Fifty-seventh Street from Fifth
sgenue west to Eighth Avenue, and
Ysdison Avenue from Sixtieth to Sew
ety-second Street. South of Sixtieth
sreat Madison Avenue has been wild
sed.
Viii Provide Much More Road Space
The shearing on Fifty-seventh Street
WIFI add about $4,000 square feet of
,oad space to the four blocks between
fifth and Eighth avenues. The plan is
10 eleave strip about one mile long
snd ten feet wide from the pedestrian
syea in these blocks. The curb on each
side Of the street between these two
avenues will be brought closer to the
shop windows or the building line and
the twenty feet clipped from the walks
added to the roadway.
When the improvement has been fin
shed the roadway in Fifty-seventh
Street will be one Of the widest in the
eitv. From curb to curb it will be
sixty feet, which is FIVE feet wider
than the roadway in Fifth Avenue
This extra space will provide room for
two additional lines of yehicular traf-
fie, 9hly four lines are possible now,
because the space is not more than
forty feet across. With the extra
twenty feet added six lines can move
without crowding.
These extra lines are expected by
business experts to add greatly to the
volume Of business conducted by the
merchants and hotels on the street.
This naturally will push up property
values and rentals, for real estate
worth is built on such things.
The battle for wider Fifty-seventh
aieet was conducted by the Fifty
sslsaah Street Committee of the Fifth
Aysam Association Borough Presi-
dent Miller facilitated the movement
as much as possible.
Ffty-seventh Street is to-day one of
tae finest shopping streets in the city.
u is part OF commercial Fifth Ave
nue and very important part of what
New York terms its. high class retail
store district.
Fifteen years ago Fifty-seventh
street was decidedly residential
street. Its spaciousness encouraged the
building Of large, homes, such as the
Vanderbilt and Huntington houses,
which are all that remain of the many
veil known homes that lined this
street.
Transformation of Street
The transformation of the street was
rapid after it started. Merchants who
hIst entered Fifty-seyenth Street were
tneught by others to have made mis-
axe, but the happenings of the last
iss years in the fine retail shopping
dssrict have indicated the judgement
these men.
lae proposed improvement is ex-
pecSed by many merchants in the street
y q the beginning of greater bust
hess era Charles j. Oppenheim ir.,
PRESIDENT Of Jay Thorpe, Inc, one of the
merchants who urged strenuously the
.apfogement now approved by the city
g0sefnment. regards it as an important
siNs as we'll as business development
,Of sae reason that it widened the
Ivy between the upper West Side and
ns Esst Side south of Central Park.
!. iae widening of this street, COM
psaea with the ordinance procured by
.n association barring illuminated
sgaa and regulating other signs, will
Increase the value of Fifty-seventh
ssseet as the most northerly location
~ nigh class shops" Mr.. Oppenheim
..'a This street has for years been
~ q Fifth Avenues main traffic out
FOR west bound automobile traf-
4 IS practically a continuation of
81 avenue itself, for the shopping and
.slhess portion of Fifth Avenue is
s.,sed at Sixtieth Street by residen-
ine business interests of Fifty
,asn street, represented by the Fif-
seYenth Street committee of the
s. 81 avenue Association, realized q
4 years ago that the present i'm
i ssssnlent was vitality necessary to the
81 siopment Of our street. The widen
81 proceedings were therefore ener-
'saay pushed and finally approved
me Board of Estimate last year
a tne associations application
,ssaalcai and other difficulties there
presented Themselves, but, due
h...s h.ae splendid efforts of Borough
ssaeent Miller, this needed improve
t,,s soon will be an accomplished
& 81 continuation of the widening of
4 ..on Avenue north of Sixtieth
3 ! another example of the high
Il sasssVeiopnent sasss of this section. The
q was widened between Forty
# snd Sixtieth streets last year.
sn ss.s Avenue already has com
& - % feel tremendous building
# ana business development.
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