The New York herald., 1922-01-31
THEATER BUILDINGS
TO Be REINSPECTED
Order Resulting From
Washington Disaster At
fects All Manhattan.
WORK STARTS TODAY
Bureau Will Send Out
Large Staff to Speed
Protective Move.
BROOKLYN MAY FOLLOW
District Attorney Urges Action
Refers to American The
ater Tragedy With Z Killed.


Kn.ckerbocker Theater in Washington
has stirred the New York city authori-
ties to action and caused an order to
be issued by Borough President Julivs
Miller for reinspection Of every '!ea-
ter building and place Of pubic as
sembly within the borough of Man
haitian.
Although no official action has been
taken in the other boroughs,. 1t is be-
lieved Brooklyn will follow. as the
tragedy of a theater collapse was par
ticulcrly brought home to the resi-
dents Of that section when the walls
of the American Theater fell on No
vember 30, killing seven worknen and
injuring others.
The Bureau Of Buildings Of Man
haitian is prepared to send out a large
staff Of inspectors throughout the
Broadway and uptown sections to-
day, and according to an estimate
made by Charles Brady, Superintend-
ent of Buildings, complete reports on
the 500 or more public buildings
within the city should be ready by the
end of the week. His men, he said.
could average about fifty theaters
day.
That this can hardly be more than a
superficial examination is admitted by
the department, but it is contended that
If any glaring defects exist they can
be detected in time to be reported and
remedied. Under the present law build
ings of this type are required to be in
spected only once year.
Snow Theory Is Doubted.
Experts on theater construction, as
we'll as officials Of the building bureau.
are agreed that the New York law
affords adequate protection against a
repetition here OF the Washington dis
aster as far as an overload on the roof
is concerned, being much more stringent
In this respect than the Washington
building code. Several engineers, how
ever, were not willing to accept the snow
theory as being the true cause of the
collapse. inclining to the belief that there
must have been some vital fault in con-
struction.
1t was pointed out that the New York
law requires the roof Of a theater build
ing to be Of sufficient strength to carry
forty pounds of live load to the square
foot whereas in Washington the margin
does not go above fifteen pounds. In ad-
dition to this there also Is the factor of
safety to be taken into consideration,
which in New York city is fixed at five
to one; that is, the roof is constructed
so that it will support five times the
amount required. or 200 pounds.
District Attorney John Z. Ruston OF
Brooklyn issued a statement in which he
urged the immediate examination OF all
theater buildings in the. borough, accus-
ing at the same time the Brooklyn
Building Department of loose methods
in approving plans and administering
the building code.
1.-THE plans of the American Theater,"
he said. were passed by s1.944 year
clerk in the department, whose word
was final. who admittedly was not an
engineer and utterly without practical
experience as a builder. The demands
for safety were ignored by the builders
and not enforced by officials of the
Building Department. Not day should
be lost in making thorough examina-
ton of all these buildings by competent
engineers with a view to preventing a
similar and more serious disaster
Chief City Magistrate William Nc
Adoo. who has been presiding at the
John Doe hearings into the American
Theater collapse, issued similar warn.
ing.
1T Is extremely fortunate for the
people of Brooklyn" he said. "that the
theater which collapsed there was not
open to the public. This theater would
have seated 1.650 persons. The roof
collapsed from causes which we are
now investigating"
| He also criticised the administration
of the Building Department. declaring
that the examiners should be more
carefully selected be men of some pro-
! fessioral standing and receive salaries
adequate to their responsibilities.
II might add that the architect who
drew the plans for the moving picture
theater in Brooklyn which collapsed
also was the architect for several other
theater buildings now being used by
the public. These buildings may be
safe. but it would not be amiss to look
at them" he said.