The New York herald., 1922-11-12
TAX EXEMPTION AN !
AID TO LOT BUYING
Sturdy Home Seekers Acquire
Land at Auction and Build
With Own Hands,,
ny JOSEPH p. DAY.

One of the outstanding features of the
lot auction market of the current year
has been the lasting strength Of tho
great buying movement that MATERIAL
lied with the adoption by the city Of
New York of the tax exemption law in
1871 and which had developed into q.
remarkable building movement even be-
fore the extension OF tho law. early in
1882, until April /, 1923.
Great areas of The Bronx ana Queens,
unimproved and vacant until the last
two years, have been released from the
grip or old estate ownersflips and have
been absorbed by the home seeking,
hove loving public.
close analysis OF the situation re-
veals the fact that those who have been
doing the major part of the lot buying
are the very people the tax exemption
law was expected to benefit the most
put for whom comparatively few low
price dwellings and apartments actually
pave been planned or erected by outside
interests. with the exception of the new
apartment houses planned by the Metro
politan Life Insurance Company and
now In course of construction.
refer or course to the man who has
put one way to join the ranks of the
natlon's home owners, which is to buy
building site and then to build a rome
with his own hands and the aid Of his
friends. This is the fine, friendly sort
or camaraderie that has been most in
evidence In The Bronx, Queens and
Brooklyn. where on the lots have been
enabled to sell at auction thousands OF
nome made" homes have been built-on
10.
fore going to work in the mornings and
after getting home from work in the
evenings. And / want to say right here
that home built in that way is one
that will be forever appreciated, one
that man will fight for "to the last
ditch"
The Throgs Neck Long Island Sound,
Pelham Bay Park, University Heights,
Concourse, Columbia Oval, Hunts Point
and other sections of The Bronx, as
also the Queens Boulevard Astoria,
Elmhurst, Corona, Forest Hills, Jamaica,
Flushing, Bayside. Jackson Heights,
Woodsde and other sections of Queens.
the fast building outlying sections OF
Brooklyn and the wonderfully devel-
oped neighhorhood of Long Beach and
its neighbor on the Nassau county
mainland. are doing their part in teach
Ing the people Of New York how to live
in the open," more economically, more
healthfully and more satisfactorily than
even before.
From the home building standpoint, IL
from no other, the land hunger of the
people of New York is healthy move-
ment that reflects the fundamental
soundness of the nation, and the appe-
tlts of the man in the street" for few
lots on which to build a home, sharp
ened as 1t has been by tax exemption.
appears now to be as keen as ever-that
is, if,the lateness of the lot auction SELL
ing season this year can be accepted as
ar indication Of the public desire and of
what is in store for us next spring
when. unless all signs fail, there will be
an immense amount of buying and build
ing during the few months prior to the
expiration of tax exemption on April /.
The advantage of tax exemption dur
ing these eleventh hours Is that an owner
of lots has only to do his excavating
and build the foundation of his house
before next April. after which he can
make his application for tax exemption
under the law until April, 1899.