Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-20
New York Could Limit
Buildings to 8 Stories
and Eliminate
Problems.
BY THOMAS HASTINGS.

Alphabetically. the present pass OF
the great city of New York Is a tragedy,
a revolutionary tragedy. We have de-
parted from time-tested standards in
urban architecture and, to be charita-
| BILE, let us say that the merit of what
has thus far come out Of the resulting
confusion Is a matter Of opinion. find
no fault with the architect who builds
| skyscrapers under the conditions Of to-
day; he is within the law and he is
| carrying out the wishes of his client;
but I do find fault with city govern
| ment so shortsighted as not to see the
good sense and economic justice in linn
iting within reason the height Of build
ings.
This New York has never seen fit to
| do, at least In way to really control
| the situation, and in that fact Is the
| genesis Of most of our municipal diff
culties-not alone the lack Of harmony
and grace in the skyline, of which we
hear so much, but our ever-increasing
traffic congestion Of pedestrians and We
hicles and the fact that we who work
in New York's Office buildings are per-
force becoming an underground and in
door race, and that this city will soon
be on the verge Of serious trouble with
its water supply and sewer drainage sys-
TENS.
MOI 100 Late 70 Cnange.
It is not too late to change now.
New York could much better have
limited building heights a generation
or more ago, but the city could well
do this today, radical as the idea
may seem in the face of constantly
mounting skyscrapers. If the height
Of all buildings on Manhattan Island
below Fifty-ninth street were to be
limited to eight stories, believe many
of our most troublesome civic problems
would disappear. In fact, think this
the one true remedy and that otherwise
we are only treating the symptoms of
our malady.
Once this was done, the city would
spread out In q harmonious fashion and
would become q place really fit to live
In as well as to work in. Those whose
daily movements are limited to Fifth
avenue or Forty-second street or to
the vicinity of Wall street have little
idea how much waste space there still
Is on Manhattan Island or how many
sections there are yet where for blocks
one scarcely meets an automobile.
As 1t Is, however, we go on shooting
up skyscrapers until 40 stories has be-
come common, SO stories are fast COM
ing to be no great rarity and so and 70
stories are but matters Of tomorrow
A 100-story building will rise almost
before we know it II we do not call
a halt Our streets have become mar
row canyons and tens Of thousands live
their daily lives under artificial light.
We Would Have Improved Parks.
II we had originally limited the
height Of buildings here to what would
be their height in London. for instance,
| under their ancient lights regulation,
| or as has been done in Paris or Berlin,
New York would have spread out over
the whole Of. Manhattan Island and
our small parks would probably have
been properly improved and would to-
day be the garden spots or paved
| squares in the midst of the city they
were meant to be-.
AS it is, the change Of Fifth avenue
to street of skyscrapers is q perfectly
natural thing. When business pushes
In residents leave, of course. No one
can afford to live In four stories when
he can sell his property for 40 stories
to be built on it, and tall buildings
have replaced some Of the finest and
most expensive private residences the
world over. Now the development
has reached Fffty-ninth street and can
| go no further north and business is
spreading east and west. With re-
stricted building heights the spreading
| out process would have come long,
long ago and this would have spread
out. the population and the trafic.
This traffic congestion, which causes
us so much trouble and worry, Is in
comparatively limited districts.
Below Fifty-ninth street in Manhat-
tan there are good-sized sections occu-
pied by nothing but rookerieS and in
which a person may walk Is or 20
minutes without meeting an automobile.
Rubbish and waste and two-Story build
ings characterize these sections.
It would all change If we restricted
building heights as I have suggested.
We would then have the better classes
living where buildings were low and
possibly the workers would be housed
in the taller structures.
which accompanies an increasing popu-
lation naturally augments the value
Of property and under these conditions
a reasonable and uniform height of
buildings would of. necessity enhance
the value Of larger area of property
and make q more equal distribution
Of the benefits so obtained and among
a greater number of people Moreover,
| real estate would SO become q less
speculative holding and q more con-
\ sentative investment. A vast number
Of people now land poor would share
in this.
Because Of the greed and unre-
strained height in building allowed
under our municipal laws the abnormal
rise and fall Of real estate values in