RECORD OF TESTIMONY AND STATEMENTS IN RELATION TO 75 



NECESSITY FOR DISTRICTING PLAN 



West End Board of Trade 



West Side Children's Conference 



West Side Taxpayers' Association 



Women's City Club 



Wyckoff Heights Taxpayers' Association 



Financial institutions approve plan 



Building operations are largely financed in New York by the life 

 insurance companies, the fire insurance companies, the title companies, the 

 trust companies and the savings banks. That these institutions strongly 

 favored the districting plan is shown by the following petition to the Board 

 of Estimate and Apportionment : 



Whereas, The present almost unrestricted power to construct buildings 

 to any height, over any portion of a lot, for any desired use and in any part 

 of the city has resulted in injury to the health, safety and general welfare 

 of the city and also to real estate and business interests, and 



Whereas, Light, air and access have been impaired by high buildings, 

 by failure to provide adequate courts and yards, by the proximity of inap- 

 propriate or nuisance buildings and uses, and 



Whereas, It is recognized that there are strong social and economic 

 forces that tend to a certain degree of order and segregation in building 

 development, yet it is apparent that these natural forces are not strong 

 enough to prevent haphazard development or to ensure the building of the 

 city in a stable and orderly manner and with some regard for the amenities 

 of city life, and 



Whereas, Through haphazard construction and invasion by inappro- 

 priate uses the capital values of large areas have been greatly impaired, 

 not only in the central, commercial and industrial sections of Manhattan, 

 but also throughout the residence sections of the five boroughs, thus affect- 

 ing the market value of real estate for investment purposes and creating 

 an economic depreciation that is a hazard which must be considered by 

 every investor in real estate, and 



Whereas, This extra hazard decreases the net earning basis required 

 to induce investment, consequently lessening the capital values throughout 

 the city and affecting not only the individual owners of real estate, but the 

 large lending institutions, the municipal finances, and the general welfare 

 and prosperity of the city, and 



Be It Resolved, That with the some eight billion dollars already invested 

 in New York City real estate and the certainty of added billions in the 

 coming years, the lending institutions of the city, in conjunction with the 

 property owners, endorse a plan of city building" that will tend to conserve 

 and protect property values because of the permanence and stability that 

 can only be secured by a far-sighted building plan which will harmonize 

 the private interests of owners and the health, safety and convenience of the 

 public, and further 



Be It Resolved, That it is the sense of those present at this meeting 

 representing financial institutions, as well as such other representatives of 

 the financial institutions as may wish to endorse this resolution, that the 

 work and plans of the Commission on Building Districts and Restrictions 

 be accorded hearty support. 



The institutions which approved of this resolution are as follows : 

 Astor Trust Company 

 Bank for Savings in the City of New York 



