RECORD OF TESTIMONY AND STATEMENTS IN RELATION TO 97 



NECESSITY FOR DISTRICTING PLAN 



and in homes, north of 32d Street, without benefiting anyone. But since 

 this movement has assumed its present proportions, speaking for the Com- 

 mittee who started it, we consider that success not only means a great deal 

 for the section of New York above 32d Street, but a great deal more for 

 all the rest of New York as far down as Worth Street. It will tend to bring 

 back the deserted section. It will add to the values of the tenement houses 

 in the lower part of this city. It will improve conditions in Greene Street, 

 of which the statement has been made that from Canal Street north there 

 is hardly a single building that has not a " for sale " or " to let " sign on 

 it, with the exception of the United States Post Office. 



It will mean more in ultimately increasing the assessed value of New 

 York real estate, and therefore in reducing future taxes than any other 

 plan ; and further, it will mean a great deal to the cloak and suit manu- 

 facturers and those kindred manufacturing interests, because it will tend 

 to reduce their overhead charges, as they can secure space for manufactur- 

 ing purposes downtown at 30 or 40 cents per square foot, as against 80 to 

 90 cents uptown, and it will mean a great advantage to the working men if 

 the factories they work in are in sections near their homes so they do not 

 have to spend an hour every day in subways and also spend money in 

 car fares. 



We believe that in the end the plans of your Zoning Commission will 

 mean more to the City of New York than any civic movement that has 

 ever been undertaken, and that what our " Save New York Committee " is 

 appealing for applies to the heart of the city, and, unless you help the 

 heart of the city you cannot help the rest. 



I wish to repeat that when this " Save New York Movement " started 

 a few months ago we had in mind oaly the preservation of the section 

 north of 32d Street, but we realize now that our obligation is towards 

 every part of the city, and the preservation of this section accomplishes that 

 object. 



I have received, as the chairman of this committee, three hundred 

 letters a day from every part of New York, from people on the 

 Bowery, on Washington Square, and people who have had no interest 

 whatever in the future of the city, and they seem to think that this move- 

 ment is going to mean a. great deal for this city in the future — a great deal 

 more than anything that has ever been undertaken. 



Prominent business men through the West have written to us and said 

 that it was of the utmost importance, and that they take just as much 

 pride in New York City as anyone that lives here. We feel it would be 

 dangerous to allow factories to come in and destroy the heart of New York. 

 We wish to endorse, in every way, the plan of the Zoning Commission. 



Statement by Hon. William M. Calder, April 11, 1916 



Residential values depreciated by invasion of laundry 



Mr. Calder stated that the erection of the Pilgrim Laundry at Prospect 

 and 11th Avenues had done more than any other thing in that part of 

 Brooklyn to depreciate the value of residential property. This laundry, he 

 thought, had in that section reduced the taxable value of real estate by 

 50 per cent. 



