RECORD OF TESTIMONY AND STATEMENTS IN RELATION TO 139 



NECESSITY FOR DISTRICTING PLAN 



constructed along safe lines, have no terrors for me; subdivide floor areas 

 with horizontal fireproof partitions, equip the building with an up-to-date 

 automatic sprinkler equipment and put in smokeproof fire towers. Do 

 that, and I care not how high you go. 



Segregation of buildings will lessen fire danger 



I should like to have hazardous trades, especially the storage, transporta- 

 tion and sale of all explosive and combustible materials segregated in dif- 

 ferent parts of the city. Segregating business of a hazardous kind would 

 lessen the fire danger ; we would not get what we call a conflagration 

 breeder stuck in among a lot of other buildings. It would also facilitate 

 the fighting of fire. 



If you can confine stores to broad avenues and good substantial build- 

 ings, and reserve side streets for residences, there would be a great deal 

 less danger from fire. 



I think you are on the right line for the health and safety of the people 

 in establishing residential and industrial districts. I am heartily in accord 

 with the plan of the Commission. I have seen New York grow, and grow 

 very rapidly. Take Harlem, for instance, north of Central Park. I re- 

 member very well when there were very few houses on that great plain. 

 At the present time it is solidly built up, and at night is one of the most 

 congested parts of the city. 



Segregating buildings according to occupancy in different sections of 

 the City will restrict the area in which a conflagration can occur. It will 

 be a help to the Fire Department in laying out and equipping fire houses. 

 I think it will greatly lessen the cost of fire protection. 



Wider yards and courts would prevent fire 



If we can apply to the outlying sections provisions that will prevent 

 so great a percentage of the lot being covered by buildings, by laying out 

 wider yards and courts, the safety of the city will be promoted. Such a 

 plan would tend to prevent the spread of fire. Where the area of the yard 

 is increased on both sides and the courts are larger the danger of the spread 

 of fire is considerably less. The proposed plan requires a rear yard for 

 every building back to back with another building. This yard must increase 

 in width with the height of the building, being generally in Manhattan a 

 yard of 10 feet for a five-story building and one of 20 feet for a ten-story 

 building. 



This requirement in my judgment, would, in many cases, prevent the 

 spread of fires and make it less difficult to fight fires. 



Statement by Alfred R. Kirkus, April 17, 1916 

 Need for districting 



The slogan of " safety first " is heard on every side, except in a man's 

 own dwelling, and there he seems to forget it. The necessity for preserving 

 health and safety in living conditions is frequently overlooked in the 

 struggle for dollars and cents. It is, therefore, particularly interesting to 

 examine the magnificent work already done by the Commission on Building 

 Districts and Restrictions, and every effort should be made to carry out, or 

 improve upon, the comprehensive plan which they have suggested. We are 

 so used to herding, in our travel, our business, and, alas, often in our homes, 

 that anything that will wake us up to the value of restricting this habit and 



