The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 71

Section REAL ESTATE g' BUSINESS FINANCIAL INCOME TAX QUESTIONS ANSWERED Section 8 SUNDAY, FEimUAKY 22, 1014. XX FIFTH AVENUE WONDER IHOPPING CENTRE 1 i FUL EV0LWIOW AS 5 I. -m 1 Lo 'ITU the opening of the hew Lord Taylor store aext Tuesday morning, the cent removal to the same locality of Vantlne A the an nouncement last week that Mark-Crass A Co. wore planning to movt la the tame neighborhood before the dose of the year, and the prepara-tiona being made for tearing down several of the old Fifth Arecue bond ings at the 'northeast corner of Forty' first Street for the new Rogers, Pet clothing store, a series of striking object lessons have ben presented demonstrating a. reasonable perma nency for the choice retail shopping centre of the city within the line of Fifth Avenue from Thirty-fourth to Forty-second Street.

Of course this designation is not to be accepted literally, for several blocks both to the north and south bf these limits and toward the west In the Sixth Avenue territory are prominent thopplsg places, but is dcmttlfvs to say that the Brest centre for retail shop pins Is now. in rlew of the recent changes, and Is destined to be, for many years to come, -yfthln the area of Thirty-fourth and Fwty-seoond Streets, Fifth to ruth Avenues, extending as far as Thirty-second Street on the latter to take in the Glmbel store. The growth of this district commercially and the changes in it have been little lets than revolutionary within the last few years. Only a fw months ago Stern's new store was opened on Forty-second and Forty-third Street and Sixth Avenue, and within recent memory the removals to this district from the cider shopping centres have been Beat Bon wit. Teller Hlggtns A Belter.

McCreery. and n. J. Horner Co, while tiwiB; the earlier imml grants who' followed the pioneer lead of Benjamin AHnwn were Tiffany, the Gorham Company, Frsnk.Ua Simon, and a few others. Realty brokers and those who have witnessed many chanses In the trade ventre of the city predict that the section mentioned is bound to retain Its permanency as the big shopping district longer than has been the case with any other of the noteworthy trade centres of the city.

Thre are definite reasons for this. Transit conveniences and the great railway terminals of the Pennsylvania on the west and the Grand Central at Forty- Opening of Lord- Taylor's Big Store This Week a Noteworthy Addition to New Retail Section Facts. Which Insure Long Permanency of Choice Trade Between Thirty-fourth and Forty-second Streets Artistic Architecture as a Business Asset. A. rr' -i! X-- rf -rr- i H.

i '( I 1 I iTT 5" Vv 1 I irv w- Cornir Kitrv Avenue exsvoL 5 trtrve-1. of Thirty-seventh street. The ae- Qulremont on long leases by the Rog ers Peet firm of the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-first Street Coi, lcw 3u.iltlirvc Q-W. Cmv Ave by LordTy lo- btrtJuc.lu.ye7. has taken one more of the best billi second Street.

Just east of Fifth Ave- Bess plots on the avenue out of the mis. are naturally of paramount im- market, and the decision, as recently rortanca. All of the subway lines wi3 virtually centre at Forty-second Stree between Fifth and Park Avenues, ln eluding the Stelnway tunnel service Lent Island City. "In the Times Square region will be the new express station, the Seventh Avenue lie. snd the Broadway line, with its connections northward' at Fifty-ninth Street, for the Queensboro Bridge and.

the upper Long Island City area. The new station at Thirty-eighth Street, on the Sixth Avenue elevated, has just been opened, and that Is an added convenience. Then, too. and of great Importance, la the fact that the region is close to the hotel and theatrical centre of the city. All of thtee things naturally make for permanency.

While there wUl be commercial rrowth in the blocks immediately north of Forty-second Street, the great trend of travsi will evidently' be downward from Forty-second Street To the north wEl be a section of choice, exclusive shops, but thus far the big department stores are below that busy cross-town thoroughfare. The Lord A Taylor removal has had a marked stimulus on the neighborhood, and evidences are already being shows of a demand for space which will soon be almost lnipoeeible to supply. The few remaining parcels open to hlgh-claas improvement will all be 1 peed up in a short time. These Include the Frederick Var.derbllt property, oa the northeast corner of Fortieth Street, and the Lewis corner, long vacant, on the northeast corner announced, of. Robert W.

Ooclet to erect a ffbe building on his large plot at the southwest corner of Thirty-seventh Street, in 'addition to the building plans filed a few days ago by George BokJt for a sixteen-story on the south side of Thirty-sixth Street, adjoining the Tiffany stored, indicate the rapid advance of tradelntcrestj In this section. Amid all these changes the ten- tory building to be opened next Tuesday morning by the old-established firm of Lord Taylor, commands the greatest interest. Nothing equal to it has been erected on the avenue since the removal there of the Altman firm. Not only is the Lord A Taylor building a huge structure, but it has been attractively designed and is an architectural ornament to the avenue. With its frontage of US feet on the avenue.

200 on Thlr tyrelghth Street and 1G0 on Thirty ninth Street It Is one of the Urgent retail department stores In the city. It occupies the entire Fifth Avenue block front on the west side' except the Thirty-ninth Street corner, which has been attractively, remodeled so ss to give the appearance of a new store for the new home of Vantjne located for over thirty years at Broad way and Eighteenth Street It Is in tercstlnc to note that the Vantlne house, which has been so closely as soclated In locality with Lord Tay lor for so many yesrs, now occupies the building adjoining, that firm having leased the structure from Michael Dreicer, the owner of the Thirty-ninth BILLS AFFECTING REAL ESTATE Two bills, both' of which aim to decrease the burden of taxation upon property owners of Queens, have been Introduced in the Legislature, by Senator Bernard Patten. One of the measures mak4M it incumbent upon cemetery corporations to bear their share of assessments for public improvements, and the other provides for the vacating of assessments el-ready laid for the -opening and laying out of Van Dam and Diagonal Streets la Long Island City. A number of civic organizations in the borough last year started a crusade aiming to bring about legislation to compel owners of cemetery lands In Queens to be subjected to assessments for street improvement including the construction of sewers. Several meetings were held and legal aid was secured.

Cemeteries of not more than three acres In extent and which are the property of religious corporations are excepted. The other bill Is Introduced with a View to compelling the city at large to pay the greater portion of an assessment of nearly a half million dollars which has been created for the opening Of Diagonal Street extending from the Queensboro Bridge In Long Island City to the Greenpolnt Avenue bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens Boroughs. The streets are among the most Important thoroughfares In the borough. DUgonal Street as laid down on the msp, will afford a direct route from Manhattan to Brooklyn by way of the Queensboro Fridge, not only providing a saving of considerable time In going to Coney Island, but will also be of immense benefit to manufacturers In the districts affected. Only a small area on either side of the street Is Included at the present tlmo, and each piece of property Is heavily assessed.

One piece of property was reduced toa depth of 15 feet and a frontage of 125 feet on the new street For the part of the property taken the owner receives an award of $18,532. but there has been levied against it an assessment of 121.682. The remaining property could not be sold for the amount of the assessment Inasmuch as the city will benefit more than the abutting property owners, the real estate owners believe they should be relieved of the burden of assessment Greater New York's Vacant Land. The total assessed valuation of Queens Borough for 1018 was Of this, 1280223,000 was the land value, or $S08 per capita; while $156,020,000 was for buildings and Improvements, or $150 per capita. There were 131.3S2 vacant parcels of land tn Queens in 1913.

valued at $14202,000, which represented 02.5 per cent of the total parcels. In other boroughs of the city, the vacant parcels represent the following per cent of the total parcels: Manhattan, 8.6 per cent; Bronx, 61 per cent; Brooklyn, 23.8 per cent; Richmond, 55 per cent; and the entire 353 per cent ww tm0mwmm 's I -tt Jtittsl-fi TyrryfT 4 I 11 STTvawll dtructure of tves.t. CrtK. evncL 55W. street.

to give the utmost convenience to customers end employes, combined with the greatest accessibility In reaching-the different floors and de partments. So many latest improv ments have -been installed that It Is Impossible at once to appreciate the remarkable advance which they illustrate over the old-time methods. The entire store is a wonderful object lesson of the growth of one firm and the evolution of the shopping business In New York from the year lfCfl. when Lord Taylor began to exist at 47 Catharine Street, between Monroe and Madison Streets, on the lowei east side. The store will open at 0 o'clock every morning, at which time a large clock on each floor will play-a series of chimes, and the.

closing hour will be marked tn the same manner. On the southeast corner of he roof a time ball. mounted on a fifty-foot pole, will be dropped at noon exactly each day by an electric flash from Washington. The delivery system Is especially convenient the service motor wu-a being run down an Incline on Thirty-eighth Street In the rear part of the store, loaded in the basement, and going out at Thirty-ninth Street Twenty plunger elevators will give access to the various floors, and an elevator system has been Installed for the Fifth Avenue show windows! by which the platform on which goods are exhibited can be Idwered to the basement the show space "dressed." and then elevated to the street level. A barber's shop for children has been Installed on the fourth floor and one for men In the mezzanine basement There will also be a dentist's office, a rest room and solarium on the roof for employes, a gymnasium for employes, large dining rooms, an attend- Mfiw Store PitK Avenue wl Street corner, for a long term of years.

When the Lord A Taylor firm opens Its new stare on Tuesday morn ing it will mark the fifth Manhattan home of the firm. The flnt was In a small structure at 47 Catharine Street where George Washington Taylor and Samuel 1 Lord organised the business tn 1820. In 1S38 larger quarters were taken at 61 and C3 Catharine Street Then In 1853 a branch was opened at 255 to 61 Grand Street where the entire business was later removed. In 1872 came the removal to -Broadway and Twentieth Street enlarged from time to time, so that for many years the firm occupied a part of Fifth Avenue, besides space on Nineteenth and all the south side of Twentieth Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Everything within the new Lord Taylor store has been arranged so as CITY PREPARING FOR BIG TAX LIEN SALES Preparations are being made by Daniel Moynahan.

Collector of Assessments and Arrears, for several large sales of property on which taxes and assessments have not been paid. There will be a sale of Brooklyn property on March 12, Manhattan on March 18 and Queens on April 3. Additional lists are also being up for the outlying sections of Brooklyn, and when these parcels, which number well up in the thousands, are disposed of all tax and assessments incumbrances will have been cleared up to 1011. Explaining the provisions of the law affecting sales of real estate for tax arrears, Ac. In Greater New York, Collector Moynahan said: "The former provisions of law for the sale of real property In the City of New York for the collection of AX rears of taxes, water rents, and assessments were radically changed by the provisions of Chapter 400 of the Laws of 1008, and the amendments thereto, amending Chapter 17.

Title 5, of the Greater New Tork Charter. Under the new system the Uen of the City of New York Is offered for sale to the purchaser who will bid the lowest rate of Interest not exceeding 12 per cent' per annum. The purchaser then pays to the city the amount of its Uen, with interest to date of sale and advertising charges, receiving In exchange an assignment or transfer of tax Hen from the city, bearing interest at the rate bid. "Under the present system the period required to run before the Hen Is subject to sale Is unchanged, but there la this Important change: Not only Is the lien sold for such arrears, but there are alio Included all subsequent Hens up to the date liamed In the advertisement of the sale. For example: If the taxes for the years 1900, 1910, 1911, and an assessment confirmed and entered In 1910 against a given parcel of property are unpaid, having been unpaid for three years as to the 1909 tax.

It is therefore subject to sale; and not only will the sale be for the. tax of 1909. but It wilt also include the taxes for the years 1010, 1911. and 1912 and assessments confirmed and entered in 1913 prior to date set forth In the advertisement The Instrument evidencing the sale and executed by the city to the purchaser Is called a transfer of tax Hen. The Interest due under the transfer of tax Urn is payable semi annually on the first day of January snd July In each year.

In the event that the owner of the property, or persons Interested, falls to pay the Interest on the said Uen on the due day, and is in arrears for such Internet thirty days thereafter, or falls to pny taxes, water rents, or assessments that are subsequently charged agalnut the property within six months after the delivery of the transfer of tax Hen, the holder of the transfer tax lien may foreclose the same, pursuant to ''the Code of Civil Procedure In respect to mort-gnges. In case Interest and taxes are paid as above, the owrmr of the property has three years from the date of sale In which to redeem, at the expiration of which tlmo the Uen becomes due and payable and may be foreclosed, as before stated." ant physician and nurses, and a room where out-of-town visitors may change from day to evening olothea. The top or tenth floor will contain the huge restaurant Running parallel with Fifth Avenue, and with Its windows opening on the balcony. 4a the Loggta, a long, vaulted room. richly ornamented In low relief after the manner of the Roman villas, with walls and floors of French Caen and Travertine stone.

With its windows thrown open in the Summer this fteom can be converted Into practically an open-air dining room. The Wedgwood Room is- lighted through a rich oval This room Is 'executed In the Adam style. In tones of gray and green, with Wedgwood medallions Inset The dining rooms will occupy 15,000 square feet and will seat about o00 persons; these rooms will be open from 11 A. M. to 6 P.

M. on business days. An orchestra of seven pieces will playi By means a special ceiling arrangement the muslo will also be heard In the employes dining room on the roof. Three separate lunchrooms are provided on the roof for employes: One for women and girls, one for men and boys, one for workroom employes, and those bringing their own lunches. The casement window arrangement for the women's dining room Allows It to be converted into an open-air room In 8ummer.

A solarium opens on a promenade on the roof. In the business development of Fifth Avenue north of Thirty-fourth Street two Important features have been clearly exemplified in tjie last few months. One is the wider recognition on the part of owners and building Improvers architectural merit Is not a bad asset for a Fifth Ave nil commercial structure ton this retail shopping district The other Is a growing tendency to erect lower buildings, that Is, under twelve stories. Loft leasing, take It all In alt. has not been a marked" success on th aven north of-Thirty-fourth Street and those who expected a rapid flow of loft tenants In the district north of Forty-second Street have been grievously dlsap- pointed.

The leasing and Investment possibilities of the lower building seem to fare better. Two Important operations of this character are worthy of attention, one being the two six-story limestone -buildings' Just completed Michael Dreicer on the site of the Gallatm house at the southwest comer of Fifty-third. Street Henry Otis Chapman was the architect, and he has signed two buildings of th guT' Gothic type which are as pleaslr. looking commercial structures as mal found in the city. Their dignified facades and neat Gothic type contrast "lost favorably with the splendid new St.

Thomas's Church on the opposite On the northeast corner, of Fifty-third Street Is a new and neatly designed business house, on the site of the old Pyle house. Designed by Thomas it is a noteworthy addition to the artistic type of six-story lofts which have gone op recently in the neighborhood. The ornamentations on the top story add to the plcturenquenes of the building, but the effect seems to be somewhat lessened by the dull brick background which Is hardly In harmony with the surrounding Gothic architecture and light materials. If sharp contrast was sought for. it has been obtained, but the building Itself, from the architectural view point la worthy of attention.

Of course, the inference has already been clearly made that the new Lord A Taylor building contributes materially to the architectural charm of the avenue. The architects were Starrett A Van Meek. The alterations to the adjoining Thirty-ninth Street corner building, now the Vantlne home, have also been done in a manner which, while giving the greatest possible commercial advantage, do not destroy the effect of a pleasing exterior. 1 SEVENTH AVENUE ASSESSMENT Briefs have been submitted In the case of WHber Goodale against the city to have nullified the assessment which has been laid against adjacent property la the case of the Seventh Avenue Improvement Mr. Goodale contends that the city at targe should bear the whole cost of the Improvement and charge It against subway construction.

The Board of Estimate has laid an assessment of 12 per cent of the cost of the Improvement on property In District A. 33 per cent on property in District B. Irrespective of any special benefits to be derived by reason of the Improvement, 40 per cent on the Borough of Manhattan. 11 per cent on the Borough of Brooklyn, and 4 per cent on the Borough of the Bronx. Mr.

Goodale alleges that the action of the Board of Estimate In so distributing the assessment is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United SUtes Constitution and also a violation of Article 1 of Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of New York, providing that private property shall not be taken for public use without Just compensation. In that the assessment is arbitrarily laid at certain percent res without regard to any special benefits derived by the property from the said improvement-Further, that the proceeding, while purporting to be for the extension and widening of certain "streets. Is really for the acquisition of property, for the benefit of a private corporation, to enable it to build aa underground railway without acquiring aa easement therefor, which is a violation, as alleged, of Article 8, Bection 10, of the State Constitution. Mr. Goodale alleges further that tha Board "of Estimate did not.

before levying the assessment' ascertain how various would be benefited by the improvement and apportion the expense accordingly. This, he says. Is contrary to the State Constitution, which requires that any assessment made, except when levied by the Legislature itself, must be made only after a hearing at which expert testimony has been introduced. A claim la also made that tha interest now running on. the Awards for land taken tn this proceeding could be computed and charged by the City of New York to the Znterborough Rapid Transit Company.

New Clevated Express Stations. In addition to the express stations for the elevated lines of the Interbor-ougb Rapid Transit Company approved a short time ago, the Public Service Commission for the First District has given approval to tha following express stations: Second Avenue tine Fourteenth 8treet station. Forty-second Street Third Avenue line Grand Street station, Houston Street station; Ninth Avenue tine Cortlandt Street station. Warren Street station. Desbrosses Street station.

Christopher Street station. Fourteenth street station..