les/upper-east-side

Exodus of Jews to Upper East Side and Its Causes.

From The New-York Daily Tribune, November 15, 1903.

The last week in real estate was noticeable for many large transactions and for a continuation of deals affecting tenement and flathouses north of Fifty-ninth St. Demands for such properties are part of one of the most interesting real estate movements within the memory of many persons who have been identified with real estate for years. There is seemingly no such thing as unfavorable realty conditions in the face of such a movement. It is an enchanting and hypnotizing whirl of activity in a district which has long been in need of something stimulating to awaken people to its advantages as a place for a home, especially for people of small means.

To scores of persons who have waited long, almost seemingly without hope, for this movement, how well repaid for their patience they must be! Nor is the round of pleasure resulting from the movement to be small. There are thousands of persons, who yet do not dream of sharing in the joy of the occasion, who will benefit by the movement. Some of them may eventually become owners of property in the district and others will make their homes in the section.

The natural inference to be drawn from a movement of this kind would be that the East Side section, bounded by Eighth St., the Bowery, the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River, would suffer a decline in real estate values. This is a question for the best judges of real estate to answer. They have spoken, and they, one and all, say that the movement will not result in a realty setback to the lower East Side, as there is no other place like it in this great cosmopolitan city which so strongly attracts within its limits the Hebrew immigrant as he sets foot in this country from one of the Ellis Island ferryboats.

HEBREWS FIGURE IN DEALS.

The principal figure for years in lower East Side deals has been the Hebrew race. The same race is and is likely to be the predominant factor in the purchases of tenement and flat houses on the East Side north of Fifty-ninth St. A brief outline of the movement and some of its causes were printed in The Tribune of last Sunday. Some other interesting causes of the movement have been revealed by a study of the extent of the movement in the last week.

It is a self-evident truth that the speculative fever is one of the characteristics of the Hebrew race. No records regarding this are kept, and it is impossible to say how many Hebrew men and women fall victims to it. By speculative fever is not meant a mania for striving to make money at games of chance, such as card playing, policy, horse racing, etc., but an almost uncontrollable yearning to invest in some legitimate business or enterprise with a sum of money which many persons of American parentage would think too little for the purpose. Wherever there is a glimmer of a winning chance with Dame Fortune the majority of men and women of Hebrew birth with a few hundred dollars or more will be found striking for that slight chance of financial success. That has been one of the principal causes of their success here. And step by step, sometimes very slowly, many Hebrews who landed in this country almost as poor as the proverbial church mouse have risen to the most coveted places in the realty market.

Most of these Hebrews, when they set foot in this country, went as quickly as possible to the lower East Side, where they found scores of persons who understood their language and whose mode of living was similar to theirs. It was not long before they could speak broken English, and their ability to do so led them to walk less timidly into districts where most persons were Americans and spoke no other tongue except English. Later they became almost as much at ease in the company of Americans as when with their own country men and women.

EVOLUTION OF IMMIGRANT.

The story of these men adjusting themselves to conditions and places is similar to that of nearly every Hebrew who once was recorded as an immigrant at Ellis Island. It is difficult for the Hebrew immigrant to forget the section of the city where he found himself and his family most welcome on arriving here. As years passed his affection for the section—the lower East Side—grew greater, if anything, and this fact was and is revealed nearly every week in many ways. Financial success caused many Hebrews to take homes uptown, but vast throngs of Hebrews who are now called wealthy, and who came to this country as immigrants, have up to the present time stood proof against all temptations to become identified in any way with any other section of the city than the lower East Side. Suddenly these Hebrews have changed "about face," and they have decided not only to become owners of tenement and flat houses in the section on the East Side north of Fifty-ninth St., but also hereafter to make their homes in that section. Is not this, indeed, an interesting spectacle in realty affairs, and an important real estate movement in the history of this city?

To return once more to a study of the causes for this great change. Few persons of other nationalities can excel the Hebrew as a real estate broker, builder, operator or investor. He will seldom be caught on the wrong side of the market, or, in other words, on the weak side. He will not likely be found leading unless he is almost positive of his stand. He is leading in the present movement to purchase flathouses and tenement houses north of Fifty-ninth St., east of Central Park. Why he is may be explained by an assertion made yesterday by a well-known Hebrew real estate broker:

REALTY VALUES ALSO INCREASED.

Granted that rentals in the lower East Side have increased, then real estate values there should have increased, and whether or not this is true should be revealed by realty records. Some idea of this increase may be had by a study of the records relating to the premises No. 35 Essex St., a six story brick tenement house, with stores. In February 1890, title to it was transferred by Baile F. and Bernard Buchenholz tot Louis Lese for an expressed consideration of $33,200. A few months later Solomon Finburg acquired title to the premises for an expressed consideration of $34,200, and in November of 1901 Louisa Kaufold bought the property for $41,000. These records show that the price paid for the property in 1901 was nearly $8,000 more than the purchase price in 1890. Of course, the value of many parcels in the lower East Side has decreased in recent years, but the greater number of values have increased.

THE OPINION OF A REALTY PAPER.

"The Real Estate Record and Guide" in its last issue says in part in regard to the real estate situation:

No one can analyze the list of realty transactions reported during the last week without reaching the conclusion that there is not the slightest reason for being disheartened about the local situation. An amount of business is being transacted which runs far ahead of last year, and watch is without parallel in the history of the city. This business is concerned with small parcels, and it is largely professional, but it is no more professional than is usually the case with the Manhattan market. and it is better all around to have a large number of small transactions consummated than a smaller number of large ones. The money made in commissions and profits is distributed among more men and is productive of more general good. All this is preliminary to the statement that the number of transactions reported in our "Gossip" column is 110 this week against only 90 during the corresponding week in 1902, an increase of almost 25 per cent.

The character of the business is not so various as it was a year ago, but it is more various than it was last week. Thus whereas last week the number of dwellings sold was very small, this week there are thirty-three buildings of this class marketed, which is also a much larger number than was sold a year ago. But the great increase of course, has taken place in flathouses north of Fifty-ninth St., of which twice as many have changed hands as during the corresponding week in 1902. With all this business taking place in spite of tight money and building uncertainty, it is safe to say that, if these depressing conditions are removed in the spring, it is a feast rather than a famine which may be expected in New York real estate. It cannot be too often repeated that the recent activity has been special and local, rather than general and popular, in its nature, and that the time of the small buyer and builder is still to come. While there has been the usual absence of large transactions reported, there are apparently more negotiations under way than has been generally the case of late. These negotiations may not come off immediately, but it is encouraging to remember that any clearing in the general situation would be the signal for the consummation of many such transactions. As in this general situation itself, if it is no better it is no worse.

The ironworkers' additional strike has left the labor aspect of it just where it was, and, as this was a desperate measure on the part of Local Union No. 2, the fact that it has done no harm strengthens the employers' position materially. Loanable capital is certain to be very much more plentiful by the new year—sufficiently plentiful for all legitimate purposes. The worst aspect of the matter continues to be the high price of building materials and the fact that no reductions are in sight of present. Yet, with the lessening activity of construction throughout the country, such decreases in price must come in time. One reported sale of the last week is interesting as indicating a possible development of the near future.