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The Fifth Avenue Association INC
EMPIRE STATE

350 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK
Telephone: PEnnsylvania 6-7900

30 per cent, Other taxes favored by a majority of the Commission, but not unanimously recommended, would bring the total of additional revenue as high as $169,000,000 in a normal year.

NEW SUPPORT FOR PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS AT 23RD STREET
The proposal of our association to have B.M.T. pedestrian underpass at 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue so altered that it may be used without charge by the thirty thousand people who cross that wide and dangerous intersection during an average ten-hour business day is gaining additional support each week. The Broadway Association, in a letter to one of our members, declared that it would support our efforts to secure this improvement. The 23rd Street Association has been on record for some time us favoring our plan, and we are now enlisting the support of the important property owners and business concerns in the neighborhood. The Fifth Avenue Building and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company have urged Borough President Levy to open this passageway to the general public as a means of safeguarding pedestrians and expediting the movement of traffic at that intersection, and the New York Life Insurance Company, the Flatiron Building, and the 1107 Broadway Building are studying the proposal.

SERVING OUR MEMBERS
In these times business and property can ill afford to be subjected to any condition which might interfere with the proper conduct of business or the rental or sale values of real estate. While watching very carefully the general condition which might affect business and informing our members regarding the status of improvements, traffic matters, zoning laws, etc., we are equally concerned with individual conditions, which sometimes are of grave concern to our members in that these condition have a direct effect on their stores, buildings, or homes. We urge our members, therefore, to consult with us regarding any conditions which they find troubling or interfering with the conduct of their business or the desirability of their property. We cite a very few instances called to our attention on which we have been of service to our members.

Sidewalk Shipping Nuisance
Although forbidden by ordinance, some building and stores will block their sidewalks to passerby by using them as platforms for sidewalk shipping. Others use the sidewalks in front of their stores for displaying goods. Our district supervisors with the aid of the Police Department and the Department of Sanitation, have been able to correct conditions observed in our section and any that have been brought to our attention as recurring nuisances. The sidewalks should be kept free from any encumbrances and should be used only for necessary loading and unloading, which, if properly supervised, need cause no interference with pedestrian traffic. We urge our members to call on us for any help if they are subjected to this practice by their neighbors.

Begging, Peddling, and Pulling-In
No nuisance is more obnoxious to the retail merchant than to have beggars, peddlers, or pullers-in operating in the neighborhood of his store. Through the cooperation of the Police Department and the assistance of magistrates once offenders are brought before them, we have been able to keep this nuisance to a minimum. The Mendicancy Squad, the Borough Headquarters men, and the regular patrolmen have instructions to arrest all beggars, peddlers, and pullers-in operating in the section. Our inspectors work closely with the police, and despite present conditions we feel that this practice, instead of being prevalent in our district, is exceptional. However, some of our members may be bothered occasionally, and we urge you to telephone our offices immediately in order that remedial measures may be takes while the offender is still in our neighborhood.

Roadway Conditions
Observations or our district supervisors, who keep a close check on roadway conditions in our section, have revealed that injuries to pedestrians and damage to property have resulted from stones being hurled from temporary "backfills" in roadway openings by vehicles passing over these "backfills" at high speed. In many instances where these "backfills" have been loosely filled with stone, our wheels have sent stones flying into store windows and at pedestrians on the sidewalk. In addition to the injuries and property damage caused by these flying stones, we have found that these loose "backfills" seriously interfere with traffic and litter the roadway with stones and dirt. Our investigations indicate that this method of "backfilling" is not necessary and, wherever a temporary opening must be made, it can be topped with concrete when the work is finished, without the use of loose stone. We are therefore preparing for the consideration of the Borough President an application to him urging the he control, in the form of permits to be issued in the future for such openings prior to the final repaving and resurfacing.