Greatest Borough of the * Greatest City iivihe World INDUSTRIAL ADVANTAGES BROOKLYN CHAMBER of COMMERCE 3^Gourt St ^ / t I IE* IGtbrts SEYMOUR DURST FORT NEW AMSTERDAM. (MEW YORK ) , 1651. When you leave, please leave this hook Because it has heen said " Ever' thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned hook." OLD YORK LIBRARY — OLD YORK FOUNDATION Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library NEW YORK CITY Why it is the Fourth Industrial City of the United States Prepared by the INDUSTRIAL DEPARTMENT of the BROOKLYN CHAMBER ^COMMERCE THIRTY-TWO COURT STREET BROOKLYN- NEW YORK 1923 Foreword ROOKLYN is the fourth greatest indus- trial centre in this country. In this booklet we have tried to tell the reader in a few words why this large borough of the Greater City of New York still offers so many opportunities for new industries or the expansion of old industries. Brooklyn was first settled in 1636, and was known as the village of Breuckelen, later changed to Brook- land, and then to its present name, Brooklyn. For nearly 200 years it was a city of farm lands and vineyards. Its citizens were chiefly engaged in the raising of corn and tobacco. Chartered as a city, in 1834, Brooklyn began to realize its destiny as a city of homes, a dwelling place for the great, growing number of those gain- fully employed in New York. Somewhat incidentally, in the course of this devel- opment, it was discovered that Brooklyn was admir- ably situated for commerce. Its people ventured into trading overseas, and the clipper ships of the Forties carried the name of the city to the far corners of the earth, and in a relatively few years Brooklyn has built up an industrial centre exceeded in size by those of only three other cities in the country, Manhattan (New York City), Chicago and Philadelphia. Page Two Fadls About Brooklyn 1. Brooklyn' has an area of 80.95 square miles, with a shore front of 201 miles, and an improved water front of 25 miles. 2. Brooklyn is third in population and fourth in industry in the United States. 3. Brooklyn freight rates are comparable with those of any eastern city. 4. Brooklyn will have direct rail connections with all transcontinental lines without lighterage when the proposed freight tunnels are built. 5. Brooklyn is an integral part of the financial center of the world, New York City. 6. Brooklyn is an integral part of one of the greatest buying and selling markets of the world, New York City. 7. Brooklyn has one of the best labor markets in the world. 8. Brooklyn is one of the healthiest cities in the world. 9. Brooklyn is a city of homes, schools and churches. 10. Brooklyn handles more than one quarter of the foreign commerce of the United States. \h Brooklyn's finished products amount to more than $1,120,000,000 annually. 12. Brooklyn has nearly 900 miles of paved streets and about 29 miles of boulevards. 13. Brooklyn has 193 public and private schools, w ith an enrollment of over 350,000 pupils, the second largest number in the United States. 14. Brooklyn has nearly 500 miles of street railway tracks, including subway, surface and elevated lines. 15. Brooklyn has plenty of available land for industrial development. Page Thtee Industrial Importance Brooklyn is a part of the largest industrial center in the world due to its ideal location both as regards men and material. Witness the gains in the last few years. 1899 1904 1909 1914 1919 No. of establishments 4,301 4,182 5,218 6,096 6,738 Average No. Wage Earners 87,445 104,995 123,883 140,881 166,724 Capital invested... $263,471,000 $313,452,000 $362,337,000 $448,757,000 $729,166,203 Wages and { 42,341,000 54,535,000 68,328,000 Salaries J 9,097,000 13,521,000 21,146,000 109,832,000 266,514,179 Value of materials used 206,335,000 230,809,000 235,132,000 298,269,000 670,470,696 Value of products. . 313,617,489 373,462,930 417,222,770 515,303,000 1,184,973,144 The Home of Varied Industries Brooklyn's strategic location also accounts products manufactured, which rivals any of the The variety is indicated by the following larger for the great diversity of great manufacturing cities, groups : Boots and Shoes Bread and Bakery Products.... Men's Clothing Women's Clothing Confectionery and Ice Cream... Copper, Tin and Sheet Iron Foundry and Machine Products. Furniture Knit Goods Printing and Publishing Tobacco and Cigars Food Products Automobile Repairing Millinery and Lace Goods Paints and Varnishes No. No. Persons Value Establishments Employed of Products 143 9,725 $45,158,936 837 6,062 39,397,797 507 13,115 35,680,343 558 8,345 26,695,969 231 4,465 25,859,532 130 1,057 4,550,893 207 13,932 32,417,504 118 2,934 14,641,657 241 6,702 43,185,419 267 2,577 7,804,340 408 2,950 35,761,932 100 1,497 8,572,981 124 737 2,543,354 108 1,383 2,153,264 68 2,265 37,677,776 Page Four The Labor Supply For the economic and efficient development of industry, labor is one of the essential factors. Brooklyn is fortunate in this respect. Located as it is at the gateway of the country's immigration, an unlimited supply of both skilled and unskilled labor is always available. Brooklyn has a foreign population of 659,287, representing 49 nationalities. The leading races are Russian 189,481, Italian 138,245, German 56,778, Irish 53,660. Brooklyn offers unusual educational, religious, recreational and home facilities to the working man, which means a satisfied and satisfactory employee and makes for production efficiency, and incidentally lowers labor turnover among the manufacturers. Page Six Transportation Brooklyn's 201 mile swing of waterfront is unique. Every trunk line railroad coming to tidewater reaches Brooklyn. Its dominating water- front is a commercial asset to the entire country, and as such is linked with the transportation of the country, from Bath to Coronado, and Seattle to Key West. The eastern terminals of the transcontinental carriers are not where the tracks end, but where the cartioat service delivers the freight, in the cars, at the multiple terminals along the Brooklyn shore. To New England the rail connection is direct. The New York Con- necting Railroad, which links Long Island and New England via the Hell Gate bridge, unites the services of the New ^ ork. New Haven and Hartford and the Long Island Railroads. Freight is received and delivered at Long Island Railroad depots in Brooklyn for forwarding via all trunk line carriers. Direct traffic destined to the North and East goes over the New York Connecting Railroad. In a recent year the number of cars interchanged between the New Haven and the Pennsylvania Railroads, via Long Island and New York Connecting roads, was 478,000. \ The meeting of the shipping of the world with the rail transportation of a continent is what accounts for Brooklyn's present industrial preeminence, and will account for her world supremacy in years to come. Grasp the logic of it, you manufacturers, as those who are here have done. The map on pages 16 and 17 shows Brooklyn's present freight handling facilities and the route of the proposed marginal railroad. It also shows the proposed tunnel under the bay to New Jersey, which when completed will give Brooklyn manufacturers direct rail connections with the transcontinental carriers of the country, and will permit the direct all rail shipments in carload lots from the factorv and warehouse. © FAIRCHILD AERIAL CAMERA CORP. Types of Waterfront Industrial Punts Page Eight Warehouses Closely aliened with the transportation facilities of Brooklyn are its ware- houses. Brooklyn has more warehouses than all the other boroughs of the city combined, namely: Brooklyn 334, Manhattan 255, Richmond 52, Queens 7, Bronx 2. In the Hush Terminal is found an epitcme of the industrial establishment of Brooklyn; an illustration of commerce and industry in mesh, as it were, to the point of perfection. Here is a manufacturing warehouse and shipping heehive which, although a private enterprise, has the character of a $42,000,000 public development. It covers an area of 20 city blocks of property, between 39th and 51st streets, extending along 3,100 feet of waterfront, improved with eight immense piers, seven of which are one-quarter mile long. Loft buildings, extending 700 feet in length and to 12 stories in height, provide 5.000,000 square feet of space for manufacturing purposes. Shipping and railroad service meet here, delivering the materials for manu- facturing to the warehouses and factories and removing the finished product. The Bush Terminal has thirty miles of track, affording local transportation in a clearing house of freight, and at the same time providing contact with the transportation system of the country. In recent months the trunk lines have inaugurated a daily through-car service from the Terminal to the South and West. A vision of the future might reveal something of the character of the Bush Terminal, vastly magnified along the Brooklyn waterfront, from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge. This will come with the projected municipal improvement known as the Marginal Railroad, binding together piers, warehouses, factories and rail rond terminals. Page Auie Waterfront Brooklyn's shore line has the natural advantages of deep water and excellent harbor facilities. The total length of Brooklyn's waterfront measur- ing along the shore line is 201.5 miles. The waterfront around the pierhead and slips is 110.7 miles. The improved shorefront of Brooklyn is 25 miles. The city at the present time has contracts in hand approximating half a million dollars, for straightening the channel to Mill Basin. No other city in the country can offer such accommodation for foreign commerce as can Brooklyn. I'age Ten Piers The waterfront of Brooklyn is lined with piers, five of which, the Largest in the world, have a length of 1,740 feet each. Total number of piers, publicly and privately owned 1S7 Piers privately owned 151 Owned by the City of New York 22 Owned by the State of New York 4 Owned by the United States Government 10 Total side wharfage of 111 commercial piers 25 miles Total side wharfage for overseas steamships 15.65 miles The Jamaica Bay project provides for the construction of fourteen new- piers, each 1,000 feet in length, together with the necessary warehouses, railroad tracks and modern warehouse and terminal facilities. As speedily as may be, the City of New York is proceeding; to the further development of the Brooklyn waterfront. New piers are proposed at Flushing Bay, Jamaica Bay, Gravesend Bav and Bav Ridge, with a total side wharfage of \ 79,500 lineal feet. Page Eleven V Available Industrial Sites The density of population in Brooklyn is but a quarter of that of Manhat- tan. With her 51,807 acres and a density of 39 inhabitants to the acre, compared with Manhattan's density of 162, Brooklyn still has vast open spaces for both industrial and home development. In the Newtown Creek industrial district there are hundreds of undeveloped areas for factory sites. Available plots amounting to dozens of acres, with few restrictions and ample transportation facilities for heavy freight, located close to a plentiful supply of labor, make this region attractive for heavy industries. A typical plant located in this district is one equipped for heavy manufacturing requiring considerable acreage for extensive buildings, storage facilities, docks or railroad sidings. In addition to the hundreds of acres in this district now being used by indus- tries, there are more than 500 acres still available. This undeveloped section alone exceeds by 200 acres the entire area of the Central Manufacturing District of Chicago. Much of this territory is either on or near the Creek. A great deal of it is served by the Long Island Railroad, and the remainder lies in the course of' the proposed Marginal Railway. The selling price of the available land varies, of course, according to its location, character and facili- ties. The sites in the vicinity of the Newtown Creek, on the Brooklyn side, range from 20 cents up, per square foot. There are approximately 48,425 parcels of unimproved land in various sections of Brooklyn. One of the rapidly growing industrial centers is in the Bushwick section. The Bushwick station and the Varick Avenue yards of the Long Island Railroad serve the manufacturers of this district exclusively. It is hoped that within a short time the Long Island Railroad's petition to increase the team track facilities in this section, so that an additional 190 cars may be accommodated, will be favorably acted upon by the city authorities. Labor, transportation, rents, etc., are so favorable in this region that industry brings attractive returns. Manufacturers are not only glad they have come, glad to stay, but soon begin to expand. Page Twelve Page Thirteen Jamaica Bay The plans for the development of the Port of New York provide for direct rail connections with Jamaica Bay, which lies at the very front door of the port, as well as the construction of 14 new piers, each 1,000 feet in length, with the necessary warehouses, railroad tracks and modern warehouses and ter- minal facilities. The city has under way at Jamaica Bay one-half million dollars' worth of work in straightening the channel from Jamaica Bay to Mill Basin and to bulkhead across several creeks in order to make possible the extension of Flatbush Avenue, which is regarded as the gateway to Jamaica Bay. When the elaborate plans for the development of this section are realized, it will provide an industrial and commercial development of great magnitude. Page Fourteen Page Fifteen Map Showing Transportation Facilities of Brooklyn with Proposed Freight Tunnels and Marginal Railroad Con- necting all Transcontinental Lines Page Sixteen Rapid Transit Brooklyx with its completed and contemplated lines is a part of the greatest rapid transit system in the world. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit and Interborough Rapid Transit systems each average nearly 3.000,000 passengers per day. Extensive plans are under consideration for the expansion of the present rapid transit system. This expansion when completed will make available, to practically every section of Greater New York, rapid transit service at a five cent fare and will open new sections for both industrial and home development. I' FAIRCHILD AtMAL CAMERA CORP. Scene in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Public Utilities The rates for electric current, gas and telephone service in Brooklyn are similar to those of the other boroughs of New York City, and compare favor- ably with those of other large cities of the country. Special rates are offered to large consumers of gas and electric current, and the telephone rates cover a wide range of cost, depending upon requirements. The immensity of the service rendered by the public utilities can be better realized when it is considered that 20.409.541,400 cu. ft. of gas. 381,232 300 k. w. hrs. of electric current are consumed by the people of Brooklyn each year, and 303,533,100 outgoing telephone calls were routed through the Brooklyn exchanges during the past year. The present efficient service was obtained by conscientious effort, and all the energies of the public utilities are directed towards the improvement of the service in every way. Page Eighteen Banking BROOKLYN is fortunate in possessing the great triumvirate: men, materia! and money, essential for the necessary expansion of a community. There are 84 financial institutions and branches within the borough of Brooklyn, and it is next door to the financial center of the United States. Brooklyn has: 5 National Banks with resources of $46,000,000 35 State Banks (and branches) with resources of 65,000,000 20 Trust Companies (and branches) with resources of 206,000,0(H I 24 Savings Banks (and branches) with deposits of 586,000,000 The Savings Banks deposits represent more than 800,000 depositors, w ho receive more than $20,000,000 per year interest. The banks are vitally interested in the development of Brooklyn. They encourage thrift among the employees and expansion among the employers, where such expansion is justified by the rules of good business. © FAIRCHILD AERIAL CAMERA CORP Part of the Rapid Transit System Page Nineteen Retailing The retail purchasing power of Brooklyn has been estimated to be one billion dollars a year. Brooklyn merchants have jealously guarded this local patronage, and have held the confidence and good-will of the community by keeping in the front rank of the retail stores of the greater city. Shopping facilities and opportunities in Brooklyn are on a par with those of Manhattan, with its great retail establishments. Competition has insisted this be so. The department stores in Brooklyn, which do a combined business of more than a hundred million dollars per year, are served by transportation from all points of the compass, and it is as easy to shop here, from Manhattan and Long Island, by reason of read}- subway and suburban service, as it is to shop in Manhattan itself. For immediate household service there are more than 30,000 retail stores in Brooklyn available to more than 7,000,000 people of Greater New York and Long Island. Home Community Brooklyn has long been known as the "City of Homes," and every year building operations uphold this reputation. Demand for an annual increase of 8,000 homes has had to be met since the war in addition to making good the shortage created during the war. Today the demand is for 10 000 new homes per year. As a result, building operations for two years have been on a vast scale. In 1921 there were completed, in Brooklvn, homes for 6,854 families, at a cost of $37,040,570. This gave Brooklyn a total of One-family houses 70,725 Two-family houses 55,054 Apartment houses 48,884 Filing of building plans during 1922 set a new record for volume and was larger than for any other community in the United States. Plans filed in twelve months: Total City of New York: New Buildings 46,419 Estimated cost $568,591,076 Borough of Brooklyn: New Buildings 21,105 Estimated cost $194,301,755 Alterations $211,627,417 Total Dwellings. 13,754 Number of families 33,234 Apartment houses 1,242 Number of families 15,403 The majority of the people of Brooklyn are of moderate means. There is no spectacular display of wealth. There are well-to-do business and pro- fessional men, comfortably situated salaried employees, and thrifty wage- earners. The cost of living in Brooklyn is lower than in many large cities of the country. Individual home owning and saving accounts evidence the thrift of her people. Page Twenty-one The building plans in 1922, in addition to the dwellings, provided for 296 Factories $9,736,095 5,728 Garages 6,565,565 325 Stores 2,885,860 5 Theatres 523,500 25 Churches 1,122,000 22 Schools 7,803,000 10 Office Buildings 2,815,000 6 Banks 1,325,000 6 Hospitals 985,000 1 Coney Island Board Walk (Brick) 1,900,000 Health and Climate Brooklyn ranks among the first cities in its health records and low mortality rate. It is even lower than the average for the entire City of New York and considerably lower than the rate in several leading American cities. Greater New York 12.9 per 1000 Chicago 12.8 " Philadelphia 14.5 " Boston 15.5 " St. Louis 14.1 " Baltimore 15.4 " Brooklyn 12.5 " Conducive to the low death rate of Brooklyn is the water supply, one of the finest and purest in the world. Population The population of Brooklyn has shown a steady increase as the following table will show: 1790 4,495 1890 838,547 1830 20,535 1900 1,166,582 I860 279,122 1910 1,634,351 1920 2,018,356 1921 2,077,674 1922 2,117,227 In area, Brooklyn is more than three times the size of Manhattan, and has relatively unlimited room in which to grow. The five boroughs of the Cireater City compare as follows for 1920: Population Acreage Manhattan 2,284,103 14,056 Brooklyn 2,018,356 51,807 The Bronx 732,016 21,680 Queens 469,042 77,516 Richmond 116,531 36,600 Brooklyn has thirty-nine residents per acre. During the past few years the population has increased at the rate of more than 50,000 per year. One in every five residents of the State of New York lives in Brooklyn. (Q FAIRCH ILD AERIAL CAMERA CORP. Section of Industrial Home Development Page Twenty-three Education and Recreation Long before the thirteen colonies had become the United States of America, the village of Brooklyn was noted for the excellence of its educational institutions, and students came to its schools from long distances. That pre- eminence has never been lost, and Brooklyn is famed for its splendid public school system, its many excellent private schools and for other institutions affording special educational facilities. Brooklyn's public school enrollment is the second largest in the country, being exceeded only by that of Chicago: Brooklyn has Public High Schools 11 35,253 pupils Public Elementary Schools 180 323,610 Parochial High Schools 25 6,237 " Parochial Elementary Schools 82 61,512 In addition to the above there is a large number of excellent private schools of all grades. The Borough's educational facilities are augmented by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, which has 10,696 members, and which gave over 300 lectures and concerts during 1921-22, with a total attendance of 823,728. The institute maintains a school of pedagogy which has a registration of 992 students in 31 classes. The institute conducts the Brooklyn Botanic Garden adjoining Prospect Park, which had a record of 397,537 visitors in 1922 and an attendance of over 78,861 at its classes. The institute also supplies study material for 70,387 public school children and 1,842 teachers. 1 antern slides and lectures were furnished to 42 teachers with 5,420 pupils. Packages of seeds, 76,528 in number, were distributed to homes and schools. Page Twenty -four Another feature of the work of the institute is the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway, the first part of which was constructed in 1897. The huilding now has a total interior length of 470 feet, w ith a new section under construction. It maintains collections of paintings, statuary, antiquities, textiles, architectural art, ethnology, natural history and an excellent lihrary open to the public. The institute also maintains a children's museum. The Brooklyn Public Library has 31 branches and 3 stations, and a total of 943,864 volumes. It has 365,757 registered borrowers, and a total circulation during 1922 of 6,040,482 volumes. A central building at the main entrance of Prospect Park is in course of construction for the library. Opportunities for recreation for Brooklynites are numerous and excellent. The borough possesses the world's most famous playground, Coney Island, and enjoys also a splendid group of parks and parkways, and many playgrounds provided by the city and by private organizations, easy access for automobilists to the resorts on the north and south shores of Long Island, and a great number of theatres serving every section of the borough. Development of the subway systems in recent years has made it a simple matter for the millions of residents of the Greater City, and for the many visitors, to get to Coney Island, and this famous seaside resort is thronged every pleasant day of the Summer. On a Saturday afternoon or Sunday, in the warmer months of the year, it is not exceptional for an attendance of a quarter of a million to gather at Coney Island. Other resorts along the ocean front are also popular and the ease with w T hich Brooklynites can get to the cooling breezes of the ocean is one of the chief features of the recrea- tional side of the life of the community. Brooklyn's 51 parks total 1,165 acres, and its 15 parkways have a total length of 30 miles. The largest part of the system is Prospect Park, consisting of 526 acres acquired in 1859 and completed in 1867. This park is famed for its natural beauty. Fort Greene Park is noted for preserving part of the fortifications thrown up by the patriotic forces in the Battle of Long Island. It is also the burying place of the Prison Ship Martyrs. Practically all the streets of Brooklyn are asphalted, making automobiling popular in every season. The parks and parkways accommodate thousands of cars on pleasant days. Three main highways running out into Long Island from Brooklyn along the North and South shores and through the center of the island, attract many Brooklyn motorists on Saturdays and Sundays and lead to many interesting places in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Motion picture theatres have been erected in every part of Brooklyn and there is no section which cannot conveniently enjoy an excellent evening's entertainment at a low price. There are also many splendid vaudeville houses and three theatres showing the leading Broadway attractions. Churches Brooklyn has been truly named the City of Churches. There are 582 churches in the borough, representing all denominations. Hospitals Brooklyn has provided well for the aged and indigent with hospitals and homes. Free clinics have been established in all hospitals where the services rendered are of the highest. The medical profession of Brooklyn is represented by some of the keenest minds and ablest practitioners in the world. Social and Physical Opportunities Brooklyn offers many advantages for the social and physical development of its people through such organizations as the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, Knights of Columbus, Brooklyn Jewish Centre, Masonic Orders, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, B. P. O. Elks, and many other similar organizations. EACLE PHOTO Brooklyn's Assessed Valuation and Tax Rate Total Tax Assessment Rate Year Real Personal Real 1911 $1,689,171,283 $55,855,616 $1.75 1915 1,699,912,426 43,606,010 1.92 1920 1,937,811,205 41,192,900 2.49 1921 2,395,486,473 37,741,850 2.80 1922 2,447,036,937 38,908,850 2.76 Posl: Office Brooklyn has a separate post office with its own postmaster and some 2,686 postal employees. The extent of the business handled in 1922 is shown by the following table: Pieces of mail delivered 494,059,734 Pieces of mail received 395,841,989 Gross receipts value of stamps sold $6,464,835.26 Value of money orders issued 20,574,789.36 Postal savings deposits 12,975,568.00 Number of depositors 41,951 Money Orders paid.. $17,461,823.93 Increase of gross receipts over 1921 $800,564.78 Number of carrier stations 27 " contract " 190 " " vehicles 134 " miles operated 1922 1,921,788 Letters sent to dead letter office 416,708 Page Thirty Page Thirty-two BROOKLYN INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION One of the largest and most complete Industrial Expositions in the country is held each year in Brooklyn to show the variety, quality and quantity of Brooklyn products, which total in value more than $1,180,000,- 000 each year. There was an attendance of more than 162,000 in six days at the 1922 Exposition, and the 1923 Exposition, to be held April 7-14, will be even more successful. This Exposition is promoted and managed entirely by public spirited citizens who deserve a great deal of credit for their sac- rifice and enterprise for Brooklyn.