DEMOLITION OF SLUMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19459, 15 October 1926, Page 11

DEMOLITION OF SLUMS.

GREAT NEW YORK SCHEME. OFFER BY A MILLIONAIRE. HUGE AMOUNT INVOLVED. By Telegraph—Ptoss Association Copyright. (Received 7.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. NEW YORK. Oct. 13. A New York capitalist and philanthropist, Mr. August Heckscher, has submitted to the Mayor of New York, Mr. J. J. Walker, a scheme for the demolition of the lower east side of the city, which contains the most famous slums in the world. Mr. Heckscher proposes to replace the area at a cost of millions of pounds. It is understood that the millionaire is willing to give £20,000,000 out of his private fortune toward the undertaking. Mr. Heckscher proposes: (1) That modern apartment buildings, parks, fountains and tree-lined avenues should replace the present congested tenement district. (2) That 500 of the most wealthy men in New York should promise to contribute £20,000 each for five years, the total sum of £50,000,000 thus provided to form the nucleus of the sum the investment ot which would be necessary. (3) That the State and the city should spend equal amounts toward the^plan. (4) That the present dwellers in the slum area should be temporarily re-housed by the city while their homes are rebuilt. (5) That rents in the new district should be dependent upon their paying capacity. Mr. August Heckscher was born at Hamburg, Germany, in August, 1848. Tor three years he was with the importing firm of E. Nolting and Co. in his native city. He went to the United States in 1868 and was engaged in the coal business until 1884. He organised the Lehigh Zinc and Iron Co. in 1881 and this concern he consolidated later into the New Jersey Zinc Co., of which he was general manager until 1904, when he became a director. He is president of the Anahama Realty Corporation and of the Sharon Power Co., vicepresident of the Eastern Steel Co., and a director of the Empire Trust Co. and the Crucible Steel Co., etc.