NEW YORK’S-LATEST FLATS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23529, 18 June 1938, Page 29

NEW YORK’S-LATEST FLATS

All the latest scientific aids to town living are embodied in a 12-story block of flats nearing completion in New York, which, in spite of its spectacular skyscrapers, cannot boast many modern apartment buildings. The new house, which stands at the corner of Madison avenue and 83rd street, near Metropolitan Museum of Art, has many original features The outside walls are made largely ol glass bricks, through which diffused light pours into spacious rooms. Windows have been provided, but tenants will be urged never to open them. To io so would deprive them of the benefits of complete air-conditioning In each apartment a set of dials enables the occupant to adjust the temperature and the degree of humidity at will Thermostats and _humidistats do the rest. The air, which is driven through inlets placed near the ceiling, has been washed free from all dust. It is heated in winter and cooled in summer Radiators have thus been eliminated and there are no fireplaces. Kitchens are equipped with refrigerators, which are always installed in New York flats by the landlord and cooking is done by electricity. The building is the first one in New York to be wired for television That is to say, wires leading from antennae on the roof to plugs in the walls of each apartment have been elaborately shielded from all possible outside interference, and though television is not yet available to Americans, this system will make it easy to listen to European short-wave sound programmes. Great attention has been paid to sound-proofing. Floors are covered with cork, doors are specially insulated, ceilings are covered with a patent asbestos preparation imported from England. Walls are treated in a similar manner. The ceilings, incidentally, are not spoiled by ugly steel girders which protrude in most New York rooms, for they are made of reinforced concrete. This has the effect of making the rooms look very spacious. The sizes of the apartments range from one room, with kitchen, bathroom and dining alcove, costing from £220 a year on the ground floor to £3OO on the 10th floor, to four rooms, with kitchen, two bathrooms, and dining

alcove, costing from £460 on the ground floor, to £590 on the 10th floor. The building contains about 50 apartments. The roof, where there is a solarium, Is open to all tenants. Rents cover all electricity, including that used for cooking. They also include hot water, heating, service, and repairs. Frederick Ackerman, the architect, is the’ technical director of the New York Housing Authority.