Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

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28 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. V, No. 4. (1) The Health Department must aid in the enforcement of the laws relating to the sanitary conditions in these places. (Sections 1169 and 1201 of the charter.) (2) The Police Department is obliged to enforce the laws relating to danger to life and health, and to the admission of children unaccompanied. (Section 1202 of the charter.) It also issues the so-called concert licenses. (3) The Fire Department is charged with the duty of keeping the passageway and aisles open and free from obstruction, and of supervising the installation of adequate fire preventives and appliances. (4) The Bureau of Buildings has jurisdiction in the matter of the construction of the premises in compliance with the ordinances. (Section 406 of the charter; sections 108 and 109 of the building code.) (5) The Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity is charged with the duty of supervising the electrical appliances in buildings used for public entertainment. It also issues licenses, after examination, to the operators of moving picture machines. (Section 524 of the charter.) (6) The Mayor's Bureau of Licenses, after due examination, issues licenses to such moving picture shows as do not come within the scope of section 1472 •of the charter relative to theaters. These licenses may be revoked by the bureau at any time. (Section 307 of the Revised Ordinances.) (7) The Tenement House Department has jurisdiction in determining whether the proposed picture show is located in a tenement house, on the theory that the moving film is a combustible material. (Tenement House Act, Section 40.) Any one who wishes to open and operate an ordinary moving picture show must therefore deal with seven departments of the city government. The arrangement of his building must first be approved by the Building Department. As the building code makes no reference to moving picture shows, the general plan of the room is dependent largely upon the personal ideas of the superintendent or inspector. The fact that there are five bureaus of buildings in the city of New York, one in each borough, makes it possible for pronounced variations in the views of the different superintendents. In case the building department passes upon the plans, the prospective proprietor applies to the bureau of licenses for his permit. A thorough inspection of the premises is made and the license is granted or refused at the discretion of the chief of the bureau, who, in the absence of any definite ordinances, is called upon to exercise his own judgment in the approval or disapproval of the application. If he feels that the site of the proposed moving picture show is unfortunately chosen, he may refuse to issue the license. In fact, with the exception that his decision may not be capricious, he has unlimited discretion. As a matter of practice the present chief of the bureau, before issuing a license, secures the approval of the Fire Department, the Tenement House Department and the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, although these precautionary measures are not required by law. The Fire Department certifies that proper fire appliances have been installed ; the Tenement House Department certifies that the building in which the show is to be located is not a tenement house; the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity approves the electrical equipment installed in the picture show. In the ab sence of any uniform regulations as to the kind of fire appliances or electrical equipment to be installed, the officials who thus certify their approval to the Bureau of Licenses have to be guided by their own best judgment. In case a license is granted, the moving picture show is visited periodically by the police and fire officials, by the inspectors of the Bureau of Licenses, and, theoretically, at least, by the representatives of the Health Department. Responsibility in the matter of adequate ventilation and general sanitation appears to rest jointly with the police and health officials. Both the Fire and Police Departments are apparently charged with duties in the matter of inadequate passageways and overcrowding. All these functions come also within the purview of the Bureau of Licenses, inasmuch as that bureau has power to revoke a license for cause shown. * * * Especial attention should be called to section 109 of the building code which has a vital bearing upon the development of the moving picture industry in New York. This section provides that any building intended for public entertainment, and erected for the accommodation of more than three hundred persons, shall be built to comply with certain specific requirements. These requirements are set forth in very minute fashion. They provide for open courts at the rear and side of the building of a varying width, with appropriate exits from each gallery. No portion .of the building can be used as a hotel, boarding or lodging house, factory, workshop or manufactory. Interior walls, staircases, etc., built of fireproof materials, are required. Detailed provisions are inserted in regard to the construction of the stage and its equipment, the roof of the auditorium, the ceiling under each gallery, the actors' dressing rooms, the construction of windows and doors, the position of seats, aisles and stairways, the location of steam boilers used for heating and other purposes ; the position of fire hose and other auxiliary fire appliances ; the character of lights to be used, etc. The effect of this provision is at once apparent. The number of houses which can afford to comply with these regulations is comparatively small, with the result' that the vast majority of motion picture shows in the city are constructed with a seating capacity of under three hundred. The chief cause of the present condition of moving picture places, along sanitary lines at least, is undoubtedly due to the fact that as a result of this section of the building code the industry is practically confined to the so-called "store front" shows. Most of the motion picture places in New York, therefore, operate under a common show license, which, as shown above, is determined by the character of the performance, and are constructed with a seating capacity of under three hundred as a result of section 109 of the building code. There are at the present time approximately 450 motion picture shows in Greater New York under a common show license, and 290 under a concert or theatrical license. Of the total number, approximately 600 are constructed with a seating capacity of under three hundred. * * * Our investigation of moving picture shows in this city confines itself practically to two points : (1) The character of the pictures.