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“Yikes! What a Way To
Go...New York City's Travel Experience
By Miriam Medina
Part IV
New York City's Travel Experience
1877-1890
Researched and Compiled by Miriam Medina
1 8 7 7
A) On August 23, 1877, the first boat of the
Annex Ferry, between Jersey City and Brooklyn, made its
initial trip. (9)
B) New York and Putnam Bridge: The bridge of
the N.Y. & Putnam R.R., which crosses the river about a
quarter of a mile above the Seventh Avenue Bridge, was built
about 1877. it is provided with a steel draw 300 feet long
and 28 feet above high water, with openings 128 feet wide.
it carries two railroad tracks, and a foot path for free
public use. This cost of this bridge was about $200,000.(20)
"ELEVATED RAILWAYS PRESENTED ONE OF THE
FIRST POTENT FACTORS for the solution of the problem of
adequate transportation for passengers between points in
great cities. The street railway was an earlier
factor, but it met the growing inconvenience of congested
streets in only a partial degree, affording but temporary
relief. Two means of relieving the streets of some of the
burden of passenger traffic began to be considered as long
ago as 1860. Two possible solutions presented themselves,
one being to carry it underground through tunnels, and the
other to carry it over elevated structures. The West Side
Elevated Railroad Company, as the corporation which built
and operated this pioneer elevated line was named, was
succeeded by the New York Elevated Railroad Company,
organized 3 Jan. 1872, under a charter granted by the State
legislature the year before. (32)
1 8 7 8
A) "The Metropolitan Elevated Railways:
 The
first of the new roads from the Battery to Central Park and
beyond, was opened June 5, 1878, and on the first day 25,000
persons availed themselves of this novel means of travel.
Running through some of the side streets on the west side of
the city till it reached the broad Sixth avenue, thence to
Central Park, five miles from the starting point, it was
pushed as rapidly as it could be built to the Harlem river.
Very soon afterwards, the same corporation built another
road on the east side of the city, also extending from the
Battery, till it reached the Bowery, and then through Third
avenue to Harlem. And as soon as the immense advantage of
these up-in-the-air roads was seen, still other branches
shot upward, till now the main thoroughfares are fairly
gridironed with these elevated iron roads.
B) The Third Avenue line was opened from
South Ferry on August 26, 1878.
1 8 7 9
The Second Avenue Line was opened in
September, 1879. The Gilbert, subsequently the Metropolitan,
and the original West Side and Yonkers Railway were
consolidated into the Manhattan on May 20, 1879. The
directors who in 1872 called the attention of the
public to their successful enterprise, would be astonished
at a passenger record of 1,075,000 in a single day, or of
the movement of 3,000,000 people in the three successive
days when visitors crowded New York for the Columbus
celebration.(34)
1 8 8 3
A) In 1856 an improved City railroad car was
introduced. "The principal advantages of this car, over the
old, are: It is lighter,
will hold as many passengers, and give them more room and
accommodations: takes up less room in the street, is less
liable to meet with accidents, requires the attendance of
but one person, and two horses can draw it, loaded with
passengers, up any grade in the city." "The shape of the car
is something like an omnibus__ The entrance is similar to
the omnibus, much lower, however, and much more easy of
access: and the door which is closed by the driver, covers
the step when closed. The driver's seat is on the roof, and
he also acts as money receiver, and controls the door by
means of a strap in the same manner as in an omnibus. The
car
comfortably seats 30 persons with abundance of room between
the knees. This car was constructed by Mr. Stephenson the
well known car builder in New York city, but to Mr. Queen,
the entire credit belongs of its conception." The only
disadvantage to this was that the drivers who sat on the
roof of the vehicle were exposed to all kinds of weather
conditions, suffering greatly from the extremes of heat and
cold. They could not leave their seats, and were oftentimes
frozen before they reached the ends of their routes. . (13)
B) In 1883, Brooklyn Bridge, at the time the
world's largest suspension bridge, stretching from Brooklyn
to lower Manhattan is completed. Click
here for the Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway-Photo.
c.1900
C) In 1883 a road was begun on Tenth Avenue,
from One Hundred and Twenty-fifth to One Hundred and
Eighty-sixth Street, to be operated by cable. It was
completed in 1886. The company owning this novel property
also constructed a street-car line from Park Row through
Chatham Street, the Bowery, and Third Avenue to Sixty-first
Street. They operated a line of omnibuses along this route.
(34)
1 8 8 4
A) The Madison Avenue Bridge was built under
the direction of the Commissioners of Public Parks, and was
completed in 1884. It connects 138th Street on the east with
Madison Avenue on the west, and has a total length,
including the approaches, of 1163 feet. It is crossed by the
cars of the Union Electric Railway Company, and the Madison
Avenue horse line, and is of great importance as a
connecting link with Manhattan Island. The total cost was
$492,295.(20)
B) 1884: In 1884 a franchise was granted for
the bridging of the East River at Blackwell's Island, but no
steps toward actual construction were taken until 1898,when
the Commissioner of Bridges prepared plans. These provided
for a bridge having its western terminus on the block
bounded by Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets and Avenues A
and B, and its eastern terminus in Long Island City. Work
was commenced in 1901, and was carried forward so slowly
that in 1902 only about $42,000 had been expended. (21)
1 8 8 5
A) In 1885, Brooklyn's first elevated
railroad is completed. It runs from the Brooklyn Bridge to
Broadway.
B) The Second Avenue Bridge was built in
1885 by the Suburban Rapid Transit Company as a railroad
bridge. it is 28.5 feet above high water, and gives a clear
opening on each side of the draw of 103.7 feet. In 1887, by
arrangement with the Park Board, a foot path was opened
across it for the free use of the public. It is now used by
the Manhattan Railway Company, and also the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, which has a station at
129th Street. The total cost was $203,053. (20)
C) Omnibuses were the only mode of
transportation on Broadway up to the year 1885l. On June 21
of that year, after much persistent effort, the Broadway and
Seventh Avenue Company started their horse cars on the main
artery of the town. The proprietors of the handsome retail
stores along the route were the most strenuous opposers of
the scheme. (34)
1 8 8 6
Seventh Avenue Bridge: In 1886, it was
decided to build a viaduct from Washington Heights to
connect with a bridge over the Harlem at 155th Street. Work
was commenced on the viaduct in 1890, under the direction of
the Department of Public Works, and it was opened to the
public in 1893. It has a total length of 1500 feet, and
crosses over the elevated railroad, with which it is
connected by stairways. The roadway, 40 feet wide is paved
with granite blocks laid in cement, and the sidewalks on
each side, 10 feet wide, are also laid in cement. It was
built at a cost of $739,000, one half the expense being
borne by the property benefited, and the other by the city
at large.
The bridge proper, was authorized by Chapter 207, Laws of
1890, which specifies that no surface railroad shall cross
it. It was built by the Department of Public Parks, and is
731 feet long, being made up of a swing draw 400 feet long,
a truss 225 feet long over the N.Y. Central & Hudson River
R.R. Company's tracks, and a viaduct 106 feet long
connecting the two. The draw span is 28 feet above
high-water mark, and gives a clear channel of 165 feet on
each side, when open. It weighs 2400 tons, and is the
heaviest in the world. It is supported on a circular granite
pier, built on a steel caisson, which rests on solid rock.
it turns on 128 cast steel rollers arranged in two
concentric rings and is opened or closed by a 75 horse-power
engine in 1 1/2 minutes. The Total cost of the bridge was
about $1,989,000.(20)
1 8 8 9
In 1889 The Washington Bridge, extending
from One Hundred and Eighty-first Street and Tenth Avenue on
the west to Aqueduct Avenue on the east, is one of the most
notable structures crossing the Harlem, both in appearance
and in form of construction. The bridge was two years in
building, and was opened to the public use in 1889. It cost
$2,851,684. (20)
1 8 9 0
A) In 1890 the first electric trolley begins
running in Brooklyn.
B) About 1890 electric traction was
perfected and trolley cars took the place of horse cars, so
that the business and professional man, the mechanic, and
laborer could reside in Jamaica and at small cost and in a
short time reach his place of business.(14)
C) For a visual tour of Trolleys.
The Shore Line Trolley Museum. Also for a
brief history of
Trolleys of Washington heights and Inwood.
D) It was in 1890 that the first rapid
transit commission was appointed by Mayor Hugh J. Grant; it
reported in 1891 that the tunnel franchise should be sold to
the highest bidder, but capitalists were afraid to back the
scheme on account of its uncertainty and the vast amount of
capital involved. In 1894, the legislature created the Rapid
Transit Board, which, fortunately, was composed of men of
unimpeachable integrity and enterprise with no interest or
concern in politics, and they went at the matter in a
business-like way. The contracts were let to John B.
McDonald on February 21, 1900, and work was begun shortly
afterwards, four and one half years being the time allowed
for the completion of the work and the running of the
trains. (4)
E) A CAREFUL ESTIMATE WHICH HAS BEEN MADE
OF THE MOVEMENT OF PASSENGERS in and about New York
during the year 1890 gives the following amazing result:
New York City (surface and elevated
roads)......400,000,000
Brooklyn Bridge........................................
38,000,000
Long Island Ferries............................. ......
90,000,000
Staten Island and New Jersey ferries...............
85,000,000
_______________
Total:..............613,000,000 (36)
ALTHOUGH MANY IMMIGRANTS BEGAN TO ENTER
THE UNITED STATES through Castle Garden circa the late
1850s,they continued to arrive in extraordinary numbers
during the early mid'80's. It was curious to see such a
heterogeneous crowd flooding our shores. According to the
report of the Commissioners of Emigration for the year
ending December 31, 1880, the nationalities of the 320,607
steerage passengers were as follows: Germany, 104,264;
Ireland, 66,899; England, 33,768; Sweden, 35,217; Italy,
11,190; Norway, 9,997; Scotland, 9,625; Switzerland, 8,223:
Russia, 7,693; Bohemia, 7,606; Hungary, 6,672; Denmark,
5,577; Austria, 4,461; France, 3,087; Wales, 3,588;
Netherlands, 3,259; Belgium, 1,309; West Indies, 1,298;
Spain, 931. (23)
ALSO BETWEEN 1892 AND 1924 DURING THE
GREATEST IMMIGRATION TO THIS COUNTRY, ELLIS ISLAND RECEIVED
17 million people. " Almost two-thirds of the immigrants
made New York City their first American destination, the
rest took the train and fanned out across the country."
The lower East side stretched along the east of Chinatown,
from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th street. With the Bowery, the
East Side was known to be a notorious slum district. Tens of
thousands of Jews and Italians and thousands of other ethnic
groups, such as Poles, Greeks, Russians, Spaniards,
Lithuanians, and a scattering of Turks, Persians, and
Chinese lived in this area. A concentrated melting pot of
the Nation's immigrants.
THE PRESENCE OF THE NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS THAT
REMAINED in New York City, added to the population
growth and their ever-demanding transit needs. In order to
survive, many of the immigrants who were able to, went into
the pushcart business.
People generally rise according to their necessities. The
poorer the man was, the earlier he would get up to go to
work. So at the crack of dawn, the horse wagons would find
their way to the city markets, such as Fulton, Washington,
Catharine, Essex, Jefferson and Tompkins, to get their
merchandise of meats, fish, fruits, vegetables and
groceries. Pushcart vendors, horse-wagons, all other
vehicles and pedestrians would fight for footage on the
crowded streets, thus intensifying the congestion and chaos
of the lower east side of Manhattan . At the end of their
work day they would drag home their tired bodies, and after
a few winks of sleep would return once again to their
consuming toil.
Many immigrants themselves would
convert their apartments into sweatshops, where they would
manufacture garments, flowers and cigars, while those who
were fortunate enough to find work elsewhere, unable to
afford the public transportation fare from their meager
earnings, would
walk miles through all kinds of weather conditions to and
from their places of employment. In the meantime, New
York City's travel experience continued to evolve.
Photo Credit: Pushcart Vendors (24)
Sources of
Information Utilized
Back To "New York City's
Travel Experience Table of Contents
Next: Part V New York City's Travel
Experience 1893-1907
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