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“Yikes! What a Way To
Go...New York City's Travel Experience
By Miriam Medina
Part V
New York City's Travel Experience
1893-1907
Researched and Compiled by Miriam Medina
A Passenger on the El, Claims There's
Some Advantage in Being Fat
As an opener for this page I want to quote
an excerpt from the article "The Advantage of Being Fat"
written by a New York Times Reporter on June 5, 1892.
Page:15. This excerpt refers to a funny scene on the
Elevated Station with regard to a passenger incident ."On
one of the recent hot, soggy afternoons, when every man
hated his neighbor and tried to keep at a distance from him,
a perspiring, heavily-clothed fat man waddled into an
elevated train at the City Hall Station and pre-empted one
of the cross seats. He breathed like a porpoise and mopped
his face with a large handkerchief. Just before the train
started a woman, heavy almost beyond description with
adipose tissue, entered the same car. The car creaked
beneath her tread. The passengers were many, and those who
adjoined empty seats watched her progress with a nervous
glance. She plunged to the centre of the car and
pressed herself down into the space beside the fat man. The
fat man got out of his seat. "Don't move__plenty of room,"
said she. "Madam," said he, and his voice was high and
clear, "it's a hot day. I am fat. You are fat. We've got no
business to be anywhere near each other, so you'll excuse
me."
But the fat woman, nettled at first,
thought better of it, and as she spread herself over the
entire seat murmured to a crowded neighbor: "There's
some advantage in being fat, after all."
1 8 9 3
A) The Duryea brothers - Charles and Frank -
created their first gasoline-powered "horseless-carriage" in
1893.
B) In 1893 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. (20)
C) The Broadway Bridge over the Harlem ship
canal, connecting the old Kingsbridge Road on the south with
Broadway on the north, was commenced in April, 1893, and
completed in December, 1894 and opening on January 1, 1895.
. it has a total length of 551 feet, made up of the two
approaches and a swing draw. The second permanent Broadway
Bridge was completed on June 17, 1905. During the late
1950's, the city decided to replace the existing span with a
new, stronger Broadway Bridge. The 2,500-ton span more than
doubled roadway capacity and added another subway track
across the Harlem River. The bridge opened to vehicular
traffic on July 1, 1962.It carries 40,000 vehicles per day
as part of US 9. (25)
D) The first cable cars were put on in June,
1893. The first cable that was in use lasted over a year.
The business of the company grows heavier and heavier from
month to month and from year to year, both in mileage and
expenditure, the number of cars in use, and the number of
passengers carried. (34)
1 8 9 4
For the year ending June 30, 1894, the first
year of the trolley in Brooklyn, the traffic aggregated
209,438,125; the Brooklyn Heights carrying 92,535,282; the
Brooklyn L, 34,233,697; the Kings County L, 14, 472,150, and
the Atlantic Avenue system 18,331,745. While the Brooklyn
street railway system was inaugurated by the old Brooklyn
City Company in 1854, its annual passenger traffic in 1858
reached the total of 7,705,839; 1860, 11,329,009; 1865,
22,671,087; 1870, 36,431,695; 1875, 61,372,170; 1880;
74,973,220; 1884, 102,143,171; 1885, 108,406,719; with 274
miles of railroad; 1892, 200,545,494; an increase of
10,344,162 over 1891. Of this number the Brooklyn L carried
36,995,837, the Kings County L 17,357,932, the Long Island
road 14,596,820, and the Brooklyn City, 78,500,000. (9)
1 8 9 6
A) From authentic figures published in 1896,
the Pennsylvania Railroad carried nearly twenty-five per
cent of the passenger traffic over the North River, and out
of the one hundred and forty million passengers now carried,
it is safe to say that the Pennsylvania Railroad must move
yearly in its ferry boats about thirty-three million people
in and out of New York City, in addition to vehicles and
commodities. (31)
B) The Fifth Avenue Coach Company,
incorporated in 1896 and succeeding other like companies, is
the sole operator of stage lines in New York City up to the
present time, (c 1915) and is Sui Generis in the
transportation problems of the day. (33)
1 8 9 7
A) Fourth Avenue (Railroad) Bridge. The new
bridge, which is a four-track structure is one of the few
bridges in this country with that number of tracks placed
side by side. it has a total width of 61 feet. it was opened
to traffic over two tracks on January 17, 1897, and on four
tracks September 20, 1897. (20)
B) Broadway Bridge, Spanning Spuyten Duyvil
Creek: A contract was awarded June 14, 1897, to Messrs.
Gildersleeve & Smith, for the construction of a bridge over
Spuyten Duyvil Creek at Broadway, to replace the old bridge.
Total cost, $53,607.50
C) In 1897, four hundred and ninety million
one hundred and fifty-two thousand seven hundred and ninety
passengers were carried on the elevated and surface lines in
the Borough of Manhattan; in 1906, the elevated, subway and
surface lines carried one billion seven million one hundred
and sixty-one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three
passengers, a gain of five hundred and seventeen million
nine thousand one hundred and forty-three, or more than the
entire number of passengers carried in the year 1897. (31)
1 8 9 8
Harlem or Third Avenue Bridge is to replace
the old one. The contract for building this bridge and
approaches was awarded to Mr. Isaac A. Hopper. it is
expected that the bridge will be opened to travel about
March 1, 1898. The estimated cost of the structure and
approaches, exclusive of land values, is $1,400,000. During
the construction of the new Third Avenue Bridge, this
structure has proved entirely inadequate to carry the
traffic, and now that the avenues leading to it on the south
side have been improved by modern paving, and 138th Street
on the North Side is to be widened to 100 feet, the present
bridge should be removed and replaced by a better one,
having well paved roadways and easier approaches.(20)
1 8 9 9:
A Picture of Broadway, looking North from Franklin
Street. (Horsecars) (click twice)
SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF THE HIGH WHEEL
BICYCLE TO AMERICA IN 1870, those who could afford it,
turned to the bicycle as a way of getting around, as well as
for pleasure use. Though there was a growing interest in
cycling, it was not considered a solution to the problem of
mass transportation, since it was limited to only one or two
passengers at most. In comparison, the railways and the El
carrying hundreds of passengers at one time, as well as the
trolleys, omnibuses, and horse cars, carrying circa fifty
seemed to prove more beneficial to the growing population of
the city of New York.
ABOUT 1890, THE BICYCLE WAS IN ITS GLORY: and for
nearly a decade the smooth asphalt of the Boulevard
attracted the devotees of the wheel, the favorite ride being
as far as Claremont and Grant's Tomb. The annual parades of
the wheelmen were beautiful sights as they sped swiftly
along. The bicycle was also used by
New York City's policemen in 1899. (click twice)
There is no doubt that at one time the
bicycle was considered a plaything or a luxury, and
reserved to the elite who paid an exorbitant price for it, but gradually
as the automobile began to make its presence known, the
bicycle became an indispensable means of transportation to
millions of the working class who employed them.
Men in America, France, Germany and England
began to experiment with the motorization of the bicycle.
Carl Benz in Germany produced a benzine-powered tricycle in
1885, L.D. Copeland of Philadelphia invented a steam-driven
tricycle in 1885, De Dion and Bouton's gasoline tricycle was
entered in the Paris-Marseilles-Paris race for automobile
vehicles in 1897, Andrew Riker, of Brooklyn, N.Y. introduced
his Electric motor cycle and Louis S. Clarke contributed his
gasoline tricycle in 1897. Then came Henry Ford's first Car
"The Quadricycle" so named because it ran on four bicycle
tires. (click
here) Henry Ford was one of the several automotive
pioneers who helped this country become a nation of
motorists. (7)
THE AUTOMOBILE BEGAN TO MAKE ITS
APPEARANCE IN THE STREETS IN THE LATE NINETIES, and were being turned
out by the thousands. Where once the bicycle shops were in
abundance, we find their places taken by many more garages
and showrooms for the sale and repair of the automobile.
Limousine, $6,000 complete
Runabout, All Complete $3,950
Demi-limousine on 30-40 h.p. Complete $6,000
Delivery Wagon: Able to carry 1 ton of merchandise; 15-20
h.p. complete $3,500; 12-15 h.p. complete $2,800
Scene of Vehicular Traffic in 1918 Manhattan 5th Avenue
Sketching of Ford Automobiles
Rambler Model forty-four
Actual photograph of the first automobile invented by
Carl Benz Mannheim, Germany October 25, 1883
Commercial Car No. 185, D-6 Transportation car. Price:
$3,200.00
1 9 0 0
THE SUBWAY.............."In February of 1900 John B
MacDonald contracted to build NY's first subway. Though he
was a member of Tammany Hall he still needed financial help
which he then got from August Belmont II whose father was
connected with the Rothschild fortune in Europe. The
contract which detailed the agreement to equip operate and
maintain the subway structure which MacDonald and Belmont
would build for the city was known as Contract I. The Subway
construction began in 1900.
As the work was proceeding well, the city commissioners
adopted an additional route in 1902, one that would include
what had become the borough of Brooklyn. The ability to
build subway lines into areas outside of Manhattan had been
one of the principal arguments for forming the five boroughs
of NYC. The additional route was a 3.1 mile extension from
the City Hall-Brooklyn Bridge area, south under Park Row,
Lower Broadway, and the East River into Brooklyn. The
line terminated at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, a terminal
also for the Long island Rail Road. This was to be operated
under Contract Two." (28)
Photo Credit of subway construction: (28)
1 9 0 1
THE AUTOMOBILE CRAZE HAS FINALLY COME TO
NEW YORK.....
A reporter from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
comments on the automobile craze that has affected the
residents of Brooklyn, New York in his article "Brooklyn Has
Automobile craze in its Most Virgulent Form." dated
September 22, 1901.
"Manufacturers of and dealers in automobiles
are more surprised than any one else over the growing
popularity of those vehicles. Factories everywhere are
working over time in a futile effort to keep up with orders.
At first the public did not take very kindly to automobiles.
They were regarded as hard to manage, rather dangerous and a
trifle expensive. Gradually, however, as the novelty wore
off, the public became more interested. Today, with the
precincts of Greater New York alone, there are more than
3,000 automobiles of every shape, make and description,
owned by private individuals, not counting those known as
hacks, owned by transportation companies. Brooklyn,
particularly, has the automobile craze in its most virulent
form. Those who follow the industry assert that in another
year there will be more than double the present number in
Greater New York. So enormous is the demand for automobiles
at present that on August 1 last the price was raised $100
on all styles. Such vehicles as Vanderbilt's White Ghost and
the Red Rover cost in the neighborhood of $6,000 each.
Automobiles seem to be more popular in Flatbush than in any
other part of Brooklyn, or perhaps any other part of Greater
New York. People who own automobiles are mostly people of
means and the majority of them own their own homes. "
1 9 0 2
A) The Pennsylvania, New York and Long
Island Railroad Company was incorporated April 21, 1902,
under the laws of the State of New York, and it is
authorized to construct and operate a tunnel railroad in the
City of New York, to be connected with any railroad within
the State of New York or any adjoining state, and thereby
form a continuous line for the carriage of passengers and
property between points within and points without the said
city. The western terminus thereof is under the waters of
the Hudson River on the boundary line between the States of
New York and New Jersey, at points of connection with the
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York Railroad, opposite
West Thirty-first and West Thirty-second Streets, New York
City. (31)
B) Before the New York company could begin
constructing its railroad, it was necessary to obtain a
certificate from the State Board of Railroad Commissioners
that such extension was a public convenience and necessity,
which certificate was granted November 24, 1902. (31)
C) August Belmont formed the Interborough
Rapid Transit as an operating railroad in the spring of
1902, and the city's first two contracts were awarded to his
company. In 1903, the IRT leased the existing elevated
railways in Manhattan for 999 years, a term far longer than
the IRT would ultimately require.
D) It was also necessary to obtain a
franchise from the City of New York, which was granted by
the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners on October
9, 1902, accepted by the railroad company on November 5th of
the same year, and approved by the Board of Aldermen on
December 16, 1902. (31)
1 9 0 3
The Williamsburg Bridge opened on December
19, 1903 to horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and pedestrians.
The trains did not run on the bridge until 1908. As early as
the late 1860's, John Roebling, the designer of the Brooklyn
Bridge, anticipated the need for additional bridges across
the East River to keep up with population growth in the
cities of New York and Brooklyn. One bridge was proposed
between the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the
Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Throughout the 1880's,
leaders in Williamsburg battled officials in New York City
and powerful ferry interests who did not want the bridge.
1 9 0 4
The City of New York then built the first
line, which was opened in October 27, 1904 by the Interboro
Rapid Transit Company, from City Hall via Lafayette Street,
Fourth Avenue, Forty-second Street and Broadway to One
Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street, a distance of 8.5 miles.
The line became immediately popular and the city proceeded
rapidly with the construction of additional subways.(17)
THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST SUBWAYS EXPOSED
THE CITY'S NEED FOR A GREATLY EXPANDED SUBWAY SYSTEM. An
early contender for future subway contracts was the
Metropolitan Street Railway, owner and operator of
Manhattan's streetcar system. The threat of competition was
little more than a nuisance to Belmont. He bought out the
surface car system in 1905. Public transportation above,
below, and now upon the streets of New York was in Belmont's
hands. (28)
1 9 0 5
A) In 1905 city motorbus service began in
several cities. There was a 24 passenger motorbus introduced
by New York's Fifth Avenue Coach Company. The double-decker
bus, was made by the French in 1905.
B) The145th Street Bridge was opened to
traffic on August 24, 1905. In 1895, the New York State
Legislature enacted a law providing for the construction of
a new Harlem River bridge between 145th Street in Manhattan
and 149th Street in the Bronx. The 145th Street Bridge
provides two lanes of eastbound and two lanes of westbound
traffic between Manhattan and the Bronx. In Manhattan, the
bridge connects to the corner of 145th Street and Lenox
Avenue, and in the Bronx, the bridge connects to 149th
Street and River Avenue. Until 1972, the bridge also carried
the NY 22 designation. The Manhattan approach was rebuilt in
1957 to carry traffic over the Harlem River Drive. Motorists
must use side streets in order to connect to the parkway.
The Bronx approach, which connects to the Bronx street grid
and the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87), was rebuilt in 1990
to replace the original Bronx flanking span. (25)
1 9 0 6
In 1906, a close estimate shows that
295,000,000 persons were carried across the East River. The
ferries conveyed about 100,000,000, and the railways on the
Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges carried 195,000,000, and
although pedestrians tend to make the congestion greater,
they are not included in the foregoing figures.
1 9 0 7
The Fifth Avenue Coach Company began
passenger service between Washington Square and 90th Street
with gasoline-powered buses and open-top double-deckers on
July 13, 1907. (26)
1 9 0 7
A) The first taxis, imported from Paris,
arrive in New York City, and make their first appearance on
October 1, 1907. Read about the history of the taxicab in
New York City in the article:
" Hailing the History of New York's Yellow Cabs"
B) 1907-1952: Construction of the Bronx
River Parkway. The Bronx River Commission was established in
1907 to acquire the necessary lands, eliminate nuisance
conditions and build the Bronx River Parkway as a joint
undertaking between New York City and Westchester County.
The river was so polluted that its waters were killing
animals in the Bronx Zoo. Construction of the Westchester
section of parkway began in 1917.When it was completed in
1925, the Bronx River Parkway was the first modern,
multi-lane limited-access parkway in North America.
According to the NYSDOT, the Bronx River Parkway carries
approximately 100,000 vehicles per day (AADT) in the South
Bronx, approximately 75,000 vehicles per day in the northern
Bronx, and approximately 60,000 vehicles per day through
Westchester County.(25)
C) In 1907 there were 8505 miles of railway
and 3950 miles of electric railway tracks. The great
railroad of the State is the New York Central system between
New York and Buffalo which provides communication between
New York City and the principal places in all parts of
the United States by its own lines and their direct
connexions. The Erie system, in addition to being one
of the trunk lines to Chicago, is probably the greatest
freight carrier in the Union. Its passenger traffic around
New York City is also of great extent. The Pennsylvania
Railroad one of the great national trunk lines, with its
Hudson tunnels and its new vast terminal in New York City,
is one of the great institutions of New York.(30)
Sources of
Information Utilized
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Next: Part VI New York City's Travel
Experience 1908-1936
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