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“Yikes! What a Way To
Go...New York City's Travel Experience
By Miriam Medina
Part VI
New York City's Travel Experience
19 0 8-19 3 6
Researched and Compiled by Miriam Medina
1 9 0 8
"In this year, there was another important
development of subway and tunnel construction. The Hudson
and Manhattan Railway Company constructed a subway from 19th
Street and Sixth Avenue, New York City, under Sixth Avenue
and Christopher Street, tunneling under the Hudson River and
thence to Hoboken, New Jersey, thus making a close and
direct connection with all that large area of adjacent
developed and undeveloped territory in New Jersey
economically tributary to New York City and its rapid
transit lines. This section of the tunnel was opened for
traffic February 25th, 1908; extended to 23rd Street and
Sixth Avenue, June 15th, 1908; and to 33rd Street and Sixth
Avenue, November 10th, 1910. A "Down-town" branch, which was
opened July 19th, 1909, extended from Cortlandt and Church
Streets under the Hudson River, with a physical connection
with the Pennsylvania Railroad Station and other trunk-line
stations in Jersey City; and still further reaching out, the
company extended their line November 26th, 1911, running
part way on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad, into
Park Place station, Newark, New Jersey. (33)
Step Lively: Rush Hour?
Taxicab Waiting by a Subway Entrance
Subway
Construction (click twice on links)
1 9 0 9
A) On December 31, 1909, in what he earlier
promised to be his last act in office, McClellan formally
opened the $31 million Manhattan Bridge.
B) THE BRIDGE OPENS AND TRANSFORMS QUEENS:
The final link in the superstructure of the Queensboro
Bridge was completed in 1908. On March 30, 1909, the bridge
opened to the public at a cost of $20 million and 50 lives.
The opening ceremonies, which were sponsored by the
"Committee of Forty," featured a two-hour fireworks
spectacular that attracted the attention of even the most
jaded Manhattanites. (25)
C) The following indicates the total amount
of passengers carried by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company.
1909 (3,609,304); 1910 (6,305,175); 1911 (5,997,372); 1912
(6,339,072); 1913 (8,749,610); 1914 (11,276,430). (33)
1 9 1 0
A picture of a NYC ferry loaded with carriages and
coaches. (click twice)
1 9 1 2
A) In 1912 the Fifth Avenue Coach Company
had 81 motor buses, mostly double deckers, with an aggregate
seating capacity of 2720 passengers (no standees allowed),
and operating on several streets and avenues in Manhattan
for a total distance of about 20 miles. (33)
1 9 1 3
A) The Jamaica Transfer Station and yard was
erected in 1913 at a cost exceeding $3,000,000. It includes
12 passenger tracks and five wide platforms. The Station and
Office Building is a six story brick-concrete-steel
structure. Over 60,000 passengers pass through this station
on an average for every day of the year.(14)
B) The signing of the Dual Contracts on
March 19, 1913 was immensely important to the route
development of New York City's subway system in Manhattan,
The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. The cost of the expansion
plan was to be nearly a third of a billion dollars, an
incredible sum at the time. The Dual Contracts
brought about a tremendous expansion of the subway system.
In its expanded form, the subway system had clearly placed
New York City ahead of all other metropolitan areas in the
field of rapid transit. (28)
Riders On A Subway
1 9 1 5
A) The Queensboro line from the Grand
Central Station via the East River Tunnel to Jackson Avenue,
Long Island City, was opened in June, 1915, and extensions
thereafter were made to it. This led to Hunters' Point
Avenue; to Queensboro Plaza; Ditmars Avenue via Astoria
Branch; and Alburtis Avenue on the Corona Branch. The
Manhattan extension of this line, from the Grand Central
Station to Sixth Avenue at Thirty-fourth Street, is at the
present time in course of being effected.(17)
B) The Fourth Avenue and the Sea Beach
lines commenced service between the City hall Terminal and
Sixty-fourth Street in 1915, connection being made via these
lines with the West End and Culver lines to Coney Island, in
July 1917, and in May, 1920, respectively. (17)
C)
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) began
subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1915. The
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) took over the
BRT a few years later. (26)
D) In 1915 the Fifth Avenue Coach Company
operated about 150 busses, practically all double-decked and
of two sizes; one holds 34 passengers, 16 inside and 18
outside, and another type holds 45 passengers, 23 inside and
22 outside. They charge a flat fare of 10c and give few
transfers. (33)
E) In 1915 there was recorded, in a Public
Service Report, 1576.47 miles of car tracks as of June 30,
1914, which includes all classes of transportation__subway,
elevated and surface__with a total number of 1,813,204,692
passengers carried, making about 337 rides per capita. For
surface lines alone, Manhattan had 261.45 miles of track;
Bronx had 211.76; Queens, 217.64; Richmond, 62.30 miles, and
Brooklyn had a total of 627.59 miles of track (not divided).
The surface lines in New York City had the usual
transformations and experimentations which are perhaps
common to other large cities in the development of means of
car propulsion; as, horse, cable, storage-battery,
compressed air, gasolene, and finally the electric-conduit
system, the final development of the art. (33)
1 9 1 6
A) Existing garage facilities for the
motorist to park their automobiles in the city of New York.
The usual charge in New York garages was $1.00 per day for
storage and a $1.00 extra for cleaning and polishing.. Some
of the better known garages at that time were the following:
Gotham Garage, 102 W. 46th st.; Joscelyn Garage, 112 W. 52d
st.; Belnord Garage, 252 W. 87th st.; Ansonia Garage, 207 W.
75th st.; Bretton Hall Garage, 150 W. 83d st.; Circle
Garage, 40 W. 60th st.; Hudson Garage, 220 W. 41st st.;
Murray Hill Garage, 27 E. 40th st.; Mineola Garage, Park ave.
and 59th st.; Packard Acme Garage, 124 W. 50th st.; St.
Regis Garage, 481 Park ave.; Vanderbilt Garage, 155 E. 35th
st. (27)
B) Facts on Carriages and Motor Cabs during
this period. The two largest taxicab companies were the
Yellow Taxicab Co. and the Mason-Seaman Transportation Co.
Cab Rates: CABS, for the first mile or any fraction thereof,
50c.; for each add. half m. or fraction thereof,
20c.COACHES, for the first mile or any fraction thereof,
70c.; for each add. half m. or fraction thereof, 30c. MOTOR
VEHICLES, for not more than 2 passengers: for the first half
m. or any fraction thereof, 30c.; for each add. quarter m.
or fraction, 10c. (27)
C) MOTOR OMNIBUSES: ran from 8 a.m. to
midnight at intervals of 4 to 10 minutes. Fare 10c. The
existing lines were Fifth and Seventh Ave. Lines; Riverside
Drive Lines; and the Seeing New York Automobiles, starting
from Herald sq. at Broadway and 34th St. (27)
Typical Traffic Congestion in the City of New York
Fifth Avenue
8th Avenue Trolley
Sunday morning on Fifth Avenue, New York
Street scene pedestrians and vehicles
(click twice on the above links)
D) The street railroads of new York City,
including subways, elevated lines, and surface cars, have
1,666 miles of single track. The passengers carried during
the year ending June 30, 1912, numbered 1,680,914,025.The
present Subway during this time, was operated by the
Interborough Rapid Transit Co., carrying more than a million
passengers a day. Service on the subway was divided into
Express Trains and Local Trains. "Rush hours" were from
about 6 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m. The ELEVATED ROADS
have 223 miles of single track. In Manhattan and the Bronx
they are operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Co., and
in Brooklyn by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co. All fares 5
cents. SURFACE CARS (Tramways). Nearly all the avenues
running N. and S. and most of the important cross-streets
were traversed by Surface Cars (Tramways, Street Cars),
practically all operated by electricity ("underground
trolley system" used almost exclusively in Manhattan, an
exception being the cross-town line on 135th st. and one or
two lines operated by storage batteries. About 500 million
passengers are carried annually, and overcrowding is nearly
constant.(27)
E) The Hell Gate Bridge which was the
longest steel-arch bridge in the world was opened in 1916.In
1892, Oliver W. Barnes, an engineer associated with
Pennsylvania Railroad president Alexander J. Cassatt and
bridge designer Gustav Lindenthal, conceived plans for the
Hell Gate Bridge. Cassatt saw the Hell Gate project -
originally called the "East River Arch Bridge" - as an
opportunity to bring rail traffic from Pennsylvania Railroad
routes in New Jersey and points west through New York City
to New England. (25)
1 9 1 7
A) The Broadway line in Manhattan began
service between Manhattan Bridge and Union Square, in
September, 1917, and to Times Square, in January, 1918. In
the latter month service was also opened from the Canal
Street junction south to Rector Street and continued on to
Whitehall Street September 20, 1918. The northerly extension
of this line was opened first to Fifty-seventh Street on
July 10, 1919, and to Lexington Avenue on September 1, 1919.
(17)
B) The Seventh Avenue Line began by operating shuttle trains
between Times Square and the Pennsylvania Terminal on June
3, 1917.
C) The Lexington Avenue Branch, from One
Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, At Mott Avenue, to
Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue, was opened June 2, 1917,
and extended to Woodlawn, April 15, 1918. (17)
D) The West Farms Division of the White
Plains Road Line began operations, first to Two Hundred and
Nineteenth Street, on March 3, 1917, and then continued
through to East Two Hundred and Forty-first Street, on
December 13, 1920. (17)
1 9 1 8
A) Early in August, 1918, the so-called "H"
system was opened. This consisted of the newly-constructed
Lexington Avenue, or East Side, trunk line, and the Seventh
Avenue, or West Side Line, with the Forty-second Street
cross tie, between the Grand Central Station and Times
Square, thereafter operated as a shuttle to permit
passengers to exchange west to east and vice-versa. (17)
B) On July 1, 1918 trains began running
regularly from Times Square to South Ferry and to Williams
and Wall Street station via Park Place. (17)
1 9 1 9
A) The Hunts' Point Avenue Extension was
opened January 7, 1919. (17)
B) The Clark Street Tunnel service to
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, was opened in April, 1919. (17)
1 9 2 0
A) The East One Hundred and Seventy-seventh
Street, Westchester Square and Pelham Bay Park train
stations, were opened May 30, October 24, and December 20,
1920.(17)
B) In Brooklyn the Interboro completed its
Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue line first to Utica and
Flatbush Avenues, in August, 1920, then to Junius Street,
Pennsylvania Avenue and New Lots Avenue, the latter station
being opened on October 16, 1922.
C) On August 1, 1920, B.M.T. service was
opened through tunnels in Sixtieth Street, Manhattan, and
Montague Street, Brooklyn, to Long island City and South
Brooklyn points. Progress is being made also in the
underground extension of the Fourteenth Street-Eastern
District Subway in Brooklyn.
1 9 2 2
A) In 1922 New York State reports about 300,000
cars were registered in the city, divided as follows:
Pleasure cars, 204,304; trucks, 63,997; trailers, 972;
taxicabs, 16,841; dealers' cars, 1,655; and motorcycles,
7,709.
B) The Transit Commission presented its plan
in May of 1922. It proposed seven new routes: extension of
the Corona line to Flushing; extension of the 42nd Street
crosstown line; a Staten Island subway tunnel; extension of
the BRT line from 59th Street to 7th Avenue and 155th
Street; a Brooklyn crosstown line from Queensborough Plaza
to Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street (in Brooklyn); an East
River tunnel to connect Brooklyn's Fulton Street elevated
with City Hall station in Manhattan; and a trunk line subway
from downtown Manhattan to Washington Heights. The new
routes covered 32.5 miles at an estimated construction cost
of $218 million. (28)
1 9 2 4
A) The Bear Mountain Bridge opened to
traffic on November 26, 1924.
B) Hutchinson River Parkway: Construction of
the Hutchinson River Parkway began in 1924.
C) The key to unlocking the impasse that had
developed in 1922 came in 1924. The state legislature passed
a transit act giving New York City the power to build and
control new subways through the aegis of a Board of
Transportation. The bill was a compromise between what the
city politicians would view one aspect of this bill as a
Trojan horse. (28)
1 9 2 7
A) With the rapid rise of automobile and
truck transport after the turn of the century, Hudson River
ferries were carrying 30 million vehicles each year between
New York and New Jersey. The New York-New Jersey joint
coalition finally decided on a twin-tube design by Clifford
Holland, a pioneer in tunnel construction. In 1919, Holland
became chief engineer of the tunnel that eventually bore his
name. The Holland Tunnel opened at midnight on November 13,
1927, providing the first fixed vehicular crossing between
New York City and New Jersey, at a cost of $54 million. (25)
B) West Side (Joe Dimaggio) Highway: The
original elevated highway from West 72nd Street south to
Chambers Street was constructed between 1927 and 1931. It
was extended south from Chambers Street to the
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach between 1945 and 1948. Its
elevated structure allowed trucks to travel between the
piers to its west and the factories and warehouses to its
east, while automobile traffic was unimpeded overhead. To
avoid buildings on either side, the highway was constructed
with sharp curves and narrow entrance-exit ramps. The
inadequacies of the West Side Highway had become more acute
by the early 1970's. Shortly after the collapse of the West
Side Highway on December 16, 1973, the entire length of the
West Side Highway was closed to all traffic. Construction of
the new West Side Highway, handling approximately 95,000
vehicles per day began in April 1996. The first section of
the project, between Clarkson Street and Horatio Street, was
finished in August 1998. The entire "NY 9A Reconstruction
Project" was completed in August 2001. (25)
) "Slightly before 8 a.m. on May 21, 1927, a
young pilot named Charles Lindbergh set out on an historic
flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Paris. It
was the first continent-to- continent non-stop flight in an
airplane, and its effect on both Lindbergh and aviation was
enormous. Lindbergh became an instant American hero.
Aviation became a more established industry, attracting
millions of private investment dollars almost overnight as
well as the imagination and support of millions of
Americans." (40)
1 9 2 9
A) On October 25, 1929, Mayor Jimmy Walker
broke ground on the Triborough Bridge. This date later
proved significant, as it was just one day after the "Black
Thursday" that helped trigger the Great Depression. The
initial $5.4 million allocated by New York City for
construction of the new bridge - most of which went to
condemnation awards and counsel fees - had already been
spent before the Ward's Island piers had been built. With
its coffers depleted by the ensuing Depression, the city
abandoned work on the bridge early in 1930. In 1933, Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia appointed Moses as the chairman of the
Triborough Bridge Authority. The Triborough Bridge opened on
July 11, 1936 at a cost of $60.3 million. The new Triborough
Bridge Authority, which had its administrative offices at
the Randall's Island toll plaza, financed $35 million of the
construction costs. The bonds were backed by 25-cent tolls.
Federal, state and city outlays financed the remainder of
the costs. (25)
B) In 1929 the Grumman Aircraft Company
started business on Long island. (40)
1 9 3 0
A) As the 1930's progressed, Moses had
additional reasons to construct the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.
First, when it opened in 1936, traffic filled the eight
lanes of the Triborough Bridge between Manhattan, the Bronx
and Queens. The bridge was to provide relief for the
Triborough Bridge. Second, the bridge was to provide a link
from the north to the new airport at North Beach, which
eventually became known as LaGuardia Airport. Finally, and
perhaps most importantly, the bridge was to provide a direct
link for upstate New York and New England motorists to reach
the 1939-1940 World's Fair, which Moses chaired. (25)
B) The Mid-Hudson Bridge: On August 25,
1930, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the span between
Highland, Ulster County to the west, and Poughkeepsie,
Dutchess County to the east. When it opened, the bridge
provided two lanes of traffic across the Hudson, one lane in
each direction. It also provided a walkway for pedestrian
and bicycle traffic. Upon opening, the bridge toll was 80
cents for automobiles, and 10 cents for pedestrians and
cyclists. In 1933, the Mid-Hudson Bridge was taken over by
the New York State Bridge Authority. During the 1960's, new
arterial highways were constructed from both approaches of
the Mid-Hudson Bridge. Designed to help traffic between the
bridge and surrounding communities flow smoothly, the
approaches aroused serious controversy. In 1994, the bridge
was ceremonially renamed the "Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mid-Hudson Bridge" in honor of the former Governor and
President. (25)
C) By 1930, passengers flying on US airlines
had soared to 400,000.
1 9 3 1
A) The six-lane George Washington Bridge was
completed on October 25, 1931, eight months ahead of
schedule, at a cost of $59 million and 12 lives. First named
the "Hudson River Bridge," other names for the bridge had
been considered, including the "Palisades Bridge," "Fort Lee
Bridge," "Columbus Bridge" and "Verrazano Bridge," before
the Port Authority decided upon the "George Washington
Memorial Bridge" in 1930. Later, the name was shortened to
"George Washington Bridge."
B) Floyd Bennett Field (first municipal
airport) begins operations. On 5/23/1931 the airport was
dedicated. A crowd of 25,000 attended this aerial
demonstration led by Charles Lindbergh and Jimmy Doolittle.
A flotilla of 600 US Army Air Corps aircraft circled the
field as part of the airport dedication. (41)
C) Grand Central Parkway. Construction of
the Grand Central Parkway began in July 1931 at a ceremony
held at the Queens-Nassau border, jointly attended by Moses
and Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. The initial section of
the parkway, a nine-mile-long, four-lane section between Kew
Gardens and Glen Oaks, opened in July 1933.This "missing
link," a 7.5-mile-long, six-lane section connecting the new
Triborough Bridge with Kew Gardens, opened in July 1936. On
August 17, 1936, a little more than a month after the
Triborough Bridge opened, Long Island's parkways were the
scene of what some observers called the greatest traffic
tie-up in the history of the metropolitan area. (25)
1 9 3 2
In 1932, the city's Board of Transportation
completed construction of the Eighth Avenue line and created
the Independent Rapid Transit Railroad (IND), the first
city-run subway service. When the city purchased the BMT and
IRT in 1940, it became the sole owner and operator of all
New York City subway and elevated lines. (26)
AS 1930 DREW TO A CLOSE, THE EIGHTH AVENUE
line was virtually complete. On Saturday, September 10,
1932, the subway began to operate.
1 9 3 3
A) Henry Hudson Parkway; construction began in
1933 and was completed on October 12, 1937. (25)
B) The subway route from Chambers Street in
Manhattan to Jay Street in Brooklyn opened in February of
1933 and on to Bergen Street a month later. This was without
the High Street-Brooklyn Bridge station which didn't open
until June. Then on July 1, two months ahead of schedule,
service was inaugurated on the Concourse route from 145th
Street and St. Nicholas Avenue to East 205th Street. (28)
1 9 3 4
FDR (East River) Drive. In the 1920's,
public officials and business leaders in New York City
proposed waterfront highways along both the Hudson River and
East River. The original construction of the East River
Drive, began in 1934-1955. Reconstruction of
non-limited-access sections were from 1955-1966. (25)
1 9 3 5
A) In 1935, New York City arterial
coordinator Robert Moses began work on the initial section
of the Major Deegan Expressway. This original 1.5-mile
section, which connected the northern Triborough Bridge
approach with Grand Concourse, was completed in April 1939,
just in time for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. (25)
B) The Rip Van Winkle bridge opened on July
2, 1935.According to the New York State Department of
Transportation (NYSDOT), about 15,000 vehicles cross the Rip
Van Winkle Bridge each day (AADT). The bridge, which carries
NY 23, connects to the west with US 9W and NY 385 in
Catskill, and to the east with NY 9G in Hudson. While
bicyclists are permitted on the bridge, they must share the
two-lane roadway with motor vehicles. Along the outboard of
the superstructure, the bridge has narrow sidewalks reserved
exclusively for pedestrian use. (25)
C) Mosholu Parkway began construction in
1935 and ended in 1937. (25)
D) Pelham Parkway. Construction began in
1935 and ended in 1937. (25)
E) January 1935, LaGuardia had been mayor
for a year, and his annual message mentioned that the city
would apply for a $60 million federal loan to build the
Sixth Avenue subway. Besides being the most difficult and
expensive subway to build, the Sixth Avenue line was the
most dangerous. Blasting of the rock was done with minimum
charges because of nearby foundations and the aqueduct 200
feet down. Still, as work progressed, a water main was
broken, fire threatened the dynamite, and one of the
explosions damaged the BMT's 34th Street station, injuring
passengers. (28)
1 9 3 6
A) The lower deck of the
Henry Hudson Bridge was opened to traffic on
December 12, 1936. The upper-deck was opened to traffic on
May 7, 1938. (25)
B) Picture:
14th St. & Bwy. Subway Entrance
Greyhound Bus Terminal, 33rd and 34th Streets between
Seventh and Eighth Avenues, Manhattan 7/14/36
1 9 3 6
The DC-3 was the first aircraft to enable
airlines to make money carrying passengers. As a result, it
quickly became the dominant aircraft in the United States
following its debut in 1936 with American Airlines (which
played a key role in its design). (40)
Photo Credit for both pictures: Inside the BMT
and Opening Day Eighth Avenue Line. (28)
Sources of
Information Utilized
Back To "New York City's
Travel Experience Table of Contents
Next: Part VII New York City's Travel
Experience 1939-1960
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