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“Yikes! What a Way To
Go...New York City's Travel Experience
By Miriam Medina
Part VII
New York City's Travel Experience
19 3 9-19 6 0
Researched and Compiled by Miriam Medina
1 9 3 9
A) New York City's La Guardia Airport first
opens. LaGuardia Field was dedicated October 15,1939
by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Until 1939, the air
travelers from New York and the Island had to go to Newark,
N.J.
B) Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The first
section of the Brooklyn-Queens Connecting Highway, which
connected Meeker Avenue in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn with Queens Boulevard (NY 25) in
Woodside, Queens, opened to traffic in 1939. The next
section of the BQE, a stretch of six-lane elevated highway
between the Williamsburg and Kosciuszko bridges, opened to
traffic in 1950. (25)
C) Beginning in 1939, Robert Moses
oversaw construction of the Gowanus Parkway, an elevated
highway placed on top of the pillars of the old 3rd Avenue
BMT Elevated Line through the Sunset Park and Gowanus
sections of Brooklyn. The Gowanus Expressway, which serves
as the southern extension of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway,
also connects the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach, the
Prospect Expressway (NY 27), the Belt Parkway and the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. (25)
D) Within one year of the opening of the
Triborough Bridge in 1936, Robert Moses decided that the
solution to relieving traffic congestion between the New
York City-Long Island area and points north was building
another bridge. The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge opened three
months ahead of schedule, on April 29, 1939.
(25)
1 9 4 0
A) The first section of the Long Island
Expressway, a one-mile-long, six-lane viaduct over Long
Island City, Queens, opened to traffic in 1940 after one
year of construction. State traffic records for 1954 show an
annual average daily traffic volume of about 100,000
vehicles crossing the Nassau-Suffolk county line. On June 28,
1972, the final segment east to EXIT 73 (Suffolk CR 58 / Old
Country Road) was completed. (25)
B) Belt Parkway begins construction.
Construction of the 36-mile-long Belt Parkway, which
included the 11 ˝-mile-long Cross Island Parkway, began in
1934.When it was dedicated on June 29, 1940, The New York
Times called the $30 million Belt Parkway-Cross Island
Parkway route "the greatest municipal highway venture ever
attempted in an urban setting." (25)
C) Cross Island Parkway: On February 25,
1930, Robert Moses announced plans for the Cross Island
Parkway before a packed audience of civic leaders at the
Hotel Commodore in Manhattan. When it was dedicated on June
29, 1940, The New York Times called the $30 million Cross
Island Parkway-Belt Parkway route "the greatest municipal
highway venture ever attempted in an urban setting." It
connected the Long Island parkways to the recently opened
Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, providing easier access from
upstate New York and New England to Jones Beach. (25)
1 9 4 8
In New York City,
Idlewild International
Airport (later Kennedy International Airport ) first opens.
1 9 5 0
A) New York City's Port Authority first
opens and will become the world's busiest bus terminal.
B) A Brooklyn-Battery crossing was needed.
The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened on May 25, 1950 at a cost
of $90 million. The 9,117-foot-long tunnel, which remains
today the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in
the world, was a success from the very beginning, carrying
approximately 41,000 vehicles per day during its first full
year of operation in 1951. The crossing was to connect two
pieces of Robert Moses' rapidly expanding arterial network:
the West Side Highway in Manhattan, and the "Circumferential
bypass" (later known as the Gowanus Expressway and the Belt
Parkway) in Brooklyn.
C) The southern section of the Van Wyck
Expressway opened in 1950 from the Belt Parkway south to
Kennedy Airport. It was extended north to the Kew Gardens
(Grand Central Parkway-Jackie Robinson Parkway) interchange
two years later. The $30 million cost of the expressway was
split between the state and Federal governments. It did not
take long for the new Van Wyck Expressway to become clogged
with traffic. Within weeks, the six-lane expressway (three
lanes in each direction) reached its "peak capacity" of
10,000 vehicles per hour. As air traffic burgeoned in the
1950's, this amount reached 20,000 vehicles per hour. The
I-678 designation was not given to the Van Wyck Expressway
until the early 1970's. (25)
1 9 5 3
On June 15, 1953, the New York State
Legislature created the New York City Transit Authority (now
MTA New York City Transit) as a separate public corporation
to manage and operate all city-owned bus, trolley, and
subway routes.(26)
1 9 5 4
October 30, 1954 : A track connection
between Brooklyn's Church Avenue and Ditmas Avenue stations
establishes single-route service (on the ) from the Bronx at
205th Street to Brooklyn's Coney Island. (26)
1 9 5 5
A) May 12, 1955 : The Third Avenue El, last
elevated line in Manhattan, closes. (26)
B) New York's Long Island Expressway first
opens to traffic.
C) The Roosevelt Island Bridge opened to
traffic on May 18, 1955.
D) The name of the Tappan Zee Bridge was
derived from Indian and Dutch origins. In pre-colonial days,
the Tappan Indian tribe inhabited the area. When the Dutch
inhabited New York in the 1600's, the Hudson River was
called a "zee," or wide expanse of water. In 1994, the
bridge was re-dedicated in honor of Malcolm Wilson, who
served as governor of New York State in 1974 and 1975, and
for nearly 15 years before that as lieutenant governor under
Nelson Rockefeller. The Tappan Zee Bridge opened on December
15, 1955. (25)
E) December 1, 1955 : NYC Transit opens a
track connection between the 60th Street tunnel and the
Queens Boulevard line, to link former BMT and IND lines in
Long Island City, Queens. (26)
1 9 5 6
A) The Park Avenue (Metro-North) Railroad
Bridge was opened to traffic in 1956.
B) October 31, 1956: NYC Transit
discontinues its last two trolley lines, along Brooklyn's
McDonald Avenue and Church Avenue. (26)
C) June 28, 1956: Subway service to Rockaway
Park and Wavecrest (Beach 25th Street) in Queens begins.(26)
1 9 5 7
A) For 190 years, private companies operated
the Kingston-Rhinecliff Ferry between the first capital of
New York State and Rhinecliff, Dutchess County. During World
War II, decreased traffic due to gasoline rations led to
losses, and at the end of 1942, the private ferries ceased
operation after nearly two centuries of uninterrupted
service.
B) The Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge opened to
traffic on February 2, 1957, three months before the
rescheduled dedication date, as a convenience to industrial
workers who needed the facility after the river froze and
the ferry could not run. (25)
1 9 5 8
A) Entering the 1950s, airplane
manufacturers did not want to build, or airlines to fly,
jets. Jets were okay for the military, but commercial? They
devoured enormous volumes of fuel. Civilian airports didn't
have long enough runways. The capital investment was
incalculable. Despite the opposition, on Oct. 26, 1958 Pan American World Airways
began its first regular jet service between New York City and
Paris, using American-built Boeing 707-121 jet transports
with 111 passengers and a crew of 11. The flight lasted
eight and a half hours, including a fuel stop at Gander. And
the world has never been the same since then.(42)
B) First domestic jet airline passenger
service in the United States opened by National Airlines on
December 10, 1958 between New York and Miami.
C) January 16, 1958: Subway service extended
to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue in Queens.(26)
D) Designed to connect the Throgs Neck
Bridge with the major east-west arteries of Queens and Long
Island, the Clearview Expressway was one of the arterial
routes recommended in 1955.The interstate designations over
the years were: June 1958 to December 1958: I-78 from Nassau
Expressway to Long Island Expressway (I-495); I-495 from
Long Island Expressway to Throgs Neck Bridge. The I-495
designation was to connect to I-95 in the Bronx via the
Throgs Neck Bridge. At this time, the Long Island Expressway
east of the Clearview Expressway was designated NY
24.December 1958 to 1971: I-78 from Nassau Expressway to
Throgs Neck Bridge.1971 to present: I-295 from Hillside
Avenue (NY 25) to Throgs Neck Bridge. Note that the southern
extension of the Clearview Expressway was eliminated. (25)
E) Prior to the construction of the New
England Thruway, the Boston Post Road had been the only
route open to trucks and buses between New York and New
England. In 1950, the New York State Legislature approved
construction of the New England Thruway, and placed
jurisdiction over the road to the New York State Thruway
Authority (NYSTA). On October 15, 1958, Governor Harriman of
New York and Governor Ribicoff of Connecticut opened the
entire length of the thruway between the Pelham Parkway in
the Bronx and the New York-Connecticut state line. The New
England Thruway and the Connecticut Turnpike created a
144-mile-long express road from the Bronx to Rhode Island. (25)
F) The original Sunrise Highway was
constructed as a four-to-six lane, at-grade arterial highway
from southern Queens east to Massapequa, Nassau County in
the 1920's.Work began in 1958 on the initial limited-access
segments, the first one from Phyllis Drive in East Patchogue
to EXIT 61 (Suffolk CR 51) in Eastport, and the second one
from EXIT 65 (NY 24) in Hampton Bays to the present terminus
at Shinnecock Hills. These two segments, which were built on
new rights-of-way, were opened in stages between 1960 and
1963. The last expressway section opened in May 1998. (25)
G) Designed to connect the Throgs Neck
Bridge with the major east-west arteries of Queens and Long
Island, the Clearview Expressway was one of the arterial
routes recommended in 1955.The interstate designations over
the years were: June 1958 to December 1958: I-78 from Nassau
Expressway to Long Island Expressway (I-495); I-495 from
Long Island Expressway to Throgs Neck Bridge. The I-495
designation was to connect to I-95 in the Bronx via the
Throgs Neck Bridge. At this time, the Long Island Expressway
east of the Clearview Expressway was designated NY
24.December 1958 to 1971: I-78 from Nassau Expressway to
Throgs Neck Bridge.1971 to present: I-295 from Hillside
Avenue (NY 25) to Throgs Neck Bridge. Note that the southern
extension of the Clearview Expressway was eliminated. (25)
1 9 5 9
Jan. 25, 1959. American Airlines, using
Boeing 707s begins transcontinental jet service between Los
Angeles and New York City; 4 hours,3 minutes, 53.8 seconds.
1 9 6 0
July 26, 1960 : The last trolley buses end
service on five Brooklyn routes.
Sources of
Information Utilized
Back To "New York City's
Travel Experience Table of Contents
Next: Part
VIII New York City's Travel Experience 1961-2000
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