1900 to Today
Original City Hall subway station, IRT Lexington Avenue Line, in 1904.An underground rail system for New York City was initially proposed by Alfred Ely Beach and it built in 1869. This initial underground transit system used pneumatic tube technology. It was named as “Beach Pneumatic Transit” and only extended 312 feet under Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The tunnel was never extended for political and financial reasons (1). On October 27, 1904, New York City's first “subway system” was opened in Manhattan. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) operated the 9.1-mile long subway line that consisted of 28 stations from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. The time the first subway lines had been ran by two privately owned systems, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, BMT) and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). Nevertheless, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) began subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1915. Even though private companies owned subway systems the city management was highly involved with development of the subways. In 1913 New York City approves the expansion of subway lines owned by both the IRT and BRT. The $302 million project adds 123 miles of track to the subway system. IRT expanded it service to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908, and to Queens in 1915. In 1932 the first line of the city-owned opened and operated as Independent Subway System (IND). The city (IND) purchased the BMT and IRT in 1940, and IND became the only owner.
In 1915 John D. Hertz started the Yellow Cab Company. It had vehicles to hire. Since Hertz had read a study that recognized yellow as being the most visible color from a long distance he painted his cabs yellow. Nearly for 70 years, trolleys had run in all five boroughs of New York City. It was operated by electrical power delivered through wires running overhead or in underground conduits. Trolleys were faster and cleaner than horsecars. Also it was cheaper to build and operate than cable cars. However, the fuel-powered cars and trucks boom in the 1920s eliminate the demand for the trolleys. Trolleys ran on fixed tracks in the middle of the streets, therefore other vehicle had to share the road with trolleys. This became a trouble in traffic and getting on and off them was dangerous. Only some trolley routes were continued into 1950s, but most of them were run out of operation during 1930s and 40s. In 1905 the first motorbuses were used in New York City for public transportation. New York became the first American city to use motorbuses for public transit. In 1905, the Fifth Avenue Coach Company put gasoline-powered double-decker buses in the service on crosstown and uptown lines. The horse-drawn vehicles were replaced with motorbuses soon after the motorbuses were introduced. Motorbus service became popular among the New York society and service expanded greatly in the 1920s and 30s. In 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ordered that motorbuses replace all electric-traction vehicles, including trolleys. Soon after the Mayor LaGuardias orders 700 buses were purchased for the Manhattan during 1935-36. The city management established the standard in bus design, with two doors, a rear-mounted engine and transmission, and a hoodless front end. Today, nearly 5,000 buses operate in all five boroughs, covering almost 3,000 miles of routes.
1901, the Williamsburg Bridge under construction.
The Williamsburg Bridge across the east river opened on December 19, 1903. It is 2.22 km long suspension bridge and it connects Manhattan and Brooklyn. In 1903 it was only opened to horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and pedestrians. In 1908 it opened to elevated trains. In 1927 the city’s first underwater tunnel, the Holland Tunnel opened for motor vehicles. This construction connects the New York and New Jersey. The tunnel runs from lower Manhattan at Canal Street to the Jersey City (2). The George Washington Bridge opened to the public in 1931, which were connecting upper Manhattan and New Jersey over the Hudson River. It is built completely with steel and it is the first bridge in New York to be constructed completely out of steel. In 1964 the Staten Island or The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened, linking Manhattan and highly populated Staten Island. The Staten Island Expressway, also build parallel to the bridge and connected to the bridge. The island expressway became a reason to the destruction of 400 buildings and the displacement of 3,500 residents (3).
JFK Airport
In 1930 New York’s first airport, Bennett Airport opened on Barren Island in Brooklyn. The La Guardia Airfield opened to the public in 1939 in Queens. Especially it was handling more than 250 flights a day in its first year. Initially an amusement park located on this 105 acre land, then it transformed to private flying field and finally in 1937 the land took over by New York City management to build the international airport (4). In 1948 the city’s famous airport the John F. Kennedy International Airport, opened in Queens. It was initially named as Idlewild International Airport. The project started in 1943 due to the high congestion at LaGuardia Airport. The port authority initially planned to build a single terminal with 55 gates, however the airlines did not agree to the plan. Then the new proposal came with seven terminal and the airlines agreed to the plan. The airport opened with six runaways and the seventh was under construction. The total project cost 60 million US dollars. Today it is one of the world busiest airport, handling about 50 million passengers per year.
1. Mark S. Feinman. "History of the Independent Subway". nycsubway.org. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
2. Gotham Gazette Staff, Jun 09, 2003 “A Brief History of New York Transportation”, www.gothamgazette.com. Retrieve July 29, 2013 from http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/transportation/1855-a-brief-history-of-new-york-transportation.
3. Reier Sharon. The Bridges of New York. New York: Quadrant press. 1977. Print.
4. Airports. www.panynj.gov. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://www.panynj.gov/airports.html
2. Gotham Gazette Staff, Jun 09, 2003 “A Brief History of New York Transportation”, www.gothamgazette.com. Retrieve July 29, 2013 from http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/transportation/1855-a-brief-history-of-new-york-transportation.
3. Reier Sharon. The Bridges of New York. New York: Quadrant press. 1977. Print.
4. Airports. www.panynj.gov. Retrieved July 30, 2013 from http://www.panynj.gov/airports.html