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Postcard History Series New York City Subways by Tom Range Sr Soft Cover
Postcard History Series New York City Subways by Tom Range Sr
Soft Cover
128 pages
Copyright 2002
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 6
Introduction 7
1. Surface Transportation9
2. The Elevated19
3. The Subways37
4. The Hudson Tubes, the City's Other Subway61
5. Art and Architecture69
6. Changing Cityscapes91
7. Transportation Hubs107
Index128
INTRODUCTION
Amid the devastation resulting from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was the destruction of portions of the New York City subway system and the PATH service from New Jersey, which terminated beneath the towers. Plans for the reconstruction of the afflicted area include substantial improvements in the rapid-transit system.
New York's system, above and below ground, dates from 1867, when Charles T. Harvey constructed a cable-driven experimental elevated railroad along a quarter of a mile on Greenwich Street on the west side of Manhattan. By 1900, the elevated line had been extended and interconnected to serve virtually all parts of Manhattan and the outlying boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.
With the elevated in operation, the pedestrians of the city's streets were relieved of at least some of the surface congestion of omnibuses, trolleys, horse-drawn vehicles, electric- and steam-powered automobiles, and the occasional "gas buggy." They could get from their homes to their jobs, the theater, schools, museums, sporting events, and all the other amenities of urban life quickly in relative comfort and at a cost of 5.
The early el trains were powered by steam engines. The pedestrians below were in constant danger of being hit by cinders falling from the coal-fueled locomotives. Occasionally, pieces of the wooden ties and even ironwork rained down upon the stroller below. The rattling of the passing trains shook the dishes of the apartment dwellers along the right of way. The lack of privacy of the dwellers of the apartments along the routes was appalling, as their domestic life was visible to the riders of the passing trains. Clearly, underground rapid transit was considered a necessity as a means of transportation within an urban setting.
New York City's first official subway system opened in Manhattan on October 27, 1904. Operated by the privately owned Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), it extended nine miles up the island from New York City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. By 1905, IRT service extended north over the Harlem River to the borough of the Bronx. Three years later, service was extended to Brooklyn and, in 1915, to Queens. The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), similarly privately owned, began service between the two boroughs in 1915. The IRT and BMT, operating under equipment- and route-sharing dual contracts, further united Manhattan with the outer boroughs. A city-owned line, the Independent Rapid Transit Railroad (IND), began operations in 1932. In 1940, by purchasing the two private lines, the city became the sole owner and operator of all New York City subway and elevated lines.
Picture postcards were first allowed in the U.S. mail in 1898. Among the first subjects chosen by publishers to be depicted on New York City cards were the els, then considered one of the engineering marvels of the world. The interests of the publishers carried over to depicting the development of the subways from their construction, which began in 1900. The subways supplemented and then substantially displaced the els as a fast, inexpensive means of getting around the city. The Third Avenue el, the last elevated line in Manhattan, closed in 1955. Images of the subway continue to be a favored subject by the advertising media and for public service messages, such as the Quit Yet? antismoking campaign of the New York City Department of Health. The rapid-transit system itself has used postcards to publicize its Metrocard service, which eliminates the use of coins or tokens to ride the subway.
Interior views of subway stations, platforms, and cars are of particular interest, ranging from the ornate c. 1900 station at New York City Hall to the functional but still pleasantly decorated modern stations. Some depictions of the passengers will acquaint the viewer with the vicissitudes of riding the subway, even if many images are exaggerations, meant to poke fun at what is usually a commonplace and uneventful interlude in the life of a New York City resident. From the earliest days, standees in omnibuses, streetcars, els, and subways steadied themselves by grasping onto leather straps suspended from horizontal bars overhead. These riders have forever after have borne the title "straphangers."
The more than 200 images in this book will trace the expansion of the els and subways over the century of their existence. I have kept in my captioning the names of buildings and streets that prevailed within the time frame in which the cards were produced. For example, I have ignored the redesignation of Sixth Avenue as Avenue of the Americas, as have most, with the exception of map makers.
Enjoy the ride.
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