Next Train Out!

Here's more of my visit to the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn.  I'm flashing forward in time to 1927.  The BRT has become the BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan Transit), one of two privately owned systems in New York.  The other is the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit Corporation).  After 1913, the city built the lines and leased them to these two operators.  This 1927 car is a BMT D-type triplex.

The BMT was looking for ways to economically transport more people.  The triplex was one way to do this.  The three cars were articulated, with hinged connections between the cars.  Interestingly, there was some controversy just a few years ago when New York added articulated buses to its ground fleet.  Some people dislike the longer, hinged buses.  As you can see here, it's not a new idea!

The interior is familiar, with the rattan upholstered seats and bare light bulbs.  Note the "handlebars" instead of leather straps for standing riders.

Be careful when reaching for the bar!  You might catch your hand in the ceiling fan!  A safer alternative if you're standing is the handle on the back of one of the aisle seats!

In 1932, the first line of the IND (Independent Subway System) opened.  Unlike the BMT and IRT, the IND was city owned and operated.   The IND was intended to relieve congestion on Manhattan's west side and allow some of the elevated lines to be torn down.   Here's an IND R-4 "City Car" from 1932, designed to transport larger numbers of passengers in relative comfort.

On the inside, the cars are wider, brighter, and more "open" than some of the earlier models.  Note that the light bulbs are now covered and the leather straps are replaced with metal hinged "straps".  Ceiling fans remain.

The IND would like to remind you of a few simple rules: please keep hands off the doors, and passengers are forbidden to ride outside the doors!  What do you think this is, one of those fancy articulated cars?

In 1940, the city bought the BMT and IRT lines (both were in trouble economically).  The New York Transit Authority took over all transit in 1953.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority took over in 1968.  When I lived in New York in the 1980's, the city had run the three subway lines for decades, but people still referred to the IRT, BMT and IND, and signs in many stations did likewise.  Today, there are two subway divisions:  The IRT is the A division, with numbered trains (except for the Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle), and the BMT and IND lines make up the B division, with trains designated by letters.

Tomorrow, we flash forward to more vintage subway cars and some terrific period advertising on board!

NYC Transit Museum

We just got back from a three-day weekend in Florida, and I have lots of new pictures.  I'll get to those soon, but, first, I have more great things to share from the recent Open House New York Weekend.  I'll ask that you stretch the definition for "historic buildings" for today's post, since these "buildings" roll!  I'm talking about historic trains on display at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn.  I took the Lex line from Grand Central to the Borough Hall station in Brooklyn, but several subway lines will take you within a few blocks of the museum.  As always, I have to stop for a moment and admire the beautiful tile work in the old stations.

And then it's on to the museum, which is just a few minutes' walk away.  It's located in a 1936 IND station at Court Street that is no longer in use for trains but makes a terrific museum space...and has plenty of room on the tracks for beautiful vintage cars from the New York subway's more than 100 year history.

The museum opened an hour early for Open House Weekend and I had a reservation.  When I arrived, the guides looked puzzled for a moment, then asked if I knew this was an event for children.  Uh, no, I didn't.  Does that mean I can't come in?  No, it didn't.  In fact, oddly enough, I was the only person for the early opening!  I think the guides were disappointed at the poor showing, which I certainly understand...but this turned out to be my lucky break.  I literally had the place to myself for more than an hour and got a personalized tour as the terrific guides did a run-through in anticipation of crowds later in the day.  The place is packed with interesting exhibits, but let's get to the trains! 

  
This 1907 Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company wooden train was among the first to run on electrified elevated tracks.  Passengers entered on either end of this BRT car (the BRT was later to become the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT).  Amazingly, after thirty years in service these cars were rebuilt; side doors were added and they were put to work on the Flushing Line (now number 7) for service to the 1939 World's Fair!  Let's go inside.

The configuration inside the car will be familiar for decades as other trains followed similar layouts.  The seating is fairly comfortable...the seats are padded, but not soft.  They're covered in a sturdy rattan upholstery which is a bit stiff.

 
Lighting is provided by bare bulbs.  This wasn't unusual for the time.  Light bulbs were often displayed in this manner; electricity was still a novelty.  Remember, steam trains preceded this one.

And in case you ever wondered where the term "strap-hangers" came from:

Note the vintage advertisements.  They've done a good job pulling together a collection of such ads and placing them in "age-appropriate" cars.  As mentioned earlier, passenger entry and exit was through either end, so the space between cars is deep.  A conductor opened and closed the gates to allow people on and off.

Here's a car just a year older (built in 1908) that was also rebuilt in 1938 for service to the 1939 World's Fair.  This is a BRT 1612C car as it appeared after the rebuild.  The side doors have been added and the car is painted the World's Fair official colors of orange and blue (go Gators!).

This car was not motorized.  It was a trailer, and was paired with two motorized cars.  The interior is relatively unchanged; the seat configuration is the same as the BRT 1907 model, bare light bulbs provide illumination, and leather straps are there for standing riders.  Small fans have been added to provide some comfort in the summer-time heat.

Not bad for 103 years old, is it?  And, as I said earlier, I had the place to myself for more than an hour.  At 11am, when it opened to the public, an onslaught of moms and dads and kids came pouring in.  Needless to say, the atmosphere changed quickly, but, I have to admit, it was a change for the better.  A place like this should be full of people, and the kids were having a great time!  Still, I got plenty of pictures before the crowds arrived.  So, more trains tomorrow.  All aboard!

NYC Sidetrip: A City Within The City

My last few posts celebrated a couple of the elaborate garden apartment complexes in the historic district of Jackson Heights, Queens, where I spent an enjoyable afternoon walking, exploring, and discovering interesting things around every corner.  The main purpose of our visit, however, was the Open House New York Weekend, a celebration of the city's "built environment", in which hundreds of culturally and architecturally significant places in all five boroughs are showcased. 

I took several walking tours during the weekend; one of the best was a tour of Tudor City, the first residential skyscraper complex in the world.  That's my tour group above, standing at the cul-de-sac at the east end of 43rd street that overlooks the United Nations.  In fact, in the picture below, you can see the midtown New York skyline, including the Chrysler building, reflected in the U.N. across First Avenue from where we were standing.  That cul-de-sac, by the way, is set to become a pedestrian plaza very soon-- no more cars or parking allowed. 

This helps illustrate Tudor City's enviable location; it is literally right in the middle of Manhattan, just a couple of blocks east of Grand Central Terminal.  As you walk east on 42nd Street from Grand Central, you will easily spot Tudor City-- a giant sign atop one of the eleven high-rises has announced its presence since 1928.

Tudor City, between East 41st and East 43rd Streets, and 1st and 2nd Avenues, in midtown Manhattan.  Developer Fred French began construction of the skyscraper complex in 1925 in an area that had become a slum.  He envisioned Tudor City as a "city within a city", and hoped to lure middle class families who were abandoning the city for the outer boroughs (see my two previous postings on Jackson Heights).  The buildings are big, but at street level, Tudor City has a village atmosphere.  One reason for this is the series of parks within the development.

The other attribute that creates a sense of  a self-contained community is the topography, which includes a granite cliff overlooking First Avenue.  While other nearby streets slope down from Second to First Avenue, East 41st and 43rd streets slope up and end at the cliff, providing natural separation on three sides.  East 42nd Street cuts through the cliff and bisects Tudor City; a viaduct over 42nd Street connects the two sides of the development.

About five thousand people live in Tudor City.  That's a lot of people...but these are big buildings with a lot of apartments!

The apartments are mostly oriented inward, with views of Tudor City's parks.  Fewer windows are oriented on the eastern side toward the river.  The reason is simple: in the 1920's the view in that direction was not desirable.  Slaughterhouses, tanneries, breweries, and crowded tenements sat between the site of Tudor City and the East River.  The view is quite different today!

Tudor City is named for England's Tudor dynasty, and Tudor-style ornamentation runs rampant on the buildings.  Gargoyles, dragons, stonework, and inscriptions can be seen everywhere.

Tudor City dodged a major bullet in the 1980's when developer Harry Helmsley owned it and attempted to build new high-rises on the parkland inside the development.  Residents fought him and won.  The complex was designated a historic district in 1988.  Fred French's enclave, his city within a city, retained its parks and its character, and remains a unique community in the heart of New York.

NYC Sidetrip: The Chateau, Jackson Heights

I spent several hours enjoying the Jackson Heights historic district last week, my visitors' guide in hand as I walked from one landmarked complex to the next.  I could easily wax (and post) poetic on the impressive buildings in this Queens neighborhood for days, but, for now, will offer up one more of the 1920's complexes that reached out to me.

The Chateau, 3405-3447 80th Street and 3406-3448 81st Street, Jackson Heights, constructed in 1923, designed by A.J. Thomas.  This French Chateau-style complex covers an entire city block and is just across 34th Avenue from The Towers (see last post).  The steep mansard roofs, topped with original slate, are distinctive crowns on the ten buildings, and one of the first things you notice as you approach.

Carved limestone entries lead to intimate lobbies with only two apartments per floor.  The Chateau and its neighbor The Towers were considered the most elegant of the complexes developed by the Queensboro Corporation in Jackson Heights.

The apartment entrances face one another across the lobby; the elevator is on the right just beyond the apartment entry.  The lobbies are not as elaborate as the building's exterior, but are tasteful and match the overall elegance of the complex.

The interior garden of The Chateau was designed by the Olmstead Brothers company of Brookline, Massachusetts.  The step-brothers inherited the nation's first landscape architecture firm from their famous father, Frederick Law Olmstead, one of the designers of Central Park, which is just a train ride away.  The garden is visible from the 34th Avenue side of the complex.

The legacy of the garden city movement, which started in England in 1898, includes The Chateau and similar complexes in the Jackson Heights historic district.  Two other Queens neighborhoods, Forest Hills Gardens and Sunnyside, are also outgrowths of this movement.  Today's New Urbanism stems in part from the garden city movement.

The cat in the picture above had her eye on a bevy of squirrels in the shrubbery outside The Chateau; it's a tranquil scene just minutes away from some of New York's most bustling, energy-filled streets in this colorful neighborhood.  I'll share more of the landmarks of Jackson Heights in future posts, but tomorrow will take you across the East River for a look at one developer's attempt to compete with complexes like The Chateau with a skycraper version of the garden city movement!