NEW YORK 



4212 



NEW YORK 



companies operating the subway lines the In- 

 terborough Rapid Transit and the Brooklyn 

 Rapid Transit. In that year contracts were let 

 for the construction of a dual system, whereby 

 all the rapid transit lines (subway and ele- 

 vated) operated by the two companies were 

 combined into two great systems covering all 

 the boroughs of Gn York except Rich- 



mond. The greater portion of the lines author- 

 ized under the dual contracts were in operation 

 during the year 1917, and these and the old 

 lines in existence are linked together into a 

 mammoth network having its nucleus in Man- 

 hattan south of 59th Street. The contracts 

 called for the construction of 44.55 miles of new 

 subway, 53.19 miles of new elevated road, and 

 19.8 miles of additional tracks on the elevated 

 roads already existing. The cost of construc- 

 tion and equipment of the entire system is esti- 

 mated to be about 352,000,000. 



Another form of local transportation is pro- 

 vided by the Fifth Avenue coach lines. The 

 vehicles are autobusses having seats on top as 

 well as inside, and they afford the visitor a 

 most enjoyable means of seeing the best resi- 

 dential sections, the fashionable shopping dis- 

 tricts and the hotel and club centers of Man- 

 hattan. The coaches follow one another at 

 brief intervals, and traverse Fifth Avenue, Riv- 

 erside Drive and other interesting streets and 

 boulevards. 



Bridges. The first of the great bridges over 

 the East River was completed in 1883 (see 

 BROOKLYN BRIDGE), and at the time it was con- 

 sidered the finest suspension bridge in the 

 world. It connects City Hall Park, in Man- 

 hattan, with Sands Street, Brooklyn. Since the 

 completion of the Brooklyn Bridge several other 

 mammoth passageways have been built across 

 the East River the Queensboro, a cantilever 

 .-t picture stretching from East 59th Street and 

 Second Avenue, Manhattan, across Blackwell's 

 Island to Jane Street, Long Island City; the 

 Williamsburgh, from Clinton and Delancy 

 streets, Manhattan, to Havemeyer Street and 

 Broadway, Brooklyn ; the Manhattan (see illus- 

 tration, page 922), between the Bowery and Ca- 

 nal Street, Manhattan, and Nassau and Bridge 

 streets, Brooklyn. Both the Williamsburgh and 

 the Manhattan bridges are of the suspension 

 type (see BRIDGE). The most remarkable and 

 latest feat in bridge building, however, was the 

 construction of an immense railroad bridge over 

 the channel known as Hell Gate (see illustra- 

 tion on page 2764.) This gigantic structure, 

 which was opened for traffic in January, 1917, 



;uls from East 141st Street, the Bronx, 

 across Randall's and Ward's islands to Astoria. 

 Long Island. It was designed to connect the 

 Pennsylvania and the New York, New Haven 

 & Hartford systems, so that through passengers 

 could proceed on transcontinental journeys 

 without changing cars. It is the heaviest 

 bridge in the world, and cost $25,000,000, includ- 

 ing approaches. 



Several fine bridges also span the Harlem 

 River, notably the Washington, a massive 

 cantilever structure connecting Manhattan and 

 the Bronx, and High Bridge, which carries the 

 old Croton Aqueduct (see AQUEDUCT). 



Tunnels. The construction of the various 

 tunnel systems under the Hudson and the East 

 rivers has immeasurably improved both the lo- 

 cal and the general railway service. Though 

 ferries still operate from Manhattan to Brook- 

 lyn and to Long Island City, and between 

 Manhattan and Staten Island and various New- 

 Jersey points, they are being gradually replaced 

 by the more convenient tunnels. The first tun- 

 nels in New York, opened for traffic in 1908, 

 were constructed by the Hudson & Manhattan 

 Company to provide transportation between 

 Manhattan and Jersey City. At the present 

 time this company operates two single-track 

 tubes (the north tunnels) under the Hudson 

 from Jersey City to Martin Street; up-town 

 tunnels connecting with the north tunnels and 

 extending to Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street; 

 the south tunnels, consisting of two tubes which 

 extend under the Hudson from Jersey City to 

 the company's magnificent Terminal buildings 

 at Cortlandt, Church and Fulton streets; and 

 two single-track tubes extending from the Ho- 

 boken terminal of the Lackawanna Railroad to 

 Washington Street, Jersey City, with connec- 

 tions to the north and south tunnels and the 

 Pennsylvania Station. The Pennsylvania Com- 

 pany operates two tubes under the Hudson and 

 four under the East River, and cross-town tun- 

 nels from the Pennsylvania Station across Man- 

 hattan under 32nd and 33rd streets to First 

 Avenue. There is a two-tube system connect- 

 ing the Manhattan and Brooklyn subways, ex- 

 Bending under the East River from the Battery 

 to Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, and another 

 subway connects Brooklyn and Coney Island, 

 at the southwestern end of Long Island. What 

 is known as the Belmont Tunnel is operated by 

 the New York & Long Island Railroad and 

 runs under the East River from 42nd Street, 

 Manhattan, to Long Island City. Several new 

 tunnels under the East River are also being 



