How We Got to Coney Island .......................... 9627$$ $$FM 06-28-04 08:03:55 PS .......................... 9627$$ $$FM 06-28-04 08:03:55 PS How We Got to Coney Island THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASS TRANSPORTATION IN BROOKLYN AND KINGS COUNTY BRIAN J. CUDAHY Fordham University Press New York 2002 .......................... 9627$$ $$FM 06-28-04 08:03:55 PS Copyright ᭧ 2002 by Fordham University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cudahy, Brian J. How we got to Coney Island : the development of mass transportation in Brooklyn and Kings County / Brian J. Cudahy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8232-2208-X (cloth)—ISBN 0-8232-2209-8 (pbk.) 1. Local transit—New York Metropolitan Area—History. 2. Transportation—New York Metropolitan Area—History. 3. Coney Island (New York, N.Y.)—History. I. Title. HE4491.N65 C8 2002 388.4Ј09747Ј23—dc21 2002009084 Printed in the United States of America 02 03 04 05 06 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition .......................... 9627$$ $$FM 06-28-04 08:03:55 PS CONTENTS Foreword vii Preface xiii 1. A Primer on Coney Island and Brooklyn 1 2. Street Railways (1854–1890) 24 3. Iron Piers and Iron Steamboats (1845–1918) 49 4. Excursion Railways (1864–1890) 67 5. Elevated Railways (1880–1890) 104 6. Merger, Consolidation, and the Emergence of the BRT (1890–1900) 124 7. Subways and the Nickel Empire (1900–1940) 190 8. Coney Island at War (1940–1945) 250 9. After VJ Day (1945–2000) 266 Appendix A: BRT and BMT Rail Passenger Cars, 1900–1940 287 Appendix B: Rail and Steamboat Schedules, Summer 1880 293 Endnotes 299 Bibliography 327 Index 333 .......................... 9627$$ CNTS 06-28-04 08:03:58 PS .......................... 9627$$ CNTS 06-28-04 08:03:58 PS FOREWORD WHAT MENTAL PICTURE ARISES when one thinks of Coney Island? Persons not from the New York area will probably think first of photographs of the beach crowded with thousands of people on a warm summer afternoon. Another image is that of the Steeple- chase amusement park. The images are not incorrect, but they are incomplete. Today, the image of Coney Island from the air is of a residential place, much like the vast expanse of Brooklyn, north to downtown Brooklyn, Prospect Park, and the green of the many cemeteries. Actions have consequences, and transportation ac- tions for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries continue to have consequences in the development of King’s County, Brooklyn, and Coney Island. Certain factors are essential for the location and growth of urban places. Today, one would admit that water, sewers, and transportation are a must if a place is to attract residents and eco- nomic activity. In a time before the preservation of foodstuffs by canning, freezing, or modern radiation, salt was a major necessity for food preservation if any number of souls were to dwell perma- nently in a particular place. Coney Island played a role in the quest for salt. The first permanent European residents of New York, the people of Dutch New Amsterdam, in 1660 granted the right to construct a saltwork on Coney Island; the production of salt in the seventeenth century often involved evaporating seawater to separate the salt from the water, and seawater was and is abundant at Coney Island. Transportation actions, such as operating steamboats and building a railroad line or highway or streetcar line, make a place accessi- ble and attractive. Such was the case when a handful of entrepre- neurs sought to link Coney Island to Brooklyn and King’s County and to the entirety of New York City. The nineteenth century was a time of tremendous urban activity in the United States. The growth of the American railway system .......................... 9627$$ FRWD 06-28-04 08:04:01 PS viii FOREWORD led to the founding of new cities in the western United States. Immigrants from abroad came to the United States in large num- bers beginning in the 1830s and 1840s. After the Civil War, immi- grants from rural areas joined the foreign immigrants in flooding into older urban areas, which pushed the substantial expansion of eastern cities. Indeed, New York, already the largest city in the country, began to expand by developing new neighborhoods. Manhattan pushed northward, and the Bronx, Queens, and Brook- lyn pushed outward from the center of activity in Manhattan. Staten Island grew slowly. Eventually, this growth led to an amal- gamation of once independent cities. By the end of the nineteenth century, five boroughs—Richmond, the Bronx, Manhattan, Brook- lyn, and Queens—had come together to form the greater New York City we know today. This gigantic urban area was served at first by a large, if often uncoordinated, public transportation operation. New services and new companies typically followed in the pathways blazed by ear- lier lines. MTA New York City Transit produces excellent maps of its bus and subway services. Today, they show an intense public transportation service, and the area between downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island is served by many subway lines. Indeed, four of these rapid transit services terminate at Stillwell and Surf Avenues in Coney Island. Maps are highly informative, but often they leave questions unanswered. As an outlander, originally from Philadelphia and a resident of the Midwest for over fifty years, I look at the MTA maps and wonder why several of the subway lines between down- town Brooklyn and Coney Island have names as well as the usual letter designation used in the New York rapid transit system. Why are the lines named West End, Sea Beach, Culver, and Brighton? Why is the F train route along McDonald Avenue dubbed the Cul- ver line? The answers to these questions are among the great benefits of reading the book you hold in your hands. In short, what exists today is a reflection of the work of nineteenth-century entrepre- neurs who aimed at getting people to Coney Island. The main reason people wanted to reach Coney Island for many years was to bring change to their lives. One of my very favorite college professors told us about what it was like growing up in the .......................... 9627$$ FRWD 06-28-04 08:04:02 PS FOREWORD ix Bronx in modest circumstances. A great day out was a subway ride to Coney Island and its beach to catch a fresh breeze, take a cool dip in the ocean, and enjoy a square yard or two of sand. It was a welcome break from the hot, sweaty Bronx apartment. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers had the same experience. Among the first Europeans to visit Coney Island was Henry Hudson; he and his crew did some modest exploring of the island before sailing up the broad river in search of the Northwest Pas- sage. After a long voyage, it is sad to note, Hudson and his crew were too early to stop at Nathan’s to buy and enjoy a great hot dog. By the second quarter of the nineteenth century, regular steamboat service operated between Manhattan and Coney Island. While there were several carriers, the Iron Steamboat Company (great name!) was one of the largest firms and served the route for the longest time. Brian Cudahy is a gifted historian and an especially gifted writer. It is a pleasure to go along with Brian as the story unfolds and we find out the different ways that people got to Coney Island. Along the way he introduces many interesting people, giving the human touch to the narrative. The attraction of beach and cool breezes was a powerful reason to go to Coney Island, and entrepreneurs were quick to see eco- nomic opportunities. To meet the demand, a number of railroad lines were built between downtown Brooklyn and Coney Island. The risk takers entering the railroad business included ‘‘Deacon’’ Richardson of the Atlantic Avenue Railway Company and other ventures. General Henry Slocum of the Coney Island & Brooklyn Railroad appeared on the scene. W. Fontaine Bruff of the Brooklyn Elevated was one of the players, and readers will discover what happened at the corner of Reid and Lexington Avenues in Brook- lyn in 1879. Destinations are important to success in transportation. Some entrepreneurs, banking on the blandishments of surf and sand, erected hotels, some of them lavish enough to attract the carriage trade for vacations. More mundane hostelries attracted another segment of the vacation market. Of course, the great market for transportation to Coney Island was composed of day-trippers to the beaches and the major amusement parks, such as Steeple- .......................... 9627$$ FRWD 06-28-04 08:04:02 PS x FOREWORD chase, Luna Park, and Dreamland. Racetracks were an attraction for a time. In addition to steamboats and steam railways, there were horse- car lines linking the heart of Brooklyn with Coney Island. The shortcomings of animal-powered railways stimulated a search for better means of locomotion. Cable railways were one means cho- sen. Brian Cudahy tells an interesting anecdote concerning the Brooklyn Heights Cable Railroad. In order to get the cable from the powerhouse out to the running line—which was some distance away—a boy was employed to crawl through the cable tunnel, pull- ing a cord that was attached to a heavier cord that was attached to a heavier cord, and so on, until eventually the heavy steel cable could be pulled through to the running line by a team of strong men.