U»*t Met, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/newmetropolis16000zeis THE NEW METROPOLIS THE NEW METROPOLIS 1600— MEMORABLE EVENTS OF THREE CENTURIES 1900 FROM THE ISLAND OF MANA-HAT-TA TO GREATER NEW YORK AT THE CLOSE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY EDITED BY E. IDELL ZEISLOFT 162} 1H9H New Netherlands Greater New York New Amsterdam ILLUSTRATED W ITH ONI: THOUSAND T.NORA UINOS \ NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Tho piotunu and text in tluVoook-are protected by > iip\ riirlit niiv , uinl |»r^>n \ minimi.' tlir right* thus rested in D. Applotou and Company, ot others M- dally designated, will bo Immediately proseout< d I « 1 IK objed of the Consolidation Of Manhattan Island • « 1 New York with Brooklyn itself a city of more than q million inhabitants; the district of the Bronx which is separated from the island only by the narrow and placid Harlem River; the County of Queens—adjoining Brooklyn on Long Island, hut separated from Manhattan [sland by the Em\ River, with doner connection soon to he made by the new Must River Bridge; Staten Island which is surrounded on all sides by the hav ami the Kill von K nil, and at such a distance as to ho cut off for always from connection with the other parts of the city except by boat—seems not to have been territorial acquisition, but a desire to bring together the scattered units, which Were really parts of the city, into a harmonious working whole, for the ultimate good of all concerned. That w hat some at first deemed s dangerous experiment has proved to he a desirable arrangement, few doubt. From the description above it will have been seen that this consolidation makes of New V..rk, topographically considered, a city unique in the history of cities. But in the course of years these component parts will be more closely united by the build- ing of bridges and the digging of tunnels, and by the use of whatever inventions there may he in the way of rapid transit, which will result in relieving the congested districts of Manhattan Island, thus doing away with the most objectionable feature. The story of New York is more fascinating and wonderful than the most imagina- tive tale ever written. The transformation of an island inhabited by savages to the great city of today, representing the highest civilization in the world, has been almost Aladdinlike. So rapidly have the great strides of progress been made, so like magic in ; INTRODUCTION. their brethren, if seemingly silent, is not the less extensive and have the multitudinous details sprung up, that a Mingle historian lias been exert on is is true to-day, but in a much greater degree ; and not unable to record any but the most important facts, much of what most decisive." The same literature only, but of music, the drama, the arts, sciences, professions, and interesting being hidden away in miscellaneous ami unread volumes ami in of pursuits, all of which are to be found represented in the memories of the rapidly dying out old generation. While the preser- of the industrial New excepting vation of these interesting little facts is most desirable, it is not the purpose York, not even fanning. is best represented its of this book to give a detailed description of the early history of New York, The cosmopolitan character of New York on great but rather to present a correct picture of the greater city as it is at the close Fast Side, where is presented a picture of human misery unparalleled in the of the nineteenth century, lending up to it with a n'suuir of the memorable world. But New Y'ork is grappling bravely with this problem, so suddenly events of the preceding three centuries, or from the time the [eland of Mana- thrust upon it by the enforced exodus from their native lands of the hordes of hat-ta came to the knowledge of the civilized races, illustrated with a huge non-self-supporting and incapable humanity. Much space has been devoted in number of interesting pictures of old New York which tell their own story. In this book to a description of the East Side, and the methods employed for its doing this it will be seen that New York has been closely connected with all uplifting. With the restrictions now placed on immigration, together with the the important events which have been national. The destiny of the island rlo>e attention paid to the education of the young, another generation or two city has heen the destiny of America. And as it has prospered and lost, the may hope to see the East Side undergo a transformation to Americanism only pulse of the country at large has responded beat for beat to the throbs of less wonderful than the change wrought in the island itself in the last century. the financial heart. New York lias not reached this point in her career Thus it appears that a study of New York is a study of the progress of the without bloodshed and many sorrowful memories. In the wars with other New World. The highest accomplishments in every line of work and pleasure nations, from the Revolution fcO the Spanish -American War, this bus been hud their best market in this great city, where there is a vast accumulation of the scene of many stirring operations, and some of the most decisive events wealth. And to the student of life and the problems of living, New Y'ork have occurred here. affords an opportunity for observation not equalled by any other city in the Nearly all of the great inventions which have revolutionized the commerce world. of the world have had their inception or completion in New York. On the Whether I have succeeded in placing on these pages a faithful picture of Hudson, Fulton's first steamboat was proved a success; from Yorkville to The New Metropolis and an interesting representation of old New Y'ork Harlem, the h'rst street-car line the in world was laid; it was here that whether the traveler will tin. it Morse I valuable as preserving permanently, and recall- perfected his invention of the telegraph ; and here that Cyrus Field planned ing vividly, scenes visited ; whether the stranger who has not, and may never, and put into Operation the cable which connects the two continents. become personally acquainted with the city may form a correct idea of its As long ago as when Edgar Allan Poc published his series of criticisms on general character, places and people ; and whether the native or resident will the Literati of New York City, he explained the ph raseology of the title by value it worthy to be handed down to his descendants as representing New saying that "New Y'ork literature may be taken as a fair representation at the of the ori close of the nineteenth century— I leave for the reader to write country at large, the city itself being the focus of American letters. Its mentally on the last page of this volume. authors include, perhaps, one fourth of all in America, and the influence they E. IDELL ZFISLOFT. IV — CONTENTS OF THE NEW METROPOLIS. l'AtiK I'A'ii'. Birth of the New Metropolis 1 HOTELS Fraunce's TAVERN TO the Waldorf-Astori a .... 8 IS Borough op Manhattan 6 New York's Hon km i \ Tin. RESTAURANTS 2(51 Borough of the Bronx 14 Classes in Ni.w York vnd their Wans ok Living .... 272 Borough of Brooklyn 22 Ye Old Inns and Modern Clubs 2!)0 Borough' of Queens 42 SOCIETY in Nkw Yohk—COLONIAL and Modern 812 Borough of Richmond 50 Country Cm us ahout Ni.w York 826 Islands in the Waters of New Yokk 02 The Game op Golf 884 The Hudson River and Environments ok the City .... 66 YACHTING vnd Yxuitsmen 888 New York Harbor—Its Guides and Defenses 72 Primitive Amusements ynd M etkoi-oi.it \n THEATERS .... 848 Memorable Events in the Evolution of the New Metropolis. 78 History op Music in New Yore 864 Along the Wharves and Docks—Shipping and Ocean Travel . 104 Art and Artists in Niu YORK 876 Street-Cleaning and Disposition op Garbage 110 LITERATURE vnd LITERATI OE Ne\i Yoke 802 New York's Guardians of the Peace 110 Progress of .Journalism .... 100 Fighting Fire—Volunteer and Paid Methods 12.S The National <ii ard in New YORK HO Colonial and Modern Excise Laws 136 The National Guard of New York in the Spanish-Amerioah War tl9 in 426 Science of the Weather Prophet 142 Volunteer Life-S w i n.. OoRPfl N ew York Three Centuries of Churches 144 New York's Great Mail Sekyd i 428 Cemeteries and Famous Churchyards 100 The Nkw Yore CLEARING HOUSE |:; - Trinity Churchyard 170 Wall Street and "The Street" 486 Benevolent Institutions and Societies 174 Broadway ,,,,() Homeless Men and Women in New York 180 Fifth Avenue Types of New York's News-Vendors L98 The Bowery 516 History of New York's Types of Professional Mendicants 198 The EAST Side—An HISTORICAL Review ; Sweat- Shop Si mmer A Great Midnight Charity 202 Ghetto; New York's Chinatown; The ; the Education in New York—Purlic and Private 204 \m> WlNTEB SCENES; Child Life; Children DANCING ON Great Libraries and their Founders 213 Street; University and Colleoe Settlements .... /Hi) Great Parks and Bits of Green 218 Index TO THE STREETS OP MANHATTAN 676 678 New York Markets and Sources of Food Supply ...