The Routes Not Taken Read online

  There is no question that elevated lines bring about depreciation of realty values on the streets on which they are constructed. But the transportation facilities thus provided benefit all the surrounding streets that lead to the development of hitherto dormant sections.… Back in 1904, I was emphatically opposed to the construction of the then-proposed Jerome Avenue “L.” The difference in cost between a subway line and an “L” was so great that the problem was reduced to the question “will the West Bronx take an elevated line or will it go without rapid transit?” … Under these circumstances, I finally gave my approval to the Jerome Avenue “L.” I realize now that the unsightly elevated structure has destroyed Jerome Avenue. But it had benefited and led to the development of the surrounding streets, such as the Concourse, Fordham Road and University Avenue.72

  Schwarzler’s justification for els was the problems with building subways in swampy areas. Wurzbach called Schwarzler’s argument “a very weak excuse. If engineers can build tunnels under rivers, certainly subways can be built under marshy lands.”73

  Figure 4-5. A contract drawing for the Concourse line, showing the future plans for the extension to Burke Avenue. (Courtesy of the New York Transit Museum Archives)

  Wurzbach led the delegation to the February 10 hearing, saying, “Don’t scrap the elevated lines in Manhattan to bring them to the Bronx. They are a detriment to property values. You took them down on Sixth Avenue between 53rd Street and 59th Street and as a result property values increased threefold. Although the Bronx is extremely anxious for transit relief, let me assure you that we would sooner wait ten years more than to have a 50-year heritage in the form of an unsightly ‘L’ structure.”74

  Hundreds attended the February 19 hearing. Future BOT Commissioner Charles V. Halley, Jr., proposed something different:

  Buildings along the proposed transit route in the North Bronx would not have to be shored up as in the lower Bronx and Manhattan.… The builders could also work in an open “cut,” which would not have to be covered over as the Concourse subway tunnel was. The traffic congestion in the north Bronx is not so great at present that it could not be diverted to other streets to cut down the expense of subway construction.… The money saved in this manner would greatly cut down the difference between the cost of the elevated line that the Board of Transportation proposes, and the subway that the Bronx civic organizations hold to be an absolute necessity.75

  “We are unalterably opposed to overhead structures. They may have been useful at one time, just as the horsecar was at one time, but that time is past,” McDonald said. “… This board knows that the people of my district advocated the construction of a subway up Boston Road. We are grateful to the board for giving it to us, but instead of having it terminate at Baychester Avenue as now proposed, we are here to demand that it be extended to Dyre Avenue and 233rd Street.… I know a number of builders who are desirous of starting a huge apartment house development in Edenwald and are merely waiting for some assurance from this Board that transit will be provided.”76 Delaney said nothing; Ryan thanked everyone for attending, promising that their views would be taken into consideration.

  Day now criticized els:

  Improved transit facilities go hand in hand with population growth. The Grand Concourse subway now building is a big step forward in Bronx history. In its broad aspects and without reference to details the proposed subway plan announced last fall by the Board of Transportation is a thoughtful and intelligent one. It is not enough to say that these proposed new subways in the eastern section of the Bronx would be a good thing. They are an absolute necessity.… And when I use the word “subway” I mean subway and I do not mean elevated railroads! The time is coming soon when elevated railroads will be as obsolete as overhead telephone and trolley wires. I have never known a case where an elevated structure did not injure the value of abutting property, and I have never known a case where a subway did not improve real estate value along its route.77

  More testimony against els was heard at the third hearing. Bronx Public Works Commissioner William J. Flynn wrote to the BOT for Bruckner, who had said little: “We have learned our lesson, and should not, under any circumstances, sanction a further extension of the elevated lines.”78 Ryan stated that no decision would be made until the hearing process ended in late March. A citywide policy would be developed.79

  Bruckner himself refrained from making any public comment until September: “It is difficult to believe that the engineers who planned the new East Bronx subway suggested that elevated structures should be made part of the new system. It is the more inconceivable since a movement had been on foot both in the Bronx and in Manhattan to get rid of the subway and elevated train supporting contraptions for the past several years.”80 The BOT and its engineers had much to evaluate, a process that continued through February 1932.

  The Board of Estimate approved a street-closing plan for the airport in 1929; the Curtiss Airport Corporation announced that work would start in March 1930. Little was done; people asked what was happening. Curtiss was waiting for the federal government to dredge the Hutchinson River, thereby allowing for construction of a seaplane base and providing landfill to even out the land.81

  The Taxpayers Alliance of the Bronx protested. At a meeting on June 11, James F. Donnelly called it a “subterfuge” and sought an investigation.82 Max Just, another Board member, said Curtiss placed the airport land for sale and had no plan to build.83 Alex B. Mayer, the Airport Committee chairman, defended Curtiss, saying the stock market crash affected its plans. Schwarzler justified waiting for Hutchinson River landfill due to the landfill costs.

  “The report that we have offered our Bronx property for sale is without the slightest foundation in fact,” said William F. Carey, Curtiss president. “It has never been so offered since we acquired it; it is not now on the market, and we have no present intention of offering it for sale.”84 The federal government said dredging would take place, but Charles Loos, the project manager, wouldn’t set a start date. “Despite rumors that the property is up for sale, the Curtiss–Wright Airports Corporation has at no time offered it for sale. The airport’s exact boundary had to be determined, due to the swampy nature of the land. Dredging would solve that matter.85

  Sites Curtiss had purchased in the North Beach and Idlewild sections of Queens turned out to be more preferable for airports. The city acquired them despite strenuous protests from the Bronx. North Beach Airport was dedicated on January 5, 1935; it was renamed for Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in 1939. The first commercial flight left New York International Airport on July 1, 1948; it was renamed for President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The Bronx property was mostly undeveloped until the 1950s. Most people are unaware of its history, only remembering a place young people visited for adventure. As strange as it may seem today to some people that an airport was planned for the site, it probably would have been as strange for people in 1930 to think a housing development the size of Co-op City’s size would be built there.

  The BOT’s revised plans were made public on February 28, 1932.86 The Burke Avenue line was intact; the Boston Road line was changed. The Board would connect it with the White Plains Road line by West Farms, but how it would run into the Northeast Bronx was different. It proposed using the W&B’s local tracks above 180th Street. This would reduce construction costs, but also later play a major role in the discussion of transit issues in the Bronx.

  There was little discussion of the new plans. There was no coverage in some newspapers and no public reaction reported; the IND’s first phase was endangered, possibly because the city was in such financial distress. Walker and Delaney were looking for new sources of funding but wouldn’t raise the fare, which remained at five cents until 1948.

  City Comptroller Charles Berry met the representatives of the major area banks to sell bonds on January 8, 1932, without success. Economic conditions worsened and Walker was enmeshed in the scandals that would drive him from office later that year. The IND’
s first phase had to be completed. It was hoped the Concourse line’s first part would be operating at the start of 1933, but in fact it would take much longer.

  A major step was taken to develop the Northeast Bronx on September 21. The New York State Board of Housing announced plans for five housing developments for working-class families around the city. One of them was the Hillside Houses, to be built along the Burke and 2nd Avenue lines on land along Boston Road in Eastchester.

  Hillside was sponsored by Nathan Straus, Jr., a former state senator and a member of a family prominent in business, political, and philanthropic circles. His uncle, Oscar, was the chairman of the New York State Public Service Commission when it was the agency planning the subway system.87 Straus served in the State Senate from 1922 to 1928, the presidential administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the mayoral administration of Fiorello H. La Guardia. After he died in 1961, the New York Times eulogized him as follows: “All forms of pomposity were poison to Nathan Straus. Born to wealth and social prestige, he spent his life crusading for slum clearance, civil rights and the amelioration of urgent community problems.”88

  Nathan, Jr.’s grandfather purchased the Hillside Houses land in 1887.89 His father bequeathed it to him. It was unused, and he wondered what to do with it. One night in Boston, he read a newspaper article by Andrew J. Eken of the Starrett Brothers and Eken construction firm. According to Straus:

  [Eken] thought that the real future of the building business was not in the construction of more hotels and apartment houses, but in the construction of housing. He went on to say that he had studied the subject both here and abroad, and that he was confident that large project would rise, offering better living conditions at lower rents than had been available in the past.

  His investigation had convinced him that such projects should not be located on expensive land in the slums of our cities, but should, instead, be built on sites of vacant land, available in large tracts at relatively low cost, at the outskirts of the cities.90

  Straus contacted Eken and they began their work.

  Figure 4-6. Nathan Straus, Jr. (Straus Historical Society Inc.)

  The visionary Clarence S. Stein was Hillside’s architect. Along with Henry Wright, he designed the landmark Sunnyside Gardens and Phipps Gardens houses in Queens and similar developments elsewhere. Stein wanted to develop modern layouts, believing in communities with open spaces, as opposed to using standard street grids.91

  The new mayor opposed Hillside Houses. James J. Walker had resigned due to the scandals sweeping the New York City government. Aldermanic President McKee replaced him until a new election was held in November. When the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) provided a loan to Hillside covering two-thirds of the project’s cost, McKee protested: “There is no reason for the Bronx housing scheme. We have no shortage of housing in that borough. Actually, we find that nearly every house has at least one vacancy. We have no slum conditions in the Bronx either.”92

  The groups Straus termed “most of the real estate interests and practically all of the small speculative builders in the Bronx”93 supported McKee. The New York Times editorial board and groups like the City Club supported Hillside.94 McKee blocked the RFC loan, but support for Hillside grew after he left office. The Public Works Administration granted $5 million in January 1934; construction began that April.

  Things weren’t going well for the IND. The 8th Avenue line’s first segment opened on September 10, 1932, but the Concourse line had no opening date. Aside from Home News editorials, there was little discussion of Burke Avenue. It was speculated that a minimal amount of funding could put the Concourse line and parts of the Queens Boulevard line into service,95 but work didn’t continue until Comptroller Berry sold $10 million ($165 million in 2011 dollars, according to MeasuringWorth.com) in corporate tax notes in December 1932.

  Figure 4-7. Acting Mayor Joseph V. McKee with his press secretary, Charles E. Keegan, in 1932. Keegan served as an alderman and City Council member from 1935 to 1953. He was one of the Burke Avenue line’s primary advocates. (New York Evening Post)

  New Year’s Day in 1933 brought change to City Hall. Surrogate John P. O’Brien defeated McKee to complete Walker’s term. On January 19 the Board of Estimate appropriated $1.46 million ($25.5 million in 2011 dollars, according to MeasuringWorth.com) to operate twenty-two new route miles on the IND, including the Concourse line. Delaney had lobbied for funding, arguing that it cost more not to operate these lines or maintain the tunnels than to begin service.

  Concourse line service began on July 1 with little fanfare. Mrs. Edward Molloy of 3199 Bainbridge Avenue, the first rider at 205th Street, said, “I am a property owner and a resident of Bedford Park, and I am interested in the Concourse subway line from the standpoint of the good it will do for my community.”96 What celebration there was took place at a luncheon held at the Concourse Plaza two days earlier, followed by a tour of the line led by Delaney and Ryan, accompanied by Mayor O’Brien.

  The scandal that drove Mayor Walker from office affected the whole city government. There was major turnover on the Board of Estimate. Judge Samuel Seabury’s Moreland Act Commission investigated other city officials, including Borough President Bruckner and his chief aide, Public Works Commissioner Flynn. Newspaper articles implied that Flynn was the real power in the borough president’s office.

  Seabury wanted Bruckner and Flynn to resign or be removed from office. The Bronx County Democratic Party leadership nominated James J. Lyons as its candidate for borough president; he was elected in November.

  Lyons was a successful leather salesman from University Heights. Though he was involved in civic affairs, this was his first public office. It was the only office to which Lyons would be elected. He served as borough president until 1962. When he took office, Franklin Delano Roosevelt hadn’t yet completed his first year in the White House; he left at the end of the second year of the Kennedy administration. No other borough president has ever served as long.

  Lyons brought his salesman’s training with him. A 1940 New York Times Magazine profile said he “is using the same kind of sales tactics to ‘sell’ the Bronx as a combination of Byzantium, Biarritz and the Swiss Alps. As he views his situation, there is no basic difference between the Bronx and shoe leather. Now, as in the old days, his method is to break down sales resistance by repeatedly hammering home the fine points of his product and keeping it constantly before the public.”97

  Figure 4-8. James J. Lyons in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy of the Bronx County Historical Society)

  The city had a new mayor. With Seabury’s support, Fiorello H. La Guardia ran against former Mayors McKee and O’Brien and won, starting a tide of change. Lyons was the one Democrat on the Board of Estimate at that time. Despite his occasionally professed admiration for La Guardia, Lyons was a frequent thorn in the mayor’s side. One issue on which he was particularly nettlesome was Burke Avenue.

  Bronx transit advocates revived in 1934; Hillside provided further argument for extending the Concourse line. The Home News noted this: “[Burke Avenue] furnish[es] convenient and direct rapid transit service for the great number of families who will tenant the Hillside Homes now under construction on upper Boston Road.” The Chamber of Commerce now urged the BOT to proceed with the line.

  Lyons asked the BOT to start work on Burke Avenue on May 19. Writing to George F. Mand, president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1931 to 1953,98 he said that he thought the Board of Estimate approved the plan, but “to make certain, I am again taking the matter up with the Board of Estimate … so that if prior action taken does not carry with it adoption, we may get the necessary action from the Board.”99

  Figure 4-9. Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia. (Queens Planning Commission)

  He also wrote to his colleagues the following:

  The only facility now provided is a bus line operating in Boston Road from Dyre Avenue to Allerton Avenue and then westerly of White Plains Road. The nearest rapid transit
being the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway located from 1,000 to 3,000 feet to the east, with stations too far apart to be of use to the properties in the vicinity of Boston Road and the elevated portion of the Lexington Avenue subway running in White Plains Road which is over 1,000 feet to about a mile and one-half to the west of this portion of Boston Road.

  At the present time a large housing development is under construction to the westerly side of Boston Road, between Wilson Avenue and Eastchester Road [Hillside], and this housing project when completed will provide accommodations for about 1,600 families.

  The private properties adjacent to each side of Boston Road and Baychester Avenue have not been developed to any great extent, due to the lack of proper transit facilities, and it is very doubtful that they will ever be developed unless rapid transit lines are constructed. These properties for the most part lend themselves to high class development and such development will enhance taxable values to a marked degree and be of great benefit to the city at large.100

  Lyons proposed a resolution asking the BOT to proceed. La Guardia said he wanted to study the line further; there was no vote. Lyons tried a second resolution on September 29 but met the same fate.101 La Guardia wanted more time. This continued into early 1935. Noting Hillside’s upcoming opening, the potential for additional growth in the area, and the need for transit service to the Northeast Bronx, Lyons again asked for action.

  La Guardia wanted the motion postponed at the Board of Estimate’s January 18 meeting. Lyons protested: “This resolution merely indicates our approval of the extension. It doesn’t involve money.” “Well, you know this Board isn’t going to authorize this without approval of the Board of Transportation,” said La Guardia. “But there is nothing accomplished by sending it back to the Board of Transportation,” Lyons replied.102