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Monthly Archives: May 2013
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REMAINS OF THE THIRD AVE. EL
January 17, 1999Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: abandoned stations Bronx elevated
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DEAD AT 18. A look at the old IRT 18th Street station
January 15, 1999The 18th Street Station (#4,5,6) was killed off in 1948 when the 14th St. platform was lengthened, making it redundant. Here are a couple of pictures from the now-abandoned, decrepit platform: The old “18″ plaque is barely visible behind graffiti vandals’ defacement. Underside of a staircase that once led to Park Avenue South and East 18th Street. [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: abandoned stations Manhattan
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ODDS AND ENDS
January 15, 1999On this page, we’ll take a look at some of the unusual sights in the subways that don’t fit into any other category… The 181st Street station (IND, A line) is unusual for a couple of reasons: first, it is among the deepest subway stations in the system, and second, it has this rather unique and [...]
Categorized in: Signs Subways & Trains Tagged with: Brooklyn Manhattan
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STATION HOUSES
January 15, 1999
Some NYC subway stations actually have above-ground station buildings. Quite frequently these houses will appear at subway stations that have been parts of actual railroad lines in the past, such as the D line between Sheeepshead Bay and Avenue H, or the #5 between 180th St. and Dyre Avenue. Other times, though, a station house was placed at a [...]
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TERRA COTTA PLAQUES
January 15, 1999When the subways were first built in the early 1900s, they were blessed to have artists who put great care into the appearance of the stations and platforms. Beautiful signs and plaques were fashioned to tell the paying customers what stations they were in…and what the history of the region was. The Chambers Street station, completed [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Manhattan plaques
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BROADWAY, BROOKLYN ads
January 10, 1999Buildings that line the routes of elevated trains are always fertile ground for seekers of ancient advertising. Customers walking along Broadway in Brooklyn under the el tracks, or perhaps looking out the sides of elevated cars (which were more open in the old days than they are now) could easily be swayed by them. No elevated [...]
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BROOKLYN’S 1989 TROLLEY RUN
January 10, 1999You say that there haven’t been any trolleys on the streets of Brooklyn since the late 1950s? Don’t tell Robert Diamond, the man who discovered the ancient Long Island Railroad tunnel underneath Atlantic Avenue in 1980 . Since then, Diamond has been trying to inaugurate a trolley line that would extend through the long-abandoned tunnel [...]
Categorized in: Trolleys Tagged with: Brooklyn Brooklyn Heights
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SHORELINE TROLLEY MUSEUM
January 10, 1999Although the trolleys of New York City are no more, many of the cars that appeared on city streets until the mid-1950s can be found at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut. In 1945, several electric railway enthusiasts realized that trolleys were on the way out, being replaced by buses as the prime method [...]
Categorized in: Trolleys
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DWARVES. Lampposts that fit in small spaces
January 3, 1999Throughout the five boroughs, there are scattered some streetlamps that look as if they didn’t eat their spinach during their formative years. Their growth seems stunted. Actually, the city has valid reasons to install such short poles. The above pictures were taken in the vicinity of 23rd Avenue and 82nd Street near LaGuardia Airport. Lampposts [...]
Categorized in: Street Lamps Tagged with: Jackson Heights Jamaica Ozone Park Queens Ridgewood
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LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS
January 2, 1999A view of an unusual neighborhood with an outstanding view. Industry-dominated Long Island City provides some terrific views of Manhattan, just across the East River, as well as a variety of contrasts: landmarked brownstone blocks, smokestacks, and church steeples, as well as a diesel-only Long Island Rail Road station, once the busy terminus of the railroad [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Long Island City Queens
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DEAD RECKONING — hidden cemeteries around town
January 2, 1999Scattered throughout New York City are several small cemeteries. In the 1800s, a law was passed that prohibited further cemetery construction on the island of Manhattan, owing to the city’s rapid growth. Subsequently, many cemeteries began to appear in western Queens, which was close to the city. However, remnants and vestiges of several old cemeteries [...]
Categorized in: Cemeteries Tagged with: Bay Ridge Brooklyn East Village Greenwich Village Manhattan
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DELANCEY STREET
January 1, 1999Delancey Street, on the Lower East Side, is a repository of elderly, fading advertisements from bygone eras. Sharp-eyed observers will see this ad for Gold Medal Flour on this building set back from Delancey. I can’t quite make out the script writing above the sign, which has been weathered into illegibility. Sometimes two ads will be placed on [...]
Categorized in: Ads Tagged with: Lower East Side Manhattan
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FIELDS OF QUEENS. The Queens Farm Museum
January 1, 1999The Queens County Farm Museum occupies 7 1/2 acres in the heart of Glen Oaks, Queens, NY. Its croplands and orchards are being used to demonstrate the history of agriculture in New York. The Museum staff and volunteers harvest apples and grow herbs, squash, tomatoes and other standard market vegetables, which are sold from a roadside [...]
Categorized in: You'd Never Believe You're in NYC Tagged with: farms Little Neck Queens
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THROG(G)S NECK, New York
January 1, 1999Throgs Neck is named for John Throckmorton, who settled in the area in 1643, Throgs Neck is one of the least-commented on sections in the Bronx. Featuring gorgeous views of the East River (as it merges with Long Island Sound), it evinces little of the New York City of which it is officially a part. (The [...]
Categorized in: Street Necrology You'd Never Believe You're in NYC Tagged with: Bronx Throgs Neck
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New York’s Equestrian past
January 1, 1999Until the mid-1890s, and the advent of mechanical transportation, the way to get around NYC was with horses. Though Dobbin no longer is the backbone of the transportation hub, stables dot the five boroughs, serving bridle paths in nearby parks. Shown in the title card is the corral at the West Side Chelsea Piers. Hundreds of dwellings formerly used [...]
Categorized in: You'd Never Believe You're in NYC Tagged with: Horses Stables