722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York - Hardcover

Hood, Clifton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067167756X ISBN 13: 9780671677565

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1994

Synopsis

A thorough history follows the evolution of the New York subway system from visionary idea, through political machinations and feats of urban planning, to engineering reality.

About this title

About the Author

Clifton Hood is assistant professor of history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

Reviews

New York City's rapid transit system, the longest in the world, was built between 1904 and 1940, and initally was operated as three separate lines (Interborough Rapid Transit, or IRT; Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, or BMT; and the Independent System, or IND), all of which were eventually unified into one municipal system. Hood, a professor of history at Hobart and William Smith College in New York, here provides a clear, perceptive and carefully researched study of this engineering feat and the ways in which the subway led to an expansion of the metropolitan area. Financed by both private and public funds, construction was hampered by conflicts between financiers and politicians, as well as by geological obstacles which led to devastating underground accidents. Hood convincingly argues that the takeover of the subways by the Transit Authority in 1953 resulted in a progressive deterioration that can only be remedied by government subsidies. This is a strong contribution to urban studies. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As crammed with facts and figures as a rush-hour express is with passengers, this history of the New York subway system stalls time and again. Hood (American History/Hobart and William Smith Colleges) has researched his subject thoroughly: He comments knowledgeably on the geological composition of Manhattan and the surrounding terrain, and demonstrates how subterranean peculiarities affected the construction of the subway. He also shows how, from its beginning, New York's rapid transit was a pawn in the struggle to dominate the financial and political life of the metropolis--a struggle that included August Belmont's monopolization of municipal transportation as well as the Tweed Gang's corrupt control of licensing and labor, control that resulted in tunnel cave-ins and other misfortunes. But when Hood examines how the construction of the subways influenced the expansion of the city, he falters: It's no surprise that the establishment of a rapid and reliable mode of transportation between the city's workplaces and its outlying boroughs fostered the settlement of these previously inaccessible areas. Hood provides a few fresh insights, however, as when he analyzes the discriminatory practices that shaped the original development of the Jackson Heights section of Queens. And though he generally fails to leaven his statistics-heavy text (miles of track laid, number of passengers carried, amount of budget money allocated, etc.) with pertinent anecdotes, his story of class- conscious Vogue editor Edna Woodman Chase is winsome: Chase, upon learning that a member of her staff had flung himself in front of a subway train, said, ``[At Vogue], if we must kill [ourselves], we take sleeping pills.'' Of some interest to urban historians, but slow-going for general readers. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The New York subway was the vision of a few enlightened politicians working with a tight-knit mercantile elite who saw the potential that a high-speed underground rail system would have as a vehicle for urban development. Hood (American history, Hobart and William Smith Coll.) tells the fascinating story of the individuals who created this unparalleled achievement of civil engineering. This concise, scholarly history describes the impact on urban life and the creation of new neighborhoods (the Upper West Side, Harlem, Jackson Heights) separated only by a nickel fare from the heart of the city. Hood chronicles the changes in the city's political climate, from a laissez-faire mood at the onset of the century through the rise of the progressive reform movement, concluding in the big-government era of the 1950s. Hood's work fills an important chapter in the history of the city; recommended for urban history, planning, and architecture collections.
- Thomas P.R. Nugent, New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 067167756X
• ISBN 13: 9780671677565
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 335