New York has been an important center of commerce for several centuries, because of its location and geographic setting. Its port and harbor are situated perfectly for shipping, the oldest form of transportation for goods and people on the East Coast. Transportation routes and modes over the past 300 years has helped to define New York City, and has set the stage for the “magical theatre” that New York City is today.

Transportation in New York was difficult in Colonial days, to say the least. Horse-drawn carriages, similar to those seen on Central Park South today, were considered luxurious travel accommodations. Roads were few and far between for the early settlers. But the earliest routes of transportation followed former Indian trails, along the crest of the glacial moraine that makes up Long Island. One of the more prominent ones is Eastern Parkway, a grand boulevard as it stands today; it is one of the oldest routes of transportation through Brooklyn.

Ferries began transporting European settlers between Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City as early as 1661, when the Dutch called it New Amsterdam. Ferry service grew steadily and expanded greatly after Fulton introduced steam ferries here in 1814. Railroad companies ran many of the lines, since they connected to rail lines in New Jersey and New York. In 1860, East River ferries carried 32,845,000 passengers annually (about 100,000 per working day). When the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, many local ferries were forced out of business.

The cable car crossing the Bridge was the first in the country. It was converted to electric traction in 1908. The Brooklyn Heights line, which began operation in 1891, was the last cable car in the City, electrified in 1909.

The Long Island Railroad started service in 1836 and expanded slowly, eventually devouring its competitors, reaching its height between 1880 and 1914. It is the third oldest railway in the country and the only one that still carries its original name.

Streetcars were first drawn by horses until 1890, when the twenty-four street railway companies electrified the many miles of railways throughout the towns of Queens and Brooklyn, which were soon to be united into Greater New York City in 1898.

The first segment of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway line opened in 1904. It ran from City Hall to Times Square, then north along Broadway, today's #1 and 9 line. Expansion continued in 1913 with the creation of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, which was replaced by the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) in 1923. The Independent System (IND) was added between 1932 and 1940, and completed the network. Today, there are 714 miles of track along 244 miles of routes throughout New York City. It is the most extensive subway system in the world. Portions of the three remaining elevated lines are in Brooklyn: the Franklin Avenue shuttle, along Myrtle Avenue and Broadway. In 1913, the subways transported 890 million New Yorkers annually. By 1930, that number had grown to over 2 billion riders per year.

The growth of the automobile in the early 20th century also proved important in transporting New Yorkers between Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. New York City was a center for building electric and steam powered automobiles until 1916, when the combustion engine put Henry Ford and Detroit on the map. As automobiles and buses took the place of streetcars and subways for many New Yorkers, roads were needed to transport the gas and diesel powered vehicles transporting the people, goods, and services around New York City.

Then came Robert Moses. He started out in Long Island as the president of the State Parks Council in 1924. By 1930, he had built 9,700 acres of parkland on Long Island, including the Northern and Southern State Parkways, which connected New York City to Jones Beach. As Moses' power grew, he became a tyrant. He was able to avoid civil service rules regarding conflict of interest, holding twelve public offices at the state and local level simultaneously during the Depression. By 1936, he was overseeing 80,000 workers on projects varying from bridge construction to highway development. He is responsible for the connecting highway system throughout New York City. During his forty year tenure, he was responsible for building 416 miles of highway in New York, 13 vehicular bridges, and numerous parks and recreation areas, including Flushing Meadow Park, completed for the 1939 World's Fair held there.

The cost of giving Robert Moses absolute power over the development of New York's superhighways is seen in the Bronx, where the Cross Bronx Expressway severed entire communities by its scale and stark contrast to what had once been a thriving community. It was the same in Brooklyn and Queens, when the Brooklyn Queens Expressway was built, along with the Belt Parkway, Long Island Expressway, and Interborough Parkway (now the Jackie Robinson Parkway.) The building up of New York into a metropolis cost millions of New Yorkers their neighborhoods. Robert Moses is also responsible for the building of public housing projects, where he moved all the displaced poor people whose tenements he tore down to build the highways of New York.

The geographic obstacles faced by Moses would seem insurmountable today. He built on landfill and blasted through solid rock wherever necessary to achieve his goals. His handiwork will influence New Yorkers for generations to come. His goals were lofty, and he achieved most of them. His methods, however, were base and costly to New York and its citizens.

From the works of Frederick Law Olmstead (Central and Prospect Parks) to those of Robert Moses, the face of New York has changed and continues to develop and grow over time. Perhaps it is time for urban sprawl to give back some of its green space?

Recently, several private citizens' groups have won the right to have permanent community gardens in some of the most densely populated neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Zoning laws now mandate that public space be included in new construction of large commercial buildings in New York City. The magical stage changes sets once again.

Granick, Harry. Underneath New York. New York: Fordham University Press, 1947.

Jackson, Kenneth G. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of New York. New York: Yale University Press, 1995.

Metropolitan Transit Authority website: http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mta/network.htm