NYC Decade by Decade--1900-1909...The Subway, Roosevelt, and Construction on a Grand Scale

With the consolidation of New York in 1898, a series of massive construction projects began that were worthy of the world's second largest city and designed in part to connect the boroughs into one unit.

This was the decade of the subway--digging began in 1900 and the first line opened in 1904.  A municipal Staten Island Ferry began to run.  Three of the four East River bridges opened.  Four more bridges crossed the Harlem River.  The Steinway and East River subway tunnels connected Manhattan to Long Island, and New Jersey was finally reached with the first tube underneath the Hudson.  Macy's moved to Thirty-fourth, Longacre became Times Square, several of our oldest Broadway theaters opened, and motorized taxi cabs began to speed through the streets.  Ground was also broken for Penn Station, Grand Central and the New York Public Library. 

Not a shabby decade.

ALSO DURING THIS DECADE:

1900--The population of Manhattan reaches 1,850,093.  This is a larger population than Manhattan's population today.  (1910 [2,331,542], 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, and 1960 will all have larger populations.)

1901--The "New Law" tenement is introduced.

1901--NYC's very own Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as vice president.  With the assassination of McKinley, Roosevelt will become president in September and remain in the White House until 1909.

1902--Macy's moves to Herald Square.

1902--Andrew Carnegie's mansion on Fifth (now the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum) is completed.

1902--The Fifth Avenue facade and the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum are finished.

1902--The beloved Flatiron Building opens where Broadway crosses Fifth.

1903--The Williamsburg Bridge opens.

1903--The New York Stock Exchange moves to its new building on the corner of Wall and Broad.

1903--Three of our oldest and most beautiful Broadway theaters are built in the West Forties--the New Amsterdam, the Lyceum, and the Lyric.  These predate "Times Square."

1904--The trains running up and down Park Avenue convert from steam power to electricity.  This will allow the trains to be completely submerged and hidden. 

1904--The Ansonia opens on the Upper West Side.

1904--Longacre Square becomes Times Square.

1904--The first subway line opens.  (Pictured on left, the first line begins at City Hall, runs north to Forty-second, swings west to Times Square and then up Broadway to 145th.)

1904--Carrying 1300 picnickers from the East Village, the SS General Slocum catches fire on its trip up the East River.  Over 1000 passengers, mainly women and children, will perish.  This will remain the city's greatest loss of life in a single day until the attacks of September eleventh.

1905--The Municipal Staten Island Ferry begins operating with a five-cent fare.

1905--City College opens in Harlem. 

1906--Crazy Harry Thaw fatally shoots famous architect, Stanford White, on the roof of White's own Madison Square Garden.

1907--Motorized taxi cabs and the new Plaza Hotel commence operation on the same day.

1907--J.P. Morgan's Library is completed just in time for the Panic of 1907.  (Morgan hosts an all-night meeting with almost fifty bankers at the library.  At one point, he locks dozens of them inside to force them to come to an agreement that will help avert a crisis,)

1907--The elaborate Custom House by Cass Gilbert at Bowling Green is finished.

1907--The Steinway tunnels connect Manhattan and Queens.

1908--The East River subway tunnel connects Bowling Green and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn and the McAdoo Tunnel connects the west side of Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey.

1908--The Singer Building becomes the tallest building in the world.

1909--The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower becomes the tallest building in the world.

1909--Both the Manhattan and Queensboro Bridges are opened.

1909--The beautiful Police Headquarters on Centre Street (between Grand and Broome) opens for business.  For fantastic pictures of one of my favorite buildings in the city, click here.

Sources:  The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger; New York:  An Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders, with Lisa Ades; The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson;  Blue Guide New York by Carol von Pressentin Wright, Stuart Miller, and Sharon Seitz; Inside the Apple by Michelle and James Nevius; New York 1900 by Robert A.M. Stern, Gregory Gilmartin, and John Massengale.

With the consolidation of New York in 1898, a series of massive construction projects began that were worthy of the world's second largest city and designed in part to connect the boroughs into one unit.

This was the decade of the subway--digging began in 1900 and the first line opened in 1904.  A municipal Staten Island Ferry began to run.  Three of the four East River bridges opened.  Four more bridges crossed the Harlem River.  The Steinway and East River subway tunnels connected Manhattan to Long Island, and New Jersey was finally reached with the first tube underneath the Hudson.  Macy's moved to Thirty-fourth, Longacre became Times Square, several of our oldest Broadway theaters opened, and motorized taxi cabs began to speed through the streets.  Ground was also broken for Penn Station, Grand Central and the New York Public Library. 

Not a shabby decade.

ALSO DURING THIS DECADE:

1900--The population of Manhattan reaches 1,850,093.  This is a larger population than Manhattan's population today.  (1910 [2,331,542], 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, and 1960 will all have larger populations.)

1901--The "New Law" tenement is introduced.

1901--NYC's very own Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as vice president.  With the assassination of McKinley, Roosevelt will become president in September and remain in the White House until 1909.

1902--Macy's moves to Herald Square.

1902--Andrew Carnegie's mansion on Fifth (now the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum) is completed.

1902--The Fifth Avenue facade and the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum are finished.

1902--The beloved Flatiron Building opens where Broadway crosses Fifth.

1903--The Williamsburg Bridge opens.

1903--The New York Stock Exchange moves to its new building on the corner of Wall and Broad.

1903--Three of our oldest and most beautiful Broadway theaters are built in the West Forties--the New Amsterdam, the Lyceum, and the Lyric.  These predate "Times Square."

1904--The trains running up and down Park Avenue convert from steam power to electricity.  This will allow the trains to be completely submerged and hidden. 

1904--The Ansonia opens on the Upper West Side.

1904--Longacre Square becomes Times Square.

1904--The first subway line opens.  (Pictured on left, the first line begins at City Hall, runs north to Forty-second, swings west to Times Square and then up Broadway to 145th.)

1904--Carrying 1300 picnickers from the East Village, the SS General Slocum catches fire on its trip up the East River.  Over 1000 passengers, mainly women and children, will perish.  This will remain the city's greatest loss of life in a single day until the attacks of September eleventh.

1905--The Municipal Staten Island Ferry begins operating with a five-cent fare.

1905--City College opens in Harlem. 

1906--Crazy Harry Thaw fatally shoots famous architect, Stanford White, on the roof of White's own Madison Square Garden.

1907--Motorized taxi cabs and the new Plaza Hotel commence operation on the same day.

1907--J.P. Morgan's Library is completed just in time for the Panic of 1907.  (Morgan hosts an all-night meeting with almost fifty bankers at the library.  At one point, he locks dozens of them inside to force them to come to an agreement that will help avert a crisis,)

1907--The elaborate Custom House by Cass Gilbert at Bowling Green is finished.

1907--The Steinway tunnels connect Manhattan and Queens.

1908--The East River subway tunnel connects Bowling Green and Joralemon Street in Brooklyn and the McAdoo Tunnel connects the west side of Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey.

1908--The Singer Building becomes the tallest building in the world.

1909--The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower becomes the tallest building in the world.

1909--Both the Manhattan and Queensboro Bridges are opened.

1909--The beautiful Police Headquarters on Centre Street (between Grand and Broome) opens for business.  For fantastic pictures of one of my favorite buildings in the city, click here.

Sources:  The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger; New York:  An Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders, with Lisa Ades; The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson;  Blue Guide New York by Carol von Pressentin Wright, Stuart Miller, and Sharon Seitz; Inside the Apple by Michelle and James Nevius; New York 1900 by Robert A.M. Stern, Gregory Gilmartin, and John Massengale.