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Pulp New York City

Page history last edited by Michael 3 years, 7 months ago

back to the Geography page, or the Index

 


Accommodations

 

Clubs

 

Climate

 

Inhabitants

 

     7,346,007 persons live in New York City as of 1933. Of those, 33% were born in another country; of those, 84% are "foreign born white" (i.e., not Asian, African, Middle Eastern, etc.) -- immigration for quite a while has been pretty much restricted to European nations.

 

Mother Tongue of Foreign-Born Whites in New York City

language

roll 1d100

English, Gaelic, Celtic

01 - 17

German, Dutch, Flemish

18 - 31

Scandinavian

32 -  35

Italian

36 - 55

Spanish

56 - 57

Greek

58 - 59

French

60 - 61

Polish

62 - 65

Russian

66 - 69

other Slavic or Lettic

70 - 71

other languages

72 - 00

 

     In 1933, there were 327,706 African-Americans living in New York City -- of which two-thirds live in the borough of Manhattan (specifically, in Harlem). They're almost entirely born in the United States.

     Of all persons at least 10 years old in New York City in 1930, 4.5% are unable to write in any language. 7.6% of foreign-born persons age 10 or more are unable to speak English. Among the African-American population, 2.1% are illiterate.

     The average weekly earnings for "lower middle class" persons employed in factories (including shop workers and office workers) in New York state was as follows:

 

Average Weekly Earnings In Factories

year

amount

1930

$28.81

1931

$26.42

1932

$22.73

 

Entertainment

 

Theaters

 

     Some of the more famous or notable theaters:

 

Beacon Theater

  • 2124 Broadway between West 74th St. and West 75th St. Completed 1929 in Art Deco style.  A large (2800 seats) live theater (and hotel).

Belasco Theater

  • 111 West 44th St. between Sixth Ave. and Seventh Ave. Completed 1907 in the Colonial Revival style. Live theater.

Carnegie Hall

  • 156 West 57th St. at Seventh Ave.; built 1891 in Renaissance Revival style. Concert hall.

Hammerstein Theater

  • 1697 to 1698 Broadway between West 53rd St. and West 54th St. Completed 1927, in the Neo-Gothic style; from 1936 the CBS network broadcasts from here -- the theater became the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1967.

Hippodrome Theatre

  • 756 Sixth Ave. Completed in 1905 in the Beaux-Arts / Moorish Revival style. Has a 5300 seat auditorium, and a huge stage which can hold as many as 1000 performers. If the circus came to Manhattan, here's where it would be. However, from the mid-Twenties, its fortunes were flagging (and it's demolished in 1939).

Hudson Theatre

  • 139-141 West 44th St. Completed 1903 in Neo-Classical style. Besides live theater, it's also used as a CBS radio studio.

Lyceum Theater

  • 149-157 West 45th St. between Sixth Ave. and Broadway. Completed 1903 in the Beaux-Arts style.

Madison Square Garden

  • 50th Street and Eighth Ave. Completed 1925. Used for political conventions, sporting events (especially boxing and hockey - home of the Rangers), circus performances, etc. Poor sight lines on upper level seats, poor ventilation.

Minsky's Burlesque

  • 209 West 42nd St. between Seventh and Eighth Ave. Completed in 1900 as the Republic Theatre, but converted (with a double runway) in 1931 to a burlesque house.The biggest of about a dozen burlesque shows in New York City.

New Amsterdam Theater

  • 214 West 42nd St. between Seventh Ave. and Eighth Ave. Completed 1903 in Art Nouveau style. Originally a live theater, home to the Ziegfeld Follies through 1927; other racier revues are presented at the roof garden theater. Closed in 1936, re-opened as a movie theater in 1937.

Radio City Music Hall

  • Sixth Avenue at 50th St. Completed 1932 in Art Deco style, as part of the Rockefeller Center. Musicals and motion picture theater.

Times Square Theater

  • 217 West 42nd St. between Seventh Ave. and Eighth Ave. Completed 1920 in the Neo-Classical style. Converted from a live stage to a movie theater in 1933.

 

Stadiums, Race Tracks and Sports Grounds

 

     Some of these are of course outside of New York City proper.

 

  • Aqueduct Race Track, at South Ozone Park, Queens

  • Baker Field, West 218th St. at Broadway (Columbia University) ... where the Harlem River and Hudson River join

  • Belmont Park Race Track, in Elmont, Nassau county (on Long Island, just outside the NYC limits)

  • Ebbets Field, Bedford Ave., Brooklyn

  • Empire City Race Track, Yonkers

  • Jamaica Race Course, Queens

  • Lewisohn Stadium, 138 St. at Amsterdam Ave. (amphitheater and stadium for City College of New York)

  • Madison Square Garden, 50th Street and Eighth Ave.

  • Randall's Island Stadium (Municipal Stadium), on Randall's Island; completed July 1936

  • Ohio Stadium, Loring Place (New York University)

  • Polo Grounds, 155th St. at Eighth Ave.

  • West Side Tennis Club, Forrest Hills, Long Island

  • Yankee Stadium, River Ave. at East 157th St.

 

Government

 

     The mayors of New York City in the Thirties:

 

  • Jimmy Walker, 1926 to 1932 (resigned due to investigation into corruption)

  • Joseph McKee, late 1932 as acting mayor briefly after Walker's resignation

  • John O'Brien, 1933 for the rest of what would have been Walker's term

  • Fiorello La Guardia, January 1st 1934 to December 31, 1945

 

     The governors of New York state in the Thirties:

 

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1929 to December 1932

  • Herbert H. Lehman, 1933 to 1942. He's one of the two Lehman brothers, of the famous investment bank (though he withdrew entirely from business in the mid-Twenties). The first Jewish governor of New York state.

 

     A famous former governor was Al Smith; he held office 1919 to 1920, and 1923 to 1928.

 

Law Enforcement

 

The Sullivan Act

 

     Persons in New York State must have a license to possess or sell weapons small enough to be concealed -- pistols, knives, blackjacks, brass knuckles, etc. Possession (even in your home) is a misdemeanor, normally punished by a fine; carrying them in public is a felony, normally punished by one year in jail.

     Local police agencies can issue permits allowing possession and carry. In New York City, the NYPD is the licensing authority; they rarely issue permits except to retired police officers, prosecuting attorneys and judges, gunsmiths and gun store owners, security and bank guards, and private couriers. The police can refuse an application for any or no reason; political influence and wealth definitely affect the process. "Being a private detective" is definitely not a valid reason, on its own, to receive a carry permit.

     Long guns (i.e., most rifles and shotguns) are not affected by the Sullivan Act. Silencers are also unaffected by New York state law -- though of course the National Firearms Act goes into effect in the summer of 1934. Note that before 1968 there was no national restriction on "destructive devices" (i.e. cannons and grenade launchers).

 

The New York Police Department

 

     The police department has about 18,000 men on the force, across all the bureaus. 125 officers are black, all stationed in the black neighborhoods of Harlem or Brooklyn. Sgt. Sam Battle is the senior black policeman.
     The department has about a third of its officers living outside New York City. Each precinct has about 100 men reporting for all shifts each day; there are three 8-hour shifts in a day. Detectives "in-house", desk sergeants, and senior officers mean that only about 20 or 25 men will be on foot or motor patrol per precinct AT MOST. If officers have been called to deal with a riot or other Big Deal, there might be only a handful of men left in some precincts. Each precinct house has a small number of jail cells, including the "drunk tank."
     All patrol cars have radio receivers, but only a few cars can transmit. Radio transmissions come from "Central" (actually one per borough). Patrol cars are two door coupes, with no back seat; they're green with black fenders. Policemen don't carry handcuffs (though detectives might); they have "come-along" nippers.
     The NYPD Highway Patrol are mounted on motorcycles. They have a couple of armored motorcycles with Thompson machine-guns mounted on sidecars! They will usually be found patrolling the bridges and highway routes in and out of the city; or escorting important persons.
     Also available:  the reserve Auxiliary Police (a thousand or so lightly-trained volunteers); and Police Academy trainees (a couple hundred men, gray uniforms).

     The department is led by a single Police Commissioner, appointed by the Mayor.

     Patrolmen, Patrolwomen and Policewomen are paid $2000 to $3000 per year; Sergeants receive $3500 per year; Lieutenants receive $4000 per year; Captains receive $5000 per year; Deputy Inspectors receive $5500 per year; Inspectors receive $5900 per year; Deputy Chief Inspectors (nine of them) receive $6300 per year; the Assistant Chief Inspector receives $6800 per year; and the Chief Inspector receives $9000 per year.

     Officers are armed with Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolvers in .38 Special caliber. Shotguns and rifles are not available at most precinct houses (but see the Riot Squad, below), nor do most officers get any training with them. If a huge emergency required issuing long arms to policemen, the department would probably have to get the weapons from the National Guard, Army, or Navy.

     In 1932 the police in New York City (probably including the State Police, federal agents, etc.) killed 38 persons.

 

The Riot Squad


     The Emergency Service Division has six trucks in Manhattan (similar to fire trucks) with a dozen men assigned to each. The trucks carry Thompsons, Springfield rifles, gas grenades and gas guns, gas masks, ladders, axes, fire extinguishers, spot lights, ropes, bolt cutters, first aid kits, rescue gear, etc. In fact, the Emergency Services trucks are the closest thing to paramedics; the crew on regular ambulances have very minimal equipment and training in lifesaving or first aid. They get called out to deal with people threatening suicide from high places; when cattle get loose; for major accidents and bank robberies in progress ... if the department has any snipers, they're probably "E-men".

     There is a Bomb Squad, with a couple of detectives trained in defusing bombs; they don't have a specialized vehicle though.
     Each truck is a "squad"; the six squads in Manhattan are at:

  •  #1:  16 Ericcson Place (the 1st Precinct)

  •  #2:  400 Broome Street

  •  #3:  306 W 54th Street

  •  #4:  17 E 21st Street

  •  #5:  1854 Amsterdam Avenue (the old 30th Precinct station house)

  •  #6:  209 E 122nd Street


     Also part of the Emergency Service Division is the Aviation Bureau, with two Sikorsky S-56 amphibian aircraft, and one or two other light aircraft; and the Harbor Unit with at least 11 launches; some are small tugboats. They each carry a .30 cal machine gun; at least one has a tiny cannon. The Harbor Precinct has its house on Pier A, on the Hudson side of Manhattan, in Battery Park; they have a pier on Randalls Island, where their repair dock is also located.


Port Authority Police Department


     "Only husky men need apply - no experience needed". Heh, 5' 8" and 150 pounds are the lower limits of "husky". They protect bridges, tunnels, ferry terminals, and the docks.

 

New York State Police

 

     Typically seen as escorts for important persons (specifically if the Governor puts in an appearance) or prisoners being transferred out of the city. They wear grey uniforms with purple ties, black Sam Browne belts, and tan stetson hats.

 

New York City District Attorney

 

     The Manhattan office is at 137 Centre St., and is headed by William. C. Dodge since November of 1933 (until 1937). He's part of the Tammany Hall group, and accepted campaign donations from "Dutch" Schultz -- he's widely suspected of accepting bribes. The Democratic Party official who got Dodge elected said he was "stupid, respectable, and my man."

 

Federal Law Enforcement

 

     The United States Court House is at the City Hall Post Office, on Broadway at Park Row (facing City Hall Park). The courtrooms (Southern District of New York) and federal offices are on the third and fourth floors. The building is sort of cramped, and is due to be replaced; a few courts are temporarily on the 12th floor of the Woolworth Building.

     After mid-1936, all of the non-postal tenants of the old Post Office building move to the large, new Foley Square Courthouse (40 Centre Street).

 

  • United States Attorney:  the U.S. Court House, COrtland 7-7100

  • US Marshals:  the U. S. Court House, COrtland 7-7100

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation:  the U.S. Court House, REctor 2-3520

  • Internal Revenue Service:  REctor 2-9100.

  • U.S. Customs Service, at the Custom House, 1 Bowling Green

  • Treasury agents, etc. all have offices in Manhattan.

 

     The Eastern District of New York courts have their chambers at the Post Office Building, Washington and Johnson Streets, Brooklyn.

 

Prisons and Jails

 

  • City Prison. 101 Center Street; known as "the Tombs". A bridge over Franklin Street connects the prison with the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building. Most of the inmates are awaiting trial.

  • Federal Detention Headquarters, 427 West St. at Twelfth St, tel. CHelsea 3-8558. Opened in 1928, it was converted from a waterfront garage. Usually known as "West Street", it has a capacity of 300 inmates, most or all of whom are awaiting trial.

  • New York Women's House of Detention, 10 Greenwich Ave. Opened in 1932.

  • Rikers Island Penitentiary. Opened in 1935.

  • Raymond Street Jail, in Brooklyn. Originally built in 1836, and rebuilt in 1879 and 1909; for male and female prisoners.

  • Welfare Island. Crowded and dilapidated, closed when Rikers Island opened. Also known as Blackwell's Island and Roosevelt Island. The city's asylum is also located here.

 

     There may be some other small jails in the boroughs outside of Manhattan.

     Persons convicted of serious felonies -- including murder -- are normally sent to Sing Sing Prison. The criminally or dangerously insane end up at Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, upstate along the Hudson River.

 

Military

 

The Army and National Guard

 

     There are six armories in Manhattan:

  • 69th Regiment Armory, on Lexington between E 25th and E 26th Streets. The 69th Infantry is famous as the "Fighting Irish; William Donovan and Father Francis Duffy are famous veterans of the unit.

  • West 14th Street Armory, home of the 244th Coast Artillery Regiment

  • Seventh Regiment Armory, at 643 Park Avenue

  • Squadron A Armory, on Madison Avenue between 94th and 95th Street; Squadron A is a hoity-toity cavalry unit

  • Fort Washington Avenue Armory; home to the 22nd Regiment of the Army Corps of Engineers

  • Harlem Armory, home to the 369th Coast Artillery Regiment, at 2366 Fifth Avenue. They're an all-black unit, formerly infantry during the Great War. They don't actually have any artillery of any kind, so they're still essentially infantry. They do have truck-mounted searchlights, used mostly for parades and so forth.


     None of the National Guard regiments are very heavily armed. Rifles, pistols, hand grenades, and a dozen or so machine guns per regiment. Each regiment has a few trucks, but not nearly enough to carry a regiment. They have no artillery, flame throwers, mortars, etc.
     Besides the armories in Manhattan, there are:

  • Fort Lafayette, in Brooklyn. An old brick fort, now used for ammunition storage

  • Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn. The 5th Coast Artillery mans some 10" guns here, covering the harbor. Fort Totten, at the north end of Brooklyn, and some other old harbor defenses, are also manned (very lightly).

  • Fort Wadsworth, on Staten Island. Another old brick fort with no modern guns. It's an infantry post.

 

     There are more armories in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

     Camp Smith is a National Guard training site, at the north end of Westchester county.

 

The Navy

 

     The Brooklyn Navy Yard ... tel. CUmberland 6-5000.

 

The Coast Guard

 

     While the Coast Guard is helping distressed mariners, maintaining aids to navigation, and pursuing smugglers and other maritime lawbreakers all over New York Harbor, the Hudson and East Rivers, and along Long Island Sound, they don't have any boats based on Manhattan. The Commander of the New York Division is at the Customs House. There are bases at Staten Island, at Rockaway, on Long Island, and at Bayonne, New Jersey.

 

Consulates

 

     This is only about a third of the number of consulates.

 

  • Argentine Consulate:  17 Battery Place 

  • Austrian Consulate:  500 Fifth Avenue 

  • Belgian Consulate 

  • Brazilian Consulate

  • British Consulate:  Cunard Building, 25 Broadway

  • Czechoslovakian Consulate:  1440 Broadway

  • Egyptian Consulate:  103 Park Avenue

  • French Consulate:  corner of 5th Ave. at 49th St.

  • Finnish Consulate:  5 State St.

  • German Consulate:  17 Battery Place

  • Greek Consulate:  960 Sixth Ave.

  • Irish Consulate:  405 Lexington Ave.

  • Italian Consulate:  134 East 70th St.

  • Roumanian Consulate:  1819 Broadway

  • Swiss Consulate:  468 Fourth Ave.

 

Crime

 

     In 1932 there were 1380 persons arrested in connection with 565 homicides in New York City; of those, 330 were held over for trial. The rate of indicted persons being convicted varies from about 30% to about 50% -- this of course includes homicides with more than one person charged.

     1595 persons committed suicide in 1932; "gas" is by far the most common method.

 

The Mob

 

     The "Commission" was formed in 1931, as a committee of the bosses of the Five Families; they have a group of assassins known as Murder Inc. on their payroll. These hit men are paid from $1000 to $5000 per killing, along with a salary.

     Thousands of illegal slot machines can be found in bars, gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, cafes, hotel lobbies, etc. throughout the city.

 

Hospitals and Health

 

     Unless noted, these are most of the general hospitals in Manhattan and the Bronx as of 1935. There are 89 hospitals total in those two boroughs.

 

  • Beekman Street Hospital, 117 Beekman St. at Water St., tel. BEekman 3-5300. 100 beds. Near the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge.

  • Bellevue Hospital, East 26th St. at 1st Ave. (it's actually four blocks long, from East 26th St. north to East 30th St., facing over East River Drive onto the river), tel. CAledonia 5-1133. 2084 beds.

  • Beth Israel Hospital, Stuyvesant Park East, tel. ALgonquin 4-4700, 342 beds. A Jewish hospital.

  • Broad Street Hospital, 129 Broad St., tel. BOwling Green 9-3030.

  • Bronx Hospital, 1280 Fulton Ave., the Bronx, tel. JErome 7-1900. 304 beds.

  • Fifth Avenue Hospital, 1249 Fifth Ave., tel. LEhigh 4-3300. 300 beds.

  • Flower Hospital, 450 East 64th St., tel. REgent 4-2400. 227 beds.

  • Fordham Hospital, Southern Blvd. at Crotona Ave., the Bronx, tel. SEdgwick 3-4800. 609 beds.

  • French Hospital, 324 to 340 West 30th St., tel. LAckawanna 4-3060. 260 beds. A Catholic hospital.

  • Gouverneur Hospital, 621 Water St. at Gouverneur Slip, tel. DRydock 4-2710. 229 beds.

  • Harlem Hospital, Lenox Ave. at 136th St., tel. TIllinghast 5-5000. 348 beds.

  • Lebanon Hospital, Westchester Ave. at Cauldwell Ave. and Trinity Ave., the Bronx, tel MElrose 5-3285. 154 beds.

  • Lenox Hill Hospital, 111 East 76th St., tel. BUtterfield 8-5500. 428 beds. 95% of the staff and employees spoke German as of 1925 (it used to be named the German Hospital).

  • Lincoln Hospital, 141st St. at Concord Ave., the Bronx, tel. LUdlow 4-4500. 425 beds.

  • Manhattan State Hospital, on Wards Island. Not a general hospital - this is a large psychiatric hospital. 

  • Morrisania City Hospital, 168th St. at Gerard Ave., the Bronx, tel. JErome 6-3400.

  • Mount Sinai Hospital, 1 East 100th St., tel. ATwater 9-2000. 650 beds. It's also a major teaching hospital.

  • New York Hospital, 525 East 68th St., tel. REgent 4-6000. 1020 beds.

  • New York Society for Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled, 321 East 42nd St., tel. MUrray Hill 4-3100. 300 beds. An actual hospital, but my nomination for the Secretly Up To Something Else Hospital.

  • Polyclinic Hospital, 335-361 West 50th St., tel. COlumbus 5-8000. 350 beds.

  • Presbyterian Hospital, 622 West 168th St., tel. BIllings 5-6000. 819 beds. Associated with Columbia University.

  • Roosevelt Hospital, 128 West 59th St., tel. COlumbus 5-2340. 379 beds.

  • Saint Luke's Hospital, 421 West 113th St., tel. CAthedral 8-7000. 540 beds.

  • Saint Vincent's Hospital, 153 West 11th St.. 435 beds. A Catholic hospital.

  • Sydenham Hospital, 565 Manhattan Ave., tel. MOnument 2-0500. 175 beds. It mostly serves the black residents of Manhattan and the Bronx.

  • U.S. Marine Hospital, 67 Hudson St., tel. BArclay 7-6150. This is their out-patient facility; they have a 540 bed hospital on Ellis Island, and another hospital on Staten Island.

 

Media and Communications

 

Newspapers

 

     Daily papers of general interest with offices in New York City:

 

  • Baltimore Sun, 110 East 42nd St.

  • Boston Globe, 110 East 42nd St.

  • Brooklyn Standard Union, 233 Broadway

  • Chicago Daily News, 110 East 42nd St.

  • Chicago Herald & Examiner, 1834 Broadway

  • Chicago Tribune, 512 Fifth Ave.

  • Christian Science Monitor, 270 Madison Ave.

  • Cleveland Plain Dealer, 110 East 42nd St.

  • Courrier des Etats Unis   (French)

  • Daily Mirror, 55 Frankfort St.   (tabloid, sensation)

  • Daily News, 25 Park Place   (tabloid, sensation)

  • Daily Racing Form, 157 East 32nd St.

  • Dallas Evening Journal, 154 Nassau

  • Dallas News, 154 Nassau

  • Day, 183 East Broadway (aka the National Jewish Daily)

  • Detroit News, 50 East 42nd St.

  • Evening Post, 75 West

  • Evening Sun, 280 Broadway

  • Il Progresso Italo-Americano, 42 Elm   (Italian)

  • Jewish Daily Forward, 173-175 East Broadway   (Yiddish)

  • Jewish Daily News, 187 East Broadway

  • Jewish Morning Journal, 77 Bowery   (Yiddish)

  • Kansas City Star, 15 East 40th St.

  • La Prensa, 245 Canal   (Spanish)

  • Los Angeles Examiner, 285 Madison Ave.

  • Manchester Guardian, 220 West 42nd St.

  • Morning Telegraph, 826 Eighth Ave.

  • New York Evening Journal, 2 Columbus Circle

  • New York Evening Post, 75 West

  • New York Evening World, 53-63 Park Row

  • New York Herald, 73 Dey

  • New York Times, 229 West 43rd St.

  • New York Tribune, 272 West 125th St.

  • New Yorker Volkszeitung, 47 Walker   (German)

  • Osaka Mainichi, 154 Nassau   (Japanese)

  • Philadelphia Enquirer, 285 Madison Ave.

  • St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 41 Park Row

  • San Francisco Examiner, 285 Madison Ave.

  • The Sun, 280 Broadway

  • Szabadsag, 154 Nassau, the Bronx (Hungarian)

  • Wall Street Journal, 44 Broadway

  • Women's Wear Daily, 8 East 13th St.

  • World, 63 Park Row

 

     There are dozens of specialty daily publications, and hundreds of weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual publications printed in New York City. These range from widely-read and well-respected, such as Harper's or the New Yorker, down to the Homiletic Review, the Cracker Bakers' Monthly, the Perfumer and Essential Oil Review, and the Sweater News.

 

Radio

 

Telephones

 

     Time and date:  MEridian 7-1212. Weather:  WEather 6-1212.

     Rates within Manhattan for telephone service are $4.25 per month (up to 66 outgoing calls); installation costs $3.50. Calls within Manhattan from a telephone booth cost 5 cents. Emergency calls are free.

     The cheapest long distance rates are to the continental United States, Canada and Cuba; the minimum charge is 25 cents. There's a 10% Federal tax on the phone charges, starting with calls that cost 50 cents or more. A person-to-person call from lower Manhattan to San Francisco costs $8.75 on weekdays during daytime.

     Typical 1939 rates for overseas calls from Manhattan, on weekdays during daytime.

 

  • London, UK:  $21

  • Paris, France:  $21

  • Rome, Italy:  $24

  • Warsaw, Poland:  $25.50

  • Bucharest, Romania:  $27

  • Sydney, Australia:  $27.75

  • Shanghai, China:  $27.75

  • Cairo, Egypt:  $30

  • Tokyo, Japan:  $30.75

  • Cape Town, South Africa:  $33

 

     Calls to ships at sea:  $18 in the Atlantic (but only $9 if within 500 miles of New York City), $24.75 in the Pacific.

     The 1939 directory can be found here.

 

Postal Services

 

     The General Post Office at 421 Eighth Ave. between 31st and 33rd St. (across from Pennsylvania Station) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

     First-class letter postage for anywhere in the continental United States, 3 cents per ounce; post cards, 1 cent. Air mail letters within the continental U.S. are carried at 8 cents for the first ounce, and 13 cents for each additional ounce; foreign air mail (see below -- all are within North and South America) an additional 3 cents.

     First-class letter postage for most foreign locations, 5 cents for the first ounce, plus 3 cents per additional ounce. Post cards are mostly 3 cents. Several nations in Central America, and the northern end of South America, are less expensive.

     As of 1934, air mail time between cities in the continental United States is usually a day; from New York City to some foreign places:

 

Air Mail Transit Time

nation

city

time

Argentina

Buenos Aires

9 days

Brazil

Rio de Janiero

7 days

Mexico

Mexico City

2 days

 

Telegraph Services

 

     ...

 

Libraries

 

  • Morgan Library

    • 33 East 36th St. Founded by J. Pierpont Morgan. An amazing collection of texts and ancient objects.

  • New York Public Library

    • Main Branch at Fifth Ave. and 40th-42nd St.; branches near docks:  209 West 23rd St., 457 West 40th St.; other branches throughout city.

 

Points of Interest

 

     Most of these are in Manhattan.

 

a 1933 photograph of Manhattan

 

Below Washington Square

 

     Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, Fraunce's Tavern, Trinity Church, St. Pauls, Financial & Shipping Districts, Woolworth Building, City Hall (1812), Civic Center, Brooklyn Bridge, Tombs, Bowery, Chinatown, Cooper Union, Grace Church.

 

Washington Square to Central Park

 

     Washington Arch, Union Square with statues of Washington, Lincoln and Lafayette, Tammany Hall, Roosevelt's birthplace, Madison Square, Appellate Division of Supreme Court, Metropolitan Life Bldg., Times Bldg., Chrysler Bldg., Empire State Bldg., Grand Central Station, Pennsylvania Station, hotels, New Madison Square Garden, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Thomas' Church, Rockefeller Center-Radio City, Central Park (with zoo).

 

Empire State Building

 

     34th St. at Fifth Ave.; 102 stories, 1248 feet tall, completed 1931. Al Smith's company Empire State Ltd. built and owns the Empire State Building. His office is on the 32nd floor. He's quite the expert on New York City history. His bodyguard is an Irishman, the former NYPD detective, Bill Roy. Al Smith has excellent social, business and institutional connections within New York City. You can hear his speaking voice here:

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fbs_qsYAtg

     The Empire State Building has several steam turbines in the upper basement, driving generators for 2.2 megawatts of electrical power. They normally take about 15 minutes to get started. A separate diesel generator is installed to quickly provide power for elevator service.
     The building employs a fire department of its own:  25 during the day, 16 at night, all supervised by a former captain of the NYFD.

     It takes 45 seconds to get from the lobby to the 80th floor. The 86th floor (the main observatory) has a tea room and soda fountain, in fine Art Deco style.
     The building is about 20% rented in the early to mid-Thirties; fees from visitors to the 86th floor are well over half of the building's income. It costs $1 to visit the 86th floor.

 

Chrysler Building

 

     Lexington Avenue at 42nd St.; 77 stories, 1046 feet tall, completed 1930.

 

R.C.A. Building

 

     Part of the Rockefeller Center. 70 stories, 850 feet tall. Opened in 1933. Also in Rockefeller Center:  Radio City Music Hall, the RKO office building, and the Center Theater.

 

East of Central Park

 

     Residences, Cornell Medical Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cleopatra's Needle.

 

West of Central Park

 

     Columbus Circle with Columbus Memorial, Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, Riverside Drive, Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Luke's Hospital, Columbia University, Grant's Tomb, Riverside Church.

 

Upper New York

 

     Hispanic Society of America, Jumel Mansion, Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, George Washington Bridge, New York University with Hall of Fame, Van Cortlandt Park and Mansion, Bronx Park (with zoological and botanical gardens), The Cloisters (medieval art), Pelham Bay Park (boating, fishing, camping).

 

Excursions

 

     Staten Island (ferry 5 cents), Coney Island by subway (5 cents each way) or by boat, in summer only (50 minutes from Battery). Harbor trips.

 

Beaches

 

  • Coney Island, in Brooklyn

  • Orchard Beach, in the Bronx

  • Rockaway Beach, in Queens

  • Jones Beach, in Nassau County, Long Island (thus not actually in NYC)

  • Long Beach, in Nassau County, Long Island

  • Rye Beach, in Westchester County

 

Utilities

 

Electrical Power

 

In Manhattan

 

  • Kingsbridge:  upper Manhattan, originally built in 1904 for the Third Avenue Railroad. On Ninth Ave, between 216th and 218th Streets. Sixteen 3.5 megawatt 6600 VAC generators, each powered by a Westinghouse-Corliss steam engine. Owned by New York Edison Company. Capacity in 1932:  56 megawatts.

  • Ninety-Sixth Street:  originally built in 1899 for the Metropolitan Street Railway. Located on Ninety-Sixth Street at the East River. Eleven steam engines each drive a GE 6600 VAC generator of 3.5 megawatts output. This station isn't normally in service, acting as a backup reserve power source. Capacity in 1932:  38.5 megawatts.

  • Seventy-Fourth Street:  originally built between 1899 and 1911 for the Manhattan Elevated Railroad company. Eight Allis-Corliss reciprocating steam engines each drive a Westinghouse 11000 VAC of 7.5 megawatts power. A ninth Westinghouse steam turbine, driving yet another 7.5 megawatt generator, was installed in 1911. By 1915 four of the Allis-Corliss engines were replaced by cross-compound steam turbines each driving a 30 megawatt generator. And in 1918 yet another cross-compound steam turbine was installed, driving three 20 megawatt alternators. The exhaust steam from this facility is sent to various buildings in Manhattan, for steam heating. Electrical generating capacity in 1932:  217.5 megawatts.

  • Fifty-Ninth Street:  built in 1904 for the IRT; it's located on 59th Street, between 11th Avenue and the Hudson River. Nine Allis-Chalmers steam engines each power a 7.5 megawatt alternators ... the engines are the largest stationary steam engines ever built. In 1911, five turbines were installed to use the exhaust steam; each of these produced 7.5 megawatts of electrical power. And in 1922, three more steam turbines were installed, each powering a 30 megawatt alternator; from this point on, the Allis-Chalmers engines were only operated as reserve power. This building also sends exhaust steam to buildings in the southern end of Manhattan. Electrical generating capacity in 1932:  195 megawatts.


     Manhattan's electrical usage is somewhere around 2,000 megawatts at peak. Those four stations listed above can only provide about 1/4 of the electrical requirements of Manhattan. Electrical generation plants in the Bronx and other boroughs produce nearly all the rest of the city's requirements.
     These stations power various things, but specifically the subways rely on them for their unique set of voltages and alternating current.

 

Transport

 

Ocean Travel

 

     We have the pier assignments for some ocean liners:

 

  • Compagnia Transatlantica:  Pier 8 on the East River

  • Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (French Line):  Piers 57 and 90 on the North River 

  • Cunard Steamship Company:  Piers 53, 54, 56 and 71 on the North River 

  • Lloyd Italiano: Pier 97 on the North River 

  • United States Lines:  Pier 60 on the North River

  • Ward Line:  Piers 13 and 14 on the East River

     

Ferries

 

Airports and Air Routes

 

     The "Airlines Terminal" at East 42nd Street (facing Grand Central Terminal) has buses to Newark Metropolitan Airport. There are four air ports in or near New York City:

 

  • East 34th Street Ferry Landing on Manhattan is used for some short-distance seaplane flights.

  • Floyd Bennett Field, in Brooklyn -- mostly used for general aviation, there were only 52 air line passengers served from here in 1933 (entirely aircraft diverted from landing at Newark due to heavy fog). The Coast Guard bases some aircraft here. No scheduled commercial traffic. There are three seaplane ramps.

  • Glenn Curtiss Airport, in Queens on the shored of Flushing Bay (later becomes La Guardia Airport), a private flying field.

  • Newark Metropolitan Airport, New Jersey -- the only commercial airport in the New York City region, and the busiest commercial airport in the world. In 1933 there were 19,232 landings here, and 120,000 passengers were served. Service is provided by:

    • American Airways, to Boston, Albany (and Montreal), Buffalo

    • TWA to Columbus, Kansas City and Los Angeles

    • United Air Lines, to Chicago

       

       

Railway Stations and Trains

 

     There are two railway stations of note in New York City:  Grand Central Station and Pennsylvania Station. Four other stations are located in New Jersey, west of the Hudson River.

 

Subways and Elevated Trains

 

Trolleys and Buses

 

     The Greyhound Bus Terminal is between 33rd and 34th St., facing Pennsylvania Station.

 

Taxicabs

 

Rental Automobiles

 

Major Bridges and Tunnels

 

     The East River is crossed by the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Hell Gate Bridge.

     The Hudson River is crossed by the George Washington Bridge.

 

Cortlandt Street Tunnel

 

     A pair of tunnels connecting Manhattan (at the Hudson Terminal, roughly where the World Trade Center would be built) with Jersey City (at Exchange Place Station). They are entirely owned and operated by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad.

 

Holland Tunnel

 

     Two tubes that carry automotive traffic under the Hudson River, from Canal Street in Manhattan to 12th Street in Jersey City.

 

Uptown Hudson Tubes

 

     Two tunnels which connect a few subway stations in Manhattan to Jersey City, where the trains either go south to Hoboken Terminal, or north to Newport Station. These tunnels are owned and operated by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad.

 

Pennsylvania Railway Tunnel

 

     These two tunnels extend under the Hudson River, from Pennsylvania Station and below 10th Avenue, to Weehawken, New Jersey (no stop), and to the Manhattan Transfer Station, at Newark. Only electric locomotives are used in these tunnels. Later called the "North River Tunnels".

 


 

Bibliography

 

  • Underneath New York, by Harry Granick, pub. 1947 by Henry Holt and Co., New York City

  • The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book 1936, edited by Claude O. Pike, pub. 1936 by The Chicago Daily News, Chicago

  • The World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1934, edited by Robert Hunt Lyman, pub. 1934 by The New York World-Telegram, New York City

  • Baedeker's International Trade Developer - American Commercial Gazetteer, pub. 1929 by the International Transportation Association, Washington D.C.

  • The Seamen's Handbook for Shore Leave, edited by Mrs. Henry Howard, pub. 1944 (Eighth Edition) by the New York & American Merchant Marine Library Association, New York City

  • Living Downtown:  The History of Residential Hotels in the United States, by Paul Groth, pub. 1994 by University of California Press, Berkeley Calif.

  • White-Orr's 1930 Directory (and lots of their other reference works), pub. various dates, by White, Orr & Co., New York City

  • Manhattan Telephone Directory 1940 Issue, pub. 1940 by the New York Telephone Company

  • Norman's Simplified Maps of New York City, by Norman Garbush, pub. 1945 by Norman Garbush, New York City

  • New York Central Time Tables, Effective November 16, 1930, pub. by New York Central Railroad, New York City

  • Lackawanna Railroad Time Tables, In Effect December 1, 1933, pub. by the Lackawanna Railroad, New York City

     

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