Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
The life and death of
private NYC subways
BY LARRY PENNER
Riding the old 1904 subway cars between
Times Square and 96th Street
on Oct. 27 was a great way to celebrate
the 115th Anniversary NYC Subway System.
It was a generation of people who respected
authority and law. Previous generations of riders
did not litter subway stations, trains, trolleys
or buses, by leaving behind gum, candy
wrappers, paper cups, bottles and newspapers.
On Oct. 27, 1904, the Interborough Rapid
Transit company opened the fi rst subway line.
It ran 9 miles from City Hall uptown on the
eastside across 42nd Street (today’s 42nd
Street Shuttle) to Times Square and proceeded
uptown to 145th Street and included 28
stations. Over 150,000 riders paid a fi ve-cent
fare.
The original BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan
Rapid Transit – today’s B,D,J,M, N,Q, R, W
& Z lines) and IRT (Interboro Rapid Transit -
1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Franklin Ave and Times Square
shuttles) subway systems were constructed
and managed by the private sector with no
government operating subsidies. Financial
viability was 100% dependent upon farebox
revenues. They supported both development
and economic growth of neighborhoods in the
boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and
Queens.
As part of the franchise agreement which
owners had to sign, City Hall had direct control
over the fare structure. For a time, owners
actually made a profi t with a fi ve-cent fare. After
FILE PHOTO/THE VILLAGER
two decades passed, the costs of salaries,
maintenance, power, supplies and equipment
would pressure owners to ask City Hall for
permission to raise the fares. This additional
revenue was needed to keep up with maintaining
a good state of repair, increase the frequency
of service, purchase new subway cars,
pay employee salary increases and support
planned system expansion.
Politicians more interested in the next reelection
refused this request for over a decade.
Owners of both systems looked elsewhere to
reduce costs and stay in business. They started
curtailing basic maintenance, delayed purchases
of new subway cars, postponed employee
salary increases, canceled planned system expansion
and cut corners to survive. (Does any
of this sound familiar from the present?)
In 1932, NYC began building and fi nancing
the construction of the new IND (Independent
Subway – today’s A,C,E,F & G lines). This
new municipal system, subsidized by taxpayers
dollars would provide direct competition
to both the IRT and BMT. Municipal government
forced them into economic ruin by denying
them fare increases that would have provided
access to additional needed revenues.
Big Brother, just like the Godfather, made
them an offer they couldn’t refuse. The owners
folded in 1940 and sold out to City Hall.
Larry Penner is a transportation historian,
writer and advocate who previously worked
31 years for the United States Department of
Transportation Federal Transit Administration
Region 2 New York Offi ce.
Move forward
with East River
plan
I have coached kids in the
East River Park for 30 years,
the last fi ve years I have served
with the New York Giants
Youth Baseball Club, a baseball
program with teams for
kids ages 5 to 17. As a coach
and a lifelong resident of the
Lower East Side, I can attest
that East River Park has been
a haven for our neighborhood,
offering our children and families
a space to play, exercise
and gather as a community.
In the aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy, East River Park
was one of the public parks
that could not immediately be
reopened due to the extensive
damage to our ballfi elds and
drainage system. As it stands
now, the park’s existing drainage
and sewage system does
not have the capacity to handle
localized fl ooding or heavy
rainfall that we see throughout
the year.
Kids in the community constantly
lose time on the fi eld
due to massive water puddles
that accumulate as a result of
inadequate drainage. This has
been the case at East River
Park for at least 10 years.
Long term action needs to
be taken to protect our community
and upgrade our park
and we must move forward
with the East Coast Resiliency
Project at the East River Park.
The plan has already been
updated to address our biggest
concern, phased construction,
which will allow for nearly
50% of the park to remain
open throughout the project.
While we are still working
with the Parks Department
to fi nalize schedules for our
teams in the park and at other
nearby fi elds our progress is a
good sign of the city’s commitment
to youth recreation and
our community as a whole.
More important than any
other feature, with the limited
open space on the Lower East
Side, the sports fi elds at East
River Park are an invaluable
resource to the thousands of
children, many of them from
NYCHA who rely on the fi elds
for organized athletics and recreation.
With this plan, the children I
coach and the rest of our community
will get fl ood protection,
construction phasing and
a new park with new fi elds. I
believe we should move forward
with the East Side Coastal
Resiliency Plan now that a
good majority of our community’s
concerns have been addressed.
Danny Ramirez
Remembering a
great educator
Regarding the memorial
for Susan Korn (Oct. 24):
Oh, how very sad. Susan was
an amazing human being! So
easy to be with, to talk with, to
party with. I worked with her
for ten years at PS 3 and would
occasionally run into her on
the M8 bus after I moved on
to the Salk School. I will not
be able to be at the memorial
in body, but I will be thinking
of Susan and all the wonderful
memories of her and PS 3.
All my love to her friends and
family.
Harriet Glassman
Honoring
a beloved
fi lmmaker
On the death of NYU fi lmmaker
Arnold Baskin (Oct.
24): Arnie gave me the encouragement
to be myself as a fi lmmaker.
He would laugh with
us at our failures and he would
not bullshit us and would not
accept any either. He would
look skeptical and move
on. He would fl oat when he
moved. One day I was walking
near University Place with my
friend Greg, who was in Arnie’s
class with me when Greg
said “doesn’t Arnie Baskin
live around here?” And like
a Woody Allen Movie there
he was right behind us and he
greeted us both my name. He
smiled, moved his scarf with
his hand as if it was blown
by the wind. Arnie taught us
not just how to make movies,
but how to be in our own lifemovie
as he had created his.
We were special, we were fi lmmakers,
Arnie’s auteurs.
Walter Pitt
Schneps Media October 31, 2019 13