Blog Posts by Subject: Transportation

Much attention has been paid lately to the MTA during what has been termed the “Summer of Hell.” Instead of simply bemoaning the current state of affairs, we can look to a citizen’s group that has been actively working toward improving the City transit system for almost forty years.

To keep the spirit of adventure and travel going all month long, a look into the Writers' Project Series of American Guide books, published in the 1930s-1940s and available from The New York Public Library and online.

Within our contemporary climate of #BlackLivesMatter, The Green Book guides deserve continued discussion of their value as not only a practical travel resource for their time, but also as a survival guide.

A companion post for test takers of the MTA Conductor exam.

How many times have you stared dreamily at an Art Card on the subway ride to work? Did you know you can find many of the featured artists at the library?

Did you know our subway and commuter rail stations, bridges, and tunnels are home to more than three hundred works of art?

Where to find the exam prep book and the things you can learn without it—all you need is a library card.

Join us for an Author @ the Library talk this March at Mid-Manhattan Library to hear distinguished non-fiction authors discuss their work and answer your questions.

Beach Pneumatic Transit Company built 312 feet of tunnel under Broadway from Warren Street to Murray Street. It closed in 1873 and the tunnel was used for a while as a shooting gallery, but even that did not pay, and for years the tunnel was neglected and the entrance was closed by an iron grating. Read more about the subway that could have been.

Recent photos, compared side by side with photographs of the construction of New York’s first subway, which opened in 1904, provide stark contrasts. They are evidence of an industry drastically changed: the methods of construction used, the condition and expressions of the workers, and the scale of the projects differ in striking ways.

We can gain a deep understanding of the development of the city’s public transit infrastructure simply by examining nine maps published between 1845 and 1921.

The full text of the Schomburg Center's collection of The Green Book is now available on NYPL's Digital Collections site.

"Everybody in New York wants rapid transit, but, strange to say, the moment that anybody sets to work with a definite plan for its realization, they are vigorously opposed and the work prevented." Looking at some of the early proposed (and sometimes partially built) railways for New York City for which the Science, Industry and Business Library has visual materials.

Philosophical inquiry at the movies… a looming retirement crisis… familiar New York landmarks seen from unexpected angles… the birth of NYC’s power system… the language hoax… the hidden history of the mob in NYC… Tomorrow-Land, the 1964-1965 World’s Fair… the great Boston - New York subway race… the Kitty Genovese murder… the inventor of electric traction… the hospice movement… the makers of modern Manhattan…

Is there anybody out there who does not like trains? OK, perhaps more than a few people are fed up with their daily commute. Also, trains do sometimes fail us. It was very unfortunate that during the March Snowstorm of 1888 about seventy-five miles of the Long Island Railroad system was blockaded by the snow and that the street railroad system of Brooklyn became useless.

Bicycles were first introduced in 19th century Europe and by now number approximately one billion worldwide, providing the principal means of transportation in many regions. In Bicycle: The History, David Herlihy noted the passions the introduction of bicycle aroused. Mark Twain (1835-1910) supposedly wrote: “Get a bicycle. You will not regret it—if you live.”

A new approach to health care reform ... 20 years of Harlem Street Portraits ... humanist architecture ... The Extreme Life of the Sea ... New York City's unbuilt subways ... mothers ... the power of storytelling ... a century of candy ... New York's lost amusement parks ... the public library ... 11 missing men of WWII ... great city planning.

First they invented the automobile. Then... marketing: How are we going to sell these things?

One marketing tool was the catalog. And that gives a good opening to briefly talk about NYPL's extensive collection of historical automobile catalogs, which can be found at SIBL.

First, let me mention two existing resources on the NYPL website for automobile catalogs:

From the Digital Gallery:

The New York State Department of Labor and Randstad (FedEx Ground) will present an On-Site Recruitment for Temporary Drivers.

Job Summary

Randstad is adding temporary drivers to provide transportation service for FedEx Ground in the NYC area. This is a full-time seasonal position. Drivers will be servicing: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan,