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Full Description
What sets Staten Island apart from the rest of New York City? The island's identity has in part been defined in opposition to the city, its physical and cultural differences, and the perception of neglect by city government. It has long been whiter, wealthier, less populated, and more politically conservative. And despite many attempts over the years, Staten Island is not connected by the subway to any of the other four boroughs.
Kenneth M. Gold argues that the lack of a subway connection has deeply shaped Staten Island's history and identity. He chronicles decades of recurrent efforts to build a rail link, using this history to explore the borough's fraught relationship with New York City as a whole. The Forgotten Borough ranges from when Staten Island first contemplated joining the city in the 1890s to the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, highlighting pivotal moments when the construction of a subway appeared possible. The economics and engineering of tunnel construction, the difficulty of uniting Staten Islanders around a single solution, competition from the other boroughs, and resistance from powerful corporations and public authorities all undermined a rapid transit connection. Gold demonstrates that the failure to establish a rail link during this period caused Staten Island to diverge culturally, demographically, and politically from the other four boroughs. Drawing on extensive archival research, The Forgotten Borough shows how transportation infrastructure and politics shed new light on urban history.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Consolidation and Its Aftermath
1. Setting the Stage: Staten Island in the Late Nineteenth Century
2. Joining the City: Staten Island and the Consolidation of New York, 1898
3. Envisioning the Future: What Consolidation Would Bring to Staten Island, 1890-1909
Part II: A Subway for Growth
4. Hitching a Ride: Early Efforts to Tunnel to Staten Island, 1900-1909
5. Leaving the Station: The Dual Contracts and Aftermath, 1909-1919
6. Planning the Region: The Hylan Tunnel and the Politics of Commerce, 1920-1923
7. Getting the Shaft: The Demise of the Hylan Tunnel, 1922-1925
Part III: Subway Persistence and Automobile Emergence
8. Driving the Narrows: New Options for Connection, 1925-1932
9. Facing the Competition: Last Gasps for a Subway and a Tunnel, 1933-1945
10. Spanning the Narrows: The Triumph of the Verrazano Bridge, 1945-1964
11. Assessing the Disconnect: What the Distance Wrought
Conclusion
Epilogue: What the Bridge Wrought
A Note on Staten Island's Historic Newspapers
Source Abbreviations
Notes
Index
