722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York (Paperback)

~ Professor Clifton Hood (Author) "I wrote this book for two separate audiences: fellow scholars of urban history and readers who are captivated by the history of cities, particularly New..." (more)
Key Phrases: transit unification, subway politics, rapid transit planning, New York, Jackson Heights, East River (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New York City's rapid transit system, the longest in the world, was built between 1904 and 1940, and initally was operated as three separate lines (Interborough Rapid Transit, or IRT; Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, or BMT; and the Independent System, or IND), all of which were eventually unified into one municipal system. Hood, a professor of history at Hobart and William Smith College in New York, here provides a clear, perceptive and carefully researched study of this engineering feat and the ways in which the subway led to an expansion of the metropolitan area. Financed by both private and public funds, construction was hampered by conflicts between financiers and politicians, as well as by geological obstacles which led to devastating underground accidents. Hood convincingly argues that the takeover of the subways by the Transit Authority in 1953 resulted in a progressive deterioration that can only be remedied by government subsidies. This is a strong contribution to urban studies. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The New York subway was the vision of a few enlightened politicians working with a tight-knit mercantile elite who saw the potential that a high-speed underground rail system would have as a vehicle for urban development. Hood (American history, Hobart and William Smith Coll.) tells the fascinating story of the individuals who created this unparalleled achievement of civil engineering. This concise, scholarly history describes the impact on urban life and the creation of new neighborhoods (the Upper West Side, Harlem, Jackson Heights) separated only by a nickel fare from the heart of the city. Hood chronicles the changes in the city's political climate, from a laissez-faire mood at the onset of the century through the rise of the progressive reform movement, concluding in the big-government era of the 1950s. Hood's work fills an important chapter in the history of the city; recommended for urban history, planning, and architecture collections.
- Thomas P.R. Nugent, New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801852447
• ISBN-13: 978-0801852442
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,034,714 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Invaluable work for city scholars, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

In you are looking for a tour guide of New York's vast subway system, or a concise timeline of its construction and equipment, look elsewhere.

What Clifton Hood has produced is a political history of the subway which should be read by every student of New York history and every person who wants to understand better the workings of New York City politics today.

The reader will find such familiar personages as Boss Tweed and Fiorello LaGuardia, but will also read about John F. Hylan, mayor from 1918-1925.

Hylan's is hardly a household name in popular New York history--he is known instead to the relative handful of people who delve into the recesses of Big Apple politics of the early 20th century.

In 722 Miles, Hood places Hylan in his proper place as the man who politicized the NYC transit system and, in so doing, set the stage for the long deterioration of the system which is only now being reversed.

I could quibble with various aspects of Hood's book--perhaps he focuses too much attention on one or another story relatively peripheral to the system's development while treating too lightly other threads. For example, he doesn't visit the influence of the BRT (later BMT) system until it became involved in the subway building contracts of 1913.

Additionally, to address the concerns of an earlier reviewer, there are lapses in editing which are odd in so heavily researched and footnoted a work. For example, at one point (using my hardbound copy as reference), Hood described a laborer's pay on the first subway as being $2.00 or $2.25 PER HOUR, a princely sun at the time, when he clearly meant PER DAY. Elsewhere, in describing the distastrous Malbone Street accident of 1918, he twice specifies that the fully wrecked car was number 109, when it is well known to have been 100--an insignificant detail, perhaps, but one which causes one to wonder what others details might have been mistated.

All in all, however, these lapses do not dim Hood's achievement in producing the only modern work of its kind, a compelling and perceptive look at the way New York City politics have interacted with perhaps its most significant public work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't cover everything, of course., March 11, 2002

By	yarily_holp (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

As another reviewer mentioned, this isn't a tourist guide. There aren't that many maps, and the ones present do not show stops. Aside from the creation of new suburbs such as Jackson Heights, there isn't a whole lot of discussion of how the subways affected neighborhoods after they were built, especially after cars began to take over.

The main point this book makes is how the combination of enforced low fares and the perception of rapid transit as a business rather than a public service caused the subways' decline. The beginning of the book describes some of the engineering problems involved in building subways in New York. I would have liked to have seen more of that, especially for later, non-IRT subways; diagrams of the terrain in question would have been interesting.

Anyway, the book has to stop somewhere. For all that's left out, the discussion of people and politics, and of how things could have turned out differently, is fascinating.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not A Tourist Guide?, February 15, 2004

By A Customer

In response to other reviewers: this book is not MEANT to be a tourist guide, it IS, however, an academic study, and a very good one indeed. For those who did not enjoy the book, because of it's lack of pictures, perhaps the problems lie with the reader rather than the author?