Customer Reviews

How We Got to Coney Island: The Development of Mass Transportation in Brooklyn and Kings County

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Did you ever sit down with an elderly relative who is in a chatty mood, and suddenly realize how ignorant you were about your own family history? Finally learning how a particular "aunt", whom you've heard about a million times, is related to you? That's what reading Cudahy's book about the development of mass transit on Coney Island is like.
For example, I'd taken the "Culver" train many times without realizing that the destination had no street are area by that name, and only learned from this book that Andrew Culver developed one of the original rail lines across Brooklyn.
If you're a current or former Brooklynite, there are many "aha!" moments in this book, and a great explanation of how the development of Coney Island for recreation is what led to the development of mass transit across the borough.
This is a "niche" book, for those interested in Brooklyn history and for those interested in trains, and if you are looking for human interest, i.e., for a book about how the waves of immigrants have changed Brooklyn many times over, you should look elsewhere. The only people this book focuses on are the industrialists who left their imprint on Brooklyn by developing and redeveloping its transportation. It does that amazingly well. Make sure you really do want to hear these old stories.

There is a lot of information in this book covering the period of mass transit in brooklyn from earliest trolleys to the BMT era and effectively ending with consolidation with the IND and IRT.
This man single-handedly knows more about this subject than anyone living or dead, quite impressive.
Only complain is that it does not quite meet academic standards, not that is was meant to, in that events such as bankruptcies are spoken without being put into a national context (as does Molloy in his excellently researched book on Rhode Island mass transit).
Nevertheless, if you ever worked for the MTA in Brooklyn or knew a loved one who did or care about the greatest borough in the universe, there is something in this book for you. That said, the writing is a bit dense.

OK I am a native Brooklynite but I learned a lot about how mass transit in Brooklyn evolved. Answered several questions I had about what some routes went the way that they did. Book could have a few more maps for my taste. An enjoyable read!