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Peter Derrick

Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York Paperback – April 1, 2002

by Peter Derrick (Author)

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A look into the 1913 subway expansion project that "proved the city's physical salvation"

In 1910, New York City was bursting at the seams as more and more people crowded into a limited supply of housing in the tenement districts of Manhattan and the older areas of Brooklyn. With no outlet for its exploding population, and the burgeoning social problems created by the overwhelming congestion, New York faced a serious crisis which city and state leaders addressed with dramatic measures. In March 1913, public officials and officers of the two existing rapid transit networks shook hands to seal a deal for a greatly expanded subway system which would more than double the size of the two existing transit networks.

At the time the largest and most expensive single municipal project ever attempted, the Dual System of Rapid Transit set the pattern of growth in New York City for decades to come, helped provide millions of families a better quality of life, and, in the words of Manhattan borough president George McAneny (1910-1913), "proved the city's physical salvation." It stands as that rare success story, an enormously complicated project undertaken against great odds which proved successful beyond all measure.

Published in conjunction with the History of the City of New York Project.

Print length

442 pages
Language

English
Publisher

NYU Press
Publication date

April 1, 2002
Dimensions

6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0814719546
ISBN-13

978-0814719541
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Reveals not only the details of the subway movement's slow progress in the political arena, but the process of coming to terms with the private subway companies and their financial backers in 1913." ― Choice

Book Description

Published in conjunction with the History of the City of New York Project. "...a valuable case study in the micropolitics of one of the Progressive era's signature projects." (The Wall Street Journal) "Illuminating . . . " (New York magazine)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press (April 1, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 442 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0814719546
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0814719541
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,550,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #214 in Mass Transit (Books)
- #2,584 in History of Technology
- #39,579 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
9 ratings

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saskatoonguy

A political-financial history of the "Dual Contracts"

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2001

Verified Purchase

Peter Derrick's book covers the "Dual Contracts" era of subway construction in New York, when numerous lines were built between 1910 and 1931 by the IRT and the BRT /BMT. Derrick focuses on the interactions between executives of the then-existing subway companies and municipal politicians. Only a few paragraphs cover the "Independent" subway system, which was built after 1931.
Endnotes, bibliography, etc., comprise 155 pages of this book, or nearly a third of its pages. There are eight maps and 24 period photographs. There is nothing in this book about station design, track layouts, operating procedures, or rolling stock. In fact, the book ends when construction began. It was a worthy endeavor of historical research to document the political deal-making of this period, but some readers may be disappointed that the author's interest was solely in the back-room political gamesmanship that preceded construction

26 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Good read, helps you understand the politics of NY ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

Good read, helps you understand the politics of NY which hasn't changed in over 300 years - we're still bickering !

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2016

Verified Purchase

Well written history of the development NYC subway system in its early years.

Helpful

Bernard W. Martin

Know history or condenmed to repeat it

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Every tunnel engineers needs the story of the tunnels in New York, those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it

Helpful

shows the trade-offs

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2020

This book is primarily about the 1909-13 negotiations between New York City, the state government of New York, and private transit companies over subway expansion. The book shows that the city and its partners had very different agendas. City officials actually wanted the city to sprawl into undeveloped parts of Queens and Brooklyn, because they were worried that the overcrowding of Manhattan's poorer neighborhoods spread disease. (Of course, we now know that this problem was more related to poor sanitation than to density).

By contrast, transit companies wanted new subway lines to be concentrated in neighborhoods that were already built up, because then (as now) only in the densest areas can transit pay for itself. Ultimately, the transit companies went bankrupt and the city took over the subways- not just because subway lines went into less dense areas, but also because World War I inflation wiped out their profits by increasing construction and maintenance costs.

Most of this book focuses on financial details about the negotiations; as a result, it may be a bit dull for people who are not interested in such details.

Helpful

D. Leslie Winter

New York City's Pivotal Moment

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2001

No other historian has identified so important a piece of NYC's history on which so little is known, and written so lucidly about it. This is not just enjoyable history. You cannot understand New York City today without reading Derrick's book.
The greatest city of the modern era had its pivotal moment early in the 20th century with the decision in 1913 to double the size of its subway system: the largest public-works expenditure in the Western Hemisphere to that date. This decision, a dozen years and more in the making and led by Manhattan Borough President George McAneny, was propelled by the inability to resolve the problems of disease, crime, prosititution, overpopulation and poverty that overwhelmed Manhattan's Lower East Side, spilling into more affluent neighborhoods throughout the city. Getting employees out of impoverishment and to their jobs was now an impediment to development and modernization. The vision that turned farm lands into an urban center was a leap into the unknown and Derrick meticulously details this exciting chapter in NYC's history, a chapter that when fully understood, reveals how issues get resolved and great accomplishments propelled. In comparison, the highway system of the Robert Moses era was but an anxilary event.

17 people found this helpful

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Nicholas Gauthier

A well-researched book by a master historian.

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2012

Dr. Peter Derrick was born and raised in NYC, and his professional expertise is in transportation. There is no better person to tell the tale of the development of the New York subway system. While the actual details of physical construction are not covered in this book, the most important aspect of building the subway is - policy. The political processes in place at the time had a tremendous role in making the city what it is today.

One person found this helpful

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