Broadway_A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles

by Fran Leadon

  163 “When all the rest of the city is asleep”: William Henry Rideing, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine LVI, 331 (December 1877), 229.

  163 In Wabash, Indiana, Brush mounted: “Light from the Wires,” New York Sun, September 29, 1880, 3; “Report of the Tifflin City Council Investigating Committee,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, September 17, 1880, 3.

  164 “While Edison has been busy”: Untitled, New York Sun, October 1, 1880, 2.

  164 Brush built a power station: “New Lights in Broadway,” New York Times, December 20, 1880, 1; “Under the Electric Arc. The First Trial of the New Lights in New York Streets,” New York Sun, December 21, 1880, 3. The Times reported that the steam engine was 100 horsepower, the Sun that it was 125.

  164 traveling to Menlo Park: “The Electric Light. Tests in This City and at Menlo Park,” New York Tribune, December 21, 1880, 1.

  164 A. A. Hayes Jr. gave the signal: “Under the Electric Arc,” New York Sun, December 21, 1880, 3.

  165 “white, steady glare”: “Lights for a Great City. Brush’s System in Successful Use Last Night,” New York Times, December 21, 1880, 2.

  165 Startled pedestrians: “Lights for a Great City,” 2. The Sun, meanwhile, reported very different reactions to the Brush experiment: “There was no excitement in crowded Broadway as the lights blazed up the line, for nobody could take in the entire view at one time.” “Under the Electric Arc,” 3.

  165 “The great white outlines of the marble stores”: “Lights for a Great City,” 2.

  165 the old gaslights suddenly seemed “sickly yellow”: “Under the Electric Arc,” 3.

  165 From their office windows: “Lights for a Great City,” 2.

  165 the Brush Company was awarded a city contract: “City and Suburban News,” New York Times, May 14, 1881, 8.

  165 Brush mounted lights on 150 - foot - tall towers: “Electric Lights in the Parks,” New York Tribune, July 1, 1881, 8.

  165 an unearthly green tint: Richard Harding Davis, “Broadway,” Scribner’s Magazine, IX, 5 (May 1891), 602.

  165 An 1882 illustration: Charles Graham, illustrator, “The Electric Light in Madison Square, New York,” Harper’s Weekly XXVI, 1308 (January 14, 1882), 25.

  167 “infested by drowsy tramps”: “Home News. New-York City,” New York Tribune, December 27, 1880, 8.

  167 “I’ve come from a rump precinct”: “Lively Record of the Tenderloin, Which Wants a New Station House,” New York Sun, December 4, 1904, Second Section, 2.

  168 In 1881, p roperty owners: “A Neighborhood Full of Thieves,” New York Tribune, July 1, 1881, 8.

  168 “where the gay Bohemians dwell”: Bob Cole and Billy Johnson, “The Czar of the Tenderloin.” New York: George L. Spaulding, 1897. Music Division, New York Public Library.

  168 In 1899 two black men: “White Men Mob Negroes,” New York Times, October 22, 1899, 9.

  168 “the forbidden ground of Broadway”: Davis, “Broadway,” 596.

  169 “There are some who will tell you”: Ibid., 598.

  169 “traversing the avenues”: Charles H. Parkhurst, Our Fight with Tammany. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895, 55.

  169 50 percent of prisoners held: “Lively Record of the Tenderloin, Which Wants a New Station House,” 2.

  169 The victim was businessman James B. Craft : “Murderer Beheads Slain Man,” New York Evening World, September 27, 1902, 1; “Head Hacked Off in a Dive,” New York Sun, September 28, 1902, 1; “Butchered in a Low Resort,” New York Tribune, September 28, 1902, 1.

  170 turned into a one - act play: “Vaudeville in Yiddish. The Empire Garden Murder Played in a One-Act Sketch,” New York Sun, November 24, 1902, 7. The Empire Garden Tragedy opened at the new Oriental Music Hall, 624 Grand Street, on November 22, 1902.

  170 Tobin was convicted: “Death Sentence for Beheader,” New York Evening World, December 22, 1902, 12; “Death for Tobin, Craft’s Murderer,” New York Tribune, December 23, 1902, 6.

  170 “One of the most troublesome”: William McAdoo, Guarding a Great City. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1906, 93.

  170 “All of these mixed - race places”: Ibid., 95.

  170 “You can’t have too much light on crime”: “White Lights Vs. Red,” New York Evening World, September 2, 1904, 12.

  172 “The Tenderloin isn’t what it used to be”: “Lost Lights of the Tenderloin,” New York Evening World, April 28, 1903, 13.

  172 “The midnight throng on Broadway”: “New York That Never Sleeps,” New York Times, Magazine Section, January 8, 1905, 2.

  172 New Tenderloins took root: McAdoo, Guarding a Great City, 91.

  CHAPTER 20. GREAT WHITE WAY

  175 What was so great: The most direct influence on Broadway’s famous nickname may have been The Great White Way, a 1901 adventure novel by Albert Bigelow Paine that is long forgotten but was heavily advertised and extensively reviewed at the time of its publication. The story is set not on Broadway, although Broadway is mentioned here and there, but in Antarctica, which a group of explorers from New York reach after much difficulty. Surely Paine’s use of the title Great White Way as a description not of Broadway but of Antarctica means that Broadway wasn’t yet known, or at least wasn’t widely known, as the “Great White Way.” Four years later the nickname was still obscure enough that the New York Times put it in quotes: “[It] is at night, at the dinner hour, that Broadway—or the ‘Great White Way,’ as it is frequently called—assumes its distinctive character.” “New York That Never Sleeps,” New York Times, Magazine Section, January 8, 1905, 2.

  176 George M. Cohan wrote plays at a borrowed desk: Ward Morehouse, George M. Cohan, Prince of the American Theater. Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1943, 59.

  177 Edison mounted light bulbs on the heads: “Sixty Thousand in Line. The Grandest Parade Ever Seen in New-York,” New York Tribune, November 1, 1884, 1.

  179 Theodore Dreiser noticed Corbin’s sign: Theodore Dreiser, The Color of a Great City. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1923, 121.

  180 “[Electric signs] have become so numerous: “Ugly Electric Signs Mar Fifth Avenue,” New York Times, July 8, 1910, 6.

  180 It was so extraordinary: David E. Nye, Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1990, 52.

  181 “This is the best day”: “Epworth Leaguers Dine. Bishop Quayle Says New York Looks Good to Him,” New York Tribune, November 12, 1910, 7.

  181 “[Let us] get together”: “A ‘Great White Way’ Would Be Our Biggest Advertisement,” Richmond Daily Register (Richmond, Kentucky), September 29, 1919, 2.

  181 One real-estate company in tiny Newberry: Advertisement, Southeastern Realty Co., Herald and News (Newberry, South Carolina), February 10, 1920, 5.

  181 “At the touch of a button”: “Texas Street—El Paso’s Main Thoroughfare,” El Paso Herald, Texas Street and White Way Business Section, October 2, 1920, 8B.

  181 “For many years Omaha has waged a war”: “Signs That Dispel Darkness and Command Attention in Omaha,” Omaha Daily Bee Home Magazine, September 17, 1911, 2–3.

  182 “Less than a year ago Columbia”: “Viewpoints,” University Missourian (Columbia, Missouri), October 10, 1913, 2.

  CHAPTER 21. EDEN

  183 It passed through various estates: H. Croswell Tuttle, Abstracts of Farm Titles in the City of New York, Between 39th and 73rd Streets, West of the Common Lands, Excepting the Glass House Farm. New York: Spectator Co., 1881, 115–125.

  184 In 1803, Wortman lost the farm: Ibid., 365. In the 1830s Astor expanded his holdings in the area when he foreclosed on the former John Cosine farm just to the north, which ran from Broadway west to the Hudson River between 54th and 55th streets, for $59,740.

  184 relinquishing for $4,346 a substantial swath: Ibid., 125.

  184 the Estate was worth $20 million: Burton J. Hendrick, “The Astor Fortune,” McClure’s Magazine XXIV, 6 (April 1905), 573.

  185 the Estate was divided: Ibid.


  187 “You wouldn’t have to work, would you?”: Advertisement, Real Estate Record & Builder’s Guide 109, 23 (June 10, 1922), 714.

  187 invented a bicycle brake and an engine that burned peat: John D. Gates, The Astor Family. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1981, 179.

  188 Jack’s vision of New York in 2000: John Jacob Astor, A Journey in Other Worlds: A Romance of the Future. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1894, 43.

  188 “ twentieth - century stage - coaching ”: Ibid., 69.

  188 and Jack correctly predicted that a municipal subway system: Ibid., 52–79.

  188 Overnight, real - estate prices in the vicinity of Broadway: I. N. Phelps Stokes, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498 to 1909. Six volumes. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915–1928. Reprinted, New York: Arno Press, 1967, III, 819.

  189 office boy for the Knoxville Chronicle : “Adolph S. Ochs,” New York Times, April 9, 1935, 20.

  189 circulation jumped from 22,000 to 100,000: Ibid., 21.

  191 The station’s most arresting feature: “Big Sign in Times Station,” New York Times, October 28, 1904, 5.

  191 “The new name proposed is awkward”: “Don’t,” New York Tribune, March 26, 1904, 8.

  192 “Why should not each of our other daily papers”: “Object to Times Square. Protest of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society,” New York Tribune, June 19, 1904, 2.

  192 “it makes one dizzy to look”: “William Waldorf Astor, Englishman, Who Is on a Trip Here to View His New York Fortune,” New York Evening World, September 9, 1903, 3.

  192 The Washington Times suggested he wear: “Points in Paragraphs,” Washington Times, September 10, 1904, 4.

  192 Willie’s Hotel had cost : “A $9,000,000 Hotel,” Barre Daily Times (Barre, Vermont), September 10, 1904, 3.

  193 “From there I could see the city as it slept”: “Prince Louis Sees Big Financiers,” New York Evening World, November 13, 1905, 2.

  CHAPTER 22. TIMES SQUARES TYPES

  195 a “parade ground with elastic boundaries”: “The Rialto, Old and New,” New York Sun, September 8, 1895, 14.

  195 The building was far from finished: “Amusements. Opening of the New Casino,” New York Sun, October 22, 1882, 5.

  196 “promenade, sup, sip wine, flirt”: “A Series of Surprises. Novel Features of the Casino—A Double Theatre, Double Stage, and Two-Tier Summer Garden,” New York Tribune, June 19, 1883, 2.

  196 an “operatic war”: “The Italian Opera Season. Successful Opening Last Night. Both Temples of Music Well Patronized,” New York Tribune, October 23, 1883, 5.

  196 leased, for $1,200 per season: “Opening of the Italian Opera Season,” New York Tribune, October 21, 1883, 9.

  196 “Palace on Broadway”: “Crowding to Both Operas,” New York Sun, October 23, 1883, 1.

  196 “Where to go is this year”: “Opening of the Italian Opera Season,” 9.

  196 The Met’s opening - night throng: “Crowding to Both Operas,” 1; “The Italian Opera Season. Successful Opening Last Night. Both Temples of Music Well Patronized,” 5.

  197 “Diamonds glittered in all directions”: “The Italian Opera Season. Successful Opening Last Night. Both Temples of Music Well Patronized,” 5.

  197 crowd’s aggregate wealth at $450 million: “Opening of the Italian Opera Season,” 9.

  197 Caroline Astor outdid them: Ibid.; “Crowding to Both Operas,” 1.

  198 “Is New - York to become ‘the city of theatres’?”: “Theatrical Incidents and News Notes,” New York Tribune, April 26, 1903, p. 9.

  198 “Dishonest Abe”: Allen Churchill, The Great White Way. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1962, 166.

  198 he once chastised George M. Cohan: Ward Morehouse, George M. Cohan, Prince of the American Theater. Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1943, 74.

  198 Hammerstein leased the Theatre Republic to David Belasco: William Winter, The Life of David Belasco. New York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1918, II, 179.

  199 “[Erlanger] told me”: Ibid., 22.

  199 “impalliable trash”: Ibid., 339.

  199 Belasco was born : “The Most Picturesque Career of David Belasco,” New York Times Magazine, September 29, 1907, 7.

  200 At the groundbreaking ceremony: Winter, The Life of David Belasco, II, 235–236.

  201 The studio was stuffed: David Belasco, The Theatre Through Its Stage Door. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1919, 10 (facing); Winter, The Life of David Belasco, II, 241–243; The Collection of the Late David Belasco. New York: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, 1931.

  201 The hammer fell for an entire week: The Collection of the Late David Belasco, i.

  203 they seemed “kaleidoscopic”: “The New Plays. ‘Governor’s Son’ Made Over for Roof Garden Use,” New York Evening World, June 5, 1906, 8.

  203 “Speed! Speed!”: George M. Cohan, Twenty Years on Broadway and the Years It Took to Get There. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925, 185.

  204 By 1905, “Give My Regards to Broadway ”: “The Hit of the Season,” Daily Telegram (Clarksburg, West Virginia), April 14, 1906, 5.

  204 Songs about Broadway: Advertisement, New York Evening World, November 16, 1905, 11.

  204 “What is Broadway?”: John McCabe, George M. Cohan: The Man Who Owned Broadway. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1973, 120–121.

  206 “I guess Broadway, for me, was everything”: Ibid., 121.

  CHAPTER 23. BROADWAY GHOSTS

  207 “Do you like music?”: Advertisement, Los Angeles Herald, April 2, 1906, 8.

  208 “I am a girl eighteen years old”: David Belasco, The Theatre Through Its Stage Door. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1919, 2.

  208 “Success,” Belasco wrote : Ibid., 10.

  208 called Broadway the “Street of Broken Hearts”: Daily Telegram (Clarksburg, West Virginia), August 8, 1915, 26.

  209 “I do not ask whether they are married”: “Stranger in New York?—Feel Safe with Alice, the Girl Escort,” Day Book (Chicago), November 21, 1916, 14.

  209 “The lure of New York beckons”: “Grace Le Gendre Says New York Women Are Hitting Up the Booze,” Day Book (Chicago), December 5, 1913, 29.

  209 The story ran in newspapers all over: “Winter Garden Chorus Girl and Escort Killed When Autos Crash. Two Owners of Cars Held,” New York Sun, September 15, 1915, 16; “Broadway’s Old Story Retold in Girl’s Death,” Washington Times, September 15, 1915, 7; “Story of Ida Brown Typical of Numerous ‘Careers’ on Stage,” Daily Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), September 15, 1915, 1; “Broadway Lights Are Not for Her,” Grand Forks Daily Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota), September 16, 1915, 2; “Dares City’s Clamor, Goes Home in Coffin,” Barre Daily Times (Barre, Vermont), September 16, 1915, 3.

  210 Broadway the “port of missing maidens”: “New York Sees Fight to Vanquish the System That Gobbles Girls,” Day Book (Chicago), February 28, 1917, 14-15.

  210 “The glamour of the Gay White Way”: “Gay Old Broadway Is No More! Joy Palaces Go to the Side Streets,” Day Book (Chicago), October 19, 1916, 14.

  211 who was later gunned down: “Larry Fay Is Slain in His Night Club. Doorman Is Hunted,” New York Times, January 2, 1933, 1.

  212 three drunken women singing “Bye Bye Blackbird”: Stephen Graham, New York Nights. New York: George H. Doran Co., 1927, 92.

  213 Guinan . . . lived with a parrot: Sidney Skolsky, Times Square Tintypes. New York: Ives Washburn, 1930, 25–27.

  CHAPTER 24. THE BOULEVARD

  218 a “road or public drive”: Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, IX, 148. Albany: Weed, Parson & Co., 1880, 998–1003.

  218 “I found today that ‘labor was rest,’ ”: Richard Albert Edward Brooks, editor, The Diary of Michael Floy Jr. of Bowery Village 1833–1837. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1941, 74.

  219 gave it “peculiar value”: Andrew H. Green, Communication to the Commissioners of the Central Park, Relative to the Improvement of the Sixth and Seventh Ave
nues, from the Central Park to the Harlem River; the Laying Out of the Island Above 155th Street; the Drive from 59th St. to 155th St., and Other Subjects. New York: Wm. C. Bryant & Co., 1866, 59.

  220 became Sherman Square: Sherman Square was named in 1891, after the death of William Tecumseh Sherman, who lived nearby at 75 West 71st Street; Lincoln Square was named in 1906.

  220 “The law of the street is motion, not rest”: Andrew H. Green, Communication to the Commissioners of the Central Park, 63.

  220 “The boulevards and new avenues [of Paris]”: “Improvement of Cities,” New York Sun, May 21, 1867, 2.

  222 thirteen lodges in New York City with some 1,300 members: “A Riot Impending. The Orangemen’s Twelfth of July Parade,” New York Tribune, July 10, 1871, 1.

  222 the Orangemen . . . broke into the anti-Catholic anthem: “A Riot Impending. The Orangemen’s Twelfth of July Parade,” 1. The song “Croppies Lie Down” dated to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The Orange Order had assisted the British Army in suppressing the uprising; “Croppies” referred to Catholics who had cut their hair short during the rebellion. The song characterized Irish Catholics as murderous cowards, and Catholics, naturally, considered the song highly offensive.

  223 “[I] have heard only one sentiment”: New-York Historical Society. BV Strong, George Templeton—MS 2472. Journal entry, July 13, 1871, IV, 323.

  CHAPTER 25. “DOWN THERE”

  224 saw goats: Charles Dawson Shanly, “Along the Hudson River at New York,” Atlantic Monthly XXII, 129 (July 1868), 3.

  224 “with unerring accuracy”: Jacob A. Riis, The Battle with the Slum. New York: Macmillan Co., 1902, 111.

  224 Newspapers called the neighborhood the “declivity”: “The Naughty Negroes of San Juan Hill,” New York Sun, August 6, 1905, 19.

  225 Another riot erupted: “Negroes Again Rioting,” New York Tribune, July 18, 1905, 1.

  226 “If the police will only differentiate”: “Preacher on the Riots,” New York Tribune, July 24, 1905, 12.

  226 the “lawless colored element”: “Handy to Riot District,” New York Tribune, July 25, 1905, 8.

  226 “They are without exception the worst lot”: “The Naughty Negroes of San Juan Hill,” 19.