Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919

1195 Pages·2017·21.361 MB·English

by  Mike Wallace

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Greater
Gotham
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Volume Two of the G Series
otham
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Greater
Gotham
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A History of
New York City
from 1898 to 1919
Mike Wallace
1
1
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Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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© Mike Wallace 2017
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wallace, Mike, 1942– author. | Burrows, Edwin G., 1943– Gotham.
Title: Greater Gotham : a history of New York City from 1898 to 1919 /
Mike Wallace.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017005224 | ISBN 9780195116359 (hardback :
acid-free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: New York (N.Y.)—History—1898–1951.
Classification: LCC F128.5 .W227 2018 | DDC 974.7/104—dc23 LC
record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017005224
Cover: C. S. Hammond & Company, “Bird’s Eye View of New York and
Vicinity,” 1912. (New York Public Library, Lionel Pincus and Princess
Firyal Map Division)
Front endpaper (Wall Street 1911): G. W. Bromley and Walter S. Bromley,
“Plate 1: Bounded by Liberty Street, Maiden Lane, East River (Piers 1–14),
South Street, Battery Park, and Hudson River (Piers 2–37), West Street,” 1911.
(New York Public Library, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division)
Back endpaper (Lower East Side, 1911): G. W. Bromley and Walter S. Bromley,
“Plate 5: Bounded by Broome Street, Attorney Street, Division Street,
Chatham Square, Park Row, Pearl Street, and Centre Street,” 1911. (New
York Public Library, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division)
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Edwards Brothers Malloy, United States of America
A mi querida esposa, Carmen Boullosa

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Contents
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Introduction 1
Vantage Points 3
part one consolidations and contradictions
1. Mergers 15
2. Acquisitions 27
3. Consolidation 49
4. Wall Street 61
5. Critics and Crisis 77
Muckrakers 77
Teddy 84
Panic of 1907 89
Other People’s Money 101
6. Who Rules New York? 105
Bosses and Businessmen 105
Radicals and Regulators 121
Experts 131
part two construction and connection
7. Sky Boom 143
Skyline 143
Why Skies? 148
Builders, Engineers, Financiers 154
Too Small? 159
viii • Contents
City Beauticians 163
Too Tall! 170
Zoning 172
8. Arteries 179
Trains and Tunnels 179
Boats and Docks 189
Immigration Island 192
Moving Freight 196
Water 203
Power 205
Food In 211
Garbage Out 215
9. Ligaments 221
Bridges 221
Els, Cables, Trolleys 225
Planning the Subway 227
Building the System 229
Expanding the System 235
The Automobiling Class 240
10. Housing 251
Old Law, New Law 251
Model Homes 258
A Municipal Role? 260
Fighting Congestion 261
Working-Class Neighborhoods: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens 267
The Bronx: Instant City 277
Housing the Middle Class: Brooklyn, Queens 283
Apartment Living in Manhattan 288
Housing Styles of the Rich and Famous 293
Summer Homes 298
11. Industrial and Commercial City 305
Factory Town 305
Touring the Industrial City 307
The City of Commerce 322
Department Stores 328
Commerce v. Industry 335
part three cultures
12. Acropoli 341
Consolidating Culture 341
Art by the Cartload 343
Fossil Philanthropy 349
The Bronx Zoo 354
Wielding the Past 359
Universities 368
Contents • ix
Libraries 376
Opera 382
Symphony 389
The New Theatre 390
13. Show Biz 393
Times Square 393
Broadway 397
Vaudeville 403
Of Rats and Actors 406
Tin Pan Alley 408
Movies 414
Nightlife 426
Coney Island 432
14. Popular Cultures 439
Staging Ethnicity 440
Ragtime 451
Chorus Line 462
Everybody’s Doin’ It 469
15. Seeing New York 481
part four confrontations
16. Progressives 505
The Age of Reform 505
Settlements and Social Gospelers 510
Child Labor 525
Women’s Work 530
Poverty Wars 535
Health 544
Schools 560
A Bully Moose 576
17. Repressives 583
Gangs of New York 583
Cops and Robbers 596
Vice and Vigilantes 603
Prostitution 604
Gambling 615
Drink 631
Drugs 638
18. Union Town 649
Labor Day 649
Builders and Printers 652
Bang the Bell, Jack, I’m on Board 658
Open-Shop Warriors 661
Let’s Make a Deal 662
Hardball 664