Essay on "New York City"

Essay 6 pages (2033 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

New York City

Brooklyn Bridge: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911

The Brooklyn Bridge ranks as one of the utmost engineering achievements of the 19th century and continues to be one of New York's most well-liked and well-known landmarks. "The striking bridge spans the East river between Brooklyn and Manhattan and stretches for a length of 5989 ft. The length between the large towers is 1595.5 ft" (Brooklyn Bridge, 2012). When it was built it was the world's biggest suspension bridge. The driving force behind the entire venture was John Roebling, a German immigrant who had worked for the Prussian government as a bridge and road builder. He commenced the proposal of building a bridge across the East River after he had taken a ferry across the river and ended up getting stuck in the ice (Brooklyn Bridge, 2012).

The Brooklyn Bridge has lived up to, and for many surpassed its great expectations. "Ten years after the bridge opened, the city of Brooklyn took over all adjoining towns until it encompassed all of Kings County. In 1898, fifteen years after the bridge opened, the bridge helped join Manhattan with Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island to form Greater New York" (Brooklyn Bridge, 2012). Also that year, the roadway was redone in order to permit trolleys and automobiles to travel in the outside lanes. By 1910, the penny toll that had been in place was done away with after the City of New York passed a law barring the use of tolls to fund construction and maintenance of its bridges (Brooklyn Bridge, 2012).

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City took place on March 25, 1911. This fire was the deadliest industrial accident in the history of the city of New York. It resulted in the fourth largest loss of life from an industrial accident. "The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling to their deaths. Most of the victims were Jewish and Italian immigrant women between the ages of thirteen and twenty-three. The factory was located in the Asch Building, at 23-29 Washington Place, which is now known as the Brown Building. This building has been designated as a National Historic Landmark as well as a New York City landmark" (the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire, 2011).

Because the supervisors had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits, which was an ordinary practice in those days in order to prevent theft and unauthorized breaks, a lot of the workers who could not flee the burning building ended up jumping from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors to the streets below. "The fire led to legislation mandating improved factory safety standards and helped drive the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers" (the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire, 2011).

The Brooklyn Bridge and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 are both examples of things that occurred out of a necessity. In the case of the Brooklyn Bridge, John Roebling, saw a need for a better way to cross the East River. It was because he got stuck in the ice trying to cross the river that he envisioned the idea of a bridge across the water. These visions lead to a change across the country in transportation. Once this bridge was built and people saw that it could be done, bridges have since been constructed across most major waterways. In the case of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 the necessity of worker protection laws came from this fire. Up until that point there were no protections in place for workers. They were at the mercy of those who employed them. Both of these events eventually lead to the betterment of people living in this country. Thanks to the Brooklyn Bridge transportation was improved and because of the fire worker protection laws were improved for the good of the worker.

Cross Bronx Expressway: Cross Manhattan Expressway(s)

The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City region of the Bronx. This freeway was the idea of Robert Moses. It was built between 1948 and 1972. It carries traffic through the city on I-95 and serves as a portion of I-295 that goes towards Long Island. The Cross Bronx Expressway was an engineering wonder, being the first highway built through a congested urban environment. It is the priciest mile of road ever built costing nearly forty million dollars. "At one point during construction, Moses' crews had to support the Grand Concourse (a major surface thoroughfare), a subway line and an elevated train line while the expressway was laboriously pushed through" (Cross Bronx Expressway, n.d.).

In the 1929 Report on Highway Traffic Conditions and Proposed Traffic Relief Measures for the City of New York there were numerous projects proposed by local interests to aid the flow of traffic in the city. "A "Cross-Bronx Route" along 161st and 163rd Streets was one of two proposed facilities, along with the "Nassau Boulevard" (which became the Long Island Expressway), picked by borough engineers as examples of important projects. Although this routing was south of the present Cross Bronx Expressway, the report did suggest a "New Cross-Bronx Artery" near the present expressway that would link the Washington Bridge with the Clason Point Ferry to Queens. Though it would not be built to freeway standards, it would be 60 feet (18 m) wide with grade separations "where considered necessary and desirable." The George Washington Bridge then under construction was cited among reasons to build the highway, which would help connect New Jersey to Long Island via the bridges and ferry" (Cross Bronx Expressway, n.d.).

The Cross-Manhattan Expressway often refers to a number of highways including the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, part of I-95, the un-built Lower Manhattan Expressway, the un-built Mid-Manhattan Expressway and the un-built Cross Harlem Expressway. The Trans-Manhattan Expressway or George Washington Bridge Expressway is a highway in New York City that is one of the shortest, busiest, and most overcrowded highways. Its length barely stretches for a single mile. It crosses Manhattan at one of its narrowest points, in a depressed channel through the Washington Heights neighborhood, linking the George Washington Bridge with the Cross Bronx Expressway by way of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge (Trans-Manhattan Expressway, n.d.).

The highway was initially planned as an open cut between 178th and 179th Streets, navigated by bridges carrying the major north -- south routes in upper Manhattan. The City of New York approved the construction of the highway in June 1957 as part of a joint effort with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that also called for the construction of the lower deck on the George Washington Bridge and construction of the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal above the cut for the Expressway. "The 12-lane Trans-Manhattan Expressway, with three lanes of traffic heading in each direction to and from each deck of the George Washington Bridge, opened to traffic in 1962 as part of a $60 million program to improve access roads for the George Washington Bridge, whose lower deck opened that same year" (Trans-Manhattan Expressway, n.d.).

Both the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Cross Manhattan Expressway's were developed out of necessity. There was an identified necessity to aid the travel of people in both the Bronx and Manhattan. The road structures that existed at this time were overcrowded and could not support the amount of people that lived in those cities that needed to travel on a daily basis. These were both unique in that they were both built in the middle of very crowded places instead of being constructed where there was lots of room. This fact has lead to many such developments since that time were things are built in places that one would not think were roomy enough.

David Rockefeller: Jane Jacobs

David Rockefeller was born June 12, 1915 and is the present patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only living child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. And Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil. David Rockefeller began his career in banking industry. In 1946 he began working for the Chase National Bank as an assistant manager in the foreign department. "He was appointed an assistant cashier in 1947, second vice president in 1948 and vice president in 1949. From 1950 to 1952, he was responsible for the supervision of Chase's business in Latin America where, under his direction, new branches were opened in Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico, plus a representative office in Buenos Aires. In 1952 he was named a senior vice president with responsibility for supervising the economic research department and customer relations in the metropolitan New York area, including all the New York City branches" (David Rockefeller, 2004).

In addition to his work with Chase Manhattan, David Rockefeller has been an organizer in a lot of public and private… READ MORE

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