The Forgotten Borough

Staten Island and the Subway

Kenneth M. Gold

$198.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Columbia University Press
22 June 2023

What sets Staten Island apart from the rest of New York City? The island's identity has in part been defined in opposition to the city, its physical and cultural differences, and the perception of neglect by city government. It has long been whiter, wealthier, less populated, and more politically conservative. And despite many attempts over the years, Staten Island is not connected by the subway to any of the other four boroughs.

Kenneth M. Gold argues that the lack of a subway connection has deeply shaped Staten Island's history and identity. He chronicles decades of recurrent efforts to build a rail link, using this history to explore the borough's fraught relationship with New York City as a whole. The Forgotten Borough ranges from when Staten Island first contemplated joining the city in the 1890s to the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, highlighting pivotal moments when the construction of a subway appeared possible. The economics and engineering of tunnel construction, the difficulty of uniting Staten Islanders around a single solution, competition from the other boroughs, and resistance from powerful corporations and public authorities all undermined a rapid transit connection. Gold demonstrates that the failure to establish a rail link during this period caused Staten Island to diverge culturally, demographically, and politically from the other four boroughs. Drawing on extensive archival research, The Forgotten Borough shows how transportation infrastructure and politics shed new light on urban history.

By: Kenneth M. Gold
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780231208604
ISBN 10: 023120860X
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 22 June 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Part I: Consolidation and Its Aftermath 1. Setting the Stage: Staten Island in the Late Nineteenth Century 2. Joining the City: Staten Island and the Consolidation of New York, 1898 3. Envisioning the Future: What Consolidation Would Bring to Staten Island, 1890–1909 Part II: A Subway for Growth 4. Hitching a Ride: Early Efforts to Tunnel to Staten Island, 1900–1909 5. Leaving the Station: The Dual Contracts and Aftermath, 1909–1919 6. Planning the Region: The Hylan Tunnel and the Politics of Commerce, 1920–1923 7. Getting the Shaft: The Demise of the Hylan Tunnel, 1922–1925 Part III: Subway Persistence and Automobile Emergence 8. Driving the Narrows: New Options for Connection, 1925–1932 9. Facing the Competition: Last Gasps for a Subway and a Tunnel, 1933–1945 10. Spanning the Narrows: The Triumph of the Verrazano Bridge, 1945–1964 11. Assessing the Disconnect: What the Distance Wrought Conclusion Epilogue: What the Bridge Wrought A Note on Staten Island’s Historic Newspapers Source Abbreviations Notes Index

Kenneth M. Gold is associate professor of educational studies at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, where he was the founding dean of the School of Education. He is the author of School’s In: The History of Summer Education in American Public Schools (2002) and coeditor of Discovering Staten Island: A 350th Anniversary Commemorative History (2011).

Reviews for The Forgotten Borough: Staten Island and the Subway

With this book, Kenneth M. Gold assures us that the Forgotten Borough shall be forgotten no more. He offers an insightful picture of Staten Island before the bridge and brings to light the hitherto little known story of the tunnel that never was. His book certainly enhances and complicates our understanding of twentieth century New York. -- Jeffrey A. Kroessler, author of <i>Sunnyside Gardens: Planning and Preservation in a Historic Garden Suburb</i>