What a delight to find this! When I was a kid during WW2,we lived at 309 E.60th St. A big occasion for us was an El trip to Chinatown for lunch. Watching this amazing city whiz by from the open windows of the The 3rd Ave. El was an exciting experience.
Yes the els were and still are noisy. I lived right near the #4 Jerome El. You get use to the noise. I'm sure they didn't get rid of the 3rd Ave el because everyone was complaining about. Most wanted to live by the El, it was there choice. Great video, thanks for sharing!
Great video, I remember the gate cars on the Myrtle Ave el from Metropolitan Ave to Bridge Jay St, a great ride into yesteryear this was in the mid 50's but after the gate cars left we had the Q's almost the same cars execpt now they had pnumatic doors replaced the open gate ends and still a great ride, but in 69 they were gone along with a portion of the el, there's still a portion left, better than the subways.
I saw this film at the New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn, New York in 1979. It was in the theater section. At that time the seats were from the old R 1 to R 9 cars unfortunately scrapped 2, 3, & 4 years earlier. What an icon movie for me this is. Reminds me of The book I have to this day. New York in The 40's ( 1940's) That was the 9th Avenue El line. what a film. As I comment & type this it's been 50 years the Bronx remaining line was closed in 1973. If they NYCTA waited 2 more years it would have been 20 years anniversary when the Manhattan version was demised. Third Avenue in the Bronx hasn't been the same since. I wish they never touched that line at all. So many memories I had in it's last year's shame I never got to ride the Shuttle er Number 8 train. Beautiful video. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🛤️🚦🛤️🚦🛤️ 🚦🎥👍
Can't quite believe that I've found this film. I saw it, I think in 1981, at the NYC Transit Museum. I remember thinking the music was particularly apt. Fantastic imagery. I had longed to see the film ever since, particularly as even the museum was showing films in rotation. Who knew I'd find it on my own computer?
I was born in Brooklyn New York 1961. That was in Marlboro Projects. I was on the second floor and looking out of my bedroom window I was able to see this turn were many trains went down from being up from the elevated to a large area where the trains parked. I assumed they must have been serviced there and cleaned. As children we were told that's where the trains go to sleep. Being on a turn right across the stress from my window yes it was noisy however in those times we never really stayed in the apartment. We spend the day outside finding things to do. At 13 years old my mother was able to get out of there. My father moved out when I was two my siblings were much older than I and were on there own. She moved us to Brighton Beach in a building that was directly across the street from the boardwalk. Funny thing is she took an apartment that was on the fourth floor. The fourth floor was exactly eye-level to the Ocean Parkway train station stop. That was also up in the air obviously if it was eye level with the fourth floor. Originally it was the D train then at one point it was changed to the Q train. Finally I moved to Sheepshead Bay my mother remarried and moves Upstate to Westchester. Much more after that. I just wanted to post how I was born and lived by the train system for the first 13 years of my life. Then a few years more on Ocean Parkway. When I lived in Sheepshead Bay I did have to take the train into Manhattan to work. To expensive to drive pay for tolls gas and Manhattan parking although I did it every now and then.
How cool is that... a long forgotten piece of NYC history. My grandmother told me about the 3rd avenue El station platform right outside her window on 169st & Third Avenue in the Bronx. I think my pops said it was later called the "8" train. I always imagine what it would be like if it still existed.... in the Bronx at least
If the 8 Thrid Ave Elevated line was still running in the south Bronx Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx I gerrente you the R62AS would of definitely replacing all the R12 R14s and the old Redbirds. They still have the 8 Thrid Ave Elevated track girldles trestles at Gun Hill Rd and the Thrid Avenue Elevated walls parts from new York central system at Frordam plaza on the metro North side.
Thanks for posting this. This was torn down before I was born...but I still got to ride all of the others remaining in the 60's, 70s and 80s. thanks again!
Thanks for posting this. I remember the Bronx part of the 3rd Ave El. I wish it as well as the 2nd Ave El were still running in manhattan when I went to High School back in the 70's. It would have put me a lot closer than Lexington Ave. The school was between 1st and 2nd Avenues. And the 101A (now the 102) Did not always make it up the hill between 102 and 101 streets.
The Thrid Avenue Elevated line definitely needs to come back between Gun hill road Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx. After 138 street let the 8 Thrid Avenue run under ground on Thrid Avenue or fourth Ave to Queens plaza connecting to the 7 N W trains outside where the second Ave Elevated 7 line used to be the last stop over there.
They let the Thrid Avenue Elevated line go to a big waste of money of tairing it down especially in the south Bronx Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx. They definitely could of left the Thrid Avenue Elevated line up running instead of tairing down. That was important line that took people from point A to point B. We need to blame the old Governor LaGuardia and the old president Robert mosses fussing the TA workers to tair down the Thrid Avenue Elevated line down.
@@leecornwell5632 we should rebuild the third ave elevated and extend the third ave elevated to Woodlawn and we shall bring the third ave elevated back so people could get to point A to B faster And people would no longer have to take those slow ass buses and the Ninth ave elevated needs to come back as well so people can get to places faster and it would take cars off from the road no matter what anyone says the third avenue elevated will come back better and stronger Robert Moses and the old governor of LaGuardia couldn't stand for elevated lines in the city and fusted the TA Workers to Tair down the third avenue elevated and the IRT IND and BMT lines the third ave elevated will come back
Hey, there are three reconverted and restored BU Gate Cars (manufacture dates 1903-1907) in the NYC Transit Museum, which are taken out for fairly regular fan outings, and they run like a dream. I'd take a tour with them across the elevated Brooklyn line to Coney Island any damn day. Perhaps elevated lines were a bad fit for lower and midtown Manhattan, but time has proven they make perfect sense for the Outer Boroughs.
New York area rivers were actually dirtier in the recent past than they are now. Most didn't know better! You noticed I didn't say clean, but they are much less dirty now. Great show riding the El!
your allways will live on a old friend the 3rd ave el.taking down in the bronx in 1974. by 1978 it was all gone.but you will see some parts of it on gunhill rd in the bronx-ny.my last ride was in 1972 or 1973.to day the 3rd ave el is a bus.the bx-55 it will stop wher the old el did.the line was know to me as the #8 or the 8ball or shorty case it only used 5 car's.R.I.P.3ave el love mark bronx-ny.
Nothing cannot replace or run over the 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line anymore. No matter how many buses they run over there it cannot top the 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line. We are not blaming the bus operators because the bus operators are definitely doing their best to get people to work and homes. Some one definitely needs to bring the 3rd Avenue Elevated line back where it was. The 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line was important for everyone and helping out the 2 5 lines and the bus operators .
Wonderful picture! The copyright date at the beginning is MCML, or 1950. From what I saw on another video, this line would remain for another 5 or 6 years.
One has to wonder how safe the river was back then. Speaking of pollution, it is refreshing to see an urban landscape free of disposable plastic littering the streets and with NO spray painted graffiti. Trash back in the old days was just about all biodegradable. Sadly those days are gone.
What a shame that the 3rd avenue El was demolished. Everything in NYC is greed! The real estate developers were behind the demolition. That said, the title of the video is a little misleading. NYC still has plenty of El's in the outer borough and even a few remaining El stops in Manhattan along the IRT # 1 stop. In fact, NYC has more remaining El lines than any other city in the USA.
+GRANDGREENSABRE Yes, you are right, there used to be more! Alas, they should have never gotten rid of the 3rd Avenue El. It was so thoroughly NY, so associated with the city. It traveled down so many streets in Manhattan that it could have been used as a tourist attraction--a sightseeing ride! [sigh]. The bureaucrats that approved the demolition are probably dead by now, but if they aren't, I would have them drawn and quartered! LOL. What shortsighted bastards! I love my city and hate when parts of its history are destroyed by certain people in government that lack vision.
+Rayarena I think the reason people don't call the remaining EL structures "The EL" is because the remaining EL' s are linked to the subways thus making it a "elevated subway extension", this EL in this footage (3 Ave EL) was a elevated structure all the way, but what is misleading about this title is that this was not the last EL to be demolish in New York City, the Myrtle Ave EL in Brooklyn was torn down between 1969-1971 and the Bronx part of the 3 Ave EL was torn down between 1973-1975, this title should have read "The last of Manhattan's "EL" Trains"
+amazing50000 Yes, you are correct. Those EL lines were EL's all throughout. But, I disagree with you that people don't call the remaining EL structures Els. Perhaps I am an old time New Yorker, but I've heard a lot of people using the word "EL, " I myself use it. For instance, if asked for subway directions and there is an EL close-by, I will say, walk so many blocks down and take the EL. 40% of NYC's subway stations are either on EL's or on ground level. If you go to the Bronx, most of the subways are actually elevated. Its when you go to Manhattan where you see this disproportionate percentage of underground to EL lines.
I remember the Bronx part of the 3rd Ave El. When we had to go up to Sears we used it to get there.till the Bx55 took it's place. It was faster than the Bx15 bus that ran up there from Manhattan.
The Els were not treasured by anyone who had to live near one. They were noisy and dirty and ran around the clock. Can you imagine what it was like to have one just feet from your bedroom window? Seems pretty hellish to me. Most of the neighborhoods through which they ran were not choice residential neighborhoods until the El disappeared, and that it includes big sections of the Village, the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side.
+Ron Frankl They may not have been valued by people who lived near them, but the fact that they ran around the clock was a convenience to people who wanted to get from point A to point B. Also, who says that they are dirty? The buses that replaced them are dirtier. Subway trains that run on electricity are cleaner than buses and cause less traffic congestion.
Those are myths spread by property developers who wanted the ELs gone. They didn't care then that the Lexington Ave subway was overcrowed. Dirty? LOL the city should have taken better care of them. Noisy? Fine, yes they were but living in a busy city is noisy to begin with. And no the trains on 3rd ave stopped running round the clock. They only ran from 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 pm because the city was trying to drive down ridership(it failed) They also cut the line back from its downtown connections at South Ferry and the City Hall branch, guess what those attempts failed to cut ridership. Throwing away cheap public transit is a sin.
packr72 Exactly! As you noted, the problem was the real estate developers. They were the people behind tearing down the ELs. Just like Goodyear Tire was behind getting rid of the trolleys. NYC in the early 1900's had an arguebly better public transit that it does today. There were ELs that went down 2nd, 3rd and 5th avenue supplimented by trollies that would connect to the El lines all over the place. All of that amazing infrastructure was shockingly and stupidly torn down. Now we have buses that are always late, dirty, get caught in traffic jams, and are overcrowded, what's more, the city indirectly admitted that tearing down the 2nd avenue EL was a mistake, becuase they've been builting an undergrown subsitute for years to the tune of bllions of dollars and they still have not finished! What a monumental waste of money! Regarding people who cannot live near ELs, Brooklyn and the Bronx are full of EL lines near apartment houses and people live there. In a city like NYC with high rents, I'm sure that there are thousand of families who would gladly move in an apartment building next to an EL line in exchange for paying lower rent, so that's not a problem. In fact, those buildings in the Bronx and Brooklyn next to EL lines are full. Nobody is putting a gun next to someone's head to live in one of those buildings.
Rayarena Yeah the 6th and 9th Ave demolitions were reasonable because they built subways to replace those lines, although the subways were built with public money while the elevateds were built with private money. 2nd Ave had low ridership and the 3rd was only a block away in most cases. In 1940 EL ridership was about 130 million people with 110 million riding the 3rd Ave EL, the rest was between 9th and 2nd Ave.
this is important,your el train fulfilled the genius of Leonardo DaVinci whose vision is that in cosmopolitan area transport must be at a distance from the pedestrian- which may mean aerial. thanks.
There wasn't any practical reason for demolishing the Third Avenue El. It was never replaced by a subway. The only reason was to give politically powerful real estate investors a chance to make a killing on new construction along Third Avenue. Their private gain was the public's loss.
@Redskin1040 Actually, the East and Harlem rivers are much cleaner now and the NYC Triathlon swim segment is in the Hudson. Me, I'm still not swimming there
The worst thing they could have ever done was demolish the Third Avenue the Second Avenue and I believe it was the six Avenue lines now they're paying for it every day just like when they got rid of the trolleys again stupidity I'm part of the city and the MTA
@@leecornwell5632 you may think what goes around comes around is the answer but it's not the absolute the simple fact what they did was the most stupidest mistake that they could have ever done by removing the trolleys the Third Avenue L and now they're paying the consequence for it. This is what happens when you don't look at the big picture down the road in today's process of thinking
@@NYRM1974 They torn down the 3rd Avenue Elevated line down on purpose A mistake my dam foot 🦶 . That did not make no dam sense of taking down this 3rd Avenue Elevated line down for nothing which was really important line in the whole wide world 🌎 in the community in south Bronx. Nothing cannot replace or run over the 3rd Ave Elevated line anymore. It's completely dead. Yet they wanted the second Ave subway line to be done to east Harlem 125 street connecting with the 4 5 6 lines and the Metro North railroad. Now there is a real serious talk on being extended the Q T trains to west 125 street connecting with the Broadway 1 line and the A B D C lines the 2 3 train s.
The real irony,now,is the fact that the current setup for the 2nd Avenue Subway,is a two track line! Both of the Els were rebuilt into 3 tracks with express services,in the direction of rush hour[South in the morning,North in the evening],so the current system,actually has less capacity than the original Els! See Peter Dougherty- Tracks of the New York City Subway,for further information! Thank you for an interesting excursion into the past,and the mistakes made!! Note,I was able to ride,line 8,in the Bronx,and the Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn during the 60's,amazing what went on,under people's noses! Thank you 😇 😊!
Your right, but those els in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx are not "True Els" the true els like the 3 ave el and the Myrtle Ave El in Brooklyn before 1969 did not go underground it stay elevated though out the line, that's why most people and the MTA don't look at the els in the other boroughs as els, they called them "elevated extensions of the subway".
It’s simply a false statement to say that the 3rd Ave el was the last in NYC. There are still to this day a number of elevated lines running in Bklyn, Queens, the Bronx and even one in the Inwood section of Manhattan I believe .
I remember it very vividly: In the '90's the New York Transit Museum played this one in a loop with the 1955 color short "3rd Ave. El" (of which I can still hear Wanda Landowska's 1937 rendition of Hadyn's Harpsichord Concerto in D Major playing in my head to this day, all to the sights of the el and the atmosphere around it).
What a delight to find this! When I was a kid during WW2,we lived at 309 E.60th St. A big occasion for us was an El trip to Chinatown for lunch. Watching this amazing city whiz by from the open windows of the The 3rd Ave. El was an exciting experience.
Yes the els were and still are noisy. I lived right near the #4 Jerome El. You get use to the noise. I'm sure they didn't get rid of the 3rd Ave el because everyone was complaining about. Most wanted to live by the El, it was there choice. Great video, thanks for sharing!
At least we still have some elevated sections on the MTA. Although I wish I could've traveled to South Ferry. That station looks amazing.
Great video, I remember the gate cars on the Myrtle Ave el from Metropolitan Ave to Bridge Jay St, a great ride into yesteryear this was in the mid 50's but after the gate cars left we had the Q's almost the same cars execpt now they had pnumatic doors replaced the open gate ends and still a great ride, but in 69 they were gone along with a portion of the el, there's still a portion left, better than the subways.
I saw this film at the New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn, New York in 1979. It was in the theater section. At that time the seats were from the old R 1 to R 9 cars unfortunately scrapped 2, 3, & 4 years earlier. What an icon movie for me this is. Reminds me of The book I have to this day. New York in The 40's ( 1940's) That was the 9th Avenue El line. what a film. As I comment & type this it's been 50 years the Bronx remaining line was closed in 1973. If they NYCTA waited 2 more years it would have been 20 years anniversary when the Manhattan version was demised. Third Avenue in the Bronx hasn't been the same since. I wish they never touched that line at all. So many memories I had in it's last year's shame I never got to ride the Shuttle er Number 8 train. Beautiful video. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🛤️🚦🛤️🚦🛤️ 🚦🎥👍
Can't quite believe that I've found this film. I saw it, I think in 1981, at the NYC Transit Museum. I remember thinking the music was particularly apt. Fantastic imagery. I had longed to see the film ever since, particularly as even the museum was showing films in rotation. Who knew I'd find it on my own computer?
THIS IS A MARVELOUS VIDEO THANKS FOR UPLOADING THIS FILM FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE.
I was born in Brooklyn New York 1961. That was in Marlboro Projects.
I was on the second floor and looking out of my bedroom window I was able to see this turn were many trains went down from being up from the elevated to a large area where the trains parked. I assumed they must have been serviced there and cleaned. As children we were told that's where the trains go to sleep. Being on a turn right across the stress from my window yes it was noisy however in those times we never really stayed in the apartment. We spend the day outside finding things to do.
At 13 years old my mother was able to get out of there. My father moved out when I was two my siblings were much older than I and were on there own.
She moved us to Brighton Beach in a building that was directly across the street from the boardwalk. Funny thing is she took an apartment that was on the fourth floor. The fourth floor was exactly eye-level to the Ocean Parkway train station stop. That was also up in the air obviously if it was eye level with the fourth floor. Originally it was the D train then at one point it was changed to the Q train. Finally I moved to Sheepshead Bay my mother remarried and moves Upstate to Westchester.
Much more after that. I just wanted to post how I was born and lived by the train system for the first 13 years of my life. Then a few years more on Ocean Parkway.
When I lived in Sheepshead Bay I did have to take the train into Manhattan to work.
To expensive to drive pay for tolls gas and Manhattan parking although I did it every now and then.
How cool is that... a long forgotten piece of NYC history. My grandmother told me about the 3rd avenue El station platform right outside her window on 169st & Third Avenue in the Bronx. I think my pops said it was later called the "8" train. I always imagine what it would be like if it still existed.... in the Bronx at least
If the 8 Thrid Ave Elevated line was still running in the south Bronx Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx I gerrente you the R62AS would of definitely replacing all the R12 R14s and the old Redbirds. They still have the 8 Thrid Ave Elevated track girldles trestles at Gun Hill Rd and the Thrid Avenue Elevated walls parts from new York central system at Frordam plaza on the metro North side.
Great documentary! I actually live on Gun Hill Road, where it began!
Thanks for posting this. This was torn down before I was born...but I still got to ride all of the others remaining in the 60's, 70s and 80s. thanks again!
Thanks for posting this. I remember the Bronx part of the 3rd Ave El. I wish it as well as the 2nd Ave El were still running in manhattan when I went to High School back in the 70's. It would have put me a lot closer than Lexington Ave. The school was between 1st and 2nd Avenues. And the 101A (now the 102) Did not always make it up the hill between 102 and 101 streets.
The Thrid Avenue Elevated line definitely needs to come back between Gun hill road Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx. After 138 street let the 8 Thrid Avenue run under ground on Thrid Avenue or fourth Ave to Queens plaza connecting to the 7 N W trains outside where the second Ave Elevated 7 line used to be the last stop over there.
They let the Thrid Avenue Elevated line go to a big waste of money of tairing it down especially in the south Bronx Clearmount Webster Boston road Bronx. They definitely could of left the Thrid Avenue Elevated line up running instead of tairing down. That was important line that took people from point A to point B. We need to blame the old Governor LaGuardia and the old president Robert mosses fussing the TA workers to tair down the Thrid Avenue Elevated line down.
@@leecornwell5632 we should rebuild the third ave elevated and extend the third ave elevated to Woodlawn and we shall bring the third ave elevated back so people could get to point A to B faster And people would no longer have to take those slow ass buses and the Ninth ave elevated needs to come back as well so people can get to places faster and it would take cars off from the road no matter what anyone says the third avenue elevated will come back better and stronger Robert Moses and the old governor of LaGuardia couldn't stand for elevated lines in the city and fusted the TA Workers to Tair down the third avenue elevated and the IRT IND and BMT lines the third ave elevated will come back
Hey, there are three reconverted and restored BU Gate Cars (manufacture dates 1903-1907) in the NYC Transit Museum, which are taken out for fairly regular fan outings, and they run like a dream. I'd take a tour with them across the elevated Brooklyn line to Coney Island any damn day. Perhaps elevated lines were a bad fit for lower and midtown Manhattan, but time has proven they make perfect sense for the Outer Boroughs.
New York area rivers were actually dirtier in the recent past than they are now. Most didn't know better! You noticed I didn't say clean, but they are much less dirty now. Great show riding the El!
your allways will live on a old friend the 3rd ave el.taking down in the bronx in 1974. by 1978 it was all gone.but you will see some parts of it on gunhill rd in the bronx-ny.my last ride was in 1972 or 1973.to day the 3rd ave el is a bus.the bx-55 it will stop wher the old el did.the line was know to me as the #8 or the 8ball or shorty case it only used 5 car's.R.I.P.3ave el love mark bronx-ny.
Nothing cannot replace or run over the 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line anymore. No matter how many buses they run over there it cannot top the 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line. We are not blaming the bus operators because the bus operators are definitely doing their best to get people to work and homes. Some one definitely needs to bring the 3rd Avenue Elevated line back where it was. The 8 3rd Avenue Elevated line was important for everyone and helping out the 2 5 lines and the bus operators .
Wonderful picture! The copyright date at the beginning is MCML, or 1950. From what I saw on another video, this line would remain for another 5 or 6 years.
4:30 - recalling George Carlin's routine about "swimming in raw sewage" as a kid to build up his immune system . . .
Thank you, added to a playlist...
One has to wonder how safe the river was back then. Speaking of pollution, it is refreshing to see an urban landscape free of disposable plastic littering the streets and with NO spray painted graffiti. Trash back in the old days was just about all biodegradable. Sadly those days are gone.
Did you know 3 original steam locomotives of the NYC El are in a field in alaska
Really? Where? Any pictures of them?
@joni2691 Thanks! I knew there would be some people out there who also love this stuff!
What a shame that the 3rd avenue El was demolished. Everything in NYC is greed! The real estate developers were behind the demolition. That said, the title of the video is a little misleading. NYC still has plenty of El's in the outer borough and even a few remaining El stops in Manhattan along the IRT # 1 stop. In fact, NYC has more remaining El lines than any other city in the USA.
to think there was MORE
+GRANDGREENSABRE Yes, you are right, there used to be more! Alas, they should have never gotten rid of the 3rd Avenue El. It was so thoroughly NY, so associated with the city. It traveled down so many streets in Manhattan that it could have been used as a tourist attraction--a sightseeing ride! [sigh]. The bureaucrats that approved the demolition are probably dead by now, but if they aren't, I would have them drawn and quartered! LOL. What shortsighted bastards! I love my city and hate when parts of its history are destroyed by certain people in government that lack vision.
+Rayarena I think the reason people don't call the remaining EL structures "The EL" is because the remaining EL' s are linked to the subways thus making it a "elevated subway extension", this EL in this footage (3 Ave EL) was a elevated structure all the way, but what is misleading about this title is that this was not the last EL to be demolish in New York City, the Myrtle Ave EL in Brooklyn was torn down between 1969-1971 and the Bronx part of the 3 Ave EL was torn down between 1973-1975, this title should have read "The last of Manhattan's "EL" Trains"
+amazing50000 Yes, you are correct. Those EL lines were EL's all throughout. But, I disagree with you that people don't call the remaining EL structures Els. Perhaps I am an old time New Yorker, but I've heard a lot of people using the word "EL, " I myself use it. For instance, if asked for subway directions and there is an EL close-by, I will say, walk so many blocks down and take the EL. 40% of NYC's subway stations are either on EL's or on ground level. If you go to the Bronx, most of the subways are actually elevated. Its when you go to Manhattan where you see this disproportionate percentage of underground to EL lines.
@@amazing50000 The older folks in my neighbourhood and others I've encountered still call the Flushing Line the "el". I still call it that too.
New York is always superb ❤️❤️🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
@Redskin1040 Cosmo Kramer, in "Seinfeld", 'swam' in the East River.
I remember the Bronx part of the 3rd Ave El. When we had to go up to Sears we used it to get there.till the Bx55 took it's place. It was faster than the Bx15 bus that ran up there from Manhattan.
at 46 seconds the 179th Yard in the Bronx is shown. It became a Con Edison substation
The Els were not treasured by anyone who had to live near one. They were noisy and dirty and ran around the clock. Can you imagine what it was like to have one just feet from your bedroom window? Seems pretty hellish to me. Most of the neighborhoods through which they ran were not choice residential neighborhoods until the El disappeared, and that it includes big sections of the Village, the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side.
+Ron Frankl They may not have been valued by people who lived near them, but the fact that they ran around the clock was a convenience to people who wanted to get from point A to point B. Also, who says that they are dirty? The buses that replaced them are dirtier. Subway trains that run on electricity are cleaner than buses and cause less traffic congestion.
Those are myths spread by property developers who wanted the ELs gone. They didn't care then that the Lexington Ave subway was overcrowed. Dirty? LOL the city should have taken better care of them. Noisy? Fine, yes they were but living in a busy city is noisy to begin with. And no the trains on 3rd ave stopped running round the clock. They only ran from 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 pm because the city was trying to drive down ridership(it failed) They also cut the line back from its downtown connections at South Ferry and the City Hall branch, guess what those attempts failed to cut ridership. Throwing away cheap public transit is a sin.
No you wouldn't. I lived next to train tracks my whole life and my best friend lives under the L in Chicago. You get used to it.
packr72 Exactly! As you noted, the problem was the real estate developers. They were the people behind tearing down the ELs. Just like Goodyear Tire was behind getting rid of the trolleys. NYC in the early 1900's had an arguebly better public transit that it does today. There were ELs that went down 2nd, 3rd and 5th avenue supplimented by trollies that would connect to the El lines all over the place. All of that amazing infrastructure was shockingly and stupidly torn down. Now we have buses that are always late, dirty, get caught in traffic jams, and are overcrowded, what's more, the city indirectly admitted that tearing down the 2nd avenue EL was a mistake, becuase they've been builting an undergrown subsitute for years to the tune of bllions of dollars and they still have not finished! What a monumental waste of money! Regarding people who cannot live near ELs, Brooklyn and the Bronx are full of EL lines near apartment houses and people live there. In a city like NYC with high rents, I'm sure that there are thousand of families who would gladly move in an apartment building next to an EL line in exchange for paying lower rent, so that's not a problem. In fact, those buildings in the Bronx and Brooklyn next to EL lines are full. Nobody is putting a gun next to someone's head to live in one of those buildings.
Rayarena Yeah the 6th and 9th Ave demolitions were reasonable because they built subways to replace those lines, although the subways were built with public money while the elevateds were built with private money.
2nd Ave had low ridership and the 3rd was only a block away in most cases. In 1940 EL ridership was about 130 million people with 110 million riding the 3rd Ave EL, the rest was between 9th and 2nd Ave.
this is important,your el train fulfilled the genius of Leonardo DaVinci whose vision is that in cosmopolitan area transport must be at a distance from the pedestrian- which may mean aerial. thanks.
Interesting. I did not realise that he came up with that.
There wasn't any practical reason for demolishing the Third Avenue El. It was never replaced by a subway. The only reason was to give politically powerful real estate investors a chance to make a killing on new construction along Third Avenue. Their private gain was the public's loss.
Wow really 😮⁉️
Some of the footage shows streetcars which were abandoned in 1947 in Manhattan.
Im guessing the river was cleaner then
@Redskin1040 Actually, the East and Harlem rivers are much cleaner now and the NYC Triathlon swim segment is in the Hudson. Me, I'm still not swimming there
No mention of the Polo Grounds?
in Nome, Alaska. They are also known as "Last train to nowhere"
Muito bom amo história
Myrtle Ave ...last El in NYC...1969.
The worst thing they could have ever done was demolish the Third Avenue the Second Avenue and I believe it was the six Avenue lines now they're paying for it every day just like when they got rid of the trolleys again stupidity I'm part of the city and the MTA
What goes around comes around
@@leecornwell5632 you may think what goes around comes around is the answer but it's not the absolute the simple fact what they did was the most stupidest mistake that they could have ever done by removing the trolleys the Third Avenue L and now they're paying the consequence for it. This is what happens when you don't look at the big picture down the road in today's process of thinking
@@NYRM1974 They torn down the 3rd Avenue Elevated line down on purpose A mistake my dam foot 🦶 . That did not make no dam sense of taking down this 3rd Avenue Elevated line down for nothing which was really important line in the whole wide world 🌎 in the community in south Bronx. Nothing cannot replace or run over the 3rd Ave Elevated line anymore. It's completely dead. Yet they wanted the second Ave subway line to be done to east Harlem 125 street connecting with the 4 5 6 lines and the Metro North railroad. Now there is a real serious talk on being extended the Q T trains to west 125 street connecting with the Broadway 1 line and the A B D C lines the 2 3 train s.
The real irony,now,is the fact that the current setup for the 2nd Avenue Subway,is a two track line! Both of the Els were rebuilt into 3 tracks with express services,in the direction of rush hour[South in the morning,North in the evening],so the current system,actually has less capacity than the original Els! See Peter Dougherty- Tracks of the New York City Subway,for further information! Thank you for an interesting excursion into the past,and the mistakes made!! Note,I was able to ride,line 8,in the Bronx,and the Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn during the 60's,amazing what went on,under people's noses! Thank you 😇 😊!
Your right, but those els in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx are not "True Els" the true els like the 3 ave el and the Myrtle Ave El in Brooklyn before 1969 did not go underground it stay elevated though out the line, that's why most people and the MTA don't look at the els in the other boroughs as els, they called them "elevated extensions of the subway".
Is a Elevated Metro 🚈
Where in Alaska?
It’s simply a false statement to say that the 3rd Ave el was the last in NYC. There are still to this day a number of elevated lines running in Bklyn, Queens, the Bronx and even one in the Inwood section of Manhattan I believe .
Fully agreed. I'll let you suggest the re-title!
And on the IRT #1 Broadway local train, there is the El at 125th Street.
3rd Ave was the last og irt El'
I think the oldest elevated line still open is the J/Z
It's not false the train does not run on 3rd Avenue anymore 😂
WATCH THE LAST LIVING EL IN NYC
This "educational film" was produced (and copyrighted) in 1950.
I remember it very vividly: In the '90's the New York Transit Museum played this one in a loop with the 1955 color short "3rd Ave. El" (of which I can still hear Wanda Landowska's 1937 rendition of Hadyn's Harpsichord Concerto in D Major playing in my head to this day, all to the sights of the el and the atmosphere around it).
More like the age of swift, flexible propaganda!