New York City
Located approximately halfway between Boston and Washington D.C., New York City has a brief but colorful history. Although visited several times by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, white Dutch immigrants first settled the region circa 1624, when the city of New Amsterdam began life on what is now known as Governors Island. Two years later, the Governor of New Amsterdam purchased Manhattan Island on behalf of the Dutch West India Company from the local Lenape people in exchange for 60 Guilders worth of trade goods.
By 1760, now named New York (in honor of King Charles II’s brother after the British seized the settlement from the Dutch in 1664), it had become the second largest city in the American colonies, surpassed only by Philadelphia. It wasn’t until 50 years later that it became the largest city in the Western hemisphere, eclipsing even the mighty London in terms of population by the 1920s. After serving briefly as the constitutional capital following the American Revolutionary War, New York then grew to become the fledgling country’s trade capital in the early years of the 19th century.
Having formerly consisted largely of Dutch and British immigrants, as well as freed slaves, the city’s population swelled during the mid-1800s thanks to waves of new arrivals from Germany and Ireland, who together made up more than half the city’s inhabitants by the 1860s. They were followed by those fleeing Italy and Eastern Europe (predominantly Russian and Polish Jews). All came looking for a brighter future and to escape poverty and persecution in their homelands. More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924 when the center closed, by which time a little over 40% of New York’s inhabitants were foreign-born. National quotas for immigrants were instituted as a result, although large numbers of black Caribbean citizens took advantage of the British quota to make New York their home. They joined with those who traveled to the city during the Great Migration (the relocation of African-Americans from the South that began during the Great War) to become part of the thriving community centered around Harlem (see Harlem in the 1920s, page 143) or Harlem.
Most of the city’s buildings are of brick and stone after the Great Fire of New York in 1835 prompted a massive burst of reconstruction. The type of building in a neighborhood may tell you something about the relative affluence of the area in which it is found: “good” residential areas tend to consist of buildings known as “brownstones” (four-story townhouses accessed by a steep staircase—the stoop—that leads to the second story entrance) or, in poorer areas, crowded, decaying tenement buildings, also known as “walk-ups.” However, the shifting patterns of occupation often mean that the brownstones of formerly prosperous areas may now function as boarding houses.
Infrastructure
Getting About in New York
Thanks to its importance as a trade and financial center, getting about in New York should not be too onerous a task. The boroughs of New York are connected by road and rail, although the system of tunnels and bridges that make modern journeys relatively simple are not built until after the 1920s.Elevated Railway and Subway
New York’s elevated railway, “the El,” opened in 1868 with a line between Battery Place and the Financial District. More lines followed, connecting Manhattan and the Bronx. The elevated trains were joined in 1904 by the subway system, with new lines constantly added and old ones expanded throughout the 1920s. Open 24 hours a day, the subway system allows for inexpensive transport (around five cents) around Manhattan, as well as portions of Brooklyn and the Bronx.Buses and Trolleycars
Horse-drawn streetcars, amongst the first forms of public transport in the city, were gradually replaced in the suburbs by electric trolley-cars. Motorbuses are available, but tend to operate further out in Queens and in Richmond.Taxicabs
The famous New York Yellow Cab Company began in 1907. For wealthier investigators, these instantly recognizable taxicabs provide convenient transport throughout the city. Investigators should be wary, though, when hailing a cab on the street—the “medallion” system regulating taxi operation is not introduced until 1937, meaning that there are unscrupulous owners and unsafe vehicles out on the city’s roads throughout the 1920s. Fares start at 15 cents.Car Hire
If taxis are too down-market for the investigators, then using their own automobile or hiring one is an option. New York is a busy place, and driving can be hectic and frustrating, especially for those unfamiliar with driving in a big city (the Keeper might increase the difficulty level for Drive rolls to Hard).Ferries
Numerous ferries link the various islands of New York and the mainland; in the main, such links only run during the day. One of the most famous, the Staten Island Ferry, runs between the Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan and St. George’s Terminal on Staten Island. For international travel, tickets for the Anchor and Cunard lines can be purchased from the Cunard Building in the Financial District.Trains
Railway lines connect the city to the suburbs and the rest of America through a comprehensive local and national networkAccommodation
There are numerous places the investigators could stay during their time in New York, assuming that none of them are residents of the bustling city. The New Grand Hotel at Broadway and 31st Street, with its mock Moorish décor, can be rented for between $2–5.50 per day, depending on the level of plumbing desired (the higher room rates include a private bath). Another hotel designed by the same architect, the Broadway Central Hotel at 673 Broadway, is taken over in 1923 by Jewish entrepreneur Meyer G. Manischewitz and thoroughly renovated; it soon gains a reputation for its opulent kosher banquets. For wealthy investigators, the Plaza Hotel on Grand Army Plaza, Manhattan (not to be confused with the plaza of the same name in Brooklyn), is the place to stay. Alternatively, if the Plaza has no rooms available, then the Waldorf-Astoria, on Fifth Avenue at 33rd Street (where Roger Carlyle held his 21st birthday party; later to be the site of the Empire State Building), is an even more grandiose destination. The Alcazar Hotel (47, West 32nd Street) may be just around the corner from the Waldorf-Astoria, but it couldn’t be further away from it in terms of the nature of its clientele. One of many less salubrious establishments in the city, it is favored by bootleggers and other enterprising souls operating on the wrong side of the law. Another such establishment is the Hotel Gerard at 123 West 44th Street, not far from Times Square. The nearby Times Square Hotel (255 West 43rd Street) is a far nicer residence, catering mostly to young, single men, although one floor is reserved for female guests. Provided the investigators do not mind traveling, cheaper accommodation can also be found in hotels and boarding houses in the suburbs and the less well-to-do of Manhattan’s neighborhoods.Points of interest
Conducting Research in New York
New York has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to conducting research in the 1920s, from newspapers to universities, libraries, and museums. A few of the more interesting and useful ones are detailed below. Several prestigious news organizations have New York as their headquarters, including the Associated Press. The New York Times (located in Times Square) is a font of information, as are the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post (both located in the Financial District). La Prensa (1913), a Spanish-language daily newspaper, is based in Brooklyn, while the Amsterdam News (one of only 50 African-American-owned and operated newspapers in the United States at the time) is located at 2293 Seventh Avenue in Harlem. The New York Public Library, the second largest in America (after the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.), is located at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Manhattan in a magnificent Beaux-Arts building, which houses the vast collection of books, periodicals, and maps. The Hall of Records (now the Surrogate’s Courthouse), another Beaux-Arts building, can be found on Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan. The fireproof building contains the city’s records, including births, marriages, and deaths; maps, building plans, and deeds; and census and court records—more than enough to keep the investigators occupied, should they choose to visit. First founded as King’s College in Lower Manhattan, Columbia University moved to its current campus in Morningside Heights in 1897. Renowned for its legal, medical, and journalism schools, the Ivy League University also has an extensive library that is open to scholars and students. New York University has two campuses: Washington Square in Manhattan, and University Heights in the Bronx. Both sites have libraries for staff and students.Tourism
Getting to New York
Air travel (private or commercial) is out of the reach of many in terms of cost, and New York doesn’t have a dedicated airport of its own until the strip at Newark opens in 1928. However, the city is an important rail hub, connected to all other major cities in the country either directly or via other thriving transport centers such as Chicago. While it is possible that some people may have access to an automobile, the general condition of the roads means that the railroads are a far faster, and more comfortable, option in the long run. Should someone insist on driving cross-country, there is always the Lincoln Highway (opened in 1913): the transcontinental road ran from Lincoln Park in San Francisco, through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, before reaching its end in the southeast corner of Times Square.Architecture
MANHATTAN SKYLINE
While Manhattan is justly famous for its impressive skyline, many of the buildings that form it were not in existence in the 1920s. Neither the Chrysler Building nor the Empire State Building were completed until the beginning of the 1930s; the Chrysler’s groundbreaking ceremony taking place in 1928 and the Empire State Building’s in 1930. Only the Woolworth Building (completed 1913) is easily recognizable; it held the record for the world’s tallest building for 17 years, until the arrival of the Chrysler Building. Other famous landmarks, including the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, also do not appear until the 1930s.Geography
Sitting at the mouth of the Hudson River and on the edge of an immense natural harbor, the modern city is largely built on three main islands: Long Island, Manhattan Island, and Staten Island (predominantly referred to as Richmond until 1975). The East River separates the Bronx and Manhattan from Long Island, while the Harlem River (between the East and Hudson Rivers) separates the Bronx from much of Manhattan. However, New York as we know it today did not technically come into being until 1895. Prior to that, its five boroughs (Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Richmond, and Manhattan) existed as separate enclaves. “Greater New York,” consisting of all five, was officially consolidated in January 1898.
Manhattan is the smallest but most densely populated of the five boroughs, and is the cultural, financial, and administrative heart of the city. Wall Street forms the core of the city’s Financial District in Lower Manhattan, having developed from the city’s first official slave market. In October 1929, the New York Stock Exchange is the scene of Black Tuesday, the stock market crash which heralds the Great Depression. Times Square, known as Longacre Square until the New York Times opened their new offices there in 1904, and famous for its electric signs (the first of which also appeared in 1904), was allegedly the inspiration for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927 the area becomes increasingly seedy through its association with gambling and prostitution throughout the 1920s and ‘30s. Another of New York’s famous landmarks, Central Park, opened in 1857, and was the first landscaped park in an American city.
Brooklyn lies on the western tip of Long Island and is home to the famous Coney Island Amusement Park. Although once known as “Sodom by the Sea” for its racy atmosphere and attractions (including a brothel housed in building shaped like a giant elephant), family-oriented entertainment, initially in the form of Luna Park, began appearing at the turn of the 19th century. The Wonder Wheel, built by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company, opened in 1920, with the Cyclone wooden roller coaster following in 1927. Brooklyn is connected to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge.
Queens can also be found on Long Island, to the north and east of Brooklyn. Richmond (Staten Island), to the southwest of Brooklyn, is linked to Manhattan by ferry, although hopes of linking it to the Manhattan subway system collapse with the abandonment of the Staten Island Tunnel project in 1925.
The Bronx lies to the northeast of Manhattan and is the only one of the five boroughs to be mostly situated on the American mainland. Many of the immigrants who flooded into New York after the Great War settled in the Bronx and it was a hive of gang activity during the Prohibition era. It is also the location of the Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees baseball team between 1923 and 1973.
Climate
The Weather
Thanks to its location, New York tends to suffer from hot, humid summers and chilly, damp, windy winters. In July, temperatures average out at around 25⁰C (77⁰F) while those in January (the coldest month) fluctuate around 0⁰C (32⁰F), although they can fall as low as –12⁰C (10⁰F). Spring and fall tend to have variable weather, ranging from cool to warm. Rainfall is spread pretty evenly throughout the year. The weather in January 1925 is especially unpleasant. The city is brought to a standstill by a two-day snowstorm on January 2, followed by a fresh storm ten days later. This last storm brought enough snow to shut down most transportation into and around the city, with roads blocked, railway lines covered, and even ferry travel disrupted by ice on the rivers. Fierce winds buried sidewalks with snowdrifts. While the city authorities drafted in thousands of workers to shovel the snow and restore order, it’s a slow process getting the city moving again. When the investigators make their way to their meeting with Jackson Elias, snow is still piled high on the sides of the streets, and regular flurries add to the disruption. When it would add to the tension, the Keeper should make use of the snow as a complication during chase scenes, surveillance attempts, and general movement around the city. Howling winds and sub-zero temperatures mean that most people venturing outdoors wear heavy layers of clothing, including scarves and hats, which may make it difficult for the investigators to identify characters they encounter on the streets. Another two serious blizzards hit the city on January 20, and heavy snowfall brings more problems on January 27.Maps
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New York City
Type
Large city
Included Locations
Characters in Location
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