New York & Harlem RR

Introduction

The New York & Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly the first street railway, running north from Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem.   The line was later truncated at Grand Central Terminal, with the rest becoming part of the Fourth Avenue Horse Car Line.   The line became part of the New York Central Railroad.   It is now part of the Metro-North Railroad system, and the only Manhattan trackage of that system.

The company was incorporated on April 25, 1831 as the New York & Haerlem Railroad Company to link New York City with Harlem.   The first section, along The Bowery from Prince Street north to 14th Street, opened on November 26, 1832.

Horses were used at first, but this was changed to steam north of 23rd Street.   It was soon bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt.   The New York City Common Council passed an ordinance on December 27, 1854, to take effect in 18 months, barring the NY&H from using steam power south of 42nd Street, due to complains by abutters.   Before that, the steam locomotives had run to 32nd Street.   When the ordinance took effect, the NY&H had not done anything.   After much debate, including an injunction issued preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, the courts struck down the injunction on July 30, 1858.

Between 1847 and 1856, a track was built in Grand Street between Centre Street and The Bowery (along with one block on The Bowery) for northbound trains.   Southbound trains continued to use the old route.   Grand Central Depot opened just north of 42nd Street in October 1871, and intercity passenger trains from the north were ended there.   (Ironically, by this point, the first of the Manhattan els had opened on Ninth Avenue.)   Freight trains continued to operate along the tracks south of Grand Central, as did streetcars (still turning off at 42nd).   On April 1, 1873, the NY&H leased its freight lines to the NYC, but the horse car line south of Grand Central remained separate.   This eventually became the New York Central Railroad and then part of Penn Central and Conrail.   Metro-North Railroad took over the line in 1983.

In 1864 or 1865, a branch was added for trains between downtown and the 34th Street Ferry, running along 32nd Street, Lexington Avenue and 34th Street.   This was the start of separate horse car service, running between Astor House and the ferry.   On July 2, 1870, horse cars started to run not only to the 34th Street Ferry but to 73rd Street via Madison Avenue.   These trains ran through the Murray Hill Tunnel and turned west on 42nd before going north on Madison (northbound cars used Vanderbilt Avenue to 44th Street).   The line was soon extended to 86th Street and then to Harlem.   The first electric streetcar open to passengers in New York City, a Julien electric traction car, was run on September 17, 1888 on the line to 86th Street.   The line went back to using horses for a time, but switched to an underground third rail in 1897.

On July 1, 1896, the Metropolitan Street Railway leased the streetcar lines.   The New York City Railway, which leased the Metropolitan, went bankrupt in 1908 (?), and was sold to receivers, who gave the Fourth Avenue line back to the Metropolitan Street Railway for operation on July 31, 1908.   The lease was terminated on January 31, 1920, and operation was returned to the NY&H.   On October 10, 1932, it was leased again, this time to the New York Railways Corporation, with the right to bustitute the lines.   The stockholders voted to do this on February 19, 1934.   An approximation of the route is now traveled by MTA New York City Transit's M1 bus.   The Murray Hill Tunnel now carries two lanes of roadway, but not the buses.^Wiki