Themes in American History

My recent trip to the Museum of the City of New York has given me the opportunity to explore some facts about the City. Several interesting and knowlegeable facts caught my attention during the visit. Starting from transportation to push cart, there are several factual things I am really interested in.

I didnot know that New York City happens to be the leading manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages in the 1800s and at mid century had the highest concentration of horse- drawn vehicle and component manufacturers in the country (according to the museum). The vast majority of city horses were not elegant animals who pulled carriages and lived in stables near the homes of the wealthy; most were big workhorses who did all the hauling–pulling wagons loaded with goods from the shore. Big teams of workhorses powered the city’s horse-driven street trolley system. The limited range and speed of these trolleys were one reason everyone lived below 57th Street(www.banhdc.org).

The early transportation system happens to be the electric street car or trolley of the turn of the century. MTA bus of the late 20th century are examples of the way the city provides transportation for large numbers of people. The first motorized buses were introduced in the early 1900s; Brooklyn had trolley as the main means of transportation until the 1919.After being appointed as the Mayor of the city in the year 1934, Fiorello La Guardia created a plan for replacing electric trolleys with buses.

The Museum of the City of New York also represents an entire section on vendor selling food and dry goods. Push cart were once a common sight on the New York City’s streets; according to the 1906 push cart commission there were more than 25000 vendors selling food and dry goods. Until Fiorello Laguardia’s active campaign against street vending; enclosed markets such as the Essex street market and La Marqueta in East Harlem, were established as a way of diverting vendors off the streets. As the museum also represents how the city is expereiencing a street vendign renaissance,with outdoor green markets and licensed mobile cart operators. Many offer a range of foods that would have seemed unimaginable even a few short years ago.

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