The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of
streetcars
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
(
horsecars and later
trolleys) in the
City of
Brooklyn,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a
borough of
New York City in 1898.
Incorporation and first line
The BCRR was incorporated on December 17, 1853 with capital of $2,500,000, a large sum in those days. Its first line, the
Myrtle Avenue Line, was the first horsecar line in Brooklyn, and opened on July 3, 1854. The line operated from
Fulton Ferry via Fulton Street and Myrtle Avenue to the former
stagecoach stables at Marcy Avenue. The New York State Legislature permitted it to reduce its capital to $1,000,000 in 1855.
List of lines
The following lines were operated by the BCRR at the time of its 1893 lease to the BHRR:
Report of the Special Committee of the Assembly Appointed to Investigate the Causes of the Strike of the Surface Railroads in the City of Brooklyn
1895, pages 33-34
*Court Street Line
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
, Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
to Red Hook
* Flatbush Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Flatbush
* Fulton Street Line, Fulton Ferry to East New York
* Furman Street Line, Fulton Ferry to Hamilton Avenue Ferry Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilto ...
* Gates Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Ridgewood
* Graham Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Greenpoint Ferry
* Greenpoint Line, Fulton Ferry to Greenpoint
* Hamilton Avenue Line, Hamilton Avenue Ferry Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilto ...
to Greenwood Cemetery
* Myrtle Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Bushwick
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Pa ...
* Putnam Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Ocean Hill
Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford-Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 16 and was founded in 1890. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233. Ocean Hill's boundaries ...
* Third Avenue Line, Fulton Ferry to Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which i ...
;Built after the consolidations began
* Bowery Bay Line, Ridgewood to North Beach
* Corona Line, Ridgewood to Corona
Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to:
* Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star
* Corona (beer), a Mexican beer
* Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...
* Flatbush Avenue Line, Flatbush to Flatlands
*Flushing Avenue Line
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushing ...
, Bushwick
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Pa ...
to Maspeth
Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...
*Richmond Hill Line
Richmond Hill is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It operates between Union Station in Toronto to Bloomington GO Station in the north in Richmond Hill. Trains on the line opera ...
, Ridgewood to Richmond Hill
* Union Avenue Line, Greenpoint to Ridgewood
;From the Bushwick Railroad, leased July 26, 1888
* Bushwick Line, Williamsburg to Ridgewood
*Cypress Hills Line
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
, Ridgewood to Cypress Hills Cemetery
* Lutheran Cemetery Line, Ridgewood to Lutheran Cemetery
* Tompkins Avenue Line, Williamsburg to Crown Heights
;From the Brooklyn Crosstown Railroad and its leased Calvary Cemetery, Greenpoint and Brooklyn Railroad, leased July 30, 1889
* Annex Line, Long Island City
*Calvary Cemetery Line
Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early medie ...
, Greenpoint to Calvary Cemetery
* Crosstown Line, Red Hook to Greenpoint
* Union Avenue Line, Downtown Brooklyn to Greenpoint
;From the New Williamsburgh and Flatbush Railroad
The B44 is a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, running mostly along Nostrand Avenue, as well as northbound on Rogers Avenue or New York Avenue and Bedford Avenue (as part of a one-way pair), between Sheepshead Bay and William ...
and its leased Greenpoint and Lorimer Street Railroad, leased July 31, 1889
* Holy Cross Line, Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the Flatbush area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The community is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbone Street) to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York A ...
to Holy Cross Cemetery
*Lorimer Street Line
The B48 bus route constitutes a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, running along Lorimer Street, Franklin Avenue, and Classon Avenue between Flatbush and Greenpoint. Originally the Lorimer Street streetcar line, it is now a bus ...
, Greenpoint to Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the Flatbush area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The community is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbone Street) to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York A ...
* Nostrand Avenue Line, Williamsburg to Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the Flatbush area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The community is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbone Street) to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York A ...
;From the Grand Street and Newtown Railroad, leased April 29, 1890
* Grand Street Line, Williamsburg to Maspeth
Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...
*Meeker Avenue Line
The Meeker and Marcy Avenues Line was a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, running along Marcy Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue, Graham Avenue, and Meeker Avenue from Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant to Penny Bridge in Williamsburg ...
, Williamsburg to Penny Bridge
;From the South Brooklyn Street Railway, leased April 24, 1891
* Second Avenue Line, Sunset Park to Gravesend
Leased to Brooklyn Heights Railroad
In 1893, the Long Island Traction Company (LIT), a holding company, acquired the Brooklyn Heights Railroad
The Brooklyn Heights Railroad was a street railway company in the U.S. state of New York. It leased and operated the streetcar lines of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, but started out with the Montague Street Line, a short cable car line con ...
(BHRR), operator of a short cable car line on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...
and used this latter company as its operating arm. The BHRR obtained a 999-year operating lease on the Brooklyn City the same year. By this time the Brooklyn City operated 27 streetcar lines.
Part of Brooklyn Rapid Transit System
The LIT was foreclosed and reorganized in 1895 as the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
(BRT), which soon acquired, through lease or stock ownership, most of the trolley and rapid transit lines in Brooklyn.
The BRT (also known as "the rapid transit company" during its years of acquisition) became the public face of transportation in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, the BRT operated all of its lines through its operating companies, some of which were created just for that purpose, and others that were leased or subsidiaries, such as the Brooklyn City. Patrons may have noticed this in subtle ways, such as that streetcar transfers had the letters "B.C.R.R." imprinted on their face.
Company revival
In 1919, the BRT went into receivership as the result of a number of factors, such as the serious inflation of World War I, and not helped by the Malbone Street Wreck
The Malbone Street wreck, also known as the Brighton Beach Line accident, was a rapid transit railroad accident that occurred on November 1, 1918, on the New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line (now part of the BMT Franklin Avenue Line) in the ...
on the Brighton Line, which killed at least 93 people on November 1, 1918.
Though the BRT was bankrupt, the Brooklyn City was declared solvent, and its charter and separate corporate existence were resumed. The lease by the Brooklyn Heights was ended and the lines the BCRR controlled in 1893 and more became its lines again on October 19, 1919. The BCRR had its own crews, cars and carbarns, and even purchased new equipment in its own name, though the overall planning and management was still effectively with the BRT. A negative consequence for passengers was that BCRR lines no longer issued transfers to the lines still with the BRT, and vice versa.
When the BRT was reorganized as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway ...
(BMT) in 1923, the former BRT companies gradually were brought out of receivership. Nevertheless, the Brooklyn City did not become part of the BMT, but remained a separate company until June 1, 1929, when the BMT formed the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation (B&QT) was a subsidiary of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation that operated streetcars in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States (as well as into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge a ...
to consolidate all of its surface operations in one operating company, which finally ended the corporate existence of the Brooklyn City.
See also
* List of New York City Landmarks
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooklyn City Railroad
Streetcar lines in Brooklyn
Streetcar lines in Queens, New York
Railway companies established in 1853
Predecessors of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Defunct public transport operators in the United States
Electric railways in New York (state)
New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn