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A word about Mayor Hylan:
John F. Hylan [b. 1869 - d. 1936]
96th Mayor of NYC (1918-1925)
96th Mayor of NYC (1918-1925)
It is quite evident after reading the
above articles concerning the 1919 transit strike, that Mayor
Hylan wasn't a very popular civil servant. Mayor Hylan always
wanted a city-owned and operated transit system. He wanted the
I.R.T. and the B.R.T. to go out of business so the city could
acquire all subway and elevated systems. Part of his plan was
to undermine the existing elevateds and build subway lines near
or directly under the els. (i.e, the Eighth Ave. and Sixth Ave.
subways). The Second Ave subway, was of course, never realized.
Besides his personal grudge against the
B.R.T., having been fired while a motorman for the company, he
got part of his wish after the Malbone Street disaster on Nov.
1, 1918; the B.R.T. going into receivership. The B.R.T.
eventually became the B.M.T. in 1923 and Hylan continued his
attacks in his feud with B.M.T. chairman Gerald Dahl. Hylan
made every effort to acquire the franchises but he was voted
out of office in his bid for a third term. His bitterness was
eventually relieved somewhat in the late 1920's when his wish
came true. With the building of the IND and expansion of the
other subways, it signaled the demise of the Ninth and Sixth
avenue els which were subsequently demolished soon after the
construction of these subway lines. The Second and Third avenue
lines followed thereafter. And by 1940 the City unified all
systems under its control. Hylan was, therefore instrumental in
completely changing the structure of rapid transit in New York
A word about the
I.R.T. Brotherhood
I.R.T. Brotherhood
The Brotherhood of Interborough Rapid
Transit Employees (“Brotherhood”) was formed by the
I.R.T. as a company union to fulfill the terms of the New York
Railways surface lines agreement as it would apply to the rapid
transit employees of the I.R.T. The surface agreement was a
result of the NYR surface strike of August, 1916.
The New York Railways strike had been
spearheaded by the Amalgamated Association of Street and
Electric Railway Employees of America, A.F.L.
(“Amalgamated”)
The I.R.T. would undoubtedly have liked to
keep their employees from having any opportunity for
organization and independent representation, but it
didn’t appear they would be able to pull it off. New York
Railways and the I.R.T. were separate corporate entities, but
the management was substantially the same.
The I.R.T. gave its blessing to the
formation of the Brotherhood in the hope of keeping its
employees from the “clutches” of Amalgamated.
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Tammany Upholds Smith
A few days ago, when Tammany
decided on its city and county slate, it was Hearst's expressed
wish that Just- ice Luce be kept off the country ticket.
Tammany's reply probably inspired by Smith, was to name him.
In the meantime Commissioner Nixon had
advocated an increased fare for the Interborough. This brought
forth more hostile editorials and cartoons in the Hearst
papers. Mayor Hylan, backed by Hearst, opposed an increase.
At the meeting to avert the
strike held in City Hall Saturday a representative of Hearst
was on hand, and during the proceedings held a whispered
conference with Hylan. At its conclusion the Mayor asked Frank
Hedley, general manager of the Interborough, if he would turn
his lines over to the city, since he had testified they were
financially "busted." Hedley said he would not.
Since then Hylan and Hearst have
been charging that the strike was a conspiracy between employes
and employers of the Interborough to get an increased fare.
©2003 The Composing Stack Inc.
©2003 Gregory J. Christiano
Updated January 20 , 2003