The Secrets of the Great City | Page 4

place of
residence than any city in the land. Its delightful climate, its
cosmopolitan and metropolitan character, and the endless variety of its
attractions, render it the most delightful home in America. That this is
true is shown by the fact that few persons who have lived in New York
for twelve months ever care to leave it. Even those who could do better
else where are powerless to resist its fascinations.
[Illustration: Broadway, as seen from The St. Nicholas Hotel.]
CHAPTER II.
THE STREETS OF NEW YORK.
The City of New York has been regularly laid out and surveyed for a
distance of twelve miles from the Battery. It has over two hundred
miles of paved streets. Most of the streets in the old Dutch city are
crooked and narrow, but above that they are broader, and better laid on;
and after passing Fulton street, they become quite regular. Above
Fourteenth street, the city is laid off in regular squares. First street is
located about a mile and four fifths above the Battery. From this the
cross streets extend to Two hundred and twenty-eighth street.
The lengths of the blocks, between First and One-hundred and twenty-
first streets, vary from one hundred and eighty-one to two hundred and
eleven feet eleven inches.
Those between the avenues (which run at right angles to the streets),
vary from four hundred and five to nine hundred and twenty feet.
The avenues are all one hundred feet wide, excepting Lexington and
Madison, which are seventy-five, and Fourth Avenue, above

Thirty-fourth street, which is one hundred and forty feet wide.
The numerical streets are all sixty feet wide, excepting Fourteenth,
Twenty-third, Thirty-fourth, Forty-second, and eleven others, north of
these, which are one hundred feet wide.
There are twelve fine avenues at parallel distances apart of about eight
hundred feet. They begin about First or Fourth street, and run to the end
of the island. Second and Eighth are the longest, and Fifth and Madison
the most fashionable.
BROADWAY.
The most wonderful street in the world is Broadway. It extends, as we
have said, the whole length of the island. But its most attractive
features are between the Bowling Green and Thirty-fourth street--the
chief part of these being below Fourteenth street. The street is about
sixty feet wide, and is thronged with vehicles of every description.
Often times these vehicles crowd the streets to such an extent that they
become "jammed," and the police are forced to interfere and compel
the drivers to take the routes assigned them. The scene at such a time is
thrilling. A stranger feels sure that the vehicles cannot be extricated
without loss of life or limb to man or beast, and the shouts and oaths of
the drivers fairly bewilder him. In a few moments, however, he sees a
squad of policemen approach, and plunge boldly into the throng of
vehicles. The shouts and oaths of the drivers cease, the vehicles move
on, one at a time, according to the orders of the police, and soon the
street is clear again, to be blocked, perhaps, in a similar manner, in less
than an hour. Twenty thousand vehicles daily traverse this great
thoroughfare.
It is always a difficult matter to cross Broadway in the busy season.
Ladies, old persons, and children, find it impossible to do so without
the aid of the police, whose duty it is to make a way for them through
the crowds of vehicles. A bridge was erected at the corner of Broadway
and Fulton street, which is the most crowded part of the city, for the
purpose of allowing pedestrians to cross over the heads of the throng in
the street. It proved a failure, however. Few persons used it, except to

see from it the magnificent panorama of Broadway, and the city
authorities have ordered it to be taken down. It disfigures the street very
much, and its removal will be hailed with delight by the native
population.
Broadway properly begins at the Bowling Green. From this point it
extends in a straight line to Fourteenth street and Union Square. Below
Wall street, it is mainly devoted to the "Express" business, the
headquarters and branch offices of nearly all the lines in the country
centering here. Opposite Wall street, on the west side of Broadway, is
Trinity Church and its grave-yard. From Wall street to Ann street,
Insurance Companies, Real Estate Agents, Bankers and Brokers
predominate. At the corner of Ann street, is the magnificent "Herald
Office," adjoining which is the "Park Bank," one of the grandest
structures in the country. Opposite these are the Astor House and St.
Paul's Church. Passing the Astor House, the visitor finds the Park,
containing the City Hall, on his right. Across the Park are Park Row
and Printing House