Brooklyn Today for Feb. 8
Good morning. Today is the 39th day of the year. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Feb. 8, 1902, reported on the huge crush that occurred every day at the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company’s (BRT’s) elevated terminal at City Hall, and the accidents that frequently occurred there. At the time, all of the BRT’s elevated lines funneled into the terminal, which was the BRT’s only station in Manhattan. The BRT disclaimed responsibility, saying it was the responsibility of the city’s bridge commissioner to provide a safe exit and entrance to the terminal.
Overcrowding at the terminal ended in the mid-1910s, when the BRT completed its underground Broadway line in Manhattan and several of its branch lines (including today’s West End and Sea Beach lines) were connected to this new route. The BRT was reorganized as the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Company (BMT) in 1924, and the BMT in turn became the BMT Division of the New York City transit system in 1940. As for the City Hall elevated terminal, “el” service across the Brooklyn Bridge ended in 1944, and the station was demolished soon afterward.
Well-known people who were born today include actress Brooke Adams, author John Grisham (“The Firm,” ‘The Client”), comedian Robert Klein, actor Nick Nolte (“Affliction,” “The Prince of Tides”) and movie pianist-composer John Williams.