Brooklyn Today for Jan. 22
Good morning. Today is the 22nd day of the year. If you think things are bad in today’s subway cars and buses, at least they’re heating in the winter and cooled in the summer. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Jan. 22, 1902, revealed that a survey by the Department of Health showed that the borough’s trolley cars, which were then owned by Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT), had an average temperature of 43 degrees—even in the winter. The Eagle asked the BRT about the situation.
The transit company replied that the electric current generated by the system was insufficient to both power and heat the cars, so the electric heaters were shut off during non-rush hours. More power plants were under construction, they added, so the cars would be better heated by the end of 1903. The BRT, which also operated Brooklyn’s elevated lines, was reorganized as Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) in 1924, and still later became the BMT division of the New York City Subway System.
Well-known people who were born today include actress Linda Blair (“The Exorcist,” “Airport”), singer Steve Perry of Journey, author Joseph Wambaugh (“The Onion Field”) and actor Christopher Masterson (“Malcolm in the Middle”).