History

Brooklyn Today for May 20

May 17, 2013 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Cher-portrait.JPG

Share this:

Good morning. Today is the 140th day of the year. On this day in 1902, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on public hearings about the “Brooklyn tunnel contract.” This was a contract to connect the city’s new subway system to Brooklyn. The two bidders were Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), the owner of Manhattan’s subway system, and Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT), which operated Brooklyn’s trolley and elevated lines. The IRT (which is now the IRT division of the subway system) won the bidding war, and the IRT extension to Atlantic Avenue (part of today’s 4 and 5 lines) opened in 1908. The BRT built its tunnel to Brooklyn a few years later. It’s the Montague Street tunnel, currently used by the R train.

Well-known people who were born today include singer Joe Cocker (“With a Little Help From My Friends”), singer Cher (“Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves”), TV talk show host Ron Reagan (who appeared at a Republican meeting in Bay Ridge recently) and Hockey Hall of Fame player Stan Mikita.