Seeing Myrtle Ave. El’s Last Day

It was a reunion of sorts, as photographer Theresa King was able to board a Myrtle Avenue El train car at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, which is hosting the exhibition “The Last Day of the Myrtle Avenue El: Photographs by Theresa King, ” showcasing pictures that she took on that last day of the elevated line’s operation in October 1969. Subway buffs and former riders should find it fascinating, but a photo essay of the Myrtle Avenue El’s last day in 1969—now being exhibited at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn— also serves as a reminder of how Ridgewood grew as a community.

The exhibition, “The Last Day of the Myrtle Avenue El: Photographs by Theresa King,” runs through Feb. 28, 2010 at the museum, which is located at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn Heights.

This postcard view from the Brooklyn Bridge Tower was taken about 1917, when the Myrtle Avenue El Line ran over the span to Manhattan. Pictured at left as part of the skyline is the Woolworth Building, when the 55-story structure was the tallest building in the world. The Municipal Building stands at right. Featured are color as well as black and white images by Theresa King, along with historic photographs, archival material and station signage from the New York Transit Museum collection.

The exhibition figures to resonate with anyone who, like King, rode the line’s wooden cars and waited at stations that had wooden plank platforms and signs done in blue enamel with white lettering.

Remembering the last ride

In a statement released as part of the New York Transit Museum’s announcement of the exhibition, King recalls: “At midnight on October 3, 1969, over a thousand people eagerly awaited a train—not just any train, but the final train to run on Brooklyn’s Myrtle Avenue Elevated Line. These people were taking the last ride on this historic elevated train.

In the New York Transit Museum’s Gallery, photographer Theresa King appears to be grasping the framed segment of a bannister that is actually one of the images in her exhibition, “Last Day of the Myrtle Avenue El: Photographs by Theresa King.” “As soon as they crammed on, the train rolled along from Brooklyn’s Jay Street station to the Metropolitan Avenue station in Queens. At the end of this sad journey, some passengers took artifacts to remember this very special old timer and bid a fond farewell.

“The pictures were taken during the last day at various stations along the Myrtle Avenue El in Brooklyn.

“During my childhood, I rode this train daily and loved the look of the station stops and the train itself. When I realized the line was due for demolition, I wanted to document a part of Brooklyn’s past that would be no more.”

How she did it

In speaking with the Times Newsweekly, King said that on the El’s last day of operation, she had heard the news on the radio.

“I grabbed my camera and ran down to Jay Street,” she said.

In those days prior to photography’s digital age, the documentation involved the use of Kodak 35mm film, shot with her Nikkormat camera, which she fitted with Nikon lenses.

But there is no need to wonder why kind of flash unit she used.

“No flash at all,” King said. “I prefer to take my photos with available light.”

Over a period of about seven hours, she took the photos that would result in the exhibition now on view at the New York Transit Museum.

Besides her equipment, she headed to the Jay Street station with an appreciation for history and photographic experience that had given her a well-developed sense of timing.

King has a background in the performing arts, having studied for five years with Lee Strasberg, in addition to her involvement with the Judson Poets Theater.

After taking up photography, she shot a variety of subjects. But it was her work in photographing dancers and dance companies, including Merce Cunningham, that sharpened her sense of timing for when to capture an image.

As for King’s desire to document history, it was evident years before the Myrtle Avenue El’s last day. In 1967, she boarded a ferry that enabled her to photograph the Queen Mary ocean liner as it left New York Harbor for the last time.

“I love history and I love documentation,” she said.

King resides in Manhattan’s Westbeth artists housing complex— one of its first residents in the far West Village. It has served as home to numerous artists, actors and cultural organizations.

Among King’s other pictures are photographs of John Lindsay as a young, enthusiastic mayor and Greenwich Village before gentrification.

Children’s photo workshop

As part of the New York transit Museum’s presentation of her works, Theresa King is due to participate in a children’s program, “Photography Workshop: Photojournalism and the Myrtle Avenue El,” on Saturday, Nov. 7.

As announced, the event will provide attendees with an opportunity to tell their own story as they follow in King’s footsteps.

It will get under way with an overview from Theresa King and a private tour of her exhibition.

Afterwards, attendees will travel to Myrtle Avenue with teaching artist/photographer Christina Freeman, where they will learn photojournalism techniques and craft their own visual tale, using digital photography.

Upon returning to the museum, the workshop will shift to its technology lab, where attendees will learn creative digital editing and print their photos to take home.

The Nov. 7 program will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to children ages 9 to 12, with parent chaperones.

Advance registration by phone is strongly recommended for what the Transit Museum calls a “one-of-akind” workshop.

To preregister, call 1-718-694- 1792.

El extension triggered boom

History shows that Ridgewood’s housing boom began after the Myrtle Avenue Elevated Line was extended in 1906.

For a time, the El ran along Myrtle Avenue from Wyckoff Avenue and across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall in Manhattan.

The start of the Myrtle Avenue El dates back to 1885, when the Supreme Court of Kings County gave the nod to the Union Elevated Railroad—a subsidiary of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad—to operate trains along Myrtle Avenue from Fulton Street to Wyckoff Avenue.

The El opened in 1888, with service from downtown Brooklyn that soon extended to Sands Street near the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Brooklyn’s Lexington Avenue and then on to Broadway.

Service to Wyckoff Avenue followed and by 1902, Myrtle Avenue El trains were operating over the Brooklyn Bridge to the Park Row station— service that would last until 1944, when the trains stopped running over the bridge and the Park Row station was closed.

In 1906, the Myrtle Avenue El was extended eastward to the terminal on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village—the so-called “Lutheran Cemetery Extension.” It ran at ground level from Wyckoff Avenue with intermediate stops at Covert Avenue (now Seneca Avenue), Forest Avenue and Fresh Pond Road before continuing across the fields to Metropolitan Avenue. The extension was elevated in 1915.

A second option for commuters

Eventually, Ridgewood’s early commuters would be presented with another option, involving the Williamsburg Bridge, after a connection between the Myrtle Avenue and Broadway elevated lines was made.

But the housing boom had begun years earlier. In 1906, the cost of the Myrtle Avenue El fare was five cents and the progress made by the extension to Middle Village had a huge impact on the housing market in the areas now accommodated by rapid transit.

In Ridgewood, a builder named Paul Stier, who later became sheriff of Queens County, constructed a large number of two-story, two-family brick row houses equipped with separate furnaces. These were a type that had been sold in Brooklyn, but not in Queens, prior to the arrival of rapid transit.

With the extension of the Myrtle Avenue El, Stier saw an opportunity and seized it. During the 1907-08 period alone, he built more than 200 two-story, two-family brick houses on farmland he had acquired. He would also build three-story, threefamily houses on nearby land. The area west of Fresh Pond Road where Stier erected his residential buildings became known as “Stierville.”

Soon after the signs of his success became apparent, other Ridgewood builders followed Stier’s lead. The Ring-Gibson Company, which had an office on Fresh Pond Road, engaged in selling its buildings and renting space. In 1912, the company advertised “Flats to let—one block from Fresh Pond Road Station and 23 minutes to City Hall.”

Old cars remained on line

The Myrtle Avenue Elevated Line is remembered for its old train cars. Since the line west of Broadway was not reinforced to accommodate steel cars, wood-body cars remained necessary until the end.

Ones that were in use into 1958 were called “swing-gate” cars, due to their not having automatic doors that could be operated by remote control. For this reason, they were equipped with gates that were about three feet in height. When the train stopped, conductors at each set of two cars would stand between them, enabling passenger movement by opening and closing the gates.

Although the “swing gate” cars were replaced in 1958, the ones that followed them—referred to as ”Q” type cars— could not be considered “new.” In fact, they were old “swing gate” cars that had been modernized by removing the gates and installing sliding doors.

An example of a Myrtle Avenue El car can be found at the New York Transit Museum, as Theresa King learned when she visited to see the exhibit of her photographs.

Looking at a photo of her that was taken that day, it’s obvious that she enjoyed the reunion with an old friend.

Editor’s note: The New York Transit Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

There is a nominal admission charge, with a reduced price for children and seniors. In addition, seniors are admitted free every Wednesday.

It was noted that support for the exhibition has been provided, in part, by a grant from Independence Community Foundation and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.