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News from February 02, 1924 (The Chat, via Newspapers.com™)
Local Groups Discuss NYC Subway Management
On February 2, 1924, a Brooklyn newspaper reported on the January 28 joint meeting held between the Bedford Community Center and the League of Women Voters of the 17th Assembly District. During the meeting, among the key topics discussed was the future of New York City’s subway system.
Cornelius M. Sheehan, the Deputy Commissioner of Water, Gas, and Electricity, spoke at the meeting, providing an overview of the state of the city’s subways under the dual system contracts of 1913. The contracts allowed a fare of five cents and contained an important stipulation – the City of New York had the opportunity to reclaim the subway system from the private companies that had financed them after ten years of operation.
Sheehan argued that the city should exercise its recovery right. He pointed out that the city could buy back the subway equipment from the companies at the initial investment cost plus 15 percent. This would be prudent because construction costs were increasing, and the city had already borne a larger part of the subway costs.
He suggested that recovering the subways would provide better value for taxpayers. Further, he proposed that recovering the subways could even enable the city to continue offering a five-cent fare, and the city could release bonds used to pay for the recovery from the city’s debt limit. This, in turn, could provide additional funds for further subway expansion.
However, if the private companies proceeded to build more subways under the current circumstances, it would lead to high construction costs and excessive profits. In Sheehan’s view, the city’s subway building plans would be hindered and add $70,000,000 to the existing debt margin.
Among the other speakers at the meeting was Mrs. Ruth White Colton, who discussed the difficulties faced by the government in Washington.
Also in attendance at the meeting were contingents from the 17th Assembly District League of Women Voters, led by Mrs. Estelle Bush, along with a group from the Invincible Club, led by Mrs. Maud A. Neale.
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