New-York tribune., 1896-01-25
nCJTy NALL AND THE BRIDGE"

BOYS arm was broken at the upper tor
minal Of the Thrd-avc elevated line on Thurs
day by the crowd which jammcd him against
n car as he attempted to board train. The
station at one hundred d-twenty -ninth-st is 4
dangerous one. and the police, it is said, have
frequently warned the company that greater
precautions were needed for the protection of
passengers But the same line has a far worse
station, designated by its guards as "Ciiy Hall
and the Bridge and anybody who studies its
construction will be ready To believe that moth
ing but n miracle prevents the daily occurrence
there Of such accidents as that which happened
to the Harlem boy.
During the busy hours trains are arriving and
departing at intervals OF not much more than
ninety seconds Far more than at any other sta
ton both incoming and outgoing trains there
are crowded. The throngs who go to Brooklyn
are equalled by the throngs who climb the stair
cases on their way uptown. Upon a narrow
platform, broken by two rows OF columns, these
two hurrying streams of humanity thrown
face to face Here is not simply a crowd press
ing in one direction without interference, but
two crowds striving TO move in opposite direc-
tOns, every person in which has literally to fight
his way against some other person-to strike
and to dodge II he Is not TO be carried backward
by the mass Of those going whence he came
All this could easily have been avoided had the
station been constructed properly. The incom
ing passengers should be allowed to leave the
cars on one side OF the train and the outgoing
passengers take them on the other. Thus the
people brought together would always be moving
In one direction. Such an arrangement existed
at the old Bridge station In Brooklyn when the
Brooklyn elevated line had three platforms
one between the two tracks for people about to
take the trains and two narrower ones leading
to the Bridge cars. The present staircases lead
Ing to the City Hall Station are only less objec
tonable than the platform accommodations
The passageway to the street between the clc
waited and the Bridge stations Is always the
scene Of confusion It Is only wide enough for
two people. Yet up II goes about half the human
stream which Is to take the cars and down it
comes half of that which seeks the streets And
as II this was not bad enough. at the very top
Of this staircase cross stream Is introduced
consisting Of the whole volume Of traffic from
the Bridge TO the elevated line Consequently
there are three counter-currents raging in the
little landing between the short flight OF steps
to the ticket office, the other short flight from the
platform, and the stairs to the street. Two OF
these currents having fought their way by the
third, converge and go up the steps through a
narrow door to some ticket-booths, where they
dodge about in the face Of the people who have
come upstairs from the other side Of the street
until they find window that chances to be
open. While the ticket-buyers thus block up
the whole station those who have tickets with
them struggle like fOotball-players to force a
passage through the crowds banked up around
the windows
No plan could he more imbecle than that Of
such a station. Its evils are most apparent at
the rush hours, but the passages are so narrow
and the tides of traffic SO diverse at all times
that EVAN with a dozen people In the station