williammkendall

The Chambers and Madison Streets streetcar line (aka Madison Street line) of the New York Railways was discontinued on Sept. 21, 1919. Cars on this line were battery powered. metro.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_streetcar_lines_in_Manhattan. This line ran east to west from the Grand St. Ferry on the East River to the Chambers St. Ferry on the Hudson, roughly on the route of the present day M22 bus line. books.google.com/books?id=2DA05tBefEsC&pg=PA888&l... metro.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_streetcar_lines_in_Manhattan It's possible this photo was taken to illustrate a story about the last day of the line's service. The streetcar is pictured traveling through the archway in Manhattan's Municipal Building on Centre Street and Chambers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Municipal_Building Street view (east through arch), June 1916: www.google.com/maps/place/Avenue+of+the+Finest,+New+York,... account of controversial closing of east side lines, NYT 9/19/19: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A04E6D9153AE0...

for info on these battery powered streetcars, see comments under

good-times.webshots.com/photo/1199520103033746761jPOEac is a picture of the same arch.

As is this www.flickr.com/photos/epicharmus/3129782522/. This is a photo of the Manhattan Municipal Building.

Thanks swanq and the_vampire_hanna for identifiying this building as the Manhattan Municipal Building. We will update the the description when we reload the database.

see

shot from inside the Municipal Building looking northwest to the Surrogate's Courthouse. www.google.com/maps/@40.7130631,-74.0040537,3a,75y,20.47h...

"Manhattan's Lost Streetcars" has additional information on these stepless, center loading battery cars, with photos. books.google.com/books?id=jTj1tGfHu4oC&pg=PA58&lp...