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Freight Service into Manhattan

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Freight Service into Manhattan
Posted by Ulrich on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 7:12 PM

Is there currently rail freight service into Manhattan? At one time NYC had quite the operation on the west side with a huge eight track crossdock terminal. Apparently that's all long gone now, but are there still lines servicing this borough of NYC? 

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Posted by NorthWest on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 8:24 PM

I think it is all gone as high land prices have pushed industry out. The only float operation that survives is New Jersey-Long Island.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 9:12 PM

NorthWest

The only float operation that survives is New Jersey-Long Island. 

I thought there was still one to Brooklyn...

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Posted by matthewsaggie on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 9:51 PM

Brooklyn is on Long Island.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 10:33 PM

matthewsaggie

Brooklyn is on Long Island. 

True, but I'd bet if you told someone from Brooklyn (or Queens) the they were from Long Island, they'd beg to differ...

I think most people think of Long Island as Suffolk and Nassau counties.

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Posted by NorthWest on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 11:51 PM

Well, I may not be a New Yorker, but at least I know how to differentiate the city and Upstate...

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, November 3, 2016 6:13 AM

NorthWest

Well, I may not be a New Yorker, but at least I know how to differentiate the city and Upstate... 

Depends on where you draw the line.  For some in the city, Yonkers is "upstate..."

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, November 3, 2016 7:10 AM

I don't know the situation in the state of New York, but Illinois, like Gaul, is divided into three parts:  Chicago, suburbs, and downstate.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by Victrola1 on Thursday, November 3, 2016 7:18 AM

"Hey, boss. Did you New York is on an island?" A mob soldier to his boss after driving visitors around town. I can not remember the movie it is from. 

"Did you know dey's got an ocean out here?," from a law enforcement wire tap. A New York mob soldier calling his boss from Chicago. 

 

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Posted by chutton01 on Thursday, November 3, 2016 8:44 AM

There has been no direct rail service to Manhattan since about 1980. Much of the area once directly served is now residences and small commerical/retail/entertainment venues (you can say that about a lot of Manhattan nowadays). As is fairly well known, the former NYC Highline south of 30th St. (more or less) is a linear park now, the West Side line north of that is used by passenger service only, and the West Side rail yard in the middle site is being covered up by the planned complex of Hudson Yards.

This is as good a place as any to link to the Industrial and Offline terminal site, which among many topics answered my question of what was on the site where the Javits Convention Center was built.

For the record, Brooklyn and Queens are indeed considered part of Long Island, lumped within the neblous term "the city" as used by residents of Nassau/Suffolk (of which I am one). When N/S residents wish to disparage planned dense development, they normally compare with Queens or Brooklyn ("What. they want to build 3 story condos in our village? If I wanted to live in Queens I'd move there!"). OTOH, the term "The City" (e.g. We're headed to The City tonight) means only one thing for people in the area, Manhattan (actually only portions thereof - not many people consider Inwood as The City, although it forms the northern section of Manhattan Island, and don't even get started on Marble Hill...).

OK, since I did get started on Marble Hill, the answer to the question "when was the last revenue freight service in Manhattan" could be when the U-Haul warehouse complex on Marble Hill Ave. was last served, which I think was in the late 1980s. IIRC, the siding ran in the former Harlem River (yeah, yeah, Spuyten Duyvil, whatever), I think that is the county (yes, county, Not boro) border.  That siding once served part of a kick-a** transfer yard back in the day, which included auto transloading for AMC vehicles.

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Posted by Ulrich on Thursday, November 3, 2016 9:44 AM

Thank you everyone.Transportation to Manhattan is so horrendously expensive now that I wonder if leaving the rail would have been cheaper even at current land values. Some receivers in Manhattan have taken matters into their own hands by buying their own trucks and having common carriers drop off in NJ instead of going into the City. 

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Posted by wanswheel on Thursday, November 3, 2016 11:13 AM

Sewanahaka, the Island of Nassau, the Battle of Someplace

RME
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Posted by RME on Thursday, November 3, 2016 12:07 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
I don't know the situation in the state of New York ...

But Saul Steinberg knew the situation in the city of New York

Illinois, too, in a manner of speaking...  Big Smile

 

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Posted by wanswheel on Thursday, November 3, 2016 9:07 PM

In 1922, Manhattan had more factories than all of the other 4 boroughs combined. 

http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/agdm/id/2371/rv/singleitem/rec/11

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Posted by MidlandMike on Thursday, November 3, 2016 10:19 PM

tree68

 

 
matthewsaggie

Brooklyn is on Long Island. 

 

 

True, but I'd bet if you told someone from Brooklyn (or Queens) the they were from Long Island, they'd beg to differ...

I think most people think of Long Island as Suffolk and Nassau counties.

 

The NY Islanders play in Brooklyn.

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