BIRTH of METROPOLIS 1863-1900

Second part of 19th Century. The Gilded Age |
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1867 El in lower Manhattan. |
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1871 Boss Tweed is arrested. |
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1870 Metropolitan Museum is established. |
Story has it that in 1866 a group of Americans in Paris, gathered at a restaurant to celebrate the Fourth of July (American Independence Day). After dinner, John Jay, a prominent lawyer and grandson of eminent American jurist John Jay, gave a speech proposing that he and his compatriots create a "national institution and gallery of art." During the next four years, they convinced American civic leaders, art collectors, and philanthropists to support the project, and in 1870 the Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated. |
1877 Bell Telephone service starts. Natural History Museum opens |
Natural History Museum.
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1878 St Patrick Cathedral built on 5th Avenue. |
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1879 9th Av El extended north of 59th. |
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1880 Met Opera established. New Millionaires. |
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1882 Edison opens electric power plant. The Chinese Exclusion Act. |
The Chinese Exclusion Act.
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1883 Brooklyn Bridge opens. Immigration from Eastern Europe. |
Immigration from Eastern Europe.
"Jews are also prohibited from administering properties." "It is forbidden for Jews to engage in commerce on Sundays and Christian holidays."
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1884 The Dakota is built. |
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1886 Statue of Liberty. |
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1888 The Blizzard of 1888. |
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1891 Carnegie Hall opens. Washington Square Arch built. |
Washington Square Arch
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1892 Ellis Island opens. |
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1897 First Waldorf Astoria opens. |
The original Waldorf-Astoria, designed by Hardenberg, opens on 5th and 34th. At the cost of $13 million, with 1,000 rooms, it is the most expensive, largest and the most magnificent hotel in the world. |
1898 Greater New York is established. |
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