SO, A TROLLEY WALKS INTO A BODEGA…. (1931)
Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes.
The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
Do you know the history of YOUR house?
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We’ve all heard the famous opening line to the joke.
But this one really happened.
Rather, the streetcar “rolled” into the business, but only after jumping its tracks.
This incident took place on 7 July 1931, at the corner of Putnam and Nostrand avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Fortunately, no one was killed, although six people were injured.
Unfortunately, though, streetcar accidents had become a common occurrence in the days after streetcars stopped using horses for propulsion.
And this was all too evident in Brooklyn, for within the past week, alone, four other streetcar crashes had occurred, injuring a total of 31 people.
As a matter of fact, this was the final straw for Brooklyn’s D.A., who ordered an investigation into the “six B.M.T. trolley car accidents in the past few weeks.” His intention was “to determine whether or not there is cause for criminal proceedings.”
It would have been understandable among many Brooklynites of the period if there were talk about returning the streetcar to the horse.
For another story we’ve written about streetcars jumping their tracks, click HERE.
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Brownstone Detectives is an historic property research agency. Our mission is to document and save the histories of our clients’ homes. From our research, we produce our celebrated House History Books and House History Reports. Contact us today to begin discovering the history of your home.
