In the 1883, as the population and economic power of Manhattan continued to expand, when the city made a physical connection with Brooklyn with the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, the financial situation in Brooklyn began to flourish. Andrew Haswell Green, a lawyer and influential personality in the construction of Central Park and the consolidation of New York, believed that additional territorial development, throughout the surrounding area, would stimulate the city's economic opportunity.
Once the Brooklyn Bridge had connected the two cities physically, many city officials felt it was time to connect the two cities politically. The possible consolidation was debated for years.
In July 1886, the Long Island City Star reported on the
proposed unification of New York:
| "Annexation would bring many great and lasting benefits to property and business interests and much and incalculable good could not but result from the strong and far-reaching governmental regulations that would be brought about…. The first step was taken in the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. The next which will lead on to the final one of unification will be the building of the bridge across the East River at Blackwell's Island [now Roosevelt Island]." (1) |
Brooklynites hesitated; they were proud of their independence, which they would
lose in becoming part of the greater New York. They also feared consolidation
would bring big city crime and corruption to their close-knit, rural-based city.
Supporters of the consolidation asserted that joining Manhattan would improve
Brooklyn's government, lower taxes, and increase the growing property values.
The people of Manhattan were clearly for the proposed consolidation.
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The Charter of Greater New York, 1897 |
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An act to unite one municipality under the corporate name of the City of New York, the various communities lying in and about New York harbor including thecity and county of New York, the city of Brooklyn and the county of Kings, the county of Richmond, and part of the county of Queens, and to provide for the government thereof. . . (2)
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The formation of Greater New York brought together a diversity of communities
and individuals with varying (and conflicting) perspectives. These differences
have fueled the unique and dynamic history of New York City over the past century.
The consolidation proved to be a master stoke, making New York the largest city
and the world's premier international city. The Brooklyn Bridge, and the joining
of Brooklyn and Manhattan stimulated the consolidation of New York City into
the "Greater New York." Without the joining of the two cities in 1883,
the fusion of the other Boroughs may have never occurred.
