Freight and the Metropolis: The Impact of Americas Transport Revolutions on the New York Region (New York Metropolitan Region Study, 3)

Chart ι General Cargo Waterfronts of the New York Port This map does not show facilities for bulk cargo. For example, there are extensive petroleum facilities on the Kill Van Kull, and also on the Arthur Kill, which is off the picture to the left. According to the Port of New York Authority, more than 400 vessels can be berthed simultaneously at the Port's general cargo and bulk cargo piers. I The Port's Rise to DominanceThe New York Metropolitan Region, by sheer weight of numbers, sits atop the nation in so many economic activities that it is much easier to list those in which the Region does not occupy first place. But one would be hard put to identify activities in which the Region's supremacy has endured as long as it has in the handling of foreign trade. This endurance seems the more notable when it is realized that for almost a hundred years the trade passing through the Port of New York has failed to increase as fast as that passing through the nation's other ports. Yet New York's head start was so great that we still find it far in the lead today.In 1957 the merchant ships of the world engaging in international trade made 7,666 calls at the Port of New York. Most of them tied up somewhere along the many miles of Manhattan and Brooklyn piers; others called at Hoboken, Newark, or elsewhere on the New Jersey side of the Port, and still others at piers on Staten Island to the southward. (See map, Chart r.) The incoming vessels delivered 29,000,000 tons of foreign products valued at 4 billion dollars, and picked up 9,000,000 tons of American products valued at 4.7 billion dollars for delivery at foreign ports. 1 In that year, 38 per cent of the value of the oceanborne foreign trade of the United States passed through the Port. No other port could claim more than 10 per cent.The New York Port's leadership is not merely a reflection of the large size of the New York Metropolitan Region. True, the demand for the Port's services originates to some extent in the Region, whose industries produce goods for sale in foreign markets and whose producers and consumers purchase goods from abroad. But the hinterland served by the Port extends far beyond the metropolitan area. \* Only the overseas part of the Great Lakes trade is included in this analysis. \* This was revealed by our Transportation Survey described in the Appendix. Chart ι6 Key Expressways of New York Metropolitan Region CROSS WESTCHESTER EXPWY. CONN. TURNPIKE PROPOSED CIRCUMFERENTIAL ROUTE 278 N.Y. STATE THRUWAY NEW ENG. EXPWY.•ill'"" L. I. EXPWY. NARROWS BRIDGE |N. J. TURNPIKE] \* The experience of Route 128 around Boston seems relevant. There, the western side of the arc has attracted most of the plants that have setded along that route. In his introduction the author emphasizes the effect of foreign trade moving through New York (discussed in Part I), and the effect of freight transportation conditions on the location and performance of other regional industries (Part II). These two factors exert a dynamic influence on the region’s development, while freight consumed in New York reflects only community demand. The investigation includes: 1. The Port’s Rise to Dominance; 2. A Century of Slowing Down; 3. The Foreign Trade Future; 4. The Industrial Structure; 5. The Industrial Ebb and Flow; 6. Inside NYMR; 7. The Industrial Future. Foreword Contents Illustrations Charts Tables Introduction. The Dual Role of Freight Transport in the Region's Development Part I. GATEWAY TO THE NATION 1. The Port’s Rise to Dominance 2. A Century of Slowing Down 3. The Foreign Trade Future Part II. FREIGHT AND MANUFACTURING 4. The Industrial Structure 5. The Industrial Ebb and Flow 6. Inside NYMR 7. The Industrial Future Acknowledgment APPENDIX The Transportation Survey NOTES Index