12 May 2009

Last of the Trolleys


I usually don't do public announcements for cultural events, but I'm doing this one on an upcoming exhibition of photos of the Queensboro Bridge Trolley because the press agent sent me the cool photo above, which I just love.

According to the press release, "In 1957, in anticipation of the last run of the trolley service, then-19-year old photographer Sid Kaplan took pictures of the Queensboro trolley, its drivers, passengers, entrance kiosks and, of course, the Queensboro Bridge and its environs."

A selection of Kaplan's photographs, which have never been exhibited, will be displayed at the Roosevelt Island Visitor Center Kiosk on Roosevelt Island at the Tram Plaza in a special exhibition that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Queensboro Bridge.

Things to notice in this photo: The Schlitz beer sign above the kiosk; Frank's Italian Restaurant in the background, which looks like a fine place to eat; and the long lost northern pillar bordering the bridge (the southern pillar still exist).

The exhibition is free and will run from Sunday, May 31 to Sunday, July 5. The Visitor Center is the only surviving and functioning kiosk of the five original kiosks.

2 comments:

RI 360 said...

Brooks -

You will find additional trolley related posts and pictures over at my Roosevelt Island blog.

http://rooseveltisland360.blogspot.com/search/label/Trolleys

Perhaps the best photo of all the trolley kioks can be found here:

P72-73
Images of America: Queensboro Bridge

Worth looking for the book at B&N to see this photo. I would post it online but I do not have the rights to it.

Anonymous said...

I too was on that last trolley car ride in 1957 living in the Queensbridge houses, I went to sleep hearing the trolley running just outside my bedroom window.

Nice photo by Kaplan he is really
known as a paid darkroom printer for famous photog's like Robert Frank famous for his book(Franks) "The Americans".
Syd made all those prints for later reprints of Robert franks book.