85-480: Fourth Avenue may refer to: Fourth Avenue (Manhattan) or Park Avenue Fourth Avenue (Brooklyn) Fourth Avenue (Pittsburgh) See also [ edit ] Fourth Avenue Building (disambiguation) Fourth Avenue Historic District (disambiguation) Fourth Avenue Line (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about roads and streets with
170-490: A boy, quitting school at the age of 11. At the age of 16, Vanderbilt decided to start his own ferry service. According to one version of events, he borrowed $ 100 (equivalent to $ 1,900 in 2023) from his mother to purchase a periauger (a shallow draft, two-masted sailing vessel), which he christened the Swiftsure. However, according to the first account of his life, published in 1853, the periauger belonged to his father and
255-698: A church for his second wife's congregation, the Church of the Strangers. In addition, he donated to churches around New York, including a gift to the Moravian Church on Staten Island of 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres (3 hectares) for a cemetery (the Moravian Cemetery ). He chose to be buried there. Cornelius Vanderbilt died on January 4, 1877, at his residence, No. 10 Washington Place, after being confined to his rooms for about eight months. The immediate cause of his death
340-449: A continuation of those on Fourth Avenue; for example, 225 Park Avenue South was originally known as 225 Fourth Avenue. Above 32nd Street, for the remainder of its distance, it is known as Park Avenue, a 140-foot-wide (43 m) boulevard. The address numbers for Park Avenue are reset above 32nd Street; for example, the address 1 Park Avenue would ordinarily have been numbered 461 Fourth Avenue. Between 33rd Street and 40th Street ,
425-545: A cousin from Mobile, Alabama , with the name — unusual for a woman — of Frank Armstrong Crawford . Vanderbilt's second wife convinced him to give $ 1 million ($ 22,890,000 in 2023 dollars ), the largest charitable gift in American history to that date, to Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire , the husband of her cousin, Amelia Townsend, to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, named in his honor. He also paid $ 50,000 for
510-606: A ferry entrepreneur named Thomas Gibbons asked Vanderbilt to captain his steamboat between New Jersey and New York. Although Vanderbilt kept his own businesses running, he became Gibbons's business manager. When Vanderbilt entered his new position, Gibbons was fighting against a steamboat monopoly in New York waters, which had been granted by the New York State Legislature to the politically influential patrician Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton , who had designed
595-555: A gas explosion . Eight people were killed and many others were injured. In 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority provided funding for repairs to the roof of the Grand Central Terminal train shed. The train shed is located under Park Avenue and surrounding streets from 43rd to 57th Street, and the repairs to the train shed's roof involved reconstructing parts of Park Avenue. In August 2024,
680-601: A grievous loss when George Washington Vanderbilt II, his youngest and favorite son, and heir apparent , a graduate of the United States Military Academy , fell ill and died without ever seeing combat. Though Vanderbilt had relinquished his presidency of the Stonington Railroad during the California gold rush, he took an interest in several railroads during the 1850s, serving on the boards of directors of
765-408: A key advantage: it was the only steam railroad to enter the center of Manhattan, running down 4th Avenue (later Park Avenue ) to a station on 26th Street, where it connected with a horse-drawn streetcar line. From Manhattan it ran up to Chatham Four Corners , New York, where it had a connection to the railroads running east and west. Vanderbilt brought his eldest son, Billy, in as vice-president of
850-521: A landmark legal case— Gibbons v. Ogden —to the United States Supreme Court to overturn the monopoly. Working for Gibbons, Vanderbilt learned to operate a large and complicated business. He moved with his family to New Brunswick, New Jersey , a stop on Gibbons' line between New York and Philadelphia . There his wife Sophia operated a very profitable inn, using the proceeds to feed, clothe and educate their children. Vanderbilt also proved
935-413: A median strip that covered the railroad's ventilation grates. Eight footbridges crossed the tracks between 45th and 56th Streets, and there were also vehicular overpasses at 45th and 48th Streets. The boulevard north of Grand Central was renamed Park Avenue in 1888. A fatal collision between two trains occurred under Park Avenue in 1902, in part because the smoke coming from the steam trains obscured
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#17328451317801020-938: A member of the Moravian Church to his death. Along with other members of the Vanderbilt family, he helped erect a local Moravian parish church in his city. On December 19, 1813, at age 19 Vanderbilt married his first cousin, Sophia Johnson. They moved into a boarding house on Broad Street in Manhattan. They had 13 children together: Phebe in 1814, Ethelinda in 1817, Eliza in 1819, William in 1821, Emily in 1823, Sophia in 1825, Maria in 1827, Frances in 1828, Cornelius Jeremiah in 1830, George in 1832 (who died in 1836), Mary in 1834, Catherine in 1836, and another son named George in 1839. In addition to running his ferry, Vanderbilt bought his brother-in-law John De Forest's schooner Charlotte and traded in food and merchandise in partnership with his father and others. But on November 24, 1817,
1105-593: A quick study in legal matters, representing Gibbons in meetings with lawyers. He also went to Washington, D.C., to hire Daniel Webster to argue the case before the Supreme Court. Vanderbilt appealed his own case against the monopoly to the Supreme Court, which was next on the docket after Gibbons v. Ogden . The Court never heard Vanderbilt's case, because on March 2, 1824, it ruled in Gibbons' favor, saying that states had no power to interfere with interstate commerce. The case
1190-467: A rascal, combative and cunning, he was much more a builder than a wrecker [...] being honorable, shrewd, and hard-working." Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-grandfather, Jan Aertson or Aertszoon ("Aert's son"), was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht , Netherlands, who emigrated to New Amsterdam (later New York) as an indentured servant in 1650. The Dutch van der ("of the")
1275-469: A shallow open cut , while the segment between 56th and 97th Streets, which was in a rock cut, would be covered over. After the improvements were completed in 1874, the railroads, approaching Grand Central Depot from the north, descended into the Park Avenue Tunnel at 96th Street and continued underground into the new depot. As part of the project, Fourth Avenue was transformed into a boulevard with
1360-424: A year and was ultimately won outright by Billy, who increased the bequests to his siblings and paid their legal fees. One of Vanderbilt's great-great-granddaughters, Gloria Vanderbilt , was a renowned fashion designer, and her youngest son, Anderson Cooper , is a television news anchor. Through Billy's daughter Emily Thorn Vanderbilt , another descendant is actor Timothy Olyphant . Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt
1445-519: Is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx . For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east. Park Avenue's entire length was formerly called Fourth Avenue ; the title still applies to the section between Cooper Square and 14th Street . The avenue
1530-565: Is called Union Square East between 14th and 17th Streets , and Park Avenue South between 17th and 32nd Streets . Because of its designation as the widest avenue on Manhattan's East Side, Park Avenue originally carried the tracks of the New York and Harlem Railroad built in the 1830s, just a few years after the adoption of the Manhattan street grid . The railroad's right-of-way at ground level forced foot and carriage traffic onto either side of
1615-683: Is continued on the other side of the river in the Bronx . In the Bronx, Park Avenue begins at East 135th Street in the Mott Haven neighborhood. The entire avenue is divided by Metro-North's own right of way in the borough. Between East 135th Street to East 173rd Street, Park Avenue is one way only in either direction in most sections. North of East 173rd Street it is a two way avenue continuing to Fordham Plaza where it ends. The following institutions are either headquartered or have significant business presences on Park Avenue: In north-south order: Metro-North Railroad 's Grand Central Terminal , serving
1700-455: Is located at the northern end of the road. Explanatory notes Citations Further reading Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed " the Commodore ", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into leadership positions in
1785-473: Is still considered a landmark ruling. The protection of competitive interstate commerce is considered the basis for much of the prosperity which the United States has generated. After Thomas Gibbons died in 1826, Vanderbilt worked for Gibbons' son William until 1829. Though he had always run his own businesses on the side, he now worked entirely for himself. Step by step, he started lines between New York and
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#17328451317801870-581: The Marguery , Park Lane, and Waldorf Astoria . In 1929, New York Central built its headquarters in a 34-story building (now called the Helmsley Building ), straddling Park Avenue north of the terminal. The Park Avenue Viaduct reroutes Park Avenue around Grand Central Terminal between 40th and 46th Streets, allowing Park Avenue traffic to traverse around the building and over 42nd Street without encumbering nearby streets. The western (now southbound) leg of
1955-1060: The Vanderbilt , to the Union Navy . Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles refused it, thinking its operation and maintenance too expensive for what he expected to be a short war. Vanderbilt had little choice but to lease it to the War Department, at prices set by ship brokers. When the Confederate ironclad Virginia (popularly known in the North as the Merrimack ) wrought havoc with the Union blockading squadron at Hampton Roads, Virginia , Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and President Abraham Lincoln called on Vanderbilt for help. This time he succeeded in donating
2040-410: The 6 and <6> trains, while the 14th Street-Union Square station is served by the 4 , 5 , 6 , <6> , L , N , Q , R , and W trains. The following bus routes serve Park Avenue: No buses run along Park Avenue in the Bronx, although Fordham Plaza Bus Terminal
2125-498: The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 . From 14th Street to 17th Street , it forms the eastern boundary of Union Square and is known as Union Square East ; its southbound lanes merge with Broadway south of 15th Street, and the thoroughfare divides into two distinct portions in the one-block section between 14th and 15th Streets. From 17th Street to 32nd Street , it is known as Park Avenue South . Address numbers on Park Avenue South are
2210-669: The Erie Railway , the Central Railroad of New Jersey , the Hartford and New Haven , and the New York and Harlem (popularly known as the Harlem). In 1863, Vanderbilt took control of the Harlem in a famous stockmarket corner , and was elected its president. He later explained that he wanted to show that he could take this railroad, which was generally considered worthless, and make it valuable. It had
2295-776: The Harlem Line , Hudson Line , and New Haven Line , is at 42nd Street and Park Avenue. The MNR's Park Avenue main line runs along Park Avenue in both boroughs between Grand Central and Fordham station , with stations in between at 125th Street , 162nd Street , and Tremont Avenue . The New York City Subway 's adjacent Grand Central–42nd Street station serves the 4 , 5 , 6 , <6> , 7 , <7> , and S trains. The IRT Lexington Avenue Line additionally runs under Park Avenue and its extensions from 41st to 8th Streets. The 33rd Street , 28th Street , 23rd Street , and Astor Place stations are served by
2380-695: The Helmsley Building (also referred to as the New York Central Building or 230 Park Avenue). The IRT Lexington Avenue Line runs under this portion of the street. Once the line reaches Grand Central–42nd Street , it shifts east to Lexington Avenue . As Park Avenue enters Midtown north of Grand Central Terminal, it is distinguished by many glass-box skyscrapers that serve as headquarters for corporations and investment banks such as Société Générale , JPMorgan Chase at 270 Park Avenue and 277 Park Avenue , UBS at 299 Park Avenue , Citigroup at 399 Park Avenue , Colgate-Palmolive , and MetLife at
2465-545: The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad , one of the first giant corporations in United States history. In 1869, Vanderbilt directed the Harlem to begin construction of the Grand Central Depot on 42nd Street in Manhattan. It was finished in 1871, and served as his lines' terminus in New York. He sank the tracks on 4th Avenue in a cut that later became a tunnel, and 4th Avenue became Park Avenue. The depot
2550-572: The Stonington . By cutting fares on competing lines, Vanderbilt drove down the Stonington stock price, and took over the presidency of the company in 1847. It was the first of the many railroads he would head. During these years, Vanderbilt also operated many other businesses. He bought large amounts of real estate in Manhattan and Staten Island, and took over the Staten Island Ferry in 1838. It
2635-644: The Vanderbilt to the Union Navy, equipping it with a ram and staffing it with handpicked officers. It helped bottle up the Virginia, after which Vanderbilt converted it into a cruiser to hunt for the Confederate commerce raider Alabama , captained by Raphael Semmes . For donating the Vanderbilt, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal . Vanderbilt also paid to outfit a major expedition to New Orleans . He suffered
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2720-425: The "spirits"—during a point in the session when said spiritualist would fall into a "trance" in the Commodore's presence—claimed William would be the most trustworthy to inherit the estate and business and that his other children actually hated him and were just waiting for him to die. A "spirit", during this session, came in the form of William's deceased mother, Sophia. Not wanting to risk further public humiliation of
2805-516: The Harlem. Billy had had a nervous breakdown early in life, and his father had sent him to a farm on Staten Island. But he proved himself a good businessman, and eventually became the head of the Staten Island Railway . Though the Commodore had once scorned Billy, he was impressed by his son's success. Eventually he promoted him to operational manager of all his railroad lines. In 1864, the Commodore sold his last ships, in order to concentrate on
2890-650: The MetLife Building. From 47th to 97th Streets, the tracks for Metro-North Railroad 's Park Avenue main line run in the Park Avenue Tunnel underneath Park Avenue. At 97th Street, the tracks come above ground, rising onto the other Manhattan structure known as the Park Avenue Viaduct. The first street to pass under the viaduct is 102nd Street; from there to the Harlem River the railroad viaduct runs down
2975-519: The New York Central Railroad. To his younger surviving son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, whom he regarded as a wastrel, he left the income from a $ 200,000 trust fund. (Although his daughters and Cornelius received bequests much smaller than those of their brother William, these made them very wealthy by the standards of 1877 and were not subject to inheritance tax .) Vanderbilt's biographer T. J. Stiles says, "He vastly improved and expanded
3060-456: The United States. Walker was forced to give up, and was driven out of the country by a U.S. Navy officer. But the new Nicaraguan government refused to allow Vanderbilt to restart the transit business, so he started a line by way of Panama, eventually developing a monopoly on the California steamship business. When the Civil War began in 1861, Vanderbilt attempted to donate his largest steamship,
3145-632: The address numbers of Park Avenue South continued from those on the remaining section of Fourth Avenue. The Pan Am Building (now MetLife Building), in between the Park Avenue Viaduct's legs north of Grand Central Terminal, was opened in 1963. In September 2007, the Metro-North Railroad reached an agreement with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) to install pedestrian traffic signals along Park Avenue between 46th Street and 56th Street. The two sides had feuded over
3230-548: The avenue contains some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Real estate at 740 Park Avenue , for example, sells for several thousand dollars per square foot. In October 1937, a part of the Murray Hill Tunnel was reopened for road traffic. Efforts to promote a Grand Park Avenue Expressway to Grand Concourse in the Bronx were unsuccessful. A tradition was introduced in 1945 as a memorial to American soldiers killed in action, whereby Christmas trees are placed in
3315-522: The benefit of a developer. Mandel's development at 32nd Street was thus known as 461–477 Fourth Avenue, and the developers of that building sued to reverse the appellate ruling. The New York Court of Appeals , the state's highest court, reversed the appellate ruling in February 1928. Bacon contemplated bringing up the matter with the United States Supreme Court , but she ultimately relented, changing her address to "Park Avenue at 34th" by 1930. In 1927,
3400-674: The canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua, and founded the Accessory Transit Company to carry passengers across Nicaragua by steamboat on the lake and river, with a 12-mile (19-kilometer) carriage road between the Pacific port of San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua . In 1852, a dispute with Joseph L. White , a partner in the Accessory Transit Company, led to a business battle in which Vanderbilt forced
3485-558: The city government began soliciting bids for the reconstruction of Park Avenue's median between 46th and 57th Streets. The project was to include additional plantings, benches, and concessions. The road that becomes Park Avenue originates at the Bowery . From Cooper Square at 8th Street to Union Square at 14th Street , it is known as Fourth Avenue , a 70-foot-wide (21 m) road carrying northbound traffic. At 14th Street, it turns slightly northeast to align with other avenues drawn up in
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3570-535: The company just before these developments were announced. When he tried to convince the U.S. and English governments to help restore the company to its rights and property, they refused. So he negotiated with Costa Rica , which (along with the other Central American republics) had declared war on Walker. Vanderbilt sent a man to Costa Rica who led a raid that captured the steamboats on the San Juan River, cutting Walker off from his reinforcements from insurgent groups in
3655-614: The company to buy his ships for an inflated price. In early 1853, he took his family on a grand tour of Europe in his steamship yacht, the North Star. While he was away, White conspired with Charles Morgan, Vanderbilt's erstwhile ally, to betray him, and deny him money he was owed by the Accessory Transit Company. When Vanderbilt returned from Europe, he retaliated by developing a rival steamship line to California, cutting prices until he forced Morgan and White to pay him off. He then turned to transatlantic steamship lines, running in opposition to
3740-605: The cross-streets. The new electric-train terminal, Grand Central Terminal , was opened in 1913. After the electric trains were buried underground, the area around Park Avenue in the vicinity of Grand Central was developed into several blocks worth of prime real estate called Terminal City . Stretching from 42nd to 51st Streets between Madison and Lexington Avenues, it came to include the Chrysler Building and other prestigious office buildings; luxury apartment houses along Park Avenue; and an array of high-end hotels that included
3825-476: The eleven intersections and the renovation of the sidewalks and streets around Grand Central to prevent rainwater from seeping into the tunnel. Car traffic in this area had been controlled by traffic lights on a pole at each intersection in the middle of the median, instead of the usual four from each direction, resulting in a relatively high rate of pedestrian injuries. Additional traffic lights and pedestrian signals had not been added because this area of Park Avenue
3910-717: The family name in court, William finally settled with his siblings. He gave Corneel an extra $ 200,000 in cash and a trust fund of $ 400,000. He gave Mary and Ethelinda the same settlement. Still, all told, this was comparatively very little from the—by far—largest estate in the world at that time. William's eldest son, Cornelius Vanderbilt II , received $ 5 million in the will, while his three younger sons— William Kissam Vanderbilt , Frederick William Vanderbilt , and George Washington Vanderbilt II —received $ 2 million apiece. Vanderbilt willed amounts ranging from $ 250,000 to $ 500,000 to each of his daughters. His wife received $ 500,000, their New York City home, and 2,000 shares of common stock in
3995-482: The first railroads in the United States were built from Boston to Long Island Sound, to connect with steamboats that ran to New York. By the end of the decade, Vanderbilt dominated the steamboat business on the Sound, and began to take over management of the connecting railroads. In the 1840s, he launched a campaign to take over the most attractive of these lines, the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad , popularly known as
4080-550: The gold returning to the East Coast, went by steamship to Panama , where mule trains and canoes provided transportation across the isthmus. (The Panama Railroad was soon built to provide a faster crossing.) Vanderbilt proposed a canal across Nicaragua , which was closer to the United States and was spanned most of the way across by Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River . In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build
4165-481: The government. Edmund Randolph, a close friend of Walker, coerced the Accessory Transit's San Francisco agent, Cornelius K. Garrison , into opposing Vanderbilt. Randolph convinced Walker to annul the charter of the Accessory Transit Company, and give the transit rights and company steamboats to him; Randolph sold these to Garrison. Garrison brought Charles Morgan in New York into the plan. Vanderbilt took control of
4250-624: The heavily subsidized Collins Line , headed by Edward K. Collins. Vanderbilt eventually drove the Collins Line into extinction. During the 1850s, Vanderbilt also bought control of a major shipyard and the Allaire Iron Works , a leading manufacturer of marine steam engines , in Manhattan. In November 1855, Vanderbilt began to buy control of Accessory Transit once again. That same year, the American military adventurer , William Walker , led an expedition to Nicaragua and briefly took control of
4335-610: The inland water trade and invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, effectively transforming the geography of the United States. As one of the richest Americans in history and wealthiest figures overall, Vanderbilt was the patriarch of the wealthy and influential Vanderbilt family . He provided the initial gift to found Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee . According to historian H. Roger Grant : "Contemporaries, too, often hated or feared Vanderbilt or at least considered him an unmannered brute. While Vanderbilt could be
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#17328451317804420-585: The issue since 1982, when Penn Central controlled the Park Avenue Tunnel. In 1997, the NYCDOT commissioner stated that signals would be installed during an upcoming phase of reconstruction in the Grand Central area. The $ 35 million project, whose cost was split between Metro-North and the city, was approved by the MTA Board later that month. It called for the installation of 12 pedestrian signals and 8 traffic signals at
4505-645: The leftmost northbound lane descends into the Murray Hill Tunnel . North of 40th Street, the center lanes of Park Avenue rise onto an elevated structure that goes around Grand Central Terminal and the MetLife Building (formerly the Pan Am Building), carrying each direction of traffic on opposite sides of the buildings. The bridge, one of two structures in Manhattan known as the Park Avenue Viaduct , returns to ground level at 46th Street after going through
4590-430: The matter of their father's will to court, claiming he was not in his right mind in his old age when he drew up the will; that he had been behaving strangely and was under William's influence as well as that of a corrupt spiritualist in his employ, who'd allegedly been approached and paid off by William to do his bidding, according to eyewitness testimony. Allegedly, William paid the spiritualist (a Mr. Stoddard) to suggest
4675-542: The median and lit up on the first Sunday in December at Brick Presbyterian Church . On May 5, 1959, the New York City Council voted 20–1 to change the name of Fourth Avenue between 17th and 32nd Streets to Park Avenue South. The renaming, along with a ban on overhanging signs along the newly renamed Park Avenue South, was intended to improve the character of the avenue. Unlike with the earlier renamings of Park Avenue,
4760-507: The medians on Park Avenue north of Grand Central were trimmed to add one lane of traffic in each direction. This project eliminated the pedestrian path on the medians, as they became much narrower. The median was extended by one block from 96th Street to 97th Street in 1941, creating the only remaining median on Park Avenue with a pedestrian path and seating. In the 1920s the portion of Park Avenue from Grand Central to 96th Street saw extensive apartment building construction. This long stretch of
4845-534: The middle of Park Avenue. Park Avenue in Manhattan ends north of 132nd Street, with connections to the Harlem River Drive . The flowers and greenery in the median of Manhattan's Park Avenue are privately maintained, by the Fund for Park Avenue. The begonia was specifically chosen by the Fund's gardeners because there is no automatic watering system and the floral variety is resilient under hot sun rays. The avenue
4930-484: The name "The People's Line", he used the populist language associated with Democratic president Andrew Jackson to get popular support for his business. At the end of the year, the monopoly paid him a large amount to stop competing, and he switched his operations to Long Island Sound. During the 1830s, textile mills were built in large numbers in New England as the United States developed its manufacturing base. Some of
5015-458: The nation's transportation infrastructure, contributing to a transformation of the very geography of the United States. He embraced new technologies and new forms of business organization, and used them to compete....He helped to create the corporate economy that would define the United States into the 21st century." The Commodore had lived in relative modesty considering his nearly unlimited means, splurging only on race horses. His descendants were
5100-678: The number of shares a company could issue. But Gould bribed the legislature to legalize the new stock. Vanderbilt used the leverage of a lawsuit to recover his losses, but he and Gould became public enemies. Gould never got the better of Vanderbilt in any other important business matter, but he often embarrassed Vanderbilt, who uncharacteristically lashed out at Gould in public. By contrast, Vanderbilt befriended his other foes after their fights ended, including Drew and Cornelius Garrison. Following his wife Sophia's death in 1868, Vanderbilt went to Canada. On August 21, 1869, in London, Ontario , he married
5185-420: The ones who built the Vanderbilt houses that characterize the United States' Gilded Age . According to The Wealthy 100 by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, Vanderbilt would be worth $ 143 billion in 2007 United States dollars if his total wealth as a share of the nation's gross domestic product ( GDP ) in 1877 (the year of his death) were taken and applied in that same proportion in 2007. This would make him
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#17328451317805270-404: The railroad industry. He was inducted in the "Railway Workers & Builders: North America" category. Statues of Cornelius Vanderbilt can be found at various locations, including Vanderbilt University and Grand Central Terminal. At Vanderbilt University, a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, designed by Giuseppe Moretti in 1897, stands near Kirkland Hall in commemoration of his gift to help found
5355-593: The railroads between 42nd and 59th Streets. As such, they required railroad crossings along Fourth Avenue, which resulted in frequent accidents; seven people died within 12 days of the Hudson River Railroad's move to Grand Central. In 1872, shortly after the opening of Grand Central Depot, New York Central owner Cornelius Vanderbilt proposed the Fourth Avenue Improvement Project. The tracks between 48th and 56th Streets were to be moved into
5440-663: The railroads. Once in charge of the Harlem, Vanderbilt encountered conflicts with connecting lines. In each case, the strife ended in a battle that Vanderbilt won. He bought control of the Hudson River Railroad in 1864, the New York Central Railroad in 1867, and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in 1869. He later bought the Canada Southern as well. In 1870, he consolidated two of his key lines into
5525-476: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fourth_Avenue&oldid=1089939988 " Category : Road disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fourth Avenue (Manhattan) Park Avenue
5610-472: The second-wealthiest person in United States history, after Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937). Another calculation, from 1998, puts him in third place, after Andrew Carnegie . In real terms, however, Vanderbilt's peak wealth of $ 105 million in 1877 is only worth US$ 3 billion (in 2023 dollars). In 1999, Cornelius Vanderbilt was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame , recognizing his significant contributions to
5695-411: The signals. The New York state legislature subsequently passed a law to ban all steam trains in Manhattan. By December 1902, as part of an agreement with the city, New York Central agreed to put the approach to Grand Central Station from 46th to 59th Streets in an open cut under Park Avenue, and to upgrade the tracks to accommodate electric trains. Overpasses would be built across the open cut at most of
5780-423: The steamboat. Though both Livingston and Fulton had died by the time Vanderbilt started working for Gibbons, the monopoly was held by Livingston's heirs. They had granted a license to Aaron Ogden to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons launched his steamboat venture because of a personal dispute with Ogden, whom he hoped to drive into bankruptcy. To accomplish this, he undercut prices and also brought
5865-421: The surrounding region. First he took over Gibbons' ferry to New Jersey, then switched to western Long Island Sound . In 1831, he took over his brother Jacob's line to Peekskill, New York , on the lower Hudson River . That year he faced opposition by a steamboat operated by Daniel Drew , who forced Vanderbilt to buy him out. Impressed, Vanderbilt became a secret partner with Drew for the next thirty years, so that
5950-485: The title of the largest privately owned home in the United States, though it is open to the public. The mansion contains 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 square meters) of total floor space and originally sat on 125,000 acres (50,600 hectares) of land. It now sits on 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) due to George's final wishes that 86,000 acres (35,000 ha) be sold to the government at $ 5 per acre ($ 12/ha)—a significantly cut rate and what George had originally paid—in order to form
6035-450: The tracks. Later on, the railroad was run through an open cut tunnel under Murray Hill , which was then covered with grates and grass between 34th and 40th Street in the early 1850s. A section of this "park" was later renamed Park Avenue in 1860. Park Avenue's original southern terminus was at 34th Street, and the newly renamed Park Avenue was given its own house-numbering system separate from that of Fourth Avenue. The address 1 Park Avenue
6120-518: The tunnel roof, the project was delayed for several years. The project had been estimated to cost $ 200,000 per intersection in 1994. As part of the new agreement, Metro-North designed a way to anchor the traffic signals in the deck and tunnel roof. Pedestrian signals and gantry-mounted traffic signals were installed at these intersections in July 2010. On March 12, 2014, two apartment buildings near 116th Street , 1644 and 1646 Park Avenue, were destroyed in
6205-712: The two men would have an incentive to avoid competing with each other. On November 8, 1833, Vanderbilt was nearly killed in the Hightstown rail accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey. Also on the train was president John Quincy Adams . In 1834, Vanderbilt competed on the Hudson River against the Hudson River Steamboat Association , a steamboat monopoly between New York City and Albany . Using
6290-483: The university. Additionally, a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt is located on the south side of Grand Central Terminal, facing the Park Avenue road viaduct to the south. The 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -foot-tall (2.6-meter) bronze statue was sculpted by Ernst Plassmann and was originally sited at the Hudson River Railroad depot at St. John's Park before being moved to Grand Central Terminal in 1929. Cornelius Vanderbilt
6375-690: The viaduct was completed in 1919, but congestion developed soon after the viaduct's opening, so an eastern leg for northbound traffic was added in 1928. The developer Henry Mandel acquired the lots on the eastern side of Fourth Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Street in 1923 under the name "One Park Avenue Corporation". To ensure his corporate name was accurate, Mandel asked the New York City Board of Aldermen to move Park Avenue's southern terminus to 32nd Street. The change went into effect on December 1, 1924, and address numbers along Park Avenue were changed accordingly. The previous house numbered 1 Park Avenue
6460-484: The younger Vanderbilt received half the profit. He began his business by ferrying freight and passengers on a ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan . Such was his energy and eagerness in his trade that other captains nearby took to calling him "The Commodore" in jest—a nickname that stuck with him all his life. While many Vanderbilt family members had joined the Episcopal Church , Cornelius Vanderbilt remained
6545-522: Was replaced by Grand Central Terminal in 1913. In 1868, Vanderbilt fell into a dispute with Daniel Drew, who had become treasurer of the Erie Railway . To get revenge, he tried to corner Erie stock, which led to the so-called Erie War . This brought him into direct conflict with Jay Gould and financier James Fisk Jr. , who had just joined Drew on the Erie board. They defeated the corner by issuing " watered stock " in defiance of state law, which restricted
6630-462: Was assigned to a house at 101 East 34th Street, at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and 34th Street. The Harlem Railroad was later incorporated into the New York Central Railroad , and a terminal for the New York Central at 42nd Street, the Grand Central Depot , opened in 1871. But the tracks laid to the new terminal proved problematic. There were originally no grade-separated crossings of
6715-442: Was buried in the family vault in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island. He was later reburied in a tomb in the same cemetery constructed by his son Billy . Three of his daughters and son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt , contested the will on the grounds that their father was of unsound mind and under the influence of his son Billy and spiritualists whom he consulted on a regular basis. The court battle lasted more than
6800-539: Was childless when he committed suicide, in 1882, and George Washington Vanderbilt died during the Civil War, before having any children. All of the Vanderbilt multimillionaires descend through the oldest son Billy and his wife. Cornelius' youngest grandson through William, George Washington Vanderbilt II , built the 250-room Biltmore Estate in the mountains of Asheville , North Carolina, as his main residence with part of his inheritance from his grandfather. It still retains
6885-581: Was eventually added to Aertson's village name to create " van der Bilt " ("of the Bilt"). This was eventually condensed to Vanderbilt. Anthony Janszoon van Salee was one of Cornelius Vanderbilt's great-great-great-great-grandfathers. Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island , New York, on May 27, 1794, to Cornelius van Derbilt and Phebe Hand. He began working on his father's ferry in New York Harbor as
6970-659: Was exhaustion, brought on by long suffering from a complication of chronic disorders. At the time of his death, aged 82, Vanderbilt had an estimated worth of $ 105 million ($ 3,004,312,500 in 2023 dollars). In his will, he left 95% of his $ 105 million estate to his son William (Billy) and four grandsons through him. This left his only other living son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt , and 9 daughters (Phebe Jane, Ethelinda, Eliza, Emily Almira, Sophia Johnson, Maria Louisa, Frances Lavinia, Mary Alicia, and Catherine Juliette), to receive comparatively little inheritance; far less than even their young nephews. Corneel , Ethelinda and Mary took
7055-523: Was in the 1830s when he was first referred to as "commodore", then the highest rank in the United States Navy . A common nickname for important steamboat entrepreneurs, by the end of the 1840s it was applied only to Vanderbilt. When the California gold rush began in 1849, Vanderbilt switched from regional steamboat lines to ocean-going steamships. Many of the migrants to California, and almost all of
7140-506: Was located directly atop the roof of the Park Avenue Tunnel, with the street being 8 inches (20 cm) above the roof in some locations. Because the roof was 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm) thick, there was not enough room to provide a foundation for the traffic poles without puncturing the structure. Due to the high cost of making these upgrades, and the lack of cooperation between the New York City Department of Transportation and Metro-North, which had opposed any solution that would modify
7225-610: Was occupied by Martha Bacon, widow of diplomat Robert Bacon , who led the opposition to the renumbering. The Board of Aldermen summarily overturned the name change, but Mayor John Hylan vetoed the move in April 1925. This prompted Bacon to appeal the decision to the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division , which overturned Hylan's veto in November 1927, on the basis that the extension of Park Avenue to 32nd Street had been made for
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