Vanderbilt Cup Races

The Long Island Motor Parkway made its appearance during a pivotal time in American history with the advent of the automobile. A daring enterprise at the time, it is unquestionably the forerunner of the modern highway system. Features such as the use of reinforced concrete, bridges to eliminate grade crossings, banked curves, guard rails and landscaping were all pioneered by the Parkway. Following a spectator death during the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and the race sponsors determined that the huge crowds and risks to the spectators precluded the race on public roads. Two days after the race, the concept for a privately owned speedway on Long Island was developed by Vanderbilt and his business associates- the first highway built exclusively for the automobile. Vanderbilt’s dream was to build a safe, smooth, police-free road without speed limits and a place where he could conduct his beloved automobile race, the Vanderbilt Cup Race, without spectators running onto the course. By 1928, the Long Island Motor Parkway would eventually connect Fresh Meadows, Queens, to Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County, a total of 44 miles. Reflecting its poor profitability and the availability of new free state-built public parkways, the historic Long Island Motor Parkway closed for good on Easter Sunday, 1938. All author royalties from the book are being contributed to CAPS (Child Abuse Prevention Services of Long Island.)

Howard Kroplick has authored the Arcadia book Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island. He has lectured extensively on the Vanderbilt Cup Races and is a research volunteer at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum. Howard is a member of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Centennial Committee and the Long Island Motor Parkway Panel. Al Velocci is author of the 2004 book The Toll Lodges of the Long Island Motor Parkway, and Their Gatekeepers’ Lives and a research volunteer at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.

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