The 1930’s decline of the Motor Parkway
A couple of letters from Motor Parkway manager A.J. (Alfred) Kienzle to some lodge keepers letting them know their lodges will close on December 1, 1934.
Greg O.
With the advent of Robert Moses and his 'free' parkway system being built on Long Island, Motor Parkway usage began to decline rapidly by the early 30's despite multiple toll price slashes. Even the ultra-low 50 cent toll pricing wasn't enough to lure motorists onto the Motor Parkway.
On October 16th, 1934, Motor Parkway manager, Alfred J. Kienzle, notified Samuel Saddler, keeper of the Great Neck Lodge, that the Great neck, Roslyn, Meadow Brook and Massapequa lodges would be closed by December 1st, 1934. Lodge keepers Mrs. Christian Luzi, Roslyn, Otto McCamish, Meadow Brook, and Thomas Zinzi in Massapequa were also notified.
The next day, October 17th, 1934, Sidney Jones, (formally the Great Neck lodge keeper) who was by then the keeper at Rocky Hill Road, was also notified, this time with the additional message that no season tickets will be sold in 1935.
However, in the spring 2000 issue of the Long Island Forum, Al Velocci stated in his article, 'The License Plates of the Vanderbilt Long Island Motor Parkway' that 62 season tickets were indeed sold and 75 Motor Parkway plates ordered.
In comments on a previous post, toll lodge expert Al V. further explained;
"The layoffs in 1935 lasted only until April that year. All the lodges from Rocky Hill to Huntington, with some short exceptions, remained opened until the Parkway closed in 1938. The only free portion was east of the Huntington if you accessed the Parkway EAST of the Huntington Lodge. If you did find a way to access the Parkway without paying, you could not get off at a lodge location without surrendering a paid toll ticket."
In a couple of random lodge receipt documents, this one dated March 26th, 1933, shows that those four lodges were some of the least productive. The Great Neck lodge didn't even sell a single 50 cent ticket that day.
The bottom right displays the decline with a high usage of 49,700 receipts in March 1930, down to just 18,001 by March 1933.
The week of Monday August 7th, to Saturday, August 12th, 1933 again showing that parkway usage was in heavy decline.
According to document figures, from Jan 1st, 1932 through August 12th, 1932, 68,173 in receipts were collected versus the 43,782 the following year.
The end was near, and by 1938, the parkway closed permanently.
Comments
Say it ain’t so! Ugh, no doubt the Great Depression played a role in the parkway’s decline. Those are chilling letters to receive just before the frigid holidays of 1934 just up ahead. It’s apparent in the letters that Motor Parkway Inc took care of their employees, even during their decline! Thank you for sharing these amazing details Greg, and for Al Velocci’s illusive facts that continue to fascinate!
One has to wonder if RM would have had reason to build the parkways - IOTW, if enough people would be driving distances east-west, if not for Motor Parkway making it clear for so many years what grade separated roads could do. Or, at least, likely speeded up the demand for parkways. But MP was, in a way, far better - it didn’t have non stop curves.
I’ve a Ancestry subscription, and thought to look up records on past toll keepers for the LIMP. Below are Census records for Sidney Jones in 1930, 40 and 50. In 1930, he and wife Charlotte have a census all to themselves. Know that’s when he was stationed at Rocky Hill Lodge, and a home ( bungalow ) was built there for them to reside. In 1940 & 50, believe Sidney & Charlotte were living in the former Roslyn Lodge. Then looked up the property history on the Nassau County LRV website, a couple with the surname Scuderi began living at the Roslyn home in 1954. References showing as the past Lodge. Sidney passed away in 1959, his wife Charlotte in 1980. Their obituary will be in the next comment.
I’ll make a point of looking up records on other Lodge keepers. Interesting to see what came of their lives after Parkway closed.
This is the obituary for Sidney and Charlotte Jones. Both lived long, especially Charlotte.
Amazing research Brian! That’s truly amazing