Vanderbilt Cup Races

Andy - your comment/question is 12 yrs old now. You may remembering a concrete overpass which spanned over Commack Rd from the former Edgewood Hospital to another Hospital ( Mason? ) on the west side of Commack Rd. More of a Pedestrian Bridge, don’t think it was wide enough for vehicles. I was curious about it, too. It was demolished when land clearing on the west side.

From Demolition of the Williston Park/East Williston LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

Great that you found the site here, Cliff. You’ll always remember that part of your working career. Guess you remember Ron Ridolph filming the demolitions.

From Demolition of the Williston Park/East Williston LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

I knew Bill and Christine Snyder well, great people and true car enthusiasts. Spent some time with them at a car event in Savanna, Georgia ,

From New York Daily News July 30, 2014: The thief, the enthusiast, and the one-of-a-kind “Shorty” Ford Mustang.

I was on the work crew that took down that overpass and the one in Mineola that summer.  Tough work.

From Demolition of the Williston Park/East Williston LIRR Motor Parkway Bridge

In the summer of 1984 I got a job working for a demolition company.  There were 8 of us in the crew that summer.  We dismantled the East Williston LIRR overpass as well as the overpass in Mineola.  Tough job.  The company was Big Apple demolition.

From 1958-1967 tours of the Long Island Motor Parkway #5: East Williston, Mineola, Bethpage & Old Bethpage

I believe this is the Southern State parkway facing west. Corona Avenue exit/Bridge is in the foreground. Central Avenue would be next westbound exit.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Expansion of the Southern State Pkwy in Valley Stream, including construction of the 10 cent toll booths to help pay for the project. This 1954 photo is looking west. That’s the Fletcher Ave overpass at the bottom. The backstreet on the right is Greenway Blvd where disgruntled motorist would travel to avoid the toll. Same practice occurred on the south side. It’s reported that traffic at times would back up all the way to East Meadow! After a brief toll increase to 25 cents, frustrated Long Islanders revolted, resulting in the removal of the toll plaza sometime in the late ‘70’s

Ten years earlier, this was all farmland

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Howard
  Well done as usual. Always finding out things that you wouldn’t have known about and very interesting articles with pictures with it. Thanks for sharing it. Take care.

From New York Daily News July 30, 2014: The thief, the enthusiast, and the one-of-a-kind “Shorty” Ford Mustang.

Looks like NYC skyline in the background… 3 smokestacks near Astoria.  If so, then possibly early days of the LIE construction.  Congestion with housing also suggests Queens, possibly at the turn heading east prior to Queens Blvd.  Problem with this guess is that clearance from that overpass is way too low for trucks (unless those seen in the photo were updated later on). One of the more interesting Mystery photos.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

That looks like the western end of the Southern State Parkway with the photographer over Elmont / Valley Stream looking west toward Springfield Gardens. Under construction are the toll booths and the north extension of the Central Avenue bridge over the widened parkway. Since the tool booths opened in June of 1954, this photo probably dates from late 1953 or early 1954. Another road in the picture is Linden Blvd.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Southern State Pkwy looking east at Valley Stream.  Toll booths under construction about 1953.  Fletcher Ave in foreground.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

A guess. Based upon what appear to be the Ravenswood smokestacks of the ConEd plant in LIC and the Elmhurst gas tanks (well before they were torn down), the view is looking northwest from the Southern State Parkway when the toll booths were being constructed as part of the financing of the 4th lane heading eastbound to Eagle Ave/Peninsula Blvd. Probably taken in the during the early/mid ‘50s.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Westbound Southern state Valley Stream, widening at old toll plaza. 1940s-1950.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

It looks like the construction of the Southern State Parkway toll plaza in Valley Stream. The photographer is facing west with the new Fletcher Ave bridge in the foreground as the parkway is widened in this area. The “V” jog of Southern Drive and Greenway Bldv. along the north side confirms this. I recall that the toll was 10 cents in the beginning. Given the buildup in the area I would put the date as the mid fifties.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

The photographer is over North valley Stream looking west at the widening of the Southern State Parkway. The north/south road at the bottom is Fletcher Ave. going over the Parkway. The dreaded toll plaza is under construction as well. The tollbooths opened on July 1, 1954. It’s likely that this picture was taken in 1953. The toll was 10 cents and increased to 25 cents in 1975. The toll booths were removed on July 1,1978.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Greg, Willie wasn’t a reckless spender. In fact he lived well within his means. He didn’t have “real money” until his father died in 1920 receiving an inheritance of $20,000,000 plus dollars. In 1931, during the Great Depression, he took deliver of the yacht Alva, I believe it was the largest yacht in the world at the time… and promptly went on a seven month cruise around the world. He died in 1944 leaving an estate of more than $36, 000,000. Let’s do the math. $20,000,000 in 1920… $36,000,000 in 1944, living the high life in between… The next generation didn’t fare that well because the inheritance tax at the time was 90% .... thats not a typo.

From Greg O's Garage: The 1930 Motor Parkway license plate/season ticket holders Part I

This looks like the Southern State Parkway facing east at exit 13.  The overpass in the foreground carries Elmont rd over the parkway.  In the distance the toll plaza is being constructed shortly before its opening on July 1st 1954.  So, maybe this is May or June of 1954.  I’m typing this just a few hours after traversing this nightmare of a road.  Imagine if this toll plaza was still there?  Paying and being delayed even more to attempt to drive through the so called “blood alley”?  Nassau county’s deadliest parkway.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Eric,
Al, as always, is correct. Willie K’s mother Alva, had an insatiable will to build extravagant estates and was to a certain degree, the beginning of the end. By that time, the later generations were better at spending the fortunes of the Commodore and William Henry, rather than working hard to maintain it. Willie K, and the rest of the 4th+ generations simply furthered the spending spree watering it down to next to nothing today. The preface of the book, ‘William K. Vanderbilt ll A Biography’ written by former Vanderbilt Museum President Steven Gittelman gives a little insight to this.

From Greg O's Garage: The 1930 Motor Parkway license plate/season ticket holders Part I

Im thinking this is the construction of the toll booths on the Southern State Pkwy. We are in Valley Stream, looking west, with the Fletcher Ave (Henry St.). bridge in the foreground. The exit and entrance ramps are nearly completed. The roads on the right, roughly paralleling the parkway are Southern Dr (closest to the cluster of trees) and then Greenway Blvd. The Cross Island may be visible in the distance.
The toll booths are obviously being constructed near the center of the photo. They would be demolished in 1978 (after a public outcry for raising the toll from 10 cents to 25 cents), a year after the state took over control and maintenance of the parkway from the Long Island State Parks Commission. This stretch was constructed between 1925 and 1927, so I would place the photo in that time period.

From Mystery Friday Foto #51 Solved: Widening of the Southern State Parkway near the toll booths around 1954

Eric, My spin on your one upping comment is that it started with Alva Vanderbilt, Willie’s mother.

From Greg O's Garage: The 1930 Motor Parkway license plate/season ticket holders Part I