The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 226 - The Brooklyn Train Strike

Episode Date: December 12, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company strike and it's consequences. SOURCES TOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH 

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time party all the time. My girl wants... Oh we're done. You're listening to the dollop this is a bi-weekly American History podcast each week I Dave Anthony read a story from American history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Party all the time party all the time. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one bump. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to tickle you podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail queen shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do

my thing. Oh that was you that sent me something. Yeah. I want to I like to text you when we're in the room together. It's yeah no it's good. My wife and I do that one we when you can do that when you have a kid and you don't want to hear. Oh that's great each other. Yeah. Then they learn to read. That's that's your issue. That's why if I ever have kids no reading. Right. No nothing. Right. Very important. I'll teach them vowels. I highly recommend they can they can learn to communicate through grunts and eye work. Think of Nell one of the most beloved characters of all time. Yeah just have just have three Nells. Name an

issue with that. I think he wants another chicken pot pie. Not sure. Right. Just shout it. I'm not going to shout it at 1873. I'm sorry but me. Well it's not that you it's that you can't you can't draw attention to it right before I do it. Baby. Come on. Shout it. Come on here. I'll pretend to be saying we're not a baby. I'll pretend to be saying something baby. I'll pretend to be saying something baby. This relationship isn't a baby. You know actually there's one more thing. I'll be making 73 David from the top. You know I'll be doing a show at 1773. We'll take a businessman Austin Corbin an incredibly corrupt Wall Street man was told by a

doctor to move his ill son to Coney Island for the sea air. Okay. Okay. That's what you know they were like what your kids sick. Go put him near the sea. Put him near the water. Yeah. Give him the gull diet. Put him on a beach. Give him fish heads. Oh you know what he's got. He's got a really bad condition called cancer. Put him near the water. Wait he's not a seal. I have misread this chart is upside down. So carbon took the advice and immediately saw Coney Island as a great place for development. So he bought 500 acres and started building in 1877 came the Manhattan Beach Hotel. Hotel for the rich. Okay. It was a bit

away from the next resort to be built the Brighton Beach Hotel which was for the upper middle class. Okay. The rich did not go to this hotel because they thought Brighton was a bit too close to the filthy people particularly the prostitutes at the Elephant Hotel and other undesirables of the Coney Island Beach area. The Elephant Hotel is where the whores were going to have sex with the prostitute became known as going to see the elephant. Oh. Weird. That's just gross. Where you going Bobby. Gonna go fucking elephant. No that's not. How do you say it. Hey I'm gonna go bang an elephant. I'll see you guys in a bit. Okay

that's not how we say it. What are we saying again. We're saying see the elephant. Okay yeah yeah. I'm gonna go see the elephant. Oh whether my penis. No Bobby. What. It's not how you say it. It's the whole idea of saying see the elephant is so like our ladies don't know what we're talking about. Oh you mean our elephant wives. I gotta go. All right. Bye Todd. To get all these people to these resorts and hotels railroads were built. The Brooklyn Flatbush and Coney Island round road was served the Brighton Hotel. Though the Brighton Beach Hotel it turns out have been built too close to the water and after a

couple years of erosion it was near collapse. Jeez. It was lifted up on the top of rail cars. Oh my god. And dragged by steam engines about 600 feet inland and then put down. That is a I mean this is it has to be a pretty big building right. Yeah. That is treacherous. It took three months to move it. It's real world Jenga that it took how long to move it. Three months. Six hundred feet. Yeah. Wow. What a I can't even imagine what it looked like. I mean it's gotta been fucking insane. I mean the balance. Oh boy. Oh shit. I mean just to forget you thought that up. I don't know. Maybe we should put our rail cars and drag it

across the beach. All right. You're not pitching anymore for the night Tim. No trust me. I don't. We're gonna put it on real class. And we're not. Drag it across the beach. It'll take a few months. It's gonna be fine. So now all these rail roads were funded by the hotel owners and they saw it as a way. So we're just talking about rail lines like through Brooklyn like that's. Okay. But that's not. Yeah. Okay. And so each one has a different rail line to get to hotel. Oh okay. That's how it's working. That seems a little more chaotic. So shuttle buses with track. Yep. The Brooklyn Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad would

serve the Brighton Hotel. Right. I said that already. And now all these railroads are funded by hotel owners. They saw it as a way to get people to their hotels same as the original Los Angeles railroads were built to get people to housing developments. Good thing we didn't keep that up. Now you know what's funny is they shed it. The guys the guys they were private and the guys who so those so the Los Angeles railroads were built to get people to new housing developments to be like it's not that far away. Right. Just jump on a train. But then once those housing developments were filled up filled up

they didn't really want to pay for it anymore so they let them die. That's the cities didn't do it. The idea that the Detroit came in and bought up the railroads and tore them up is a lie. That's so I mean it really is crazy when you live here and you're like why is there I mean we're just so jammed. I can't it's fucking insane. So the third big developer Andrew Culver who had just built a railroad a steam line from Prospect Park that went to Coney Island for 30 cents 35 cents a ride. OK. Because these trains were all privately run and went to specific locations for different classes. Right. So not only are

they going to locations but that the trains because the hotels are like this one's for rich people. This one's for poor people. Right. So every train has a different class of persons. Right. So they all service completely different types of people. What are you doing. This is going into my bag. He's just using it. He's going to eat it. Yeah. That's fine. And so this is how it went all over Brooklyn. The sea beach palace hotel was built taking up several blocks a race track for the wealthy and the not so wealthy then popped up at Brighton another at Manhattan and as this expanded more the breakdown of

classes began. So now when they start building the race tracks then everyone's getting on the same train. Right. Which makes the hoity toys feel a little up time. Yeah. They're not trained. Yeah. What. They're humans on here. There was the sea beach line the New York Railroad the Manhattan Beach Railroad on and on but because they were all independently owned problems cropped up. The New York and Manhattan trains were delayed as the two owners fought over this the size of the track gauge. So they're they're fighting over the size of how big the tracks will be whether they're like a quarter inch or three quarter inch. OK.

Isn't that just like one guy's building his train for three quarter inch and the other guy's building it for a quarter inch. And that went on for hard to get on the same page or something like that though. It really is. One suggested a separate track but Austin Corbin who was president wouldn't allow it president of the railroad or whatever. Sure. They made agreements like one train company would let another share their terminal if they could use the others maintenance area like it's just fucking chaos. I can't even really. It's it's insane. You can use my stop at Fulton if I can use your maintenance yard. It's just getting

really incestuous for these train lines suddenly. Sometimes owners would not allow another train to cross their tracks. No. So. So like if a guy is building his train train out to Coney Island and another guy won't let him go across his tracks. Uh huh. So he has to find a way to get there. These are not cars. Like if they if you like you have like two options right. Yeah. OK. So now you just have like trains like we can't go there anymore. Sorry. And and when they build it they have to like get the right of way to be able to do it. So it's a fucking at the beginning in 1877 these tracks were seasonal only running until

September 1st. Corbin got all the trains to agree to a 30 cent price. OK. Except the sea beach which refused and stuck with 25 cents and then went bankrupt in 1881. OK. So it's a good call. Yeah. There is also a huge fire at the Brighton Beach Terminal. Very suspicious origins on July 1881. That also helped the sea beach railroad go out of business. The months of operating of the trains were expanded April to October. Soon they were going year round. The first L train was built in 1881. OK. That's exciting. That was a huge day. It was one mile long. A Coney Island Railway. There were no stops. Wait. It just wait. It

just went to Coney Island. Yeah. It was one mile. One mile L train and you get on it one part and you take it. That driver was like I'm ready to die. Why. I go one mile all day. Every day. Oh. We're not even close to it would be torn down in 1990. OK. An early bicycle monorail was built. A bicycle monorail. So they just built a really high bike track. Yep. That's not a monorail. At least not in today's monorail standards. Yeah. OK. Good talk. You know the one ten here is a bike track from well from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena was originally a bike. It makes sense with those exits. Those exits are fucking gnarly. You like

trap. Yeah. You're on a freeway and then you're exiting and it's like 10 miles an hour please. You're like I've seen some mess. You have to have a fucking jet engine. Yeah. Because people. Yeah. It's crazy and getting on that freeway too. Good luck. Yeah. In 1895 the sea beach had a major accident when one train was pushing another. So it's pushing an empty train. Sure. Get it somewhere. Right. But then that train rolled. So it's now it's a runaway train. Wait. It just let go of the other train in front of it. That it was pushing. They didn't have it attached like they forgot to attach the train they're pushing. Yeah. And then it rolled

big error. And then it was a runaway train and it hit a full train. Cheese. At with the lawn caught two deaths 55 injuries. Many lawsuits followed. And the New York and S.B. train company went bankrupt in 1896. OK. Every time I read what went bankrupt it would just reorganize and reopen. So someone else would just take it up. It's a big while we're getting sued. So we're out of business and then. Hey we're in business again. Now we're the Bobby Lee. But like they just make up a new name and be like what now with these guys. OK. But the same people. Yeah. OK. So they OK. Right. In 1869 Alfred Beach started

constructing the first subway under Broadway in Manhattan. OK. He spent three hundred and fifty thousand dollars of his own sweet cash. Uh huh. And in fifty eight days he completed one tunnel eight feet in diameter. OK. And three hundred and twelve feet long. It's pretty good. It was about a block. That's a good start. There was just one car on the train. All right. People would line up to ride it. They would pay to ride back and forth one block. This I don't get. He sold 400,000 rides in the first year. Makes no sense to me. Completely lost now. Had me going for a while. I was in. Now what. He must be. I mean again

it's just like these ideas they just wouldn't work today. Just wouldn't. Like you know nobody would be like a huge line. Yeah for 400,000. I mean it's a train. Everybody hold on. Here we go. God. OK. That's it. I figure we can get there by seven forty five. And then we're a block away. That's right. And then the guy gets out and back and walks around the other side. Oh boy. When they turn a train around they you know they have an engine on each side of the. Yeah. That walks around gets in the other side. Back where I was please. Everybody if you want to enjoy this you can turn around in the seats and face the other way. You

know there was definitely like some weirdos who were like all I do is go back and forth. It's the greatest. Oh my God. I bet. Have you been on the subway? I've been on like 90 times. Yeah. I take that to go bang an elephant. So what. I sleep with elephants in this hotel. Yeah. But it doesn't go to a hotel. It just goes a block. I know. But then I get off and then I go and then I go get off in an elephant at a hotel. I sleep with them. You don't know any of the sayings. Yeah. I sleep with the elephants in a hotel. I'm getting on this train. OK. Unfortunately Beach couldn't get permission to expand the tunnel right away. People's minds

are already two blown sir. Now when did he started. So four years later he got permission. But by then everyone was just over the tunnel train. Yeah. And then there was a stock market crash and the subway was shut down. OK. The one block subway was over. Well tough. How did people get a block back there. It was hard. Yeah. Electric trains came in the 1900s as the 1900s approached but subways were becoming a thing by then. Train companies were combining as they found it difficult to operate privately and just one train you know going somewhere. So obviously it's not great if you have to if you can take a train to

one place. Right. So. So they're now combining their efforts to make trains go a few places. Yeah. So. The city of New York decided to push for a subway rapid underground transit for the future. They thought that was the way to go. But clearly none of these already struggling train companies were going to do it. So the government would have to fund it. So the the the street trains hate the underground trains. No they don't hate each other. But they're just they're just a fucking mess. OK. And. And they're not making money like they thought they would. Right. And they're all going bankrupt because it's probably probably

pretty fucking costly to run a train for a mile. Right. And and and so the city but the city sees it like oh this like the subways are going to be the way to go. So they decide that's what they're going to fund. Now in Brooklyn the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company the B.R.T. was gobbling up all the private struggling trains and turning it into one company. The the above ground train the street train anything street anything. OK. Right. By 1900 every train in Brooklyn would be B.R.T. Now the B.R.T. was very successful so successful that it's New York Stock Exchange symbol was just B. OK. That's fucking hot shit.

Yeah. It means you you yeah. Yeah we yeah we're just going to be that letter. Yeah that's both. That's like a one named artist. That's right. It's like Prince with the symbol. Right. Yes. Time went by though and even the mighty B.R.T. began to have troubles. A 1918 contract didn't help things. It was passed by the city and it forced the rail companies to allow passengers to transfer without paying a fare at all intersections regardless if it was between different rail companies. So you can get pay you get there could be a guy who pays and then he gets to an intersection and he hops on a different companies train and he

takes that one for free. Right. And they don't make money. Yeah. And the city's probably got all the back then that must have just been the easiest thing to con your way into. Yeah. Oh my god. So they also guaranteed a five cent fare anywhere on the rails. So now you can travel anywhere for five cents and you can go anywhere after other train companies for free. Yeah. This doesn't seem like this is going to work well. It's great for the riders. Great for the riders which tells me that it's bad for the business. Yeah. It was a shit show for the companies. Then in the summer of 1918 the B.R.T. came up against a new

union. This is like Lyft v. Uber. The brotherhood of locomotive engineers was threatening a strike because 15 of their fellow workers have been fired for wearing union pins. OK. And so so let's just straight up say the B.R.T. has made a really fucking stupid decision. It sounds like a number of bad ones. But just you just don't fire guys wearing fucking union. Yeah. No. It's just going to come back at you. Yeah. So the union also said workers are being beaten up and intimidated. In some cases railroad thugs would surround workers houses because they were going to beat up your home. They don't want these guys go

unions. So they're fucking you're going to go your mother fucker. Hey Jimmy hit his house. Break his house's kneecaps face. Which is cool. So clearly the company's being fucking mellow about everything. Yeah. But I always I always like if we never if we didn't have these liaisons if we didn't have the people who carry out the bullshit. Yeah. Like how much stronger every everyone would be. Yeah. It's like the people obviously people want evil shit. It's when people succumb to that. Anyways. The union said if the BRT had the money to pay guys to follow surround their houses and beat them up then they should have

the money to pay the fired workers. Wait a minute. Hold on now. Now hold on. I think he's being really smart. So they had a strike on more. They almost had a strike on more than one occasion in the summer of 1918. They voted unanimously for one in August but negotiations still continued. The BRT started to not believe the union would strike. So they called the unions bluff. I'm just going to say that the BRT is making every wrong decision. So but they did this. So they went on strike. Yeah. And by this time 29 men had lost the jobs wearing union pins and the union said rehire them or we walk. BRT said no. Then rich men

around town who needed the rails to be functioning for various reasons called on Mayor Highland to stop the strike. Highland was a populist who had been in office for a year. His nickname was Red Mike. Okay. He had red hair. Okay. I wasn't sure. Big old red mustache. All right. When he had been a judge in Bushwick at which time he rewrote the cost had the Constitution amended to create a job for a judge in Brooklyn which he then took. He created a constitutional amendment for the judge. It must have been for the cities amendment or the Constitutional right. But he created. Yeah. He had it amended so that also

Charlie can be a judge. Also. No. He was just like hey can we create a position for a judge in Brooklyn. I think we need another one just to lessen my load. They're like sure we can do that. He goes OK. I'm going to be the judge of Brooklyn. Wait a minute. Oh he did it. Oh OK. He had the job created and then he took that job. Sorry. That's gold. It's fucking great. All right. Who are you thinking of hiring me. When he ran for mayor he ran on having the city take over and run the utility. So that was. That was this. This reminds me of back when when the promises you make were like when you run for high school president. Yeah. Right.

I'm not vending machines put in a cafeteria. No more school. But many saw the mayor as a puppet of Randolph Hearst and a dumb one at that. He was known for using very short words. I think they called him like one syllable mayors. He's like a he's like a good fellas character. Yeah. Basically one syllable. OK. Bye. One syllable mayors here. How's he going to give a speech. So yeah. OK. There we go. You get me. How do you say one syllable hard. I am. On. It. OK. Late. He did give he did give Hearst city jobs. Spent a lot of time at their Palm Beach house and once a photographer caught the mayor and Hearst hanging out together dressed as cowboys at a dude ranch. Whoa. Whoa. OK.

I mean that is very that's super incriminating. Just the best. That's super incriminating. Hey you want to be cowboys. Of course. Not an idiot. I will come with you on your cowboy trip. Yes. I thought you'd never say cowboy trip. You said that you're so you're very tight with someone if you're like yeah. You don't you don't say you can't be in a Queens of someone. No dress up like a cow. No you're like I'm willing to do I'm willing to die with you. Let's go be cowboys for a week and a half. Obviously Highland's backing of Hearst didn't really jive with his populist image and speeches against big business. Quote the real menace of our Republic the little cutery of powerful

international bankers which virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. Yeah. Glad that went away. But he did feel the BRT and its contract with the city favored the company too much. The mayor was also a member of the local train engineers union. He had worked as one while putting himself through law school. He had been fired then for taking a curve too fast in a Brooklyn L train. He said it was not true. So OK. I mean that it's it isn't really I mean it's it's just so different to think of conductors actually having to judge speed and stuff. Right. Like there is such a human factor totally. So Highland spoke to BRT president Timothy Williams on the night before

the strike was set to kick off. Quote I regard this as a serious situation and one of such public important importance that it should be brought to your personal attention. I wish to vigorously protest against the action of your company in disregarding the decree of the federal authorities. I don't know what the federal authorities. I don't remember what they said but they must have been like it. Don't strike. No. Work it out. Please be cool. Williams wasn't no more pins. That's right. Well they're excuse me government man but they were wearing pins. Sorry I didn't realize they were wearing got to shut it down. We're wearing pins too much expression to say the least. Williams wasn't having by the

way my wife started at the pin. Can we just say the fucking. So in 1918 when things aren't that great but the fucking bad assness of knowing guys are getting fired for wearing a pin and putting that fucking pin on. Let's just put that out there. Well we have completely lost the sense of we can community. Yeah we have the numbers. You know there is no we have the numbers. You're right. It's coming back. Oh yeah it's gonna be great. Williams was not having it. Quote you I believe are still a member of that organization and I have no doubt that you will advise them not to be foolish as to call a strike. So he he's still an idiot. The BRT is still really stupid. Yeah. So the next day November 1st 1918 the

engineers went on strike to get their fellow engineers jobs back. The union asked for everyone in a union working for the BRT to join them. Now instead of shutting down the trains the BRT decided to try to keep them going. OK. To do this. He's really having a field day there. He's really like just. He can't believe what's happened. He's all wrapped up in Dave's bag backpack right now. Jose's just like he's he's honestly holding one of his paws looks like he's riding the subway like his paw is like up on the bag. I told him I moved he moved. He'll be back. OK. Keep the camera ready. Do it again. Subway to the subway thing. So they're going to keep the trains running. Yeah. With everyone striking. Right. With

all the guys who drive the train. So they're just kind of like a poker player who goes all in no matter what their hand is. Yeah. Right. OK. So. They would have to take office workers and others who had not driven a train and have them drive trains. Not. What. Now I'm I'm starting to see the seeds. What. The seeds of what. The plant you're growing. So they this is a never good. No. It's such a fucking rich guy who hasn't lived in the world who runs a company making decisions like anybody could just what like it takes any kind of fucking expertise to drive a train. Just get some of the fucking drive it. And it's just the idea that like you can't you. I mean you just you need as much money as

possible. And if workers like want rights that's too much too much like what what just happened with the fast food industry is so I mean it's just going to be so crazy. Yeah. The idea that they're like now fifteen dollars they like made it a thing for like four years while they were just working on robots that would be like and what do you want on your burger. That's my favorite thing is they're like oh so they they got their fifteen dollars in that. So now we're going to bring a robot. Yeah. Like hey fuck it. Yeah. Robots up there make it. I know. Yeah. Oh yeah. No. No. It's because they make it fifteen. No. No. The rest we would have never done robot. We'd have paid him seven. Such fucking idiot. Yeah.

So right. So after the first day twenty three year old Edward Luciano heard officials talking about the lack of motormen and said quote so he's in the office or whatever. Here's some guys talking about others. They don't have enough guys driving trains. Right. And he says I'll take a train out. You hear that. What in the fuck is that noise. Sounds like a horny elk. I think someone was squeezing a cat. That was insane. Jose is like that's a cat. Oh that's a cat in heat dude. Jose it's time to do your business buddy. Are you fixed. Jose you fancy meeting an elephant. How's your boner dude. All right. Now you're crossing a line for me. OK. OK. So I mean it's ignore the cat portal that you can't

hear that. So so Edward says he'll take the train out. Right. OK. Wait. Sorry. Just because a cat was getting strangled. Right. So there's guys at the office talking about. Oh right. OK. Right. Right. And then Edward's like I'll take the train. Right. So he's a dispatcher. He's a tall dark and had a quote pronounced Roman nose. So they said in paper. That means is the big nose. I think they're talking about a big Italian hunker. OK. OK. OK. Which is weird. Yeah. Yeah. So he does he did were Romans known as having big noses. I mean what is that reference to. I think I don't know. But I mean I kind of like picture. Yeah it seems a little it's a bit of a reach. Yeah. But now he does he have any involvement in

trains. Well he's a dispatcher. But prior to this he had moved trains in the yard. OK. Over on the tracks with passengers. So he like moved him slowly around the yard. Right. But he never think about what the yard is compared to driving a train. Different. An instructor gave him two hours of training. Oh I didn't realize he had two hours of training. Yeah. So he's fine. Yeah. And then sent him on his way. For being a scab Edward was being given a $20 bonus. And when the strike was over he was promised a raise. OK. Oh and this wasn't the next day. This was literally right after he said I'll take a train out. Oh OK. So this is OK. So he got off an eight hour shift or whatever their shift was back then. Right.

He took two hours of instruction and then took over a passenger train. So he's alert and ready to do this. Ten hours into a day and ready to do this. Oh and he just gotten over the flu. Right. So he's ready to go. Oh and his daughter had just died of the flu. So he's in a good headspace. He's healthy. He's had some rest. He's experienced. He's ready to go. He had insomnia because of that. Yeah. So he's not sleeping. He's just pulled a 10 hour shift. He's going to pull another shift. But it's after two hours of training and he has a background in trains. So he's weak tired and grieving. The usual. The usual requirements. Good space for being a motorman. Are you really sad. Sixty hours minimum of

training. Right. But he had you know two and tired. Yeah. So you know what my grieving and tiredness can make up for all the training. Well he's got a point. Wait I'm going to stab my eyes. Hey then we'll go. All right. Cool. The train was going to Brighton Beach along a route. Edward knew absolutely nothing about including the names of the stops. So there's more than once. There's more than now. There's a bunch of stops. There's options for trains to stop at 18. So and he doesn't know. There's no idea where they are. Right. OK. The train was crammed with people headed home at rush hour. And by the time he left it was dark at six forty two p.m. And he's at night. I guess I didn't fully piece that together

yet. Nighttime darkness. Edward Luciano wasn't doing so well overshot most of the stops he came to in downtown. He stopped too far away and then have to back up the train. So the doors would be at the platform. But he but then he just kept speeding to make up the time because he started ten minutes late and he kept backing up. Oh gosh. Although some said he might not have completely understood how to operate the brakes. That's not a good fact to hear. So back then the word they've still might they use compressed air brakes. So he would have to slow it down by reducing air pressure then move the brake shoes into contact with the wheel. So it's like a it's like a multi it's not just like hitting break.

Yeah. Slow down and then break at the right time. Release the air then do the fucking thing. Right. Because the trains are going so fast and we're so heavy it turns out it takes a long time to stop a train. But how is that not involved in the two hours of training. What more key part is there than how to break properly. So number one I think the guy doing the training maybe have some empathy for the strikers. OK. I'm good. And number two I don't know if they went out like how much they he might have just driven around the yard like we don't know what the training was. I mean it has the word train in it. I mean yeah it does. So you have a look on your face. It's just a little troubling.

So one passenger said everything everyone on the train was being tossed sideways because of all the abrupt braking. You mean the bones. When he was at the fault and stop Edward didn't light the two white markers he was supposed to because you know he's a dispatcher not a train. He didn't light the two white. He's supposed to throw a light on his train. So the guy the tower guy can see can see which way he's going and move the tracks. Oh OK. Right. Oh God. So he doesn't do that. And then so now he drives the train away and now it's going the wrong direction. No. No. And he and he went for a whole block before he realized that he was going the wrong way. OK. So at that point he got out. He on the

wrong track. He's on the wrong track and he got out. He gets out of the train of the train and he walked to the engine on the other side of the train. You know like we said before this is an engine on the other end in case you want to when you when you get to the end of the thing you have to get in that one to drive it the other way. Right. So he switches ends. So he switches ends and then he backed up the train the whole block. OK. And then he went back to the original engine and put it and put it on the correct put on the lights and put on the correct tracks and then kept going. OK. And super fast because he's way behind. OK. You really be pulling at my heartstrings here to Anthony. At the next stop passengers

got off the train because quote. They were so scared. Yeah. I'm done. No. I guess it was something about the terrible jerking of the brakes and actual tracks and speeding that freaked them out. Sure. One writer said quote I never rode that fast on a Brighton Beach train before. It's like he's being polite. I don't know what's going on. The next stop Edward missed the stop. So this is it's going awful. It's terrible. OK. It's horrible. Right. Everybody on this train has gotten a very huge red flag to get off this train. He has to make announcements to the covering up of that. Ladies and gentlemen just be one moment you will see me switching to the other end of the train. Nothing to worry about folks are just

a little bit behind schedule but we're hopefully going to be right on track in one minute. Sweet mother. Back this pitch up. All right. Does anybody know how to flip a U turn. All right ladies and gentlemen as you can see we're a little past the stop so I'm going to ask people to bear with me while I reverse the train slowly and those of you headed a little further down the way to Brighton Beach. Well don't worry we will be speeding at an exorbitant rate. So he's clearly has an issue with the brakes. Right. No he has an issue with the train. So then he kept going. He blew through the prospect park station. Who's on this train still. Who is like I think he's going to write the ship. I got a good feeling that this kid's

going to pull it out. I see I used to I had a girlfriend live where we get off the prospect station for a while. That's a fucking deep underground. Right. Yeah. And then and then after the prospect park station it starts going down a steep grade. George Nordstrom a passenger said quote we're going to hit that wall for sure. Oh God. Wall. And then they hit that wall. Oh shit. At Malborn Malbone Street at a curve that was known as dead man's curve. Where did it get the name. I don't know. Engineers were supposed to go very slow at this curve. Another thing no one had told a tired week and grieving Luciano. So when he hit the curve he was doing 30. Okay. At least that's what Edward said. A naval officer

on the train said he thought they were going about 70 miles. Okay. There's a little bit of a difference. The first passenger car flew off the tracks before the tunnel entrance and hit a partition between two sections of rail. The train went all totally off the tracks off the tracks. Okay. It then fell perpendicular to the rest of the cars which plowed into and over it. It was split in half. What was left of the passengers in the first car was all over the tracks along with the wood and steel. The crash was heard miles away. So this is very bad. No one in that first cars. There are people anymore. Right. The next two cars also came off the tracks, slid on the rails and the left sides were

ripped off by pillars along with parts of the people inside. Oh my God. Others flew out and hit the pillars. Others were between the cars when they met the wall in front of them. Some ended up under the wheels. Those inside were met by parts of disintegrating train car. Small fires started. People in the two rear cars were just bruised and cut. Now they were all in a dark tunnel so everyone starts screaming and wailing in pain. Others just tried to find a way out in the dark for a while. So that's the other thing like there's no fucking off. It's just a tunnel off. There's no emergency lights. No. It's 1918. Yeah. You're in a dark tunnel and your shit's all fucked up. Yeah. And at this point, no one really

probably knows how bad this is. Yeah. So up on the street, a crowd starts to gather along with ambulances as they figured it out. They watched a single man come out of the tunnel a businessman without almost all of his clothes are gone and he staggered forward. New York Times quote his coat and trousers rip from him. He had only one shoe and was without a hat, collar and tie real quick. The obsession with hats is insane. To point out that this man who just was in an enormous train crash among all the things that have just happened that he did not have a hat on. It's that was it's just so insane. But it's a it's he didn't even have a hat on. Yeah. But if you're Hallish, you could tell he was serious. He didn't have

a hat on. If you're Hallish, you're either dying or on your way to get a hat. You're a terrible person. Yeah. Hallish or something terrible has happened. Yes. Sir, are you just being rude or was there an accident? Hey, buddy, why don't you wear the hat? I almost died in a train crash. All right. Thanks. All right, that that works. I still think it's inappropriate. I agree. Hey, somebody help me. Guys hats downstairs. Now we need a bunch of hats. Bring them in. Move them. Move them. Move them. Come on. Get hats on them. Get hats on them. You're going to be okay, buddy. We got a hat coming your way. I don't feel going to make it sir. Hold on, buddy. Hold on. We're going to get a hat for you in one

second. Hey, here's a baller. Here's a baller, man. Hey, hey, miss. Yes, I know. I know he died, but he died with a hat on. Oh, good. He died with a hat on. I've lost my owl hat. I had an owl eating a pineapple on my hat. Anybody hasn't listened to that episode is like what's happening. My neck really hurts. Oh, yeah, if you haven't heard what people used to do, what is that one called? It's absolute madness. This is a mad hatter one. Women used to wear like nature exhibits on their head. That was a guy who killed somebody, I think. Oh, Jesus. Isn't that about the guy who killed? No, I'm lost. Well, yeah, because he was a mad, he went crazy from the mercury and from making the hats. Oh, that's right.

See, what I take away is that owls were on heads. Right. Okay, so this dude runs out no hat. New York Times. So that guy comes out the crowd parts and he got into an ambulance. He was his face was bleeding for many gashes and his left arm was useless dangling from the shoulder. The ones who survived were able to walk and followed the moonlight to get out. Fun situation. Some of them. We don't need to put lights down there. People can use moonlight, a sun or whatever. It'll be fine. Some of them tried to help others in the cars ahead. But the first three cars impact was so intense that the cars were quote packed so tightly that no crevice or opening was left. So they just they are like melded together

completely disintegrated and then like formed like a train dam in the tunnel. Like what? No, that's just crazy. And then people are trapped on the other side of the train or just fucked. Oh, people trip right. Oh my God. Some people are, you know, tossed out. Right. Yeah. It took about 45 minutes for the police and fire departments to organize a rescue. So you can imagine. Yeah. I mean, there's not a great people complain about about 911 now. Not getting there in time. But yeah, this this was a whole different 45 minute. Yeah. No, they're coming. If it's over an hour, it's free. All the trains were stopped and word passed through Brooklyn what had happened. So everyone waiting in houses

for their family members to return thought they could be one of the dead. Oh boy. Hundreds and hundreds of people were put on the list of the missing. Oh boy. So by the time the firemen and police got there, the crowd was so huge that they had a hard time getting through it to reach the tunnel. Would they just too polite? I mean, it seems like you just go move. Well, I think at some point, a crowd is so big there's there is nowhere to move. That's when that's when I come in. What does that mean? I'm a bruiser. Break the crowd up. Okay. Part of them like Moses. I feel like it's not needed right now. I think I'm helping. Okay. Doctors and nurses from Oliver Brooklyn were requested to come to

the subway tunnel. Priests were sent into the tunnel to give last rights. So they started pulling bodies out and burlap sacks. The wounded were taken to nearby ebbets field where doctors set up a makeshift hospital. Okay. Unfortunately, it was the fall of 1918. So the Spanish flu was raging, and the morgue was already packed. They put the bodies into a laundry room. I am not going to wash these. That is just that is awful. They it must have been so hard to do laundry. Oh, good. You know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, let's talk about the laundry. No, yeah, you think yeah, you think the TV has something boring on an imagine when their body's stacked around for the poor person in there. Are all these sleeping guys waiting

for the clothes? Am I watching these clothes? What am I doing? Pretty torn. This guy doesn't have a hat. Neither does this guy. What a faux pas. They must be mortified. 85 dead were pulled out that night. Wow. And over the next few weeks, more would die bringing the total to 102. Edward was fine. He just walked away. I mean, he was in total shock, and he ran away and went home. Wait, that I mean, no matter how tired you are, you stick around. Just run away. I wasn't here. No, no, no. No, yeah. I mean, what's your plan? No one knows. I was driving. I hope they don't find me. I'll just say it wasn't me. Yep. He said he did not remember going home or how he got home, but he vaguely remembered being on

a trolley. Now that I could tell you again. I'm not buying it. Number one, that could happen just if you're grieving. I'm not buying it. I am. I think he's in total shock. And I think that he probably got clocks on. But he ran home. How does he know where home is? I know, but you can go on autopilot and still your brain your brain knows. Totally fucking yeah, like disassociated. Police came and arrested him at 1am. They said sister just probably wants a nap at this point. And they said he was quote very nervous and on the verge of a collapse. Okay, he was asked by reporters why he took a job he was unfit for and Edward replied, a man asked her how to live in. And nobody killed him. Maybe a little

more sympathy would be nice. But the truth is, he is, you know, responsible, but he's fucking scab. But it's also you got it like it is the company. It's the company. It's the company, but also fuck this guy. For sure. At the end of the day, but we're talking about a symptom of the disease. Yeah, a symptom of the disease. Absolutely. But when you when you bring in, when you when there's guys who are equipped to do a job and you replace them last minute, yeah, with guys who are not equipped to job, no matter what the job is, the job is not going to get done as well. Yeah, that's just how it works. Yeah. At the police station, he was questioned by the mayor, the district attorney and the police commissioner. Well,

boy, this is a different time and Batman. After this, you're going to talk to the janitor. So Bobby the vegetable cut guy. How you doing? I sell a lot of different carrots. I got some questions for you. What the fuck were you doing? I don't know. I don't want to answer any more questions. You need some salary? Yes. Mayor Heinlein went to the wreckage that night and said, quote, I believe this is the result of employing an inexperienced motorman and the use of all wooden cars. I shall make an investigation tomorrow and see if the BRT cannot be compelled to stop using green motormen. People in the city haven't been complaining about the BRT using old wooden cars for a

while. They were considered like, yeah, there will be fire traps also like that. Yeah, no, it's it's kind of insane. The mayor or yeah, it is insane, right? A fucking wooden it just doesn't. I didn't. Well, I wasn't thinking wooden till just now, right? You never thought wooden. No, no, these things are fucking made out of wood. Makes a little more sense with this catastrophic accident. Yeah, so think about wood in a train accident, the splintering and the fucking not good. It's just like everybody was in pain. It's like a wrecking ball hitting a cabin. It's like, it's like, you're, you're not going to fight physics with wood. You brought wood to a physics fight. Hey, this thing's crashing. Grab onto some

wood. We'll be fine. The mayor ordered a policeman to be placed at every train terminal and to stop any green motormen at least three months. So that so the the the company wasn't like let's end the strike. They were like, no, the strike feels like a deal breaker. Strike went on for two years. Oh my God. Because like that. I think in this day and age one of maybe one benefit of our time is that that would that would probably change. I don't think so. God damn it. I'll tell you why at the end. Oh good. A happy ending. Now after a couple of days, the shot of shock, the city became angry and demanded someone pay for what had happened. The mayor went after everyone. He accused the public service commission,

who is in charge of oversight of public works like utilities and railroads, of negligence. He accused them publicly and they responded by releasing letters the mayor had written when he was a judge asking the BRT for jobs for his friends. Oh boy. Okay, so that's just a fucking that's incriminating. But it's not it. One doesn't have anything to do with the other. No, but it's still makes you look bad. Yeah. But at the same time, it doesn't make no, but it's not good. It's not the same thing. Yeah. Hey, you didn't oversee this. Really? You asked for jobs. Okay. I don't what people are dead. Okay, job asker. Yeah. The commission also accused the mayor of failing to act to have the wooden cars replaced with

steel ones, which seems like it's like they're just fucking throwing shit on the wall to seeing what else because that is that his job? I mean, it might have been. But at the same time, that's their job. Yeah, I mean, it's very like it is such a mirror to today in so many ways. But yeah, you like, it's it's that's what you do now. You don't go on the defensive. You go on the offensive. Yeah, this is a great example of that. And they and and so and so everyone was blaming the wooden cars for how bad it was. Right. So it worked. Yeah, right. And the passengers who survived and who'd been in the train said the wooden cars were a major part of it. Yeah, they were a major part of the negligent man crashing. It worked. No

charges were brought against the Public Service Commission. Charges of criminal negligence were brought against the president vice president, chief engineer of the BRT and the chief engineer and superintendent of the Southern division. Edward was also also charges brought against them. But they really wanted the heads of the BRT. The trial was sensational. Luciano's trial. On the stand, he said, quote, he was dazed that night and have been dizzy ever since even at home. I don't know what I am saying sometimes. So he's got a fucking gnarly concussion. Like that's what you hear, right hockey and football players, right? Yeah, that kind of shit. Also grief does that. So it's a fucking combo. Right. Double combo. He cried on the stand and said he'd tried to apply two sets

of brakes, but they didn't work. An investigation, however, revealed no mechanical problems. Who did the investigation? You know, reputable. Yeah, it was reputable. I recall there was reputable. So there was nothing wrong with it. So he didn't know how to fucking do it. Yeah, but he's probably just train guy. Yeah, but that's the argument's not going to work as well as I tried to hit the brakes twice. His attorney asked the jury, they shouldn't have let me be stupid there. You guys put me in there. I'm dumb. The brakes didn't work. Yeah. His attorney asked the jury to let him walk and not to quote cast the sins of the company if there are any upon that boy. And the jury did after five hours, he was acquitted. Okay. For the others, a train being,

for the others on trial, a train being driven at 23 miles per hour was driven with defense attorneys and transit experts on the curve at 23 miles per hour. It was fine. The engineer said it would make the turn at 30. No problem. The judge dismissed so they each tried separately. The judge dismissed the case against William Menden, the chief engineer, quote, I think that no man reasonably could have expected prior to this accident to exercise the foresight, which would have resulted in the installation of the time element signal control device in connection with the track stripper. It's I don't there's a toe there. They're acting like they didn't put a completely inexperienced. So that is what it is. They're acting like it's all a mechanical

shit. Right. And like they didn't put a fucking crazy Rube in the driver's seat. Right. And that's yeah. Vice President Jack Dempsey got off when the jury deadlocked five, four and seven against on and on. One by one, they were found guilty, not guilty by the jury. Even division superintendent Thomas Blewett was found innocent. I'm just filled with joy. Mr. Blewett. Yeah. Did you see this coming? Yeah. Do you make a lot of mistakes? Yeah. Yeah. I'm prone to I'm prone to blowing it. I'm really, every time I get an opportunity, you know, someone looks at me, they're like, blew it. You blew it blew it. Thomas blew it. What happened? Tom blew it on trial. Please stand up. Mr. Thomas blew it guilty. Jerry, Jerry, you can't we have to hear the bloot. Say it make

him say his name again. Thomas blew it guilty blew it. I mean, when I was researching this, I stopped and I walked around the room. Let me ask you this. What happened to Timmy did it? Is it was he acquitted? I don't know. What about Frank Shirley culpable? What about Johnny fucked up again? Yeah. Yeah. Is this really how you say it fucked up again? Yeah, it's well. Thomas blew it. Mr. Blewett. No, this isn't going to go well. He's like a Mr. Men character. Oh, fuck. It's the best name ever. He was found for he was found innocent four hour after four hours of jury deliberation. Blewett believed to be the one who was most at fault as he was the one who

made the decision to put Edward in the driver's seat. So he blew it. Oh, he blew it. He did blow it. You blew it. Your honor, can I just say I blew it. Welcome back to I blew it. Blew it. That is like such like a sick like that is like what a sitcom character's name would be if he was like down on his luck, you know, it would be like on an all new blew it. Well, I play Tom Blewett, who is a guy who just keeps fumbling his life. You know what I mean? I play Tom Blewett. So they're all found innocent. Good. The mayor took a hit in public opinion. Many believing he had not done enough to stop the strike. The BL the BL this is funny. So I, you

know, I would put him BRT and every single time autocorrected BLT. Well, you want a sandwich? And it's little head. It's just like this guy loves that sandwich. The BRT took advantage by making the case that the striking engineers were obviously putting people in danger. Of course. Quote, the writing public of Brooklyn will view this new phase of the strike with anxiety because of the results in operating trains with inexperienced men. But sorry, someone else said that. But that's what the union said. But but so this is what I was saying about what he's right is that that's not what would happen. It wouldn't end. It wouldn't end a strike. They would what would happen is the two sides would blame each other that the and the PR machine of America would get

behind the company and they'd be like, or at least the gun on strike. That's why people are dying. Or at least the media would report the fact that the strike was a bad thing. Like, you know, like they'd said it. So now we got to talk about it. They would blame the strike instead of the insane idea that this all happened because they fired guys for wearing. Yeah, right. So basically, 100 people are dead because some guy put on pins, right? Yeah. Yeah. So negotiations between the union and the BRT went on for years and the strike was ugly. At one strike demonstration, strikers threw rocks at a train and accidentally killed a 17 year old passenger, Frederick Friedman, four union members who were Faye, who were then arrested and were

told they were facing the death penalty, pled guilty to manslaughter, and were sentenced to eight to 20 years. Wow. So how do you set this forward? The guys who threw rocks at a train got eight to 20 years and the guys responsible for killing 102 people who are part of a large corporation. What did they get again? Oh, nothing. That's right. There were also many bomb threats and dynamite was put in a bathroom at the Fulton Street stop. Okay. A cop just happened to walk into the bathroom and found a lit stick of dynamite. What did this guy eat? Oh, boy. I don't know what this guy ate, but it ain't agreeing with him. Man, sulfur. No way is Rodney Dangerfield. Hey, who would have this guy eat? He snuffed it out with his fingers. Oh, man. That is...

He got really burned, too. That is a buff. That's a nice move. The strike was finally resolved in 1928 when the rail company agreed to the union demands. After all that, they finally were like, okay, yeah, that's cool. Sorry. But the crash led to many safety improvements. Train companies decided to look at and improve their safety technology. Train time signals were changed to ensure trains were going at correct speeds. A dead man switch was created which stopped trains when the motorman takes his hand or foot off the controls. Okay. He stopped a train in 1927 when a motorman was found unconscious on the floor with a cut over his eye and a fractured skull. He had no idea what had happened, but it was believed he stuck his head out of the cab to look...

Oh, oh. Imagine having to learn that you did something that stupid. Wait, what is your theory? Well, Fred, we believe that what happened was you put your head out the train to see what was going on and hit it very badly, thus causing the memory loss of your stupid decision. Oh, by the way, my name's not Fred. Yeah. It's Tom. Okay. Tom Blue. No! Two of the trains have been saved by the dead man switch in 1940 and 2010 when a motorman died from a heart attack. So it led to tons of... Lots of death. I mean, that's the one thing that you used to be able to say about this country was that if something really bad happened, then safety regulations would be put in place. Right. Now they just get reversed.

Mayor Heinlein lost... I think it's going to work out though. Yeah, it's fine. Mayor Heinlein lost an election in 1925. He has not looked upon historically as a good mayor, just a puppet of Hearst. The BRT declared bankruptcy two months after the crash. So they did that. While all that strike was going on, they were doing the fucking reorganization, refinancing and fucking shit. It was taken out of receivership and renamed the Brooklyn, Manhattan Transit Corporation, the BMT. The old name... They just want to be BLT so bad. That... A big reason for that is because the BRT name was associated with death. Right. Yeah, the ML help. Yeah, they're the AIG of... The city eventually bought the BMT.

Malbone Boulevard also did not survive. It was changed to Empire Boulevard in 1924 and was taken off maps. There's now just one block of Malbone Boulevard left. Wow. Only subway work trains now ride around Deadman's Curve. Edward Luciano went into real estate and moved to Long Island. Wow. Quite a little turnaround. Yeah. Did he use that? Did he use this? And as you can see, they have some tiling here. Yeah. They have tiles here in the... Sorry, you... And you could just wash the blood off. Sorry, wash the blood off the tiles? There's blood on these tiles?

There's wooden floors. Yeah. The bones won't get stuck in there. Sorry, the bones won't get stuck in the wooden floors. Anyway, it's about $12,000. If you're interested, I'm gonna go sit in this corner. Okay. We are very interested, obviously. Yeah. We love everything we've heard. It's so dark. Again, you're just... You're selling someone who's already in. You're a very shrewd real estate agent. I hear screams. Okay. Now, do both bathrooms have valves? Yeah. Okay. What is where they put the bodies? Okay. We're closed. Let's close it up.

Let's ratchet this one up. Let's sign the deal. I love what I'm hearing. Honey, you'll love it. It's got bone floors and bloody tiles. I always think about what the world was like back then because they had no idea what PTSD was. Oh, God. Everybody else was trained had PTSD. I was talking to someone the other day about how easy it is to get Adderall, how everyone takes... How prescribing kids Adderall is just such a normalized thing now. I was like, the truth is they used to cut their brain cords. I guess we have made a little bit of progress. ADHD used to be diagnosed with, well, let's just snip your brain in half. It's like, all right, maybe we've had baby steps along

the way. But yeah, no. I mean, it really is. It's like we live and I think it's... The other day, I saw this article that was like Finland creating emoji street. And I was like, you know, it'd be just great if that was huge news here that we had Emoji Avenue. But it really is true that the amount of money you have to make as a corporate corporation, it's just... It's inhuman. So you can't... It doesn't end well. It doesn't end well. I mean, I don't know where it ends, but we just can't... No, it's the definition of unsustainable. Yeah. Well, and this is a... And that is a good example. This is a good example of a lot of people hate

genes. And I can understand that. Like, genes have... At some points, fucked up their power, but for the most part, the reason that our middle class is now 49% of the population is because unions have gone away. And for the most part, anytime a company is like... You know, anytime a union is fired up, it's normally for something fairly legitimate. Companies try to like walk all over the people that work for them. And when people get together and they strike, you know... Nobody wants to fucking strike.

And always be on the side of... I mean, you know, go in with the attitude... Like go in with the innocent until proven guilty attitude of the workers are right for them probably and then figure it out. Because for the most part, you know, it's the company that just wants money. You can't feed... A corporation isn't a human. It just wants money. And there's no limit to the money. No limit. And so it leads to... And every quarter you have to grow. Every quarter you have to grow. So if every quarter you have to grow,

that just will stop at some point. And, you know, and you've... Yeah, there's no... There's also no long term thinking because of the stock market. So there's no... It's always a quarter to quarter as opposed to grow this company. That's why Apple did well under Steve Jobs because he was always looking down the road and making it a profitable company for many years. Right. Where most companies, a guy comes in, gets a huge package and he's just looking to make the quarter good and he destroys the company in the future.

It's a fucked up system. You can also, with Apple, what is amazing is how you can tell, like, they're finally out of, like, Steve Jobs ideas. Like, they just probably would, like, in the last... In the last, like, 16 months, they ran out of the job stuff. They're fucking a traitor. Now they're just like... What about a different color?

Yeah. We're making the Apple Apple. Oh, my God. We are out. We are out of ideas. Hey, guys. Apple shoes. Oh, gosh. Apple wife. Apple pillow. Apple pie. Oh, gosh. Oh, boy. All right. All right. Yeah. I'll sign your car. Okay. He'll sign your car.

No, your car. What? I want to sign your car. I'm signing your car. I don't want that. Sign your car.