York Metropolitan Region Research Articles

WALL STREET LAYOFFS AND SERVICE SECTOR INCOMES IN THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN REGION

In the late 1980s the robust growth of the New York metropolitan region halted abruptly. In response to fluctuations in global capital markets and mounting Third World debt, the banking and securities industries of Wall Street initiated net layoffs of more than 16,000 employees between July, 1987, and December, 1988. As these job losses reverberated through an intricate series of local interindustry linkages, they accelerated a profound decline of the regional economy. This paper utilizes input-output analysis and linear algebraic extensions to explore the associated job and service income reductions by industry, occupation, and county of residence. While total losses were largely confined to the financial community, the occupational composition of layoffs was disproportionately concentrated among unskilled workers.

Military Prime Contracts and Taxes in the New York Metropolitan Region: A Short-Run Analysis

WARF B. and COX J. C. (1989) Military prime contracts and taxes in the New York Metropolitan Region: a short-run analysis, Reg. Studies 23, 241–251. This paper examines the impacts of military prime contracts awarded to firms in the New York metropolitan area, emphasizing its predominantly service sector orientation. Input-output analysis is used to compute the short-run impacts of prime contracts and the associated federal personal and corporate income taxes collected to finance them. The gross and net impacts on employment, output and incomes in New York City, its suburbs in New York State and northern New Jersey are reviewed with regard to the industries positively and negatively affected. Finally, the distribution of employment by occupational groups is analysed, demonstrating that prime contracts generate few white-collar jobs and relatively large numbers of blue-collar ones. WARF B. et COX J. C. (1989) Les premiers contrats militaires et les impots dans la zone metropolitaine de New York: une analys...

William J. Wilgus and Engineering Projects to Improve the Port of New York, 1900–1930

WilliamJ. Wilgus and Engineering Projects to Improve the Port of New York, 1900—1930 OSEF W. KONVITZ In an essay entitled “History and Imagination,” Hugh Trevor-Roper wrote that “history is not merely what happened; it is what happened in the context of what might have happened.” Urging historians to place themselves before the alternatives of the past, to see problems coming as contemporaries did, Trevor-Roper hoped we might “re­ store to the past its lost uncertainties,” reopening, “if only for an instant, the doors which the/azf accompli has closed. . . This perspective is appropriate to the study of plans to restructure the New York metropolitan region through large-scale civil engi­ neering in the hrst three decades of the 20th century. William J. Wil­ gus, the author of the most important and innovative proposals, was among the hrst to realize that transportation facilities and govern­ mental structures had to be transformed radically to meet current and anticipated needs. His proposals, grounded in a vision of the city’s future, received the support of engineers and of civic and commercial leaders and were incorporated into long-term plans by the Port of New York Authority. These plans were never executed, however, and, perhaps for that reason, they have been neglected by historians. Yet these plans—which were designed to lower freight costs, reallocate waterfront land use, relieve congestion on city streets and in the har­ bor, expand shipping capacity, rationalize railroad routes, and unify management of the port—remain ofinterest for several reasons. They Dr. Konvitz is professor of history at Michigan State University, East Lansing, where he teaches European history since 1500 and urban history. He is engaged in a study of port cities in France, the United States, and Great Britain during both world wars, and this article presents a portion of that research. Dean William Powers of Michigan Technological University provided an opportunity to the author to present an earlier version, and Mark Rose gave it a close critical reading. The author also appreciates the comments of the Technology and Culture referees. 'Hugh Trevor-Roper, “History and Imagination,” Times Literary Supplement, July 25, 1980, pp. 833 — 35; quote from p. 835.©1989 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/89/3002-0004$01.00 398 Engineering Projects to Improve the Port of New York 399 point to widely shared assumptions about the city’s problems and prospects. They highlight contemporary assessments of the feasibility of large-scale civil engineering works. They document an early effort to automate the movement of freight and to introduce container trans­ port. And they illuminate the career of Wilgus himself. The career of William J. Wilgus (1865—1949) can be separated into two parts. First, he served the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad as chief engineer of construction, maintenance of way, and terminal expansion (after 1899) and as vice-president with responsi­ bility for electrification of the Central’s lines and for construction of Grand Central Terminal (1903—7). He resigned from the railroad in 1907 to establish a practice as a consulting engineer, which lasted until 1931. It is this phase of his professional life that is least familiar. Wilgus chaired the advisory board of engineers for the rail tunnel under the Detroit River (1905—10). In World War I he was Deputy DirectorGeneral of Transportation for the American Expeditionary Force in France. Throughout the war, General Pershing relied on Wilgus for advice on technical matters. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded Wilgus the Rowland Prize in 1909 and the Wellington Prize in 1942; the Institute of Civil Engineers (U.K.) awarded him the Telford Gold Medal in 1911. As a consulting engineer, he combined work for individual railroad companies with efforts—from which he did not stand to gain materially—to restructure the Port of New York. He brought to that task everything he had learned about transpor­ tation planning at home and abroad. Yet Wilgus, once one of the most famous civil engineers on both sides of the Atlantic, is virtually un­ known today. Although he made his papers available for scholarly use, historians of technology have neglected his...

The changing economic impacts of the port of New York†

This paper investigates the economic effects of maritime trade through the Port of New York on the New York metropolitan region. It decomposes the impacts associated with the trans-shipment of waterborne exports and imports in 1977 and 1987 into those arising from the changing tonnage of trade and those attributable to the changing commodity mix. Input-output analysis is used to calculate the numbers of jobs, personal and business incomes, and output which arise from each effect. Finally, it examines the impacts on specfic industries and occupations in the region.

Japanese Investments in the New York Metropolitan Region

Japanese Investments in the New York Metropolitan Region

The concentration and deposition of nitrate, sulfate and ammonium as a function of wind direction from precipitation samples

The log e concentrations of nitrate, sulfate and ammonium are normally distributed. The t-test (using the log e transformed data) indicates the mean concentration of nitrate and sulfate in hourly precipitation samples, obtained at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, east of the New York Metropolitan region, to be greatest (⩾ 95 % confidence level) when associated hourly averaged wind direction is from the southwest, west and northwest regions (each region is a 45° interval of wind direction). Ammonium concentration is significantly greater when winds are from the southwest and west. Nitrate deposition is significantly greater when winds are from the southwest and west. Sulfate deposition is significantly greater when winds are from the southwest and west with a secondary peak in the southeast. Ammonium deposition behaves in a similar fashion to sulfate deposition. Moving statistics (using the untransformed data) confirm these findings and provide additional information on the behavior of the species distribution as a function of wind direction. For each species the relative standard deviations, calculated after normalizing the log e concentrations in each region to their respective means, are systematically smaller in the west. This is consistent with the expectation of lower variability about the axis of pollutant input from the main source region. At better than a 99.9 % confidence level the F-test indicates nitrate concentrations to be more variable than sulfate concentrations. This indicates nitrate to be of local origin and sulfate to be transported over long distances and more uniformly mixed in comparison. These results indicate that the Lagrangian history of a storm system may be represented from data taken in the Eulerian reference frame. The moving statistics indicate the association of concentration and precipitation rate to be directionally and species dependent.

Improving Policy Making in Public Transportation

During the past 20 years, government officials and urban planners have become increasingly aware that transportation system initiated by one generation is one of the most important legacies handed down to the next generation.' Academicians state that . . (T)he kind of city we live in today is largely a product of the transportation system.2 Even though policy makers and academicians suggest that transportation is of utmost importance, our public transportation systems are in shambles. Pott, a researcher of transportation policy making, states, By any standard index the transit mode is a failure as a utility. Its usage is declining, except in scattered instances. Its percentage in the daily travel market has declined to insignificance.I Another public transportation expert calls urban mass transit policy making Mockery of Ad Hoc-ery.4 This situation demonstrates the urgent need for more efficient and effective policy making in the public transportation area, which can only be done with greater communication among policy makers, leaders of commuter groups, and concerned and informed citizens. Yet the type of systematic communication that is needed does not really evolve in the public hearing setting. These meetings often result in shouting matches between policy makers and commuter groups. Policy makers accuse commuters of not being realistic, suggesting that commuters want good service but are unrealistic about its cost and unwilling to pay for it. Commuters accuse policy makers of not being sensitive to the horrendous conditions of most public transportation systems because they never use them. A third group, the academicians involved in public policy evaluation, analyze the situation and offer suggestions for improvement that are rarely taken seriously. Many policy makers visualize the academicians as ivory tower, absent-minded professors, who do not understand the reality of policy making. This lack of communication and cooperation, exacerbated by rapidly increasing fares and deteriorating service, leads to less rather than more effective policy making. Policy makers, commuters, academicians, and other informed citizens must understand each others' views and communicate in a more systematic manner in order to solve our mass transit problems. Policy makers are becoming aware that survey research quite effectively serves this purpose. In an article entitled Survey Research for Public Administrators, which appeared in a recent edition of The Public * Our concerns over energy, the urban crisis, and our unhealthy environment have demonstrated the urgency of a new commitment of human energy and resources to public transportation policy making. This research was designed to obtain systematic input from academics, policy makers and leaders of commuter groups on how various policy alternatives being considered by county, state and federal transit policy makers would probably affect public transportation usage in the New York metropolitan region. Some of these policies have already been implemented in other areas of the nation. Others are currently under consideration. Respondents to a mailed questionnaire were asked to predict how each of these policy alternatives, if implemented in the New York metropolitan region, would probably affect public transportation ridership in general, as well as their own use of public transportation. They were also asked whether they approve or disapprove of these policies given the probable costs. Thus, the results highlight the differences and similarities among the groups concerning both the political feasibility and probable impacts of the policy alternatives.

The utility of small samples from historic sites: Onderdonk, Clinton Avenue, and Van Campen

Excavations at the site of an 18th century rural residence in Queens County, New York, have yielded information about changing patterns of land use—from agricultural, to suburban, to industrial—in the New York metropolitan region. Comparison of quantitative data about some classes of specimens from this site with similar information from the Clinton Avenue site in Kingston, New York, and the Van Campen site (28SX245) in Wallpack Center, New Jersey, has permitted the tentative formulation of hypotheses about “diffusional lag” and “culture areas” in this part of the northeastern United States.

The Changing Spatial Relationship Between Residences and Worksites in the New York Metropolitan Region: Implications for Public Policy

In recent decades, most new metropolitan population and job growth has occurred in the suburbs. Conventional wisdom suggests that because of the selective nature of suburban labor market development, most metropolitan workers currently live further from their jobs. Distance, in turn, fragments urban labor markets and creates physical and informational barriers to employment.This article examines the selective pattern of central city‐suburban labor market development within the New York Metropolitan Region between 1960 and 1975 and analyzes the extent to which worker residences have adapted to spatial shifts in employment.

The abundances, distribution and flux of nutrients and chlorophyll a in the New York Bight apex

Tidal, spatial and seasonal changes in salinity, temperature and the concentrations of ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, silicic acid, chlorophyll a and suspended matter in the waters between Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway Point, New York, were measured during five cruises which took place between November 1973 and June 1974. Over this period concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll a were much greater than those found in the adjacent coastal waters. The main source of the ammonium, nitrite and phosphate is sewage effluent which is discharged into the waters surrounding the New York metropolitan region; nitrate comes mainly from the Hudson River and silicic acid is discharged in large amounts from river and sewage sources. The largest tidal variation in salinity and nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations occurs near Sandy Hook where the Hudson River discharge has the greatest influence. Near Rockaway Point, nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations are generally lower and salinities higher than those observed near Sandy Hook because of the inflow of Bight water by non-tidal currents. During the spring freshet nutrient concentrations, especially ammonium, are low along the transect due to (1) dilution by the spring freshet and (2) utilization by the abundant phytoplankton. Flux calculations for the June observations indicate that most of the nutrients and chlorophyll a are being transported from the lower Hudson Estuary into the New York Bight apex.

A Geographical Systems Analysis of the Water Disposal Networks of the New York Metropolitan Region

A Geographical Systems Analysis of the Water Disposal Networks of the New York Metropolitan Region

A Note on the Intraurban Location of Wholesalers and Local-Market Manufacturers

In their seminal study of spatial economy of New York Metropolitan Region, Hoover and Vernon [1959] argue that industries which ship to local consumers [such as] newspapers, bakeries, breweries, bottling works and milk plants ... have sought out comparatively central locations in in order to minimize both average delivery time, since deliveries must be closely timed at peril of missing sales, and average distance traveled to customers, since the cost of transport must be held to a minimum because of comparatively low value of delivered product [pp. 36, 37]. They note, however, that these industries, though seemingly locked to a central point, since the center of an area, generally speaking, is least-cost point from which distribution can be made,.., .have shown a tendency to move outward in recent years. In case of national-market industries, Hoover and Vernon attributed increasing decentralization to advent of motor vehicle, but they do not do so with local-market industries. Instead they suggest that, one reason for outward shift is that consumers are gradually spreading out from center of Region. Another reason, it is now becoming evident, is that, after all, center of Region is not always least-cost point for distribution, because center is more highly congested than surrounding market areas [1959, p. 37]. At another point in study, Hoover and Vernon argue that congestion in central area is also assumed to be a factor causing decentralization of wholesalers. Wholesalers covering whole Region will find advantages in locating their distribution points outside central nub of congestion, following pattern of bakeries and other local market manufacturers [p. 81]. In this note I demonstrate that

Regional Governance for the New York Metropolitan Region: A Reappraisal

Regional Governance for the New York Metropolitan Region: A Reappraisal

SO2 levels and perturbations in mortality. A study in the New York-New Jersey metropolis.

Analysis of daily mortality for 422 places in the United States from 1962 to 1966 provided a consistent set of mortality predictors of three classes: annual cycle, day of week, and Christmas holidays; influenza epidemics; and days or spells of extreme cold or heat. Analysis of deaths for New York metropolitan region, with daily SO2 measurements in Manhattan at the Davis Laboratory, showed the pollution measurement contributes significantly to prediction of deaths. Mortality was 1.5% ìess than expected on 232 days with SO2 levels below 30μg/cu m and 2% greater than expected on 260 days with SO2 levels above 500μg/cu m, after correcting for the other factors. Coefficient of haze (COHS) does as well as SO2 in predicting death. A parallel analysis in the Philadelphia area showed similar, but weaker, SO2 and COHS effect.

Geologic Effects of Cities: ABSTRACT

Human activities in an industrial society are geologically significant in coastal cities because of the amounts of sediment and wastes moved and resulting topographic changes. Small streams are altered or destroyed, many becoming sewers. Large streams are dredged to accommodate ocean-going vessels and nearby river banks are bulkheaded. Shallow areas (including wetlands) are filled to provide space for city growth. Sewer, industrial, and sediment discharges are deposited in navigation channels which eventually require extensive dredging and waste disposal operations. The volume of wastes, and the sediment yield per unit area of the city, equals or exceeds the discharge of many rivers. Dams and public water-supply systems change river flows and dredging can change tidal reg mes in the estuaries. Sand and gravel production and construction of groins, bulkheads, and other structures change ocean shorelines and disturb beach processes. In the future, human activities will extend to the continental shelf where sand and gravel deposits will be exploited, offshore electrical power plants will be built, and port facilities will be constructed for deep-draft vessels requiring extensive dredging across the shelf. Even offshore airport centers have been proposed. These urban processes and their geologic effects are well documented in the New York metropolitan region. End_of_Article - Last_Page 782------------

A Test of Combinations of Models for Projecting the Population of Minor Civil Divisions

The problem treated here is projection of 567 municipal populations in New York Metropolitan Region (NYMR) through 1985. The major objective is to include probable historicalbehavioral changes at a series of spatial levels while not accumulating additive errors from multiple assumptions.' The historical-behavioral approach emphasizes anticipation of changes likely to drastically alter observed trends in growth and in distribution of population. The impact of fluctuations in fertility rate on population forecasts is exemplary. During 1930s a stable and declining population was projected by a number of curve-fitting procedures.2 Writing in 1950, Dorn suggested that the men and women who bear children

Geologic Aspects of Waste Solids and Marine Waste Deposits, New York Metropolitan Region

Waste solids from the New York metropolitan region are a major source of sediment to adjacent ocean areas. Between 1964 and 1968, the annual discharge of solids (excluding refuse and floatable debris) to the New York Bight averaged 4.6 million metric tons per yr: 76 percent from dredged wastes, 12 percent from construction and demolition rubble, 7.6 percent from solids in. waste chemicals, and 4.3 percent from sewage sludges. Anomalously high concentrations of carbon and certain elements, such as copper, silver, and lead, in wastes permit identification of waste deposits in New York Harbor and at waste-disposal sites on the continental shelf. Waste-containing deposits cover about 160 sq km of New York Harbor and more than 50 sq km of continental shelf in New York Bight. The continental shelf area used for waste disposal receives no other sediment in quantities sufficient to bury the waste deposits. Waste disposal operations are the largest sediment transport and depositional process now active in the mid-Atlantic region. Production of waste solids in the metropolitan region exceeds sediment yields per unit area of any other major drainage basin in the New England-Middle Atlantic area.

The Metropolis Runs Dry

From 1961 to 1967, the northeastern United States suffered the worst drought in its recorded history. Caught in the fourth year of the unprecedented dry spell, some localities in the Delaware River Valley took extraordinary measures to protect their threatened sources of water supply. The spector of the New York metropolitan region about to run dry loomed as an administrative nightmare for the newly created Delaware River Basin Commission. Under the unrelenting pressure of the crisis, the parties-at-interest buried some of their past differences and improvised. Instead of resorting to court litigation and a judicial settlement, as had been customary in previous conflicts, they broke new ground and resolved the dispute by a combination of administrative negotiation and political pressure. The crisis made new forms of intergovernment cooperation mandatory and, at least, temporarily legitimate.

A Geographical Systems Analysis of the Water Supply Networks of the New York Metropolitan Region

A Geographical Systems Analysis of the Water Supply Networks of the New York Metropolitan Region

New York Metropolitan Region—A Major Sediment Source

Approximately 9.6 million tons per year of waste solids, including dredged sediment and construction debris from the New York metropolitan region, was dumped in New York Bight and in western Long Island Sound between 1964 and 1968. This was apparently the largest sediment source discharging directly into the North Atlantic Ocean (excluding the Gulf of Mexico) from the North American continent. Considering the core metropolitan region (population about 9 million) as the dominant source, the average annual discharge was about 1 ton per person (equivalent to about 6 pounds per person per day)