Who would pay for a railroad that crossed the Hudson?
A regional rail plan reached the state legislatures. Why did the new transit district never exist?
Explore the caseRegional governance timeline
THE HISTORY OF DECISIONS NEW YORK · NEW JERSEY · CONNECTICUT
Follow the decisions that shaped a divided transportation region.
Regional transportation institutions took shape through agreements and disagreements over money, jurisdiction, representation and operating control. This chronology follows those decisions across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with links to the reporting and records behind them.
Begin with a historical conflict below, or use the complete timeline to trace events by date. The companion newspaper archive preserves the reports themselves. Event dates describe when something happened; publication dates describe when its sources appeared.
THREE PATHS INTO THE RECORD
Start with a consequential question.
Read the history, follow dated turning points, then examine the original evidence.
How did a regional planning commission lose its region?
Why could eleven affirmative votes fail to approve a regional plan—and how did the commission disappear?
Explore the caseWhat did a through train at Penn Station actually prove?
What did the football train demonstrate about coordinating railroads—and what remained untested?
Explore the caseArticles and other sources, arranged by publication date. Undated items appear separately.
23 items
1958
April 24, 1958
Bi-State Transit Bill Is Signed Despite Mayor's Plea for Study
ALBANY, April 24—Legislation authorizing New York State to participate in the proposed bi-state Metropolitan Transit District was approved today by Governor Harriman. He signed the Republican-sponsored measure despi…
June 13, 1958
Anti-Metropolitan Counsel
It would be a curious subversion of stated purpose if the Metropolitan Regional Council, founded to promote a common attack by city, county, and town officials on problems in twenty-one counties in three states, wer…
June 20, 1958
Metropolitan Transport
Position Regional Council Took on Recommended Legislation Outlined The writer of the following letter is Deputy City Administrator, City of New York, and executive secretary, Metropolitan Regional Council. The New Y…
October 12, 1958
Regional Council Checking Housing
Inventory of 22 Counties Started as Part of Drive for Congress Funds By CHARLES G. BENNETT The Metropolitan Regional Council is preparing to throw its influence behind demands on Congress for extensive housing funds…
November 18, 1958
Changes Suggested In Transit Program
Trenton – Governor Robert B. Meyer talked of possible changes in a transit-district bill yesterday, while New York Governor-elect Nelson A. Rockefeller told newsmen in Venezuela he will seek talks with Meyer on comm…
December 3, 1958
Remedy For Confusion: Regional Groups Defined
December 3, 1958 Any one who tries to understand metro problems in the New York City area runs into an alphabet soup of initials and nicknames given to agencies or groups working toward goals that sometimes appear t…
December 12, 1958
Council To Study Transit
Jersey City Mayor Witkowski has called the traffic and transportation committee of the Metropolitan Regional Council into session to consider new commuter plans in the wake of Assembly failure to approve a metropoli…
1959
January 9, 1959
Official Agency To Plan Growth Of Region Urged
Report Asks Legal Status For Metropolitan Council As Goverment Adviser A proposal that the Metropolitan Regional Council receive “full and effective” legal status was put before the Regional Plan Association yesterd…
January 9, 1959
Text of Report Urging Full Legal Status for the Metropolitan Regional Council
Following is the text of a report on the future of the Metropolitan Regional Council, made public yesterday by the Special Committee on Metropolitan Governmental Affairs of the Regional Plan Association: Findings an…
January 9, 1959
1960
February 16, 1960
February 20, 1960
Tri-State Transport Agency Regional Plan Group Backs
NEW YORK — The Regional Plan Association has endorsed the efforts of the Metropolitan Regional Council through its chairman, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, to establish a Tri-State Transportation Agency representing the st…
1962
February 28, 1962
June 21, 1962
November 3, 1962
Foe Of Metro Assails Program, Suggests It Remain Voluntary
A lengthy Committee for the Preservation of Home Rule letter opposes formalizing the Metropolitan Regional Council. It argues for voluntary cooperation and warns that a new regional body could become an unaccountabl…
1963
April 7, 1963
Regional Council Surviving Attack
Leaders Expect 22-County Group to Continue By MERRILL FOLSOM The controversial Metropolitan Regional Council seems to be surviving as a second-level advisory group despite a recent groundswell of opposition. Leaders…
June 9, 1963
Fears Expressed on Regional Aid
By MURRAY ILLSON Fears were expressed at a Congressional hearing here yesterday over the possible encroachment of "big government" through the Metropolitan Regional Council and similar organizations. One witness, Ar…
June 12, 1963
1967
July 27, 1967
Regional Council's Revival
After several years of desuetude, the Metropolitan Regional Council is showing encouraging signs of revival. It fell victim several years ago to parochial fears and jealousy in the suburbs of New York City, which le…
1977
March 17, 1977
1978
June 6, 1978
1979
April 29, 1979
Municipal TV Hookup Falters as 2 Agencies Maneuver
By Edward Hudson WHITE PLAINS FIVE years ago a closed‐circuit television network that was designed to improve the exchange of information among officials of local government agencies scattered across the New York‐Ne…
July 21, 1979
Regional Local Government Has Been Silenced
By Evan Liblet To the Editor: The Metropolitan Regional Council, the region's one and only association of local governments, became a thing of the past early this week when it was forced to discontinue operation due…
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