New York's Lost Link to City Island

The history of New York City’s lost City Island monorail is a fascinating chapter in urban planning that illustrates both ambition and failure. In the early 20th century, City Island—located in the Bronx—was a vibrant maritime community with limited transportation connections to the rest of New York. To address this, a bold plan was conceived in the early 1910s to link City Island to the mainland via a monorail. The project, officially called the *Pelham Park and City Island Railroad*, was envisioned as a cutting-edge transportation solution using elevated rail technology. The system was designed to stretch over the wetlands of Pelham Bay Park, reducing the need for more invasive infrastructure.

Construction began in 1910, and by 1914, a prototype was operational. However, it was short-lived. The monorail faced significant technical issues, including mechanical failures and derailments. Public skepticism and political opposition grew, and with World War I diverting resources and attention, the project was abandoned. City Island residents continued to rely on other modes of transportation, such as streetcars and ferries. Today, the remnants of the monorail are long gone, but its story remains a curious reminder of New York’s ambitious—yet sometimes impractical—transportation experiments.

#CityIsland #NYCHistory #LostMonorail #UrbanPlanning #NewYorkCity #TransportationHistory #BronxStories #ForgottenProjects #HistoricNYC #CityIslandMonorail

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

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Scriptwriter - Brent Mackesey
Editor - Karolina Szwata
Host - Ryan Socash
Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario

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Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[juant]

first off I want to thank you for doing this video. I live in the Bronx and I frequent City Island during the summer months. It’s my favorite place to be for the amazing sea food. I’m well aware of the monorail city island had back in the day, but I was only able to uncover very little
Information about it. I’ve found it to be very fascinating. This video has answered a lot of my questions and curiosity. Thank you sir!

[steves]

Thanks for this story. I lived in the Bronx for 10 years and frequented the restaurants regularly. My wife a NYC teacher taught there for 1 year. Never knew about this. Public rail to the island would have been great.

[earllutz]

Thank you for another fine video of history.

[YAHSHAYA]

As a native New Yorker FROM THE BRONX!! I never knew this! GREAT CONTENT ❤

[eric]

Wow! City Island had a monorail before Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook.

[rbobinsky]

Happy New Year, Ryan! Keep us entertained and informed throughout the coming year...and the years to come!!!

[kevinb]

Bring back the City Island Monorail, yesss!!!

[jetsons]

The City Island Monorail looked like an eyesore. The original Disneyland Alweg Mk I, MkII and Mk III monorails were pleasing to the eye, clean minimalistic track and supports.

[tristenkarratti]

Absolutely love the attention and explanation of the details you put into all of your videos! Would love to see your take on industrial history in hawaii. Things like the Omega Station here on the eastside of Oahu Hawaii and Red Hill in Moanalua. You could probably get a head start on the headaches and eyesores of the rail built in Honolulu as well hahaha. Again, love the content please keep it up!!!

[bnthern]

always enjoyed going to City Island = great food - laid back and calm

[kenyattacoleman]

omg imagine the decrease in traffic on the bridge if they would have exteneded the 6 train to go there. it could stop a pelham bay park, turtle cove, orchard beach and finally a few stops on city island

[TwoFeetOutdoors]

@itshistory we should collab on a video. I'll do the kayaking / exploring on location, and you do the background history on whatever island we decide to do the video on.

[stephen_NY]

Can you do a segment on the Long Island NY railroads ?

[TheAnunnaki-NYC]

Wow, I was just at City Island yesterday with the Mrs and kiddos at Johnny’s Reef.

[NN-sjfg]

Used to visit City Island regularly - simply because I had relatives living there. Used to rent boats from Rosenberger's

[richardjarosch]

Tragedy struck the JFK Airtrain Monorail in Queens New York too: a test driver in Sept. 2002 was rounding a curve, the train derailed, test weights simulating passengers slid forward, killing the train operator.

[harrowgateguy]

The first monorail in the US was in Philadelphia. It had two stories and an outdoor deck. It safely transported thousands of people without any accidents to the 1876 Centennial Exposition

[bluesteel]

Great video. My impression regarding this bit of history is that they gave up on the idea of a monorail too quickly. I’m sure that if they had persevered it would have succeeded.

[krisklamka]

Hey Ryan, I know you're probably just trying it out, but I really think the addition of background music doesn't work. It's distracting during your voiceovers and much too loud in many parts.

[georgecrinnion]

The H in Pelham is silent. Trust me...😎