History of New York City (1784–1854) as the financial and mercantile capital of the western hemisphere. The Great New York City Fire of 1845 destroyed 345 wooden buildings in the Financial District. The Hudson River Railroad (which grew into the New York Central) opened October 3, 1851; it extended the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, the first railroad built in the state, south to New York City. The city and its nearby suburbs grew rapidly for several reasons. The natural harbor at the base of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the New Jersey ports at Newark and Elizabeth provided almost unlimited capacity for trading ships and protection from storms.
New York City Department of Transportation retractable bridges (the Borden Avenue and Carroll Street bridges). Other agencies that operate road bridges in New York include the MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York State DOT. East River bridges: Harlem River bridges: At approximately 1:30 a.m. on May 24 2012 DOT employee Harry Robinson ran over and killed Roxana Buta while operating a DOT truck. New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation