Aftermath of a deadly crane collapse and and landslide during construction on the BMT Fourth Avenue line in Bay Ridge, June 23, 1914. During a routine summer workday, the derrick supporting a crane suddenly gave way. The New York Times reported: “One man was killed and two others were injured, probably mortally, when a thirty ton crane broke through the soil of the subway cut,” adding “the sandy soil in this district had proved very treacherous, and it had been necessary, after the cut was opened, to strengthen the shoring on two different occasions.” The house partially visible at far right (with men on the porch) is No. 7604 Fourth Avenue. That house is still standing, but the two houses at center were demolished between 2007-2011.

"The entrance to 77th Street Station in Bay Ridge on the BMT 4th Avenue Line, 1916." This 4th Avenue Line station opened in Bay Ridge in 1916, when the line was extended to 86th Street. The massive original entrance staircase that sits here on the corner of 77th Street and 4th Avenue remains (though the large lighted sign above the top of the stairs has been removed). These types of entrance ways are not common throughout the system. The entrance also includes an artifact of a later era, also not a common sight at subway stations. The lighted MTA logo used at this entrance is the two-color “M” that debuted in 1968 at the start of the state run agency.

Union Church of Bay Ridge, June 23, 1963. The Union Church of Bay Ridge was established in 1918, following the merger of two Ridge Boulevard Churches, the Bay Ridge Reformed Church (which occupied the Union Church’s current site) and Bay Ridge United Presbyterian. The current church was completed in 1931.

Survey photo for the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 75th Street, Bay Ridge, October 14, 1912. At far upper left is the tower of the Lutheran church of the Good Shepard, established in 1906.

View of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from 77th Street and Ridge Boulevard, Bay Ridge, June 23, 1963.