Before 1927 the Hudson was crossable only by ferry, limiting park access

Evidence

Since there were no bridges or vehicular tunnels across the Hudson—the Holland Tunnel would not be opened until 1927—the only way across the river was on ferries, the same method the Dutch had used after having purchased Manhattan from the Indians three hundred years before. The Palisades Park Commission operated two that ran to the park itself, but they carried between them only five thousand persons. Every Saturday and Sunday morning in summer, when the ferry ticket takers nailed up the signs that said, in large black letters, FULL, there were thousands of disappointed faces—of fathers carrying picnic baskets and mothers carrying babies, of children who had been so excited about the trip that they hadn’t been able to sleep the night before—still in front of them. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 636

Categorization

• XREF: Shows how infrastructure scarcity literally constrained recreation demand — same skeleton as the trees-as-infrastructure piece on capacity limits.
• ADDENDUM: Could feed the trees-as-infrastructure piece: capacity constraints of natural amenities force expansion demand.