Topic: Around Town
In 1901, while the subways were still under construction, New York City converted its streetcars from horsepower to electricity, which allowed them to move much faster — especially in Brooklyn, where the traffic was less dense. So frenetically did these new electric cars hurtle through the streets that Brooklynites began to call themselves “trolley dodgers.” Around that time, a local baseball team that had been known as the Superbas, the Kings, and the Bridegrooms, became the Brooklyn Dodgers.